Free Republic

ORLANDO, Fla. - Many people signing up for health care in Florida through the Affordable Care Act have been shocked when they have to give proof of their credit score before they finish the process. Anne Packham, one of many people licensed by the state to help people navigate the government's website, said on Tuesday that the credit check occurs so providers can make an educated decision about who to insure.

How many Americans are being smashed by these same sort of crushing financial blows because of Obamacare? Across North Carolina, thousands of people have been shocked in recent weeks to find out their health insurance plans will be canceled at the end of the year – and premiums for comparable coverage could increase sharply. One of them is George Schwab of Charlotte, who pays $228 a month for his family’s $10,000 deductible plan from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. In a Sept. 23 letter, Blue Cross notified him that his current plan doesn’t meet benefit requirements outlined...

On Thursday, the government's official Obamacare Facebook page was riddled with people expressing sticker shock over the government's high cost premiums after struggling for hours to wade through the technical failures vexing Obamacare exchanges all across the country. "I am so disappointed," wrote one woman. "These prices are outrageous and there are huge deductibles. No one can afford this!" The comment received 169 "likes." "There is NO WAY I can afford it," said one commenter after using the Kaiser Subsidy Calculator. "Heck right now I couldn't afford an extra 10$ [sic] a month...and oh apparently I make to [sic] much...

â–¶ Obamacare causes healthcare premiums for Kentucky family to triple to nearly $1000 PER MONTH - YouTube

Todd Blome's phone has been ringing off the hook this week with clients seeking tax advice after learning they'll get a "shocking increase" in their health insurance premiums when Obamacare's health insurance exchanges begin operating. Letters have been landing in mailboxes all over Nebraska explaining the impact Obamacare will have on people who buy insurance coverage on their own, rather than through work. Blome, a Lincoln accountant, understands: He got a letter, too. Blue Cross Blue Shield Nebraska informed Blome his health care plan will terminate at year's end, and if he wants to move to a similar plan his...

With new health insurance markets launching next week, the Obama administration is unveiling premiums and plan choices for 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead to cover uninsured residents. Before tax credits that work like an upfront discount for most consumers, sticker-price premiums for a mid-range benchmark plan will average $328 a month nationally for an individual, comparable to payments for a new car. The overview of premiums and plan choices, released Wednesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, comes as the White House swings into full campaign mode to promote the benefits of the...

What this means for a typical family of four $621 billion is a pretty eye-glazing number. Most readers will find it easier to think about how this number translates to a typical American family—the very family candidate Obama promised would see $2,500 in annual savings as far as the eye could see. So I have taken the latest year-by-year projections, divided by the projected population and multiplied the result by 4. Simplistic? Maybe, but so too was the President’s campaign promise. And this approach allows us to see just how badly that promise fell short of the mark. Between 2014...

Last week, Nebraskans discovered that insurance premiums would rise as much as 143%, thanks to the mandates in ObamaCare that will take effect in January. This week it’s Wisconsin’s turn. The local Fox affiliate reports that premiums will rise in every age category by at least a third, and that some coverage could increase as much as 125%, thanks to ObamaCare (via the Weekly Standard): The state’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance released estimates of how premium rates for individuals will change under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Those reflect increases from 10% on the low end...

Regardless of how we structure the financing of health care -- mandatory private insurance in the Affordable Care Act, government-run single-payer, vouchers, or our current muddle -- we are going to face the challenge that the cost of health care itself will rise faster than national output, the general price level and median household incomes. This means that spending on health will take up a larger portion of resources, both at the national and household levels. snip We have a muddled system of health care delivery that is part free market and part regulated. One of the market aspects is...

The average employer-provided family health insurance premiums have climbed $2,976 since 2009, according to an annual Kaiser Family Foundation survey released this week. They're up $3,671 compared with the year before President Obama took office. That's despite Obama's repeated promises that the health care reform law he championed would cut premiums by $2,500 in his first term. And while annual premium increases have moderated over the past two years, that's due to trends in the insurance market largely unrelated to ObamaCare, and trends the law could actually reverse.

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) is fully enforced on individuals and families next year, a middle-aged, middle-class couple with three children could be hit with a $9,355 hike in their annual health insurance premiums if their annual household income happens to increase by just $1. Under ACA, all Americans are required to secure health insurance. Those who do not get it through their employer can buy it through government-run health insurance exchanges, which the law requires to be set up in every state. People buying their Obamacare-mandated health coverage through these exchanges will be eligible...

Expecting to get a raise next year? It could be eaten up by your health care bill. In an effort to meet the affordability requirement of the Affordable Care Act, which kicks in next year and requires that workers spend no more than 9.5% of their income on premiums, more employers are turning to insurance plans in which premiums vary based on a person’s salary, rather than having all workers pay a flat rate. That way, employees who make more money pay bigger premiums. Some 12% of companies used salary-based premiums in 2012, up from 10% in 2011, according to...

Dozens of lawmakers and aides are so afraid that their health insurance premiums will skyrocket next year thanks to Obamacare that they are thinking about retiring early or just quitting... The fear: Government-subsidized premiums will disappear at the end of the year under a provision in the health care law that nudges aides and lawmakers onto the government health care exchanges, which could make their benefits exorbitantly expensive... If the issue isn’t resolved, and massive numbers of lawmakers and aides bolt, many on Capitol Hill fear it could lead to a brain drain just as Congress tackles a slew of...

Health Care Reform: President Obama went to California last week to declare ObamaCare is working just as planned. If he means it was intended to dramatically hike insurance costs, he´s got that right. As ObamaCare´s launch date draws closer, a picture is emerging as to how it will affect insurance premiums. And that is increasingly one of sky-high premiums resulting from the law´s market regulations, benefit mandates, taxes and fees. Late last week, Ohio´s Department of Insurance revealed that, thanks to ObamaCare, the average premium in that state´s individual market will be 88% higher next year...

Well, it’s been an interesting week in health care land. For a while now, independent analysts—and conservative critics—have raised concerns that Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of individually-purchased health insurance for healthier people. This would, of course, contradict President Obama’s promises that “if you like your plan, you can keep it” and that the cost of insurance would go down “by $2,500 per family per year.” What’s new is that liberal columnists, facing reality, are conceding that premiums will go up for most people in the individual market. But they’re justifying it by saying that “rate shock” will help...

The good news is health care costs are going up more slowly. The bad news is that families continue to see larger medical bills. The typical cost to cover a family of four now exceeds $22,000, including the amount paid in insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs, according to the latest Milliman Medical Index for 2013. Milliman, an actuarial and benefits consultant, puts the cost at slightly less than the amount a family might pay to send a child to an in-state public college for a year. This year’s increase over last was only 6.3 percent, according to the analysis from...

Obama: Premiums Will Decrease 3000% So You Should Get A Raise When H'care Is Passed

Health Costs: Americans were promised that ObamaCare would make their health care more affordable. But a pair of studies show the new system has done nothing to lower health costs and will sharply raise them. Between 2009 and 2011, U.S. health spending rose just 3.9% a year, the lowest annual gains in decades. The Obama administration was quick to claim credit for the slowdown, with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying ObamaCare had "contributed to the slowest sustained growth in health spending in 50 years." But two new studies make it clear that ObamaCare wasn't behind the slowdown...

A recent uptick in health care costs could start ballooning some insurance premiums for Minnesota workers this summer. Medica, one of the state's three largest health insurers, is seeking an average rate increase of 13 percent for about 5,000 people covered through their small-business employers when they renew policies in July. If approved by state regulators, the proposed increase could affect future premiums for an additional 65,000 people in small-business accounts with the Minnetonka-based health insurer. Medica covers about one-fourth of the state's "small group" market -- meaning small businesses with 50 or fewer employees -- and the actual premium...

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has already admitted that the "affordable" in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" is something of a misnomer, to say the least, and with all of the hidden costs and complexities the law's implementation is slowly but surely revealing, Democrats have every reason to be nervous. As Josh Kraushaar put it at NJ: While the debate over ObamaÂ’s health care law isnÂ’t a life-or-death battle, health care affects voter livelihood (and their voting decisions) like few other issues do. And there are clear signs that if premiums go up, businesses are forced...