Free Republic

A funny thing happened on the way to trying to figure out when a cost-control provision of the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) would be triggered. I discovered that virtually no one understands what the law means or how premium subsidies will grow over time — and it’s a near certainty that the confusion extends to the members of Congress who voted for it. Clearly, very few people are aware that Democrats tucked a cost-control provision into the final reconciliation act that would gradually shift a greater burden of premium payments to individuals.

If the health care law survives the current legal and political attacks, it will soon come up against the law of economics. Initially, individuals buying insurance via exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) will get subsidies that rise in line with premium cost growth. But, starting in 2019, individuals would have to shoulder an ever-greater share of premiums as cost curbs kick in if subsidies top 0.5% of GDP, as the Congressional Budget Office projects.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Workers at a circuit-board factory here just saw their health insurance premiums rise 20 percent. At Buddy Zaremba’s print shop nearby, the increase was 37 percent. And for engineers at the Woodland Design Group, they rose 43 percent. The new federal health care law may eventually “bend the cost curve” downward, as proponents argue. But for now, at many workplaces here, the rising cost of health care is prompting insurance premiums to skyrocket while coverage is shrinking. As Congress continues to debate the new health care law, health insurance costs are still rising, particularly for small businesses....

Regulatory uncertainty” is supposed to mean that businesses are reluctant to make investments because they are uncertain about what new regulations government will issue. With all the new health care and financial regulations coming out in the next year, there is a lot of lingering uncertainty. One thing government is not supposed to do is make uncertainty part of the regulation. Apparently Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Dept. of Health and Human Services failed to get that memo.

Many employees are receiving notices this month that their contribution to their health insurance premiums is increasing. But that’s not all they’re getting from the Democratic Congress: They can also expect higher tax withholding beginning January 1, thanks to the decision Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi made to leave town without voting on whether to let tax rates rise: Employers in the U.S. are starting to warn their workers to prepare for slimmer paychecks if Congress fails to vote on an extension of Bush-era tax cuts. “I’ve been doing payroll for probably close to 30 years now, and never have...

Over at the New Republic Jonathan Cohn is dismissing the Republicans’ efforts at repealing ObamaCare as “not serious.” In one post, he claims the following: It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums. It will lavish subsidies on the private insurance industry. It will put life-and-death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt. No, I am not talking about the health care reform law. I’m talking about the Republican proposals to repeal it. Actually, he is talking about the health care reform law.

WASHINGTON – Letting young adults stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26 will nudge premiums nearly 1 percent higher for employer plans, the government said in an estimate released Monday...

The attacks on insurance companies continue this morning, with Matt Drudge linking to the “Healthcare overhaul won’t stop premium increases” story at the Lost Angeles Times. Not once – not once – does the Times look into why the premiums are increasing. Free Republic readers are more likely to research this question, but will anybody in the main stream media research where 95 percent of premium increases come from? Learn more by reading the full post.

Young people will need to carry more of the burden of health care under the new health overhaul law. The new law limits an industry practice of charging older customers more.

CHICAGO (AP) - Health insurance premiums for young adults are expected to rise about 17 percent once they're required to buy insurance four years from now. That estimate is from an analysis by Rand Health. Young people will need to carry more of the burden of health care under the new health overhaul law. The new law limits an industry practice of charging older customers more. Even so, the pluses could outweigh the minuses. Some 2 million people under age 26 should qualify for coverage under their parents' health plans. And Medicaid expansion will insure 9 million more young adults.

WASHINGTON – Millions of seniors who signed up for popular private health plans through Medicare are facing sharp premium increases this year — another sign that spiraling costs are a problem even for those with solid insurance. A study released Friday by a major consulting firm found that premiums for Medicare Advantage plans offering medical and prescription drug coverage jumped 14.2 percent on average in 2010, after an increase of only 5.2 percent the previous year. Some 8.5 million elderly and disabled Americans are in the plans, which provide more comprehensive coverage than traditional Medicare, often at lower cost. ......

Premiums are key issue for health care negotiatorsPublished: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 4:12 AM CST WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama began work in earnest Tuesday on difficult issues still standing in the way of their national health care overhaul after months of tortuous debate. Topping the list: How to help Americans pay for insurance premiums. Republicans weren't invited, and they complained that the Democrats intended to deliberate behind closed doors - though lawmakers often do so in the final stages of such complex legislation. Separately, the head of C-SPAN, the nonpartisan public affairs network, called for...

Reform: Only a Bernie Madoff could believe the Senate's health care bill will extend coverage to 31 million Americans while cutting deficits by $127 billion over 10 years. It would be the first profitable entitlement. But that's what Majority Leader Harry Reid, citing Congressional Budget Office estimates, tells us the 2,074-page bill — said to cost only $849 billion over a decade — would do. Like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he seems to be following Vice President Joe Biden's admonition at an AARP town hall meeting that "we've got to spend money to keep from going bankrupt." We suspect Reid's...

The health-reform bill that the Senate will soon debate may differ markedly from the one written by Speaker Nancy Pelosi that passed the House -- but both would raise the cost of health care for ordinary Americans. Such an approach is at odds with the chief goal of reform -- to increase access to care by reducing the cost. The Empire State is ill-equipped to deal with higher health costs. New York's health system is already one of the most expensive in the country, with total private and public health-care spending of more than $6,500 a person a year. Only...

Imagine you're driving in a city, trying to find a place to park your car for the whole day. A parking garage costs $30. Right next to the parking garage entrance, you eye a parking spot on the street. Next to the curb is a sign that says, "No parking. Fine $5. No-tow zone." Many people wouldn't choose the garage. Likewise, imagine if you saw a sign that says, "Health insurance for sale: $200 a month," and right next to it was another sign. This one says, "Fine for not buying insurance: $33 a month -- but you can still...

PROPONENTS of compul sory, government-designed health insurance can't seem to understand why others disagree. Perhaps the public is realizing that these proposals are fundamentally about redistributing health? Health-care "reform," that is, aims to shift costs and benefits of health insurance from some groups to others. And the losers are turning out to be less docile than politicians had hoped. All the leading proposals involve massive redistribution from people with healthy lifestyles to those who take more risks. As the Congressional Budget Office explained, "Premiums in the new insurance exchanges would tend to be higher than the average premiums in the...

Pelosi critical of Baucus billBy GLENN THRUSH | 9/17/09 5:04 AM EDT House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reaction to the release of the Max Baucus health care reform bill was chilly at best — with a not-so-subtle swipe at the Senate Finance Committee’s stripping away the public option preserved in current House proposals. “As this proposal evolves, we hope to see modifications that result in the Senate bill better reflecting the work of the House to make health care more affordable for all Americans and promote competition that is key to keeping costs lower,” Pelosi said in a statement. “I believe...

Health Reform: Let's Lower—Not Raise—Young Adults' PremiumsBy Bernadine Healy, M.D. August 26, 2009 03:50 PM ET People under age 36 form the dominant component of America's 45 million uninsured. Among them, the ages most lacking in health insurance are those in their 20s. You and I know them: They are just out of school, in entry-level or part-time jobs, or between jobs. They are usually blessed with good health, however much they may take it for granted. And they are relatively inexpensive healthwise, compared with those over 60 (by a factor of five or more), because they are spared age-related...

Massachusetts has the most expensive family health insurance premiums in the country, according to a new analysis that highlights the state’s challenge in trying to rein in medical costs after passage of a landmark 2006 law that mandated coverage for nearly everyone. The report by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care foundation, showed that the average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent.

PRESIDENT Obama has stopped talking about "health-care reform." The new poll-tested phrase of the day is "health-insurance reform." Specifically the president says he wants to protect people with "pre-existing conditions." He would require insurance companies to accept anyone who applies for coverage, regardless of their current health (a rule known as "guaranteed issue") and prohibit them from charging higher premiums to people who are sick (called "community rating"). But if that's what the president wants, he could already have a bill through Congress, with significant Republican support. In fact, even the insurance companies have agreed to it. But the 1,017-page...