60% of Voters Want Obamacare Repealed | Another Obamacare Website Delay | Premiums Going Up For Minnesotans
One year after the disastrous launch of the federal Obamacare website, it’s still suffering from delays and snafus, with just over a month left before this year’s enrollment period begins.
The Wall Street Journal reports, “The federal government has shelved plans to transfer the HealthCare.gov insurance website to a new hosting service for the coming enrollment period, delaying a move that was supposed to fix reliability problems.
“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed a contract last year to replace Verizon Communications Inc. with Hewlett-Packard Co. as the host of HealthCare.gov, the site used by most people to obtain plans under the Affordable Care Act. The Verizon platform had a series of outages last year that shut the site and affected the federal data hub on which all states rely to transmit information about enrollees' identity and income.
“CMS planned to migrate the site to an H-P platform after the main sign-up period ended in March. But in July, the agency quietly moved to keep Verizon hosting most parts of the site for all of the next enrollment season, which starts Nov. 15 and ends Feb. 15.
“In a federal contract document justifying the decision, the agency said it needed to stick with Verizon because it had run out of time to thoroughly test the H-P platform.
“The decision raises new questions about whether HealthCare.gov will be ready to offer a better experience to millions of Americans this fall after its troubled debut last year. The move to a different host had been a key part of the site's overhaul, and the decision to stay with Verizon is an unexpected development for insurers and state officials.”
As the website continues its seemingly endless struggles, Obamacare is still breaking promises Democrats made when they were trying to pass the law. The president said in March 2010, “Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent . . .” and pledged in 2011, “This law will lower premiums.” Of course, premiums have gone up all across the country, and a new report shows they’re going up on Minnesota’s Obamacare exchange, too.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “The cost of insurance on the MNsure health exchange is on the rise, state officials said Wednesday . . . . The average premium increase for companies continuing to offer policies on MNsure next year will be 4.5 percent, according to numbers released Wednesday by the state Commerce Department. But the absence in 2015 of low-cost provider PreferredOne, which recently pulled out of the market, likely means bigger increases for many shoppers. For example, a 25-year-old in the Twin Cities could get a “bronze” policy from PreferredOne for $91 per month this year, but the cheapest option next year jumps to $110. . . .
“Before Wednesday’s announcement, health insurance experts pointed to several factors that likely would drive premium increases. MNsure will withhold a larger share of premiums next year to cover the cost of the exchange. Health costs are growing, in general, and more patients with costly health problems likely will move from a state safety net program to MNsure. . . .
“The average premium increase at Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will be about 17 percent for the company’s 9,900 customers who enrolled through MNsure. Those customers account for about 22 percent of all commercial enrollees through the exchange, said Blue Cross spokesman Jim McManus. Minnetonka-based Medica, which has about 2,000 customers through MNsure, is increasing rates on average by 1.8 percent.”
Obamacare remains a bureaucratic mess and the law has repeatedly failed to live up to promises from Democrats that it would lower premiums. It needs to be repealed and replaced.
The Weekly Standard reports that 60% of polled voters want Obamacare repealed. "In addition, a large plurality — 44% — wants to see Obamacare repealed and replaced with a conservative alternative. A much smaller group — 16% — wants to see it repealed but not replaced. Less than one in three respondents — 32% — would like to keep Obamacare whether in its current form or in amended form. So, with a conservative alternative in play, 60 % of Americans support repeal, while only 32% oppose it."
Tags: Obamacare, repeal, poll, website delay, premiums going up To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
The Wall Street Journal reports, “The federal government has shelved plans to transfer the HealthCare.gov insurance website to a new hosting service for the coming enrollment period, delaying a move that was supposed to fix reliability problems.
“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed a contract last year to replace Verizon Communications Inc. with Hewlett-Packard Co. as the host of HealthCare.gov, the site used by most people to obtain plans under the Affordable Care Act. The Verizon platform had a series of outages last year that shut the site and affected the federal data hub on which all states rely to transmit information about enrollees' identity and income.
“CMS planned to migrate the site to an H-P platform after the main sign-up period ended in March. But in July, the agency quietly moved to keep Verizon hosting most parts of the site for all of the next enrollment season, which starts Nov. 15 and ends Feb. 15.
“In a federal contract document justifying the decision, the agency said it needed to stick with Verizon because it had run out of time to thoroughly test the H-P platform.
“The decision raises new questions about whether HealthCare.gov will be ready to offer a better experience to millions of Americans this fall after its troubled debut last year. The move to a different host had been a key part of the site's overhaul, and the decision to stay with Verizon is an unexpected development for insurers and state officials.”
As the website continues its seemingly endless struggles, Obamacare is still breaking promises Democrats made when they were trying to pass the law. The president said in March 2010, “Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent . . .” and pledged in 2011, “This law will lower premiums.” Of course, premiums have gone up all across the country, and a new report shows they’re going up on Minnesota’s Obamacare exchange, too.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “The cost of insurance on the MNsure health exchange is on the rise, state officials said Wednesday . . . . The average premium increase for companies continuing to offer policies on MNsure next year will be 4.5 percent, according to numbers released Wednesday by the state Commerce Department. But the absence in 2015 of low-cost provider PreferredOne, which recently pulled out of the market, likely means bigger increases for many shoppers. For example, a 25-year-old in the Twin Cities could get a “bronze” policy from PreferredOne for $91 per month this year, but the cheapest option next year jumps to $110. . . .
“Before Wednesday’s announcement, health insurance experts pointed to several factors that likely would drive premium increases. MNsure will withhold a larger share of premiums next year to cover the cost of the exchange. Health costs are growing, in general, and more patients with costly health problems likely will move from a state safety net program to MNsure. . . .
“The average premium increase at Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will be about 17 percent for the company’s 9,900 customers who enrolled through MNsure. Those customers account for about 22 percent of all commercial enrollees through the exchange, said Blue Cross spokesman Jim McManus. Minnetonka-based Medica, which has about 2,000 customers through MNsure, is increasing rates on average by 1.8 percent.”
Obamacare remains a bureaucratic mess and the law has repeatedly failed to live up to promises from Democrats that it would lower premiums. It needs to be repealed and replaced.
The Weekly Standard reports that 60% of polled voters want Obamacare repealed. "In addition, a large plurality — 44% — wants to see Obamacare repealed and replaced with a conservative alternative. A much smaller group — 16% — wants to see it repealed but not replaced. Less than one in three respondents — 32% — would like to keep Obamacare whether in its current form or in amended form. So, with a conservative alternative in play, 60 % of Americans support repeal, while only 32% oppose it."
Tags: Obamacare, repeal, poll, website delay, premiums going up To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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