Posted on 09/17/2014 6:54:07 PM PDT by markomalley
Obamacare in Minnesota is called MNSure. The state had the usual problems (worse, I believe, than in most states) getting its system and its web site up and running. Once the enrollment period got underway, the dominant insurer turned out to be PreferredOne. Reportedly offering the lowest premiums in the nation, PreferredOne signed up nearly 60% of all MNSure participants. So it was a bombshell when PreferredOne announced earlier this week that it will no longer participate in the state’s exchange, saying that “continuing to provide this coverage through MNsure is not sustainable.”
It seems a foregone conclusion that this will lead to higher premiums, at a minimum. PreferredOne’s decision also calls into question the economic viability of the Obamacare model. State officials tried to downplay the significance of the dominant carrier’s exiting the market:
A day after a key insurance player announced its exit from MNsure, leaders of the state’s insurance exchange called the move a normal evolution of a competitive marketplace and laid out plans to improve the upcoming enrollment period for both consumers and brokers. …
[MNSure CEO Scott Leitz] reiterated that he “fully anticipated” that plans would change from year to year.
“It is a competitive marketplace,” he told the board, “and we don’t pick winners and losers.”
Under Obamacare, you could say that the government only picks winners. Through 2016, taxpayers will subsidize insurance companies’ losses. Such subsidies were considered necessary to induce carriers to participate in the government-sponsored exchanges, despite the likelihood that the risk pool on the exchanges would be unfavorable. The fact that a company with 60% of the Obamacare exchange market considers the business unsustainable, even with federal subsidies, is ominous.
In Minnesota, PreferredOne’s decision will probably continue to reverberate. Individuals with PreferredOne policies purchased on the exchange will see those policies automatically renewed, unless they do something different. The catch is that, with PreferredOne no longer participating in MNSure, those people will no longer be eligible for Obamacare subsidies, so they will see premium increases–in many cases, huge ones.
This sort of thing will keep happening for years to come. Democrats are smugly telling reporters that Obamacare is now an established fact and we should all get used to it. In reality, the law is like a series of bombs timed to go off as various deadlines kick in. Ultimately, the awful economics of the law can’t be denied. Premiums and deductibles will rise, and coverages will shrink, insofar as they are able to given the law’s expansive and sometimes irrational mandates. By 2017, when the federal government will stop reimbursing insurance companies’ losses, premiums will be far higher than when Obamacare went into effect. The Democrats apparently hope that no one will notice. To me, that seems unlikely.
The Minnesota PreferredOne story doesn’t appear to have gotten any national attention, which makes me wonder whether similar developments are occurring around the country, each one only a local news story. Obamacare may be crumbling, one state at a time.
The Obama supporters deserve the worst.
I hope so. Ditto for the rest of the 56.
Oregon all over again
The trouble with big government is that it doesn’t collapse. It slowly unravels, meaning that politicians at every stage can say that the problem is that the enemies of decency are preventing the government from solving the people’s problems, so more government is called for.
Yes, you’re right of course.
Maybe, just maybe, it can be different this time.
Our very culture is at stake.
John, John, John....the system was DESIGNED to fail. So the LIVs can receive their pre-printed protest signs and matching t-shirts and march for total federal government control over healthcare, all the while Obama blames the greedy insurance companies.
It is fairly obvious what will happen; the subsidies will be continued.
The alternative is that the system collapses and millions of people will be without insurance. This would be a political nightmare for both political parties.
The Democrats would be blamed for designing a system easily foreseeable as destined for failure
The Republicans would be deathly afraid of being seen as heartless if they stood in the way of shoring up the failing system and allowed people to be bankrupted by their healthcare cost.
My dimwitted co-worker can’t stop extolling the virtues of it. I’m going to subtly rub it in when it starts to fail for her.
Obamacare will never collapse. We have a government that think of a million ways to take your money, and when that is not enough, will issue $trillions in debt. Finally, we have a central bank that will print unbacked, paper money to monetize that debt.
Obamacare can go on forever.
Gov. Dayton appointed union reps to the MinnSure board but not one person who has had experience in the insurance industry. Protect the cronies - it’s the Minnesota DFL (Democrat Farmer Labor) mantra.
Wait, Osamacare is faltering in the very cradle of communism?? Say it isn’t so!
Then the Republicans should be ready with a real healthcare reform bill already written. HSA's for everyone, abolish even the levels of insurance common before Osamacare. Catastrophic care coverage only. Add government to the list of those prohibited from improperly receiving private medical information, and up the penalty for improper disclosure to death.
With a spineless Boehner , I would expect no less than indefinite ObolaCare
despite the 39 ILLEGAL changes made by the Executive Dept. to keep ObalaCare
the House Pubbies aren't even worth a Bikini wax.
It’s already collapsed in Massachusetts.It happened last March.But that won’t stop the Maoists running the Gay State.Regardless of what it costs.
Narrow networks, high deductibles, frequent denials, low provider reimbursement; what could go wrong?
Actually, I think deep down the plan is when the system collapses, both parties will say we must move to single payer to save everyone from having no insurance. And in doing so, move even more power and control into the federal bureaucracy.
This came out at the worst possible time for Stuart smalley, and governor mumbles.
As long as the private inscos are selling and making money on the obamacare products, obamacare isn’t collapsing. state run web sites are a different story. and the fact that there is no real accounting between incsos, gov, on subsides and credits yet. who knows what will happen. the web sites are fodder.
yes the individual subsidies will continue but the question is: when will the inscos no longer be reimbursed?
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