Posted on 09/28/2016 4:57:47 PM PDT by Rockitz
When Health Republic Insurance of New Jersey announced recently that its $46 million in debt and shutting down, it became the 17th failed ObamaCare co-op since the Affordable Care Act launched three years ago.
Those failures just six of the original 23 co-ops remain have left hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for coverage.
Meanwhile, insurers claiming big losses are leaving some state exchanges -- including Indiana University Health Plans, whose exit is expected to result in 27,000 Indiana residents losing ObamaCare plans in 2017. And companies still operating in the federal and state exchanges are raising premiums for next year.
Together, the developments are posing new challenges for Americans seeking affordable coverage, and show the highly touted overhaul of the countrys health care system is in some cases not yielding the savings President Obama once promised.
As a candidate on the campaign trail in 2008, Obama once said: If youve got health insurance, were going to help that employer save $2,500 per family per year. Those savings are going to be passed along to the workers.
Nationally, though, premium hikes are expected to average 8 percent next year. Many insurance companies are seeking much more than that, for the exchange plans and those offered to employers.
Premera in Washington state is approved to charge 19 percent more next year. Rates across California will go up an average of 13 percent. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is asking to raise premiums a stunning 60 percent.
Long-time critics of ObamaCare say they saw it coming.
That basic promise, that its going to make health care more affordable, its not making health care more affordable, said Avik Roy, an author and Republican adviser. Its making health care more expensive, especially for the uninsured.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Blue Cross/Blue Shield announced yesterday it is pulling out of the Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville regions in 2017 for Obamacare plans. Will no longer participate.
Sorry but our healthcare is a mess.
The GOP was completely out to lunch on the subject. Completely.
Trump seems to get it. But nobody else on our side is willing to do one single thing about the mess which is our healthcare.
So do not criticize Obama too hard. He made a mess, but he did something.
What has our side done?
-250,000,000 Americans is gonna take tight medical, media and military controls, eh?
Please tell me you’re kidding.
Huh? The government has NO responsibility to subsidize or provide free health care to anyone. Things were fine before, if you worked hard you could find affordable insurance tailored to your needs that would provide security to your family. The systemic flaws with this approach were pointed out from the beginning; people will act in their own best interest.
While there are exceptions, the majority of the "uninsured" are(i) those who are uninsurable because of extremely expensive medical problems and (ii) deadbeats who didn't plan for their own and their families expenses. It was predicted from the get go that these two groups would overwhelm the system and cause skyrocketing rates, forcing healthy working potential enrollees to drop out, eventually leading to a "death spiral" where only the sick and broke were left in the pool and the premiums were astronomical. This is exactly what has happened.
something has to change.
the ‘insurance company payment model’
cannot go on much longer.
in 1950, it might have been OK,
because it was relatively new.
for decade, doctors and hospitals raised prices
by 20% each year,
BECAUSE THEY COULD.
nowadays, a person making $10 an hour
can’t pay $10,000 in yearly premiums.
he just can’t.
there will be riots and civil war.
the GOP offers nothing.
something has to give.
Wasn’t this the plan all along to force single payer?
Affordable Care Act:
It has NEVER been AFFORDABLE——
It doesn’t include CARE——
It all has been just an ACT......
You bet I voted for that bill. Im proud I did it! yelled Russ Feingold at a Wisconsin campaign stop in 2010. That pridein ObamaCarelost the three-term Democratic senator his job. Now his partys ownership of the health-care law may once again decide the Senate.
ObamaCare is roaring back as a political liability to Democrats in a way not seen since that 2010 wave election. Right in time for this falls presidential contest, insurers are bailing out of the government system, leaving millions of voters with dwindling options and skyrocketing premiums. ObamaCare was always destined to crack up, but there is something notable that it comes precisely as so much control of Washington is up for grabs. (Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
MEMORY LANE---As far back as 2008, at the presidential debate in Nashville, Democrat candidate Obama advanced his signature plan that was ultimately enacted (by an historic straight Democrat party-line vote) into the "Affordable Care Act:"
QUOTING OBAMA: "No. 1, let me just repeat, if youve got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. All Im going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. Youll still have choice of doctor.
Repeated over and over by every loyal Democrat---- conning Americans into believing they'd also be saving $2500.00 on healthcare costs.
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LOCK-STEPPING DEMOCRAT PARTY LOYALTY NOT SEEN SINCE 1930-40's ERA EUROPE.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-Nev.): In fact, one of our core principles is that if you like the health care you have, you can keep it. (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.8642, 8/3/09)
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: We believe and we stand by this if you like your current health insurance plan, you will be able to keep it, plain and simple, straightforward. (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6401, 6/10/09)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): If you like your insurance, you keep it. (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/29/09)
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.): Again, if you like what you have, you will be able to keep it. Let me say this again: If you like what you have, when our legislation is passed and signed by the President, you will be able to keep it. (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S.6400, 6/10/09)
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-Mont.): That is why one of the central promises of health care reform has been and is: If you like what you have, you can keep it. That is critically important. If a person has a plan, and he or she likes it, he or she can keep it. (Sen. Baucus, Congressional Record, S.7676, 9/29/10)
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-Iowa): One of the things we put in the health care bill when we designed it was the protection for consumers to keep the plan they have if they like it; thus, the term grandfathered plans. If you have a plan you like existing policies you can keep them. we said, if you like a plan, you get to keep it, and you can grandfather it in. (Sen. Harkin, Congressional Record, S.7675-6, 9/29/10)
THEN-REP. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.): Under the bill, if you like the insurance you have now, you may keep it and it will improve. (Rep. Baldwin, Press Release, 3/18/10)
SEN. MARK BEGICH (D-Alaska): If you got a doctor now, you got a medical professional you want, you get to keep that. If you have an insurance program or a health care policy you want of ideas, make sure you keep it. That you can keep who you want. (Sen. Begich, Townhall Event, 7/27/09)
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.): We should begin with a basic principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. If you have your doctor, and you like him or her, you should be able to keep them as well. We will not take that choice away from you. (Sen. Bennet, Press Release, 6/11/09)
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.): So we Democrats want people to be able to keep the health care they have. And the answer to that is choice of plans. And in the exchange, were going to have lots of different plans, and people will be able to keep the health care coverage they need and they want. (Sen. Boxer, Press Release, 2/8/11)
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio): Our Democrat bill says if you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it (Sen. Brown, Congressional Record, S.12612, 12/7/09)
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.): For the people of Maryland, this bill will provide a rational way in which they can maintain their existing coverage (Sen. Cardin, Congressional Record, S.13798, 12/23/09)
SEN. BOB CASEY (D-Pa.): I also believe this Democrat legislation and the bill we are going to send to President Obama this fall will also have secure choices. If you like what you have, you like the plan you have, you can keep it. It is not going to change. (Sen. Casey, Congressional Record, S.8070, 7/24/09)
SEN. KAY HAGAN (D-N.C.): People who have insurance theyre happy with can keep it We need to support the private insurance industry so that people who have insurance theyre happy with can keep it while also providing a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage. (Republicans Vent As Other Compromise Plans Get Aired, National Journals Congress Daily, 6/18/09)
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D-La.): If you like the insurance that you have, youll be able to keep it. (MSNBCs Hardball, 12/16/09)
SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-Vt.): [I]f you like the insurance you now have, keep the insurance you have. (CNNs Newsroom, 10/22/09)
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.): If you like what you have, you get to keep it Menendez is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to release a bill later this week. He stressed that consumers who are satisfied with their plans wont have to change. If you like what you have, you get to keep it, he said. (Health Care Plan Would Help N.J., Menendez Says, The Record, 6/19/09)
SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Oreg.): [E]nsuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it The HELP Committee bill sets forward a historic Democrat plan that will, for the first time in American history, give every American access to affordable health coverage, reduce costs, and increase choice, while ensuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it. (Sen. Merkley, Press Release, 7/15/09)
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-Md.): It means that if you like the insurance you have now, you can keep it. (Sen. Mikulski, Press Release, 12/24/09)
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-W.Va.): I want people to know, the Presidents promise that if you like the coverage you have today you can keep it is a pledge we intend to keep. (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Hearing, 9/23/09)
SEN. JACK REED (D-R.I.): If you like the insurance you have, you can choose to keep it. (Sen. Reed, Town Hall Event, 6/25/09)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.): If you have coverage you like, you can keep it, says Sen. Sanders. (Sick And Wrong, Rolling Stone, 4/5/10)
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.): if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it My understanding is that if you have health coverage that you like you can keep it. As I said, you may have missed my remarks at the beginning of the call, but one of the things I that I said as a requirement that I have for supporting a Democrat bill is that if you have health coverage that you like you should be able to keep that. under every scenario that Ive seen, if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it. (Sen. Shaheen, Health Care Questions From Across New Hampshire, Accessed 11/13/13)
SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.): As someone who has a large number of large employers in my state, one of the things I appreciate about the Democrat chairmans remark is is the grandfathering provisions, the fact that the people in my state, 60 percent of whom have insurance, are going to be able to keep it. And Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that. Thats a strong commitment. Its clear in the bill I appreciate the strong commitment on your part and the president to make sure that if you have your insurance you can keep it. Thats the bottom line for me. (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/24/09)
SEN. JON TESTER (D-Mont.): If you like your coverage, youll be able to keep it, Tester said, adding that if Medicare changes, it will only become stronger. (Tester In Baker To Discuss Health Care, The Fallon County Times, 11/20/09)
SEN. TOM UDALL (D-N.Mex.): Some worried reform would alter their current coverage. It wont. If you like your current plan, you can keep it. (What I Learned: About Health Care Reform This Summer, By Your Lawmakers In Congress, Albuquerque Journal, 9/8/09)
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.): ..it honors President Obamas programs and the promise of all of the Presidential candidates that if you like the plan you have, you get to keep it. You are not forced out of anything. (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.8668, 8/3/09)
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) the 60th vote on Obamacare: "people who are happy with their current plan, wouldn't need to change it."
FRANKEN YOUTUBE SOUND BITE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8I
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Twenty-nine Democrats who voted for it (including Landrieu who pocketed a bundle to vote for it) were ousted in the last midterm Democrat Demolition Derby.
Obama’s big idea? He’s never read the thing. In fact, he’s never done one thing he wasn’t told to do.
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