Anthem Healthkeepers, with 190,000 enrollees in Virginia, is filing for an average 15.8% hike in its 2017 Affordable Care Act premiums.
Innovation Health, with 61,000 enrollees, is seeking a 9.4% increase.
United Health, with 6,900 members, wants a 17.9% increase.
The overall weighted average increase request in Virginia, according to Investors Business Daily, is 17.9%.
I thought the cost curve for health care was supposed to bend downward, not upward.
–JAB
(comments below)
(comments below)
“I thought the cost curve for health care was supposed to bend downward, not upward.” Like higher education?
the thing is…
when people who don’t have insurance – buy it – that means they go to a doctor instead of the ER for their care -and taxpayers don’t have to pay for the ER.
that does not happen overnight….
and right now – Obamacare is still dealing with some of the SAME issues that employer-provided is – and that is that the younger and healthier will forgo buying insurance – even if they have to pay a penalty.
” Many See I.R.S. Penalties as More Affordable Than Insurance”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/us/many-see-irs-fines-as-more-affordable-than-insurance.html?_r=0
we’re seeing this with Obamacare but we’re also starting to see this with the younger folks even if they have access to employer-provided … they turn it down.
the truth is – than both with ObamaCare – and Employer-provided – the younger and healthier are paying for the older and sicker.
And more and more younger workers are finding health insurance – whether it’s Obamacare of Employer-provided a big bite .
they can pay for a cool car for what health insurance costs.
they can pay off their college loans for what health insurance costs.
they can save up for a house – for what health insurance costs.
Consider also – that many milliners also end up working in the gig economy – as independent contractors for which the employer does not provide health insurance – and at tax time such workers end up owing not only taxes on their income but FICA taxes – 15.3% such that many such workers end up owing about 1/2 of their earned income – in taxes… – at tax time.
This year – many will choose to pay the 325 penalty for not having insurance – and because they do – those that do buy Obamacare – are the ones that really need it – and ..use it.
Next year – the penalty will be $625 or 2.5% of income – and that will cause some of them to re-think not having insurance.. it is – “believed”.
The folks who don’t need health insurance – the young and healthy are not “believers” that they need it. And they’re simply not going to buy it unless “coerced” just like they are with car insurance.
one “simple” visit to the ER with a messed up knee can cost 15-30K these days but the young and healthy do not appreciate this cost and at the same time KNOW they CAN show up at the ER – and get the very same care that insured with get – and not have to pay a penny – at the time they receive care.
them’s the facts.
The ACA should be amended to phase out the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMALTA) over some reasonable period of time. This would have the practical effect of pushing more young people to buy some form of health insurance. Treatment beyond an appropriate medical screening examination (MSE) is already not covered by the law.
The ACA should also allow people to purchase less comprehensive insurance plans, such as major medical. These two changes would encourage more people to have insurance coverage.
the thing about the ACA is that there IS already :
” If you are under 30 or obtained a “hardship exemption” you qualify for a high deductible, low premium, catastrophic plan. Catastrophic health plans are the cheapest plan you can get that counts as minimum essential coverage. However, catastrophic plans trade a low premium for very high out-of-pocket costs.”
http://obamacarefacts.com/health-insurance/catastrophic-plans/
Even Bronze Plans can be had for as little as $50 a month – but they only cover preventative care and catastrophic coverage when out of pocket hits 6,000 or so.
But then the critics hit that also – claiming that people are not getting any benefits because of the high deductibles.
so it’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t
I’m 100% “okay” to see ANY GOP alternative proposal -let’s have that competition and if the GOP end up offering something better than Obamacare then so be it.
But what you’re going to find is that as long as there is Employer-provided that people without it are at risk and if they do not have access to some kind of insurance they can afford -they will just go bare and rely on EMTALA to guarantee that they can go to the ER anytime they want – get care – and worry about money later.
There is a LOT of disinformation about the ACA.
There are a TON of exemptions to having to have health insurance.
Most folks who earn less than 15K in Virginia are exempt from ObamaCare.
that means they rely on the ERs and that, in turn, means less people in the insurance pools to help spread out risk and costs.
Again – if he GOP has a better plan – then lets do it. But we have to see their plan first.
This stupid stuff of attacking Ocare without an alternative of their own is hypocritical.
Larry, let’s talk about one narrow point now – realizing there are many more issues. Wouldn’t a phase-out of EMTALA over a reasonable period of time give an economic incentive for younger people to purchase some form of authorized health insurance?
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