Posted on 12/27/2015 11:59:42 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
"......Last year, 86 percent of those who signed up through the federal exchanges received tax credits on their insurance premiums. The credits are available for families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, the income limit would be about $94,000; a family of two, $62,000.
....Other customers found themselves starting over from square one when their insurance company pulled out of the Health Insurance Exchange or was dropped from the state exchange, like Meritus, Gussio said. Meritus, a nonprofit health care cooperative, was actually removed from the list of approved insurance companies in the Arizona Health Insurance Exchange because the state was concerned that Mertius might not continue to be solvent in 2016. Meritus will close for good on Feb. 1, he said.
Some private, for-profit insurance companies that offer plans through the Exchange are facing the same financial strain, he said. United Healthcare announced this year that it would probably would not offer plans on the Exchange in 2017.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 36 percent of counties in states using Healthcare.gov will see a net decrease in the number of insurance companies that offer coverage within their borders, about 17 percent will see an increase and the bulk will remain the same. There is a total of 2,603 counties that use Healthcare.gov.
The Flagstaff area went from 56 plans offered by a variety of insurance companies for individuals to 19 this year, Gussio said.
People also are seeing an increase in their health insurance premiums, Gussio said.
"The costs for individuals is unbelievable," he said. "We've seen some very, very high premiums. I haven't seen an increase this big in the 20 years I've been working in the industry."
Most of the families purchasing policies sold on the federal exchanges, even those more expensive, will be eligible for tax credits, based on previous years' experience.
Some individuals have seen premium increases of more than 20 percent and some businesses have seen 40 to 60 percent increases, Gussio said. There have also been some decreases in premiums, but the majority of price changes have been increases.
According to a Kaiser Foundation poll of 1,202 adults between the ages of 18 and 64, 46 percent said they tried to get health insurance but found it was too expensive, even with government subsidies.
The increases are partially due to the number of health insurance companies that are going under or are merging with other companies, he said.
Many people are saying they would rather pay the penalty for not having insurance at all rather than pay $1,400 a month for insurance they may not use, Gussio said.
That's despite the fact that the average penalty for an individual not having insurance in 2016 will increase 47 percent to $969, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Foundation. The average penalty in 2015 was $661.
Lewis said for a family of three, two adults and a child, the penalty starts at around $1,737.
"That's school clothes or a house payment," he said. "I have not found a person who doesn't want health insurance. They want to be able to afford it. We're trying to show people what's available."
However, Lewis said, even with the price changes he has not had a problem helping people find a new health insurance carrier. In some cases, he's been able to help them find the same plan under a different company at a cheaper price.
Businesses with 50 or more employees are also looking at paying the penalty rather than purchasing health insurance for their employees, Gussio said. He's had a handful of business clients come in asking about the 50 or more employee mandate that goes into effect in 2016.........." Full story
I take that your stance on a subject matter doesn’t change as you learn more about it. Again, stop being narrow-minded.
I see, when you have no answer, I’m “narrow minded.”
TRUMP: As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It could have worked in a different age. What I’d like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. I have a big company with thousands of employees. And if I’m negotiating in BY or NJ or CA, I have like one bidder. Nobody can bid. You know why? Because the insurance companies are making a fortune because they have control of the politicians. They’re making a fortune. Get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. And then we have to take care of the people that can’t take care of themselves. And I will do that through a different system.”...
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there is so much truth in this it isn’t even funny
Insurance companies and healthcare conglomerates in this state buddy up and pass crony laws that prevent insurance computation and prices are skyrocketed in what is essentially closed markets, been this way for 20 years.
Tag line, sorry.
We are all well aware that Trump has previously supported the idea of Universal Healthcare. I inferred that in my original post. Responding to your planted question so I would agree with you is asinine. As well, your question only proves that you are narrow minded. You only see to attack Trump regardless of what is provided to you.
I remember him saying recently he would open the doors to purchasing from any carrier and any plan in the U.S. He sounded frustrated that he couldn’t buy from any carrier he found aceptable.
When I was younger I set up a residence at a friend’s place out of state so I could purchase catastrophic insurance, because my state didn’t allow it, because it was all I needed. Young people do not need full coverage 99% of the time and should be able to buy such a plan.
Theo many of the things you listed are not “needs” and yes everyone needs food and housing, why do you think that for those who can’t acquire them on their own we have public assistance, pantries and section 8? People can always find something to eat, even if they go a few days without food they won’t die. But if you are very ill and don’t have the money to get treatment you very well could. And we don’t want diseases to spread either...would be nice if we could go back to the days of the family doc doing house calls and charging reasonable fees then again we’re so advanced now and that’s a good thing as far as saving lives but it costs a hell of a lot to do so, therefor insurance is a requirement.
how do you distinguish between a Paki owned inn and an Indian owned Inn?
are you confusing the two?
HE sounds like a communist.
So then, get government out of healthcare.
But get them completely, totally out of healthcare.
Out of regulating, out of monitoring, out of healthcare. Completely. Give it back to the public.
That means, open up schools, allow all healthcare, allow competition. No government at all.
I’m all for that. But we need to get government out of it completely.
Somehow I don’t think anyone is proposing that.
I am. Or else we need government, to keep it fair. One or the other.
There is nothing good about Obamacare. Nothing! It is a total nightmare and does anything but provide healthcare. Take it from one who has first hand experience with this pos.
I do not agree completely.
Obamacare made sure people, were not dropped from coverage.
At a time when coverage was rapidly, becoming ever more subject to economic problems (we keep sending ever more jobs to other countries, for crying out loud) insurers kept excluding people from coverage for ever more.
Obamacare says insurers need to cover anyone. 100%. Everyone.
I completely agree. That is a valuable change to our healthcare coverage, and we need to keep that.
It is important.
This is no longer insurance. Forcing insurance companies to cover everyone ensures costs go through the roof and make healthcare unusable. I do not know what planet you live on but my health insurance went from about $5,000 per year to $18,000 per year and I am totally healthy.
I have dropped out and prefer to pay the penalty and get far superior healthcare from Mexico. There are clinics of American doctors right across the border that are so far above anything you can get here that it is disgraceful.
I actually get 90 minutes of consultation with my internist where we talk about what is going on with me. I also get a cardiologist and a urologist and MRI an ultrasound and a 300 value blood test for $2500.
If I wanted that level of healthcare here I’d have to spend over $20,000 because the insurance would not pay for it.
Obamacare is total crap and designed to be run like the VA where people are conveniently sidelined and killed off.
America’s healthcare system is completely out of control.
We need to end it, or fix it.
One or the other. Either we fix it, and make it affordable for everyone.
Or else we need to get the government completely out of it.
I’m really not concerned with which choice is taken, I’m aok with the government ensuring everyone is covered.
Or I’m fine with government getting completely out of it, and opening the entire system up to complete competition. And I mean getting out completely.
That means we stop the government from doing anything about healthcare. Get it completely out of the entire business. Out of requiring who can practice what. Out of deciding what students must study for what licences. Completely out of the entire business.
Either one.
In the meantime the government is culling the herd and killing people off.
I know this lady who is now DEAD because they took her healthcare away and forced her on Obamacare and her oncologist docs were not covered and she could not get the treatments she needed. She is now DEAD, DEAD, DEAD.
This is not the exception. It is the RULE!
Obamacare is being run like the VA. Just get people killed off and that is how you reduce costs. That is UNIVERSAL everybody is covered healthcare. Get real and wake up!
“In the meantime the government is culling the herd and killing people off...”
Yep! We will quickly become England.
“Socialized Medicine Director Dies After Waiting Nine Months for Operation”
(snip) “...Case in point: Walter Williams reported on the story of ‘Mr. D,’ a Swedish multiple sclerosis sufferer who was prescribed a new drug that held the promise of mitigating his symptoms. Well, you guessed it, the government refused to pay for it because it was too expensive — 33 percent more than the old medication. But then there’s something you wouldn’t guess.
The state didn’t even allow him to pay for it himself.
Why? They claimed it would set a bad precedent and violate the principle of equal access to medicine for all. But here is that principle, properly translated: If you can’t save everyone, it’s better to let everyone die than save some....’
13 more months. Do not pay fine. adjust your W-4 so that you pay or recieve about 100 dollars. Feds can only withold refund money.
ObamaCare= legalized extortion.
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