Posted on 09/09/2010 4:27:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Obama administration on Thursday told health insurers that it will track those who enact "unjustified" rate increases linked to the health overhaul and may block those companies from a new marketplace for insurance coverage.
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, issued the warning in a letter to Karen Ignagni, the insurance industry's top lobbyist.
Ms. Sebelius said some insurers were notifying enrollees that their insurance premiums will increase next year as a result of the law's new benefits.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that some carriers are asking for total premium hikes topping 20% starting this month, and the carriers are attributing one to nine percentage points of the increases to new benefit mandates in the law.
"There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases," Ms. Sebelius wrote. "We will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections."
Beginning Sept. 23 or later, many new plans for individuals and small employers must begin letting children stay on their parents' insurance policies until age 26. These plans also face a requirement to eliminate co-payments for preventive care, give coverage to children regardless of pre-existing medical conditions and eliminate lifetime coverage caps.
Ms. Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, said: "It's a basic law of economics that additional benefits incur additional costs, and the impact on premiums depends on the type and amount of coverage policyholders had before." She attributed rising premiums to the higher price of medical services and the impact of younger and healthier people dropping their insurance during the weak economy, as well as the additional benefits required under the new law.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
ours went up 60%
That's the idea. Run private enterprise into the ground. Enact National Socialist Healthcare. Plead like a serf to your Congressman to pulls strings to get care for your child or spouse.
“Aha! Here comes the wage and price control”
No way. By sending a letter Obama shows he is going to do nothing about it but give hot air.
Just like his fake words against the insurance companies during the Obamacare fight.
“try to spin this as anything other than socialism, communism..”
It is not socialism or communism. Those are command economies. This bluff merely is a threat to not allow some companies more government money if they don’t understand they have to ease people into Obamacare.
“This White House can piss off. They are going to get such a damn shellacking come November.”
Not likely if you consider the dickweeds running the GOP!
Agreed. The republicans better not cow-tow to "minority rights" whining by the RATS or pull their RINO arms out of their sockets by reaching across the aisle in a "show of bipartisanship".
They'd darned well better decide to do what's right for the electorate and tell the drive-by media to bugger off.
My theory all along has been that these rate hikes are part of the plan. They’re going up by an especially steep percentage this year, due to Obamacare’s passage. This is all going to hit in the fall, during “open enrollment” season - and right before the election. Once everyone starts seeing these big increases, the democrats will then say, “see how high the rates went up this year? See how out-of-control the insurance companies are? We implemented Obamacare just in time to save you!” And the gullible will buy it. I’m just praying that there are now more of us than there are of them - or, at least, that the gullible are too darn lazy to vote.
That's the problem. This administration doesn't know or understand any of the basic laws of economics, and feels that they shouldn't apply to them.
“Does this idiot not know what price ceilings do to an industry?”
Yes he does. Remember his objective is the public option. He wants to destroy the private insurers and leave the government as the only insurer. No different than the student loan business.
Insurance is forbidden in Islam. A one-year supply of food, no, but........
From “sweetness and light”: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/health-insurance-is-forbidden-under-islam
“Islam Q&A: Health Insurance Is ‘Haraam’
Just one of many fatwas on the subject from the holy men at Islam Question and Answer:
Ruling on working in insurance companies or broker companies when insurance becomes obligatory
Health insurance is going to be compulsory for all companies and associations in our country. The insurance company will not have direct relationship with companies or associations, as there will be brokers in between, this is also compulsory.
The question is: What is the ruling on working for these brokers? Its role is basically introducing offers to companies and individuals and dealing with claims.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly: Health insurance is haraam like other types of commercial insurance, because it is based on ambiguity, gambling and riba (usury). This is what is stated in fatwas by the senior scholars. See the answer to question no. 39474 and 4210.
In Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (15/277) there is a quotation of a statement of the Council of Senior Scholars concerning the prohibition on insurance and why it is haraam: .......
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