Posted on 05/25/2016 7:51:08 AM PDT by xzins
The Department of Health and Human Services insists that the Affordable Care Act not only expanded health insurance to many more Americans, but it also "made everyone's insurance better."
But some Republicans are asking, what good is the health insurance if sky-high deductibles mean you never get to use it?
The Democrats' Affordable Care Act is a mandate -- "not to get care, but to get coverage," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said on Tuesday.
"And many people are finding the coverage is not at all of value to them because they can't get care. Either...their doctors don't take Obamacare or the deductibles are so high that they're never able to get to the insurance," Barrasso told a news conference.
"The president may call this a victory for the American people. I think this is something the president should not be proud of at all."
Barrasso noted that on Wednesday, Healthcare.gov will start reporting the 2017 premium increases for Obamacare policies sold on the exchanges.
"The news is not good for the American public," Barrasso said.
"We're seeing numbers in New Hampshire above 40 percent increases; in New York, above 40 percent increases; in New Mexico, where Blue Cross-Blue Shield of New Mexico pulled out a year ago, they're talking about coming back in, but only if they can get a rate increase of over 80 percent.
"So, the people that can still get their insurance, they may be the lucky ones in the sense that so many people are no longer even able to get the insurance they've had.
"Obamacare is a sinking ship. When you take a look at the companies around the country selling insurance, about 25 percent were able to make money last year. And the only way they did it is because they set the deductible so high that for people who had that insurance, the deductibles were so high that they never actually got to the point where they used the insurance. They were just paying out of pocket all the way through.
Barrasso noted that in Idaho, the most commonly sold "silver" plan is considering deductibles of $6,850. "If you have insurance with a deductible of $6,850, is there any chance you're actually going to get to use that insurance?" he asked.
"President Obama went on the attack years ago before the health care law was passed talking about junk insurance. But what most people are finding on the Obamacare exchanges is exactly what President Obama is making them buy."
>The vicious advanced 30 years and now costs are astronomical because of this self-feeding greed.
Ummm, this didn’t happen w/out the help of one party: GOVT.
MediXYZ & more ‘tax tweaks’...all to ‘help’ the Citizen.
Same w/ ‘employer provided h-insurance’ (now mandated).
Need to get the govt OUT 1st (no mandates, no ‘must-cover’, no coercion, no bail-outs, no welfare, etc.). Let the Free Market return.
“Obamacare Deductibles So High, No One Gets to Use the Insurance”
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature...
Yeah.
People like me SAID THIS before Obamacare was passed.
And we were laughed at, made fun of and called racists.
Don’t forget that before it was Obamacare, it was known as Hillarycare.
With a high deductible plan, patients are paying for most of their care unless the costs are catastrophic.
Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for outpatient clinics and physicians to accept high deductible 0-care insurance. Only hospitals and hospital groups benefit from accepting 0-care.
Moreover, when patients get to the point where they would exceed the deductible, very often their illness has caused a drastic life change that results in unemployment which would qualify that person for Medicaid. IOW, catastrophic health insurance is typically unnecessary for most people.
For many, it’s $10,000 deductibles. The American people may not as whole even know what a deductible is.
Can't say that I've seen any Bronze plans with in network deductibles that high. However, if one gets hit with an out of network deductible it could very well exceed $10K...
I’ve wondered about that.
How did Barasso vote? Is he up for reelection this year?
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