Obamacare Sticker Shock Arrives: Insurance Premiums To Soar 20-40%

Obamacare Sticker Shock Arrives: Insurance Premiums To Soar 20-40% (ZeroHedge, July 6, 2015):

Two months ago, we outlined why the CPI-boosting Affordable Care Act is on the verge of bankrupting that all important driver of the US economic growth engine — the American consumer.

Put simply, inflation in medical care services costs hadn’t yet reared its ugly head because many insurers were as yet unable to gauge the full base-effect impact of Obamacare on their P&L. That, we said, was about to change: “After finally digesting the true cost of Obamacare, any recent insurance prime hikes will seem like a walk in the park compared to what is coming.

Medical Care Services Inflation

Sure enough, insurers have now taken a close look at exactly how much socialized medicine is costing them.

Not surprisingly, the picture isn’t pretty.

In some cases, forecasters grossly underestimated the number of claims they would likely receive, and indeed, even a PhD economist can tell you that when the amount going out for claims is greater than the amount coming in via premiums, there’s a problem with the model and because staunching the outflow is effectively now forbidden, something has to give on the receivables side of the equation which means dramatically higher premiums.

NY Times has the story:

Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans — market leaders in many states — are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

The Oregon insurance commissioner, Laura N. Cali, has just approved 2016 rate increases for companies that cover more than 220,000 people. Moda Health Plan, which has the largest enrollment in the state, received a 25 percent increase, and the second-largest plan, LifeWise, received a 33 percent increase.

Jesse Ellis O’Brien, a health advocate at the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, said: “Rate increases will be bigger in 2016 than they have been for years and years and will have a profound effect on consumers here. Some may start wondering if insurance is affordable or if it’s worth the money.”

The rate requests, from some of the more popular health plans, suggest that insurance markets are still adjusting to shock waves set off by the Affordable Care Act.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico has requested rate increases averaging 51 percent for its 33,000 members. The proposal elicited tart online comments from consumers.

“This rate increase is ridiculous,” one subscriber wrote on the website of the New Mexico insurance superintendent.

In their submissions to federal and state regulators, insurers cite several reasons for big rate increases. These include the needs of consumers, some of whom were previously uninsured; the high cost of specialty drugs; and a policy adopted by the Obama administration in late 2013 that allowed some people to keep insurance that did not meet new federal standards.

“Our enrollees generated 24 percent more claims than we thought they would when we set our 2014 rates,” said Nathan T. Johns, the chief financial officer of Arches Health Plan, which covers about one-fourth of the people who bought insurance through the federal exchange in Utah. As a result, the company said, it collected premiums of $39.7 million and had claims of $56.3 million in 2014. It has requested rate increases averaging 45 percent for 2016.

The rate requests are the first to reflect a full year of experience with the new insurance exchanges and federal standards that require insurers to accept all applicants, without charging higher prices because of a person’s illness or disability.

There you go. Precisely as we said, the ACA and of course the ballooning cost of new drugs proxied by Janet Yellen’s “stretched” biotech sector mean manidtorily insured Americans will now be charged more. Much more.

But do not despair because where there’s an Obama there’s always “hope”. And on that note, we’ll leave you with the following, from the President:

3 thoughts on “Obamacare Sticker Shock Arrives: Insurance Premiums To Soar 20-40%”

  1. When no constraints are put on costs of medical care, or on the drugs, this is what happens. It is just the beginning.

    What a deal for the insurance companies. A captive market of 325 million people. No limit on price of premiums. All collection costs are borne by the people, the IRS handles all collection problems……Free of charge. If the people don’t buy insurance, the IRS goes after them for fees that will go up and up over the years.

    Medical procedures; no limit on what they charge.

    Drug companies: No limit on what they can charge.

    Right now, my doctor wants to give me a drug just for cancer patients. It is over $1000.00 a month, so Medicare does not want to pay for it….I don’t blame them.
    It is being appealed, and if I get turned down again, my doctor will reword it until they get it for me.

    It is made of a drug that has been around for a while, just a different version of it, more efficient……If I didn’t need it, I would not even let them ask for it…..

    It will continue to get worse, not better.

    The falling value of the dollar will get worse, and with it, the costs of Obamacare insurance will become far less affordable than right now.
    I am old, I have Medicare, but millions of Americans are under 65, and are at the mercy of insurance companies and their greedy premiums.

    It sucks. It all serves corporate greed, just like the guy in the white house.

    Reply
  2. I thought that since everyone would have insurance that it would drive down the price for everyone??!!! What the fuck kind of bull shit is this? Our rates already went up and now they are going to go up again? This is the biggest scam in American history. Obama is the biggest Fucking liar ever! Oh look the Kardashians are on tv……

    Reply
  3. We all thought that coverage for all would drive down costs. But, the devil is in the details, and those were concealed until it was too late.
    Total corporate stooge sold us out…….just like the trade deal that will cost another 40% of American jobs.
    Disgusting.

    Reply

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