Free Republic

Health Reform: Looks like ObamaCare premiums will skyrocket for many next year. So what do Democrats propose? New insurance mandates that will drive premiums up even higher. Which one is the stupid party again?

In July of 2009, as the Obamacare debate was heating up, Gallup published a survey indicating that 83 percent of Americans wanted health care reform to make their health insurance more affordable. Now, more than five years after the President’s “signature domestic achievement” was passed, health insurance premiums are higher than ever. And it’s obvious that Obamacare is a major driver of the increase. The Wall Street Journal reports that insurers are proposing rate increases ranging from 25 to 51 percent for 2016. Why? “All of them cite high medical costs incurred by people newly enrolled under the Affordable Care....

While premium filings aren’t expected from the federal government until next month, a report from The Wall Street Journal released Thursday provides a snapshot of preliminary 2016 rate filings from health insurance market leaders in 11 states. The figures represent average increases in premiums proposed by the largest carriers in each state that has made requests public. A separate report from the Associated Press notes that the largest carrier in South Dakota has proposed a 42.9 percent increase in premiums in the individual market. Increases are subject to review by the states and will be finalized in the fall.

Despite fury from lawmakers the day before, Colorado’s health exchange board voted on Thursday to collect millions of additional dollars from all Colorado health insurance customers, even those who have nothing to do with the exchange. On top of that “broad market assessment,” the board also voted to more than double the user fees levied on people who buy insurance through Colorado’s exchange. .. The higher broad market fee is projected to allow Connect for Health Colorado to scoop up about about $20 million in 2016. It has been set at $1.25 per member per month on all health insurance...

In a news story titled “Nearly half of Obamacare exchanges are struggling over their future,” The Washington Post reports the following: Nearly half of the 17 insurance marketplaces set up by the states and the District under President Obama’s health law are struggling financially, presenting state officials with an unexpected and serious challenge five years after the passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act. Many of the online exchanges are wrestling with surging costs, especially for balky technology and expensive customer-call centers — and tepid enrollment numbers. To ease the fiscal distress, officials are considering raising fees on insurers, sharing...

With Senate Bill 248 the Michigan Legislature is attempting to address a number of problems with the auto insurance market in the state. Michigan’s no-fault system creates misaligned incentives, resulting in auto insurance rates that are among the highest in the nation. There is also a larger question of why we treat severe injuries from car accidents differently than we treat the similar injuries from other types of accidents. The unlimited personal injury protection provision in the current no-fault system creates an incentive to provide very expensive care, rather than provide affordable and effective treatment aimed at quickly restoring the...

In 49 states, there are basically two options for public health insurance programs: Medicaid for the very poor, and subsidized private health insurance on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges for everyone else. Minnesota is the exception. Unlike every other state, it has a third option in the middle: MinnesotaCare. Created in the 1990s, MinnesotaCare covers people who earn too much money for Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid program) but not enough to qualify for MNsure, the state's health insurance exchange.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration hoped to boost ObamaCare sign-ups by offering a special enrollment period for millions who didn't know about the individual mandate penalty until they filed their taxes. They'd have until the end of April to buy a plan and avoid paying an even bigger ObamaCare penalty when they file taxes next year. At least one outside observer expected as many as 1.2 million to sign up.

Dear XXXXXXX: Thank you for taking the time to contact me about health insurance premiums and the Affordable Care Act. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Over the next several years, the Affordable Care Act will extend health insurance coverage to an additional 30 million Americans, ensuring that 95 percent of our Nation has access to quality, affordable care. I recognize that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, and that some changes may need to be made. However, I believe that this law reflects our Nation’s commitment to ensuring access to health care for all Americans. One...

A Belgian insurance company has refused to insure a Jewish kindergarten in Brussels. The company claimed the risk of a terror attack on the European Jewish Association-run institution was too high. EJA General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin called on all European governments and heads of European Union institutions to provide security to all Jewish institutions that would satisfy insurance companies, and establish an alternative insurance mechanism that would secure any institution that might fall victim to anti-Semitic attacks.

College professors and students keep suffering unexpected costly ObamaCare side effects. First, colleges started rolling back faculty hours to avoid the employer mandate, a development the American Association of Association of University Professors called "reprehensible." Then Harvard professors complained when the college hiked their insurance costs because of "health care reform." Now colleges are starting to dump their student insurance plans because of ObamaCare.

For the first time, a majority of taxpayers will have to check a box on their tax return attesting they have health insurance either through their job or Medicare or Medicaid. But what happens if they miss it, which can easily happen on the complex form? The Internal Revenue Service told the Washington Examiner it will not penalize anyone who has insurance but neglected to check the box. However, a taxpayer may be asked by the agency if they have health insurance if their return is flagged during a routine check. "The IRS routinely follows-up on the accuracy and completeness...

Franz Kafka lives. Except even this spinner of tales of helpless victims of faceless bureaucracies might not have imagined a situation where a law-abiding citizen faces a fine for failing to take an action his government prohibits him from performing.

All the ads I get say .. 125% of premiums in first two years

ObamaCare is supposed to be good for the nation. President Obama just said so again this week in his remarks celebrating the law's 5th anniversary. Yet at every turn, he and his fellow Democrats — who crafted the law and rammed it through Congress — keep trying to delay many of its key features out of fear that they will harm businesses, hurt individuals or cost them politically.

There is a way out. The path to freedom is available -- and increasingly possible as Obamacare opposition grows and support for repeal increases. Here is a starter package of much-needed policy changes: ⦁ Repeal every word of Obamacare, including the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions. ⦁ Refuse to legalize Obama’s illegal subsidies if King wins King v. Burwell. ⦁ Refuse to build a state exchange no matter who wins King v. Burwell. ⦁ Restore access to indemnity (catastrophic) policies – true health insurance ⦁ Offer individual insurance pre-birth, with ownership linked to the baby. ⦁ Encourage ownership of insurance...

Last month my brother-in-law passed unexpectedly from a massive heart attack. He appeared to be in good shape, he worked out and even had is annual physical a week prior to his passing. He had just purchased a house that he was going to remodel and had a really good job. He was 46 years old. Far too young to be leaving us by our standards. He was loved. The good news is that I know he was a Christian. Perhaps not the ideal but he was a baptized believer in Christ. I know in my heart that he is...

President Obama has talked a lot in recent months about how health care inflation has moderated in recent years, and he always manages to credit ObamaCare for the result. But there is rampant inflation in one part of the health care system, and ironically enough it involves ObamaCare premiums.

That's $20M a stem... Much like how Fred Astaire took-out a policy on his legendary dancin' legs for $75K a pop -and national treasure Dolly Parton hedged her ginormous, iconic boobs for $600K (for the set)- contemporary pop star Taylor Swift has now insured her own (Grade-A) legs for a cool $40M. And although her music is not entirely my cup of tea, I've heard worse (plus she's actually a songwriter- I respect that). Alas, they might have guessed a bit light on the legs appraisal- seems to have become her trademark already, and no doubt more than a minor element of...

Obamacare exchange customers could see a significant spike in their premiums over the next few years as insurers face pressures from both the government and the marketplace, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday in a new analysis finding Obamacare is both cheaper and less comprehensive than predicted. The CBO said the exchanges and other new medical coverage under the Affordable Care Act will cost the government slightly more than half a trillion dollars over the next five years, which is about $200 billion less than than the $710 billion projected when the law was enacted in 2010. Some of that...