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Lawrence Basich is on the hook for $400,000 in medical bills that would have been paid by his insurer had his application been processed correctly by Nevada’s Obamacare exchange. In a closely-watched class-action lawsuit now gathering steam, Mr. Basich is one of two named plaintiffs in the suit against the state-run exchange — and the company that built it — that claims thousands of residents paid for health insurance, but never got covered because of technical glitches on the portal. The suit may be the first since the Obamacare rollout that pits actual consumers against both the state and its...

While the debate continues over how many ObamaCare enrollees are actually paying their premiums, one aspect of the law temporarily rewards those who actually stop paying – and doctors may wind up bearing the cost. “This law provides a 90-day grace period for people who have subsidized ObamaCare exchange plans and stopped paying their premium," said Betsy McCaughey, health care author and former New York lieutenant governor. But the insurance companies are only obligated to cover the first 30 days of the 90-day grace period

From the first Morning Jolt of the week: Whoops: Half of Georgia’s Insurance Enrollees Haven’t Paid Yet. This seems rather important: Georgia insurers received more than 220,000 applications for health coverage in the Affordable Care Act’s exchange as of the official federal deadline of March 31, state officials said Wednesday. Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, though, said premiums have been received for only 107,581 of those policies, which cover 149,465 people. “Many Georgians completed the application process by the deadline, but have yet to pay for the coverage,” Hudgens said in a statement Wednesday. Half? Half? Sure, the nonpayment rates will...

The Congressional Budget Office released a report this morning that has received a lot of attention from ObamaCare’s many staunch media advocates because it essentially concludes that the cost of expanding coverage through the exchanges will be billions less than the CBO was predicting just a couple of months ago. That’s great news for the president’s crowning legislative achievement, right? Health-insurance premiums for plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges will be lower than previously expected, according to a report released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.The findings, by Congress’s nonpartisan spending analysts, result largely from the fact that...

News about the disastrous implementation of Obamacare has become so widespread that, to be honest, we’re having a hard time keeping up with all of it. We’ve written extensively about the canceled plans that failed to meet Obamacare coverage requirements, and we’ve written about how Sen. Mark Udall tried to cover it all up. Now, we’re seeing reports that if you weren’t one of the unlucky souls whose small group plan was cancelled because of Obamacare, your premiums have likely increased by 29 percent instead. Colorado is among the top ten states seeing the biggest increases in health insurance premiums...

Bias: The media are cheering a survey that, they say, shows ObamaCare is working miracles. It shows nothing of the kind. Meanwhile, they're ignoring another report that finds ObamaCare-induced premium spikes. 'Millions More People Are Getting Health Insurance Because Of ObamaCare," screams a headline on the left-wing Huffington Post. Countless other major news outlets more or less echoed this line, calling it a big win for ObamaCare. They and others are all talking about a Rand Corp. survey that, in fact, finds no such thing.

LECLAIR: “We’ve heard from a lot of WHEC Facebook friends complaining that they will face a fine if they don’t sign up for health insurance. But many say they can’t afford the premiums or deductibles, and it would be cheaper to stay uninsured and pay the penalty. This free clinic at St. Josephs’ Neighborhood Center always has a steady stream of patients. The director says the Affordable Care Act will never put them out of business. Even though everyone is supposed to have insurance now and their own doctor, there will always be people who need care but can’t afford...

A leading healthcare expert poured cold water on the administration’s recent Obamacare enthusiasm, saying that three quarters of those signed up will face higher premiums than under their previous insurance. “Out of people that have signed up about three quarters will find premiums higher than previously with other insurance,” Dr. Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic said on Fox News Sunday. “Hospitals are going to be paid less for what they do,” Cosgrove continued. “And we also know insurers are paying less too. We have to become more efficient in how we deliver care which is a big changefor...

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration. The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015. ADVERTISEMENT The industry complaints come less than a week after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to downplay concerns about rising premiums in the healthcare sector. She told lawmakers rates would increase...

Doctors groups fear their members won’t get paid because of an unusual 90-day grace period for government-subsidized health plans and are urging physicians to check patients' insurance status before every visit. “This puts the physician and their patients in a very difficult situation,” said Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven, president of the American Medical Association (AMA), which advised physicians Wednesday about how to minimize their risk. “If a patient is being treated for a serious illness, that requires ongoing care,” she said. “The physician is having to assume the financial risk for this. That’s the bottom line.” If an enrollee in...

Remember how Barack Obama and Democrats promised to “bend the cost curve downward” with ObamaCare? Well, they got most of that promise correct. ObamaCare has bent the cost curve all right, but sharply upward — and in 2015, expect them to not just bend but absolutely “skyrocket,” according to The Hill: Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would...

Actual photograph of shocked woman speaking to ObamaCare "navigator" as posted on the front page The Hill (thehill.com). The front page links to its top story today by reporter Elise Viebeck: O-Care premiums to skyrocket Freeper Liz has posted a thread on the story that links to the front page headline on The Hill: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3134822/posts

Health insurance premiums have risen more after Obamacare than the average premium increases over the eight years before it became law, according to the private health exchange eHealthInsurance.The individual market for health insurance has seen premiums rise by 39 percent since February 2013, eHealth reports. Without a subsidy, the average individual premium is now $274 a month. Families have been hit even harder with an average increase of 56 percent over the same period — average premiums are now $663 per family, over $426 last year.Between 2005 and 2013, average premiums for individual plans increased 37 percent and average family...

EDITED Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the Obama administration. The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015. Political operatives will be watching premium increases this summer, most notably in states where there are contested Senate races. In Iowa, which hosts the first presidential caucus in the nation and has a...

With less than a month left to sign up for private insurance under the federal health care law, California's enrollment numbers are closing in on the magic number of 1 million as 8,000 people sign up every day. If only everyone would pay their premiums. Roughly 15 percent of the Californians who had enrolled by Jan. 31 still haven't sent in their first month's payment, according to four major health insurance companies participating in the Covered California exchange. So those lofty enrollment numbers could soon be dropping substantially.

HHS does not know how many of the people who signed up for Obamacare have followed through and paid their premiums, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a House panel this morning. “I can’t tell you because I don’t know that,” Sebelius told Rep. Tom Price at a Ways and Means Committee hearing on the agency’s budget.

In an official document, the Internal Revenue Service, the enforcer of Obamacare’s mandates, is estimating that the cheapest Obamacare plan (the Bronze level of coverage) will cost a family of four $20,000 per year. Matt Cover of CNS News writes: The IRS's assumption that the cheapest plan for a family will cost $20,000 per year is found in examples the IRS gives to help people understand how to calculate the penalty they will need to pay the government if they do not buy a mandated health plan. The examples point to families of four and families of five, both of...

In a colossal “oh by the way” revelation, last Friday afternoon the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (that would be the executive branch run by President Obama), quietly released a report exposing the fact that under Obamacare, two-thirds of Americans who work at small businesses will see their insurance premiums increase. So this report – which is more than two years late – says over 11 million American workers will have higher health insurance premiums because of Obamacare.

(CNSNews.com) – In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year. Under Obamacare, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS. The IRS's assumption that the cheapest plan for a family will cost $20,000 per year is found in examples the IRS gives to help people understand how to calculate the penalty they will need to pay the government if they do not buy a mandated health plan. The examples...

People buying coverage through the new health care exchanges in East Tennessee are paying nearly a third less than the national average and less than half what's being charged in the nation's most expensive markets, including South Georgia. A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation ranked Chattanooga and Knoxville among the 10 cheapest markets to purchase individual plans offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. A 40-year-old buying the most popular "silver" plan offered through BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee can get it for $181 a month, $78 a month less than the U.S. median price for...