Posted on 07/05/2015 3:08:32 PM PDT by Iron Munro
The Affordable Care Act has weathered its share of punches in recent weeks, including a Supreme Court challenge that could have led to its unraveling.
Its next bout could hit consumers in the pocketbook.
In Florida, several big-name insurance providers — including Aetna, Cigna, Coventry and United Healthcare — have already proposed double-digit rate increases for individual health insurance plans, federal records show.
The figures are not final, and they represent only a slice of the plans available on the individual insurance market. (Companies requesting single-digit hikes don't have to publish their rates until later in the year.) But experts are confident they'll see an upward trend, in Florida and nationwide.
"There are reasons to believe the premiums are going to be higher in 2016," said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Affordable Care Act has long been plagued by threats of rate increases.
In September, a Republican Party of Florida television ad claimed rates had shot up more than 30 percent in Florida since President Barack Obama's signature law took hold — a claim rated mostly false by PolitiFact Florida.
There's no denying that health care costs are rising, particularly when it comes to prescription medication. And as costs rise, premiums rise.
But the increases so far have been more modest than what was originally anticipated. Last year, the average premium for a 40-year-old nonsmoking Floridian with a silver plan ticked up 1.8 percent, or about $5, according to a Kaiser analysis.
Next year likely will be different.
In 2014 and 2015, companies set their premiums based on estimates of how many people would enroll. Now, with a full year of data on enrollees and claims, many of those insurers will have to adjust their rates upward.
"A number of insurers found that their enrollees were sicker than they expected, and that's driven premiums up," Levitt said.
What's more, the federal government is phasing out funding that helped offset insurers' losses as they adjusted to the new regulations. The pot of money was $10 billion in 2014 and $6 billion in 2015. It will shrink to $4 billion in 2016 before disappearing entirely, putting additional pressure on insurance companies to raise rates.
In Florida, Aetna is seeking the largest average rate hike for its ACA plans: 21 percent.
About 36,000 policyholders would be affected, according to company filings.
When asked what was driving the increases, Aetna spokesman Rohan Hutchings pointed out that health care spending was expected to jump from $2.9 trillion in 2013 to $5 trillion in 2022.
"The rates that we are filing simply reflect the costs of health care, including the cost of services, the amount of services people will receive and an increase in pharmaceutical costs," he said in a statement.
Cigna and United Healthcare asked for average increases of 13 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
Cigna spokesman Joe Mondy said the pricing was based on multiple factors, including "our customers' full-year 2014 clinical experience and claims payments" and "factors such as the phase-out of the government reinsurance program and expectations on the changing risk pool in 2016."
United Healthcare, which covers about 143,000 Floridians under the ACA, declined to comment.
The rate changes won't be the same for everyone. Most will differ based on the type of plan, where in Florida the consumer lives and whether he or she smokes. An estimated 45,700 consumers covered by Cigna, for example, could see their premiums dip by as much as 2.6 percent — or spike as much as 38.3 percent, according to company filings.
What's more, the numbers could change before the fall. Beginning this year, the state Office of Insurance Regulation can challenge proposed changes.
Some companies, including the state's largest health insurer, Florida Blue, have not disclosed any information about their 2016 rates because they are not proposing large increases.
Explained Florida Blue spokesman Paul Kluding: "Since we filed them as trade secret with the (Office of Insurance Regulation), we cannot publicly discuss (them) until all rates are revealed."
But some Florida Blue customers will have to pay more for a different reason.
As of Wednesday, the insurer discontinued its low-cost Go Blue plans, which provided few benefits beyond preventative care. The plans did not comply with the ACA, but had been "grand-fathered in" two years ago after Obama told consumers they could keep their health plans.
A few thousand consumers were affected by the change, Kluding said.
"It was time to discontinue and offer new, ACA-compliant plans to these members," he said. "We did our best to match cost and benefit levels to available plans, but Go Blue plans were low-cost products. And given minimum benefits that are required in the ACA plans, some will have to pay more than they currently do."
Michael Palin of New Port Richey had been paying $79 a month for his wife's Go Blue plan. He was recently told a new ACA-compliant plan would cost between $400 and $700 a month, he said.
The Palins are now considering going without coverage.
"If something comes up, for right now, we'll just go ahead and try to work out a payment plan," Palin said.
For most Tampa Bay area health insurance consumers, the potential for rate increases isn't a surprise.
"The way things are going, everything is costing more," said Trish Page, a 61-year-old Realtor from Treasure Island.
But Page said an increase would put a serious strain on her monthly budget. She already pays $1,100 a month for a Florida Blue platinum plan that covers her prescriptions and has no deductible.
"I would have to cut back on my grocery budget and start car sharing," she said.
Page may also shop around for another plan — something she conceded would be time-consuming given the amount of research she did when selecting her current plan.
That's not the case for Scott Sumner, a 62-year-old Redington Beach resident. Sumner said he would stick with his plan even if the rates shot up 30 percent.
Before the Affordable Care Act, Sumner's insurance premiums topped $500 a month. He now pays $264 a month for an Assurant plan with low co-pays, he said.
"The truth is, health care is getting more sophisticated and more complicated, and that makes it more expensive," Sumner said. "I'm very happy with Obamacare. It's a blessing."
That should more than cover any upcoming rate increase in Obamacare.
/s
The EXEMPT, who forced this destruction of health care
on America (DNC) and their enablers/liars (GOP),
remain EXEMPT and entitled to Kennedy-level health
care (by helicopter between 10 states).
Also EXEMPT are the families, SCOTUS, and all their
Staff.
EXEMPT.
Above all law (to the degree there is any, anymore)
People who don’t qualify for subsidies will see increases AND will pay the increases for the free loaders.
Nice plan for the obamites
No doubt these insurers made apple pie and sunny day predictions of lots of young healthy new customers that paid their premiums and never got sick. (Pressured to do so by the Obama administration)
But any reasonable semi-intelligent young person would rather pay the tax (penalty) than buy an expensive policy that they don’t need.
So naturally these insurance companies have been bitten in the buttocks by reality and now must adjust their policy premiums upward to compensate for the realities of the market as it exist rather than the artificial reality that the Democrats dream of in their socialist philosophy.
You voted for it America - so **** off and enjoy it. :)
Finally, Americans will be as healthy as Cubans./s
Insurers decide what care you get, not doctors.
This alone should have had millions blanketing the streets with torches and pitchforks. And NOBODY paying.
This, on top of transporting in hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated illegals who’s first order of business is to get that anchor baby taken care of, will create an untenable situation.
But that was the diabolical plan all along.
Yeah, ask Michael Moron how wonderful the Cuban healthcare system is.
So, the government forces you to have insurance and then, when the rates get too high, a person has to drop coverage.
They are then forced to pay a tax.
Part of that tax is used to pay for healthcare for Democrat voters. The other part of that money is to pay Democrat-voting government employees.
How is this any different than a protection racket by organized crime?
Tampa Bay Times used to be St. Petersburg Times...as in Soviet Union...St. Petersburg
But any reasonable semi-intelligent young person would rather pay the tax (penalty) than buy an expensive policy that they don’t need.
Once called "Pravda On The Bay".
But no longer as Pravda now has more credibility and less bias.
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