Posted on 11/16/2013 3:17:21 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Reilly, who generally supports the law, said he'd always assumed skimpy plans wouldn't make the cut. But he didn't think major medical plans like his would go away, too.
"That was a complete bombshell to me," he said.
Florida's largest health insurer will give 300,000 customers who received cancellation notices the option to renew their existing plans for one more year.
Florida Blue's decision comes in the wake of President Barack Obama's reversal on Thursday. Facing political pressure over the cancellations, Obama told insurers they could revive the plans for another year, even though they don't meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
Florida Blue is the only insurer participating in the federal marketplace in all 67 Florida counties, offering plans that meet coverage standards of the health care law. It now joins other insurers that had earlier provided the one-year renewal option to customers whose individual plans would otherwise be canceled.
These plans do not comply with the ACA, because, for instance, they may allow excessive out-of-pocket spending or lack essential benefits such as maternity coverage. For relatively healthy people who don't qualify for Obamacare subsidies, the monthly premium cost of the new, more comprehensive plans is generally much higher than under the old plans.
Other insurers, including Humana and Cigna, had already allowed policyholders to renew before the end of this year so they could keep their plans through 2014. (Florida is among the states that permit this). But most existing Florida Blue plans would have expired next summer.
Now, plans that would have ended in summer 2014 may continue through summer 2015, said Florida Blue spokesman Paul Kluding. Members can expect to receive letters explaining their options.
That was good news to David Reilly, a 58-year-old health care consultant from Oldsmar. He and his wife have a Florida Blue plan they like — at $840 a month, it carries a $3,000 deductible and covers everything they need — but learned recently that it would be discontinued next summer because it doesn't have all the ACA essential benefits.
When Reilly began shopping for new plans, he found premiums that were nearly twice as high — and deductibles that were even higher than the one he had.
Reilly, who generally supports the law, said he'd always assumed skimpy plans wouldn't make the cut. But he didn't think major medical plans like his would go away, too.
"That was a complete bombshell to me," he said.
Nearly 10 percent of Florida Blue's 300,000 previously canceled policies are "Go Blue," essentially a discount card with few benefits beyond basic preventive care.
Those plans, labeled "junk insurance'' by Consumer Reports, will also get a one-year extension. Federal officials said Friday that policyholders who chose to renew their existing policies will not be subject to a fine for failing to secure insurance.
Michael Palin, 56, a New Port Richey resident whose wife has a $79-a-month Go Blue plan, said he expects they will keep it for one more year. Based on their income, Palin, who has no insurance for himself, and his wife would likely qualify for a subsidy to buy a new plan. But with all the problems that the Obamacare website has had, Palin said he'll wait.
"I don't like change," said Palin, who works as a supervisor with a private ambulance company. "My job is very stressful and anything that's new can really just throw me off."
Obama announced his proposal Thursday as pressure mounted over his false promise that people who like their insurance could keep it.
Insurance lobbyists said that the shift could come at a cost. Insurers based their premiums for next year on having large risk pools to help offset costs of the new plans.
Robert Zirkelbach, the spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, said, "If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase coverage in the exchange, premiums will increase and there will be fewer choices for consumers."
Caroline Pearson, vice president of health reform at consultant Avalere Health, said many questions remain over how Obama's shift will shake out. Because each state and the insurers themselves must decide whether to take the option Obama gave them, it's unclear how many customers with canceled policies may opt to renew, and how premiums will be affected.
Also unclear is whether insurers can raise premiums when existing plans are renewed for 2014. Pearson said that could depend on whether insurers get permission to factor medical inflation into their pricing.
She noted that continuing the junk insurance plans is at odds with what the law intended to do. "It does really kind of undermine one of the goals of the law, which was to set minimum benefits," she said.
How are the rates/subsidies going to be fixed w/o knowing enrollment - the people they’d hoped would “willingly” come to Obamacare/exchanges?
How can Obama’s healthcare law work (or will he “tweak” it, “exempt” (or unexempt) more groups, unenforce parts of his law — what?
If this turkey of a legislation is subject to the unconstitutional whims and fits of Obama’s direction - how, when, where, who - Obamacare is impossible to implement and will continue to cause chaos and reign havoc on the U.S. economy.
Sign up for DeathCare and you pay more for less.
Stay with your old plan and pay more.
Elections DO have consequences. In 2012, it wouldn’t have mattered who won. This would have happened anyway with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum.
and then what?
“Then what?”
Then it’s after the 2014 elections, so Obama can move on to Immigration Reform.
When the year is up, AND employer-based policies start cancelling, they tinker and nuance this, for years, with the Rinos negotiating all the way, looking like legislative statesmen and overall good guys protecting the little guy from the insurance companies, the biggest of whom are all-in anyway. The economy stalls over the massive uncertainty, prompting more fixes, more QE, more spending... more election victories.
And some of these insurance companies are extending policies for one year because Obama said he wouldn’t enforce that part of the law for one year.
All based on Obama’s word. Something to think about. Fools.
You can keep your policy for another year until we can figure out how we can kill it for good and force you on to obamacare
Please don’t use the Lord’s name as a curse word.......Free Republic doesn’t do that.
Still, are those people going to forget in October thier insurance is being canceled again? Now Obama proves something can be done to change it.
Good to see your moniker.
Raining over here. Heavy at the moment. Looks like it's headed your way.
5.56mm
That's about the time they'll push "immigration reform" on to the front pages.
Those who got cancelled will probably remember, but my point is this gives Democrats time to keep micro-managing and getting media kudos. That’s their plan, because that’s who they are and how they win.
The RINOs can play their game and lose again, or unite around full repeal; that has a chance, and, elections aside, it’s best for the country if it’s done immediately.
Thanks for the rain report.....I was planning on taking a walk....better do it sooner than later before the rain reaches my side of the peninsula :)
Don’t these insurance companies realize that zero doesn’t have the legal basis to do this? His “fix” is illegal But, when he starts doing things legally, I guess a pig will fly.
Bump
Your style of politeness and artificial civility is exactly the thing that has put tour Republic in peril. God is offended... just sayin’.
I’m afraid you’re right. :(
The clue is here:
“Other insurers, including Humana and Cigna, had already allowed policyholders to renew before the end of this year so they could keep their plans through 2014.”
My small business has a policy that was due to expire on Dec 31, 2013. My insurance company (and our state) permitted me to renew the policy a month early, with a new start date of Dec 1, 2013. Thus, technically, our policy still comes in under the old rules, but takes us through Nov 30, 2014.
It sounds like Florida allows something similar.
That's fine. It means that more cancellation notices will be coming out just in time for the November, 2014 election.
The Kenyan anti-Christ will have a choice - allow fixes that will essentially gut DeathCare (life the Upton bill, or even worse, the Landrieu bill), or have about 50 million folks lose their policies for good between September and the end of October, 2014.
sitetest
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