The Truth About Health Insurance Premiums

[Freeper]

DearAbby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list    Sat Nov-20-10 11:58 AM
Original message
The Truth About Health Insurance Premiums
   
The new law has brought increases for some. But GOP leaders exaggerate.


Summary

Leading Republicans in Congress are blaming the new health care law for double-digit rate increases being sought by insurance companies in Washington state, New York and Connecticut. But insurance regulators, leading health care experts and the companies themselves mostly blame an old culprit: rising medical costs.

Improved benefits required by the new law are responsible for a relatively small portion of the increases. Furthermore, the increases apply mostly to those buying policies individually, not the majority who get private insurance through employers. Those with employer-provided plans won’t see as much of an increase in premiums, since many of their policies already include the required benefits, a spokesman for an insurance trade association told us.

Some Republicans have claimed the law is responsible for "whopping" premium increases, but they have misrepresented the facts in the process. For example:


* House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner said premiums will "skyrocket" because of the law, citing a report on rising premiums by the Kaiser Family Foundation. But the Kaiser report covered increases that took effect before the law was signed.

* Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell points to a news story about a Washington insurance provider that blamed premium increases on the health care law. But the state insurance commissioner says the increase had "absolutely nothing to do with health care reform," and the insurance company later admitted the law is only partly at fault.


* Both politicians refer to premiums for new plans on the individual market, where only about 6 percent of those with insurance now get their coverage.

More:

http://factcheck.org/2010/11/the-truth-about-health-ins... /

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9596860

The truth about premiums is Obama swore up and down this legislation would lower them.
Now regardless whether premiums went up as a direct result of this legislation or not, the fact remains they are going up and this legislation was supposed to bring them down. Therefore the health care bill is not doing what we were promised it would do. Obama either flat out lied, or simply has no clue how the health care system, and the bill works. Either way this is bad for the country.

dennis4868 (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list    Sat Nov-20-10 12:05 PM
Response to Original message
1. For 99% of the people...
   
Facts don't mean anything anymore.... That's why repubs have a chance in each and every election.

Which side was saying that this bill wouldn't lower premiums? That's right we did and premiums are not going down. Looks like the facts point to our side.

[Carl]

Those with employer-provided plans won’t see as much of an increase in premiums,

Bullshit we won`t.
Hey DUmbass,who do you think makes up the bulk of the insurance pool that now those who opt out until needed can enter.

You are too stupid to live but only in the country you undoubtedly hate are you not only allowed to but can prosper on the backs of others.

**** you.

[Mike220]

Hey DUmbasses, my health insurance sent me my rate increase a few weeks ago. Granted I have a pretty cheap plan through BC/BS and it's going from $89 to $101 per month. But a) The Won said it wouldn't go up and b) I'm having trouble make ends meet as it is since I'm having to pay back Uncle Sam $250 per month for their shitty roll out of the new GI Bill. Thankfully come January I'm going back to UNT full time which means more BAH and in February I'll have paid back the 3 grand I owed the VA, but I'm still probably going to have to drop my coverage so I can pay off some stuff.

I need another job...

[Ballygrl]

Hey DUmbasses, my health insurance sent me my rate increase a few weeks ago. Granted I have a pretty cheap plan through BC/BS and it's going from $89 to $101 per month. But a) The Won said it wouldn't go up and b) I'm having trouble make ends meet as it is since I'm having to pay back Uncle Sam $250 per month for their shitty roll out of the new GI Bill. Thankfully come January I'm going back to UNT full time which means more BAH and in February I'll have paid back the 3 grand I owed the VA, but I'm still probably going to have to drop my coverage so I can pay off some stuff.

I need another job...

Try being self employed, we pay $774 per month for an HMO, our rates increased over $100 this year, we ended up going from a PPO to an HMO so we could add Dental, and NJ is a State where insurances HAVE to cover pre-existing conditions as long as you can prove you were insured before you wanted to change companies, all that succeeded in doing was driving more insurance companies out of the State. I want competition between insurance companies, let me choose what's best for my family and let me buy over State line.

[Randy]

Since I don't smoke mine only went up a buck a week. If I smoked it would have gone up 26 bucks a week. Oh yeah, my deductions and co-pays went up too. Thank God obambi saved us from any increases. 


bolded for any visitors who miss the direction everything went.

[true_blood]

Try being self employed, we pay $774 per month for an HMO, our rates increased over $100 this year, we ended up going from a PPO to an HMO so we could add Dental, and NJ is a State where insurances HAVE to cover pre-existing conditions as long as you can prove you were insured before you wanted to change companies, all that succeeded in doing was driving more insurance companies out of the State. I want competition between insurance companies, let me choose what's best for my family and let me buy over State line.

WOW! That's really expensive.
I buy my own health insurance as well. It went up to 429 a month for a HMO plan. My rate went up about 30 bucks a month. The lord zero said premiums were not going to go up. Mine did, you liar.

[Ballygrl]

WOW! That's really expensive.
I buy my own health insurance as well. It went up to 429 a month for a HMO plan. My rate went up about 30 bucks a month. The lord zero said premiums were not going to go up. Mine did, you liar.

The $774 is for hubby and I both, and in NJ the insurance companies are allowed to raise rates 16% per year, by the time Obama's "your insurance is going to go down $2,500" goes into effect? we'll be paying maybe $2,000 a month? oh yeah, that Obamacare is awesome!

[zeitgeist]

The $774 is for hubby and I both, and in NJ the insurance companies are allowed to raise rates 16% per year, by the time Obama's "your insurance is going to go down $2,500" goes into effect? we'll be paying maybe $2,000 a month? oh yeah, that Obamacare is awesome!

You really need to avail hubby and yourself of the new preventative health screening offered by the TSA.  Just spend $69.00 for an anywhere ticket on Southwest and you can avail yourself of:  A whole body scan, radiation therapy, a free breast or testicular exam, plus a bonus scope of the anal canal.  Obamacare for the rest of us.

[thundley4]

You really need to avail hubby and yourself of the new preventative health screening offered by the TSA.  Just spend $69.00 for an anywhere ticket on Southwest and you can avail yourself of:  A whole body scan, radiation therapy, a free breast or testical exam, plus a bonus scope of the anal canal.  Obama care for the rest of us.

  hi-5

[Ballygrl]

You really need to avail hubby and yourself of the new preventative health screening offered by the TSA.  Just spend $69.00 for an anywhere ticket on Southwest and you can avail yourself of:  A whole body scan, radiation therapy, a free breast or testicular exam, plus a bonus scope of the anal canal.  Obamacare for the rest of us.

[diesel driver]

You really need to avail hubby and yourself of the new preventative health screening offered by the TSA.  Just spend $69.00 for an anywhere ticket on Southwest and you can avail yourself of:  A whole body scan, radiation therapy, a free breast or testicular exam, plus a bonus scope of the anal canal.  Obamacare for the rest of us.

Oh, hell, THAT'S FUNNY!   

[Freeper]

Hell if you happen to need chemo just go to the airport and get screened a few thousand times.
 

[BlueStateSaint]

You really need to avail hubby and yourself of the new preventative health screening offered by the TSA.  Just spend $69.00 for an anywhere ticket on Southwest and you can avail yourself of:  A whole body scan, radiation therapy, a free breast or testicular exam, plus a bonus scope of the anal canal.  Obamacare for the rest of us.

 

H5!

[jukin]

Now wait, the smartest president in the history of the universe told us that insurance premiums would go down by 3000% and everyone would get a raise.

Bottom line is that every employee plan will see an increase in premiums percentage wise higher than the last five years.  Every plan will have an increase in deductible and co-pays.  Also all medical devices are now subject to a special tax, special taxes do not make the price of anything go down. Your Medicare tax has gone up almost 35%. It was not a health care bill it was a tax bill.

P.S. Where are the 400,000 immediate jobs upon passing the HellCare bill that Nazi Pelosi bragged about?

HellCare was a lie wrapped in a grift surrounded by a con.

[Freeper]

Now wait, the smartest president in the history of the universe told us that insurance premiums would go down by 3000% and everyone would get a raise.

Bottom line is that every employee plan will see an increase in premiums percentage wise higher than the last five years.  Every plan will have an increase in deductible and co-pays.  Also all medical devices are now subject to a special tax, special taxes do not make the price of anything go down. Your Medicare tax has gone up almost 35%. It was not a health care bill it was a tax bill.

P.S. Where are the 400,000 immediate jobs upon passing the HellCare bill that Nazi Pelosi bragged about?

HellCare was a lie wrapped in a grift surrounded by a con.

I think he meant they will go up by 3000% and we will need a raise just to pay for it.

[true_blood]

The $774 is for hubby and I both, and in NJ the insurance companies are allowed to raise rates 16% per year, by the time Obama's "your insurance is going to go down $2,500" goes into effect? we'll be paying maybe $2,000 a month? oh yeah, that Obamacare is awesome!

Man, that sucks. I pay for myself, but that "may" be coming to an end soon. 16% is a HUGE jump. Good luck BG.