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Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year]
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One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Obamacare Consequences: Higher Premiums, Higher Deductibles & Increased Out-Of-Pocket Costs ...

... "A $6,000 Deductible — That’s Just Staggering"
The Las Vegas Review-Journal editors remind readers today, “[T]he president recently provided a moment of clarity that brought groans from Democrats on ballots everywhere. ‘I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that,’ the president said. ‘But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.’ None will have a greater impact on voters than Obamacare. The next enrollment period for Obamacare-compliant health insurance plans begins Nov. 15. It was supposed to begin Oct. 15, but last November, recognizing what a disaster the ACA was, the administration pushed enrollment until after the elections, hoping to minimize midterm damage. But that didn’t stop people from learning about increases in premiums and deductibles, or that their plans would be part of another wave of cancellations for not being ACA-compliant.”

Indeed, the Review-Journal reported earlier this week, “[Las Vegas residents] who renewed health insurance in 2013 to delay complying with mandates in the Affordable Care Act are feeling the effects of the law. We’ve written in the past about the potential for big premium increases among small groups and individuals who renewed their plans in December. On Oct. 1, those folks began getting their actual renewal rates. And for most of them, it isn’t pretty.

“‘People who have pre-ACA plans are getting clobbered with higher rates and higher exposure’ to out-of-pocket costs, said Pat Casale of brokerage firm Pat Casale & Associates.

“The reason premiums are on the rise is because the federal government mandates new requirements in all insurance plans sold after Jan 1. Some of that is good news for consumers: Insurers no longer can put lifetime dollar limits on policy payouts, and some preventive services are now free. The thing is, those perks cost consumers — sometimes a lot. And insurers are building those costs into their premiums.

“Small companies with younger, healthier workforces are hit especially hard, because the law limits the premium breaks people can get for being young and healthy.

“But talking about premiums alone is a ‘very incomplete analysis,’ said Kirstine Sorenson of Casale & Associates.

“That’s because consumers’ out-of-pocket costs in deductibles and copays are spiking as well. Where premiums are up 50 percent, out-of-pocket expenses might soar 200 percent, Sorenson said. Some consumers are paying $250 a month in premiums for plans with $5,000 deductibles, compared with $100 a month for a $5,000 deductible before the Affordable Care Act.

‘People are seeing increases on the internal parts of their plan that are magnifying their higher costs,’ Sorenson said.”

A New York Times report yesterday zeroed in on this aspect of Obamacare. In a piece titled, “Unable to Meet the Deductible or the Doctor,” The Times wrote, “Patricia Wanderlich got insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year . . . . But her new plan has a $6,000 annual deductible, meaning that Ms. Wanderlich, who works part time at a landscaping company outside Chicago, has to pay for most of her medical services up to that amount. She is skipping this year’s brain scan and hoping for the best. ‘To spend thousands of dollars just making sure it hasn’t grown?’ said Ms. Wanderlich, 61. ‘I don’t have that money.’ . . . When the next open enrollment period begins on Nov. 15, Ms. Wanderlich said, she will probably switch to a plan with a narrower network of doctors and a smaller deductible. It will probably mean losing her specialists, she said, but at this point she is resigned. ‘A $6,000 deductible — that’s just staggering,’ she said.”

The same story also noted the experience of Dr. Rebecca Love, of Moab, Utah: “Dr. Love, 63, who has degenerative arthritis and a host of other health problems, pays $422 a month in premiums for a plan that has a deductible of $6,000. But she has already paid more than $6,000 in medical costs this year that did not count toward her deductible because the doctors and hospitals — more than 100 miles away in Grand Junction, Colo. — were not in her network. To see certain specialists in her network, Dr. Love said, she would have had to travel to Salt Lake City, which is much farther away and requires driving through a treacherous mountain pass.”

The NYT pointed out that though many people signed up for coverage through Obamacare, “many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families — the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people — no firm data exists on how many — say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs.”

According to The Times, “Deductibles for the most popular health plans sold through the new marketplaces are higher than those commonly found in employer-sponsored health plans, according to Margaret A. Nowak, the research director of Breakaway Policy Strategies, a health care consulting company. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible for individual coverage in employer-sponsored plans was $1,217 this year. In comparison, the average deductible for a bronze plan on the exchange — the least expensive coverage — was $5,081 for an individual and $10,386 for a family, according to HealthPocket, a consulting firm. Silver plans, which were the most popular option this year, had average deductibles of $2,907 for an individual and $6,078 for a family.”

In light of these experiences, the results of a new Politico poll of likely voters in battleground states and House districts are telling. Asked, “Under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, do you think the amount of money you pay personally will increase, decrease or stay about the same?” 57% of respondents said it will increase, while only 7% said it would decrease., despite Democrats’ promises of “affordable care.”

According to a recent Associated Press report, “Overall, 1 in 4 privately insured adults say they doubt they could pay for a major unexpected illness or injury. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research may help explain why President Barack Obama faces such strong headwinds in trying to persuade the public that his health care law is holding down costs. Edward Frank of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, said he bought a plan with a $6,000 deductible last year through HealthCare.gov. That's in the high range, since deductibles for popular silver plans on the insurance exchanges average about $3,100 - still a lot.”

. . . Creates An Employment Double Whammy!
A recent Senate Budget Committee report highlighted the negative effects of Obamacare on the labor market. According to Bloomberg, “Obamacare appears to affect employment in two ways: It decreases the supply of labor (the number of people in the labor market), as well as the demand for labor (the number of jobs available). This phenomenon was aptly named the ‘health care employment squeeze’ in a study released by the American Health Policy Institute last month. In short, Obamacare creates an employment double whammy: The cost to many employers of hiring workers goes up, since those with more than 50 employees have to provide increasingly expensive health care, while employees’ incentives to work go down, because they can get federal subsidies to buy insurance outside the workplace.”

Tags: Obamacare, consequences, higher premiums, higher deductibles, increased out of pocket costs, employment double whammy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 1:00 PM - Post Link

7 Comments:

Anonymous MAB said...

And the ones that are paying the price is the middle class. Paying such high prices & can't even afford to see Dr.

10/22/2014  
Blogger Bill Smith said...

MAB,

You got that right - And if one can't see a doctor when critical, the result is further complications or death.

10/22/2014  
Anonymous MAB said...

High HC - It's like welfare - your pay check supports it but you can't use it!!

10/23/2014  
Anonymous MAB said...

Hope FREE HC that we r paying for helps others. #Middleclass b/c we can't afford to use.

10/23/2014  
Blogger Bill Smith said...

Be on the watch for new copays for those on Social security after election. Not published in their newly release book

10/23/2014  
Anonymous MAB said...

We r not getting our breast exams & prostate exams b/c if something was found - couldn't afford to treat.. A frigging shame

10/23/2014  
Anonymous Kl Phillips said...

Owebama Care - Steal from producers and give to deadbeats.

10/25/2014  

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