New Bill Would Raise Rates, Says Insurance Group

[Chris_]

New Bill Would Raise Rates, Says Insurance Group

After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday with a report warning that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected.

The critique, coming one day before a critical Senate committee vote on the legislation, sparked a sharp response from the Obama administration. It also signaled an end to the fragile detente between two central players in this year's health-care reform drama.

Industry officials said they intend to circulate the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Capitol Hill and promote it in new advertisements. That could complicate Democratic hopes for action on the legislation this week.

*snip*

"The report makes clear that several major provisions in the current legislative proposal will cause health care costs to increase far faster and higher than they would under the current system," Karen Ignagni, AHIP's president and chief executive, wrote to board members Sunday. "Between 2010 and 2019 the cumulative increases in the cost of a typical family policy under this reform proposal will be approximately $20,700 more than it would be under the current system."

At the heart of the argument is whether the Finance Committee bill does enough to draw young, healthy people into the insurance risk pool. By postponing and reducing penalties on people who do not sign up for health insurance, industry analysts predict it would attract less-healthy patients who would drive up costs.

"Market reform enacted in the absence of universal coverage will increase costs dramatically for many who are currently insured by creating a powerful incentive for people to wait until they are sick to purchase coverage," the authors of the report wrote.

Improving healthcare and reducing costs have never been the goal.  Expanded government control is what they want more than anything else.

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[Deuce]

Improving healthcare and reducing costs have never been the goal.  Expanded government control is what they want more than anything else.

MORE

This is what I keep talking about. The bill looks decent in theory, but when you crunch the numbers its going to leave health insurance unaffordable and still forced upon you. The subsidies are too weak to help out people in a certain range of income - a range that covers a significant part of the population.

The very poor will be helped. Everyone else gets screwed to varying degrees.

(to clarify: medicaid gets extended to 133% of the poverty level. that will help the very poor)

[Carl]

This is what I keep talking about. The bill looks decent in theory, but when you crunch the numbers its going to leave health insurance unaffordable and still forced upon you. The subsidies are too weak to help out people in a certain range of income - a range that covers a significant part of the population.

The very poor will be helped. Everyone else gets screwed to varying degrees.

(to clarify: medicaid gets extended to 133% of the poverty level. that will help the very poor)

The result will be an expanded government program...single payer and complete control over a persons well being in exchange for votes.
That is what the dems want.

[Deuce]

I'm really starting to think it might come to that. If enough people are drowning in high premiums, they'll start begging for the heroic government to save them from the terrible, terrible burden that is healthcare.

[Hawkgirl]

The result will be an expanded government program...single payer and complete control over a persons well being in exchange for votes.
That is what the dems want.

This is precisely Obama's and the democrat's goal.  Single payer and we won't need a "public option" clause because it will be the only "option".  Wait for your tax bracket to include new numbers if this gets passed....and with the CURRENT democratic majority, it will.  They know it's now or never and I have a sinking feeling it will get passed before the midterm elections in 010.

[Deuce]

This is precisely Obama's and the democrat's goal.  Single payer and we won't need a "public option" clause because it will be the only "option".  Wait for your tax bracket to include new numbers if this gets passed....and with the CURRENT democratic majority, it will.  They know it's now or never and I have a sinking feeling it will get passed before the midterm elections in 010.

There is the saving grace of the so-called "Blue Dog" democrats. The supermajority is not strong - they're counting independents and there are a few somewhat conservative democrats to contend with. Even a single democrat (or independent) vote swinging the other way makes room for a filibuster. And they are divided. Some want a public option, some don't. Some want single-payer, many don't. Some want a bipartisan solution, some want to say "screw the other half of the population!"

Watch it all come down to Lieberman. 

[rich_t]

The bill looks decent in theory

Like hell it does.

 

[bkg]

I find it funny as fawk that anyone would find this article/study anything but factual. The Baucus, or however you spell his name, bill would tax me 40% on my health insurance. I figure that's somewhere between $5 and $8 THOUSAND dollars a year out of my pocket.   Sure as hell didn't make anything cheaper for me. 

[rich_t]

I find it funny as fawk that anyone would find this article/study anything but factual. The Baucus, or however you spell his name, bill would tax me 40% on my health insurance. I figure that's somewhere between $5 and $8 THOUSAND dollars a year out of my pocket.   Sure as hell didn't make anything cheaper for me. 

The revolution be a coming me thinks.

[DumbAss Tanker]

A Government plan to 'Reduce the costs' in a sector where the Government does not have any control over either the demand or the supply quickly boils down to a question of 'Reduced for whom, and at the expense of increasing what other people's costs to pay for it?'