Another Obamacare "oopps"

[DrLeftover]

And, this isn't from those disgusting haters at Fox either:

February 20

Thousands of people have purchased health coverage through the District of Columbia’s new small-business insurance marketplace, but only a tiny fraction of them actually own or work for a small business.

The rest are members of or work for a single large organization — Congress.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/more-than-12000-congressional-staffers-have-enrolled-in-health-plans-through-obamacare/2014/02/20/de767f38-9a28-11e3-b931-0204122c514b_story.html

 

[DrLeftover]

March 6, 2:00 PM

The new health insurance marketplaces appear to be making little headway so far in signing up Americans who lack health insurance, the Affordable Care Act’s central goal.

A pair of surveys released on Thursday suggest that just one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private health plans through the new marketplace have signed up for one — and that about half of uninsured adults has looked for information on the online exchanges or plans to look.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/health-insurance-marketplaces-signing-up-few-uninsured-americans-surveys-say/2014/03/06/cdae3152-a54d-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_print.html

 

[DrLeftover]

03/18/2014

Health insurance premiums have risen more after Obamacare than the average premium increases over the eight years before it became law, according to the private health exchange eHealthInsurance.

The individual market for health insurance has seen premiums rise by 39 percent since February 2013, eHealth reports. Without a subsidy, the average individual premium is now $274 a month. Families have been hit even harder with an average increase of 56 percent over the same period — average premiums are now $663 per family, over $426 last year.

Between 2005 and 2013, average premiums for individual plans increased 37 percent and average family premiums were upped 31 percent. So they have risen faster under Obamacare than in the previous eight years.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/18/report-premiums-rising-faster-than-eight-years-before-obamacare-combined/#ixzz2wLJqe0rR

 

[Jazzy]

Health insurance premiums have risen more after Obamacare

Mine haven't but the last time I went to see my primary care physician, I noticed an increase for his office visit. The visit used to be $95 and now on my explanation of benefits, I saw he is now charging $140. So far, my insurance is paying the increase of $45 per office visit. My co-pay only went up $5 from $20 to $25. Hope things stay this way.....

 

[DrLeftover]

Not Likely, Miss Lady.

03/18/2014

Republican Tennessee Rep. Diane Black says that the Obama administration’s most recent Obamacare rule change will result in insurance companies keeping more profits while paying less for customers’ health care needs.

“I am writing to express my concern with the proposed rule change released on Friday, March 14th that would allow insurance companies to keep an additional two percent of premiums for purposes other than medical care…your department is now proposing to increase the amount of money that insurance companies will be allowed to retain for profit,” Black wrote in a letter Tuesday to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, which was obtained by The Daily Caller.

HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quietly introduced the new rule Friday, which relieves insurance companies of some of the damage about to be levied on them by Obamacare-related administrative costs.

“In the proposed rules, you have indicated that this adjustment in the ‘medical loss ratio’, or 80/20 rule, is due to the possibility of increased administrative costs in 2015. However, adjusting the percentage that insurance providers are required to spend on medical care by two percent would have the combined impact of reducing the amount that insurance providers will be required to pay for people’s medical care while increasing the amount that insurance companies are allowed to retain for profit and for executive pay,” Black wrote.

“This is deeply concerning, as it could result in higher out of pocket costs for consumers solely for the benefit of the insurance industry.”

http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/18/congresswoman-obama-admin-rule-change-lets-insurance-companies-keep-more-profits-while-paying-less-for-customers-care/#ixzz2wPfX757d

 

[DrLeftover]

Certainly that wasn't Plan A. In a 2010 speech promoting his signature reform effort, President Barack Obama said it would bring down the cost of health care – reducing premiums by 14 to 20 percent for families, as much as 3,000 percent for employers, and protecting patients from unreachable, ever-increasing deductibles.

Instead, more employees – one in five nationally – are embracing terms like "high-deductible" and the cuter-sounding "MOOP," which means maximum out-of-pocket. Both refer to the money you, the policy holder, must pay – not counting monthly premiums – before your insurance starts to cover some or all of the bills.

And despite the president's now-infamous promise that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan," the plans have changed – a lot.

High-deductible plans were designed to trim costs for those who were healthy and probably wouldn't need to draw on health insurance, offering lower monthly premiums than other plans.

With an increasing number of employers offering only high-deductible plans, though, the real cost of all those visits, treatments and tests are hitting home in ways they didn't before. Some with real medical needs are delaying treatment or going without, and some doctors fear their long-term health may be jeopardized.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/03/22/health-care-stickershock/6745501/

 

[DrLeftover]

March 25

The Obama administration has decided to give extra time to Americans who say that they are unable to enroll in health plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the March 31 deadline.

Federal officials confirmed Tuesday evening that all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension.

Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. This method will rely on an honor system; the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-will-allow-more-time-to-enroll-in-health-care-on-federal-marketplace/2014/03/25/d0458338-b449-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_print.html

 

[DrLeftover]

4 April
WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — The hosts of SiriusXM Radio’s “Opie and Anthony” show slammed Obamacare for losing their health insurance due to President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

Gregg “Opie” Hughes, who has a wife and two kids, went into detail Thursday about receiving an insurance cancellation in the mail for him and his family.

“I’m a little annoyed today because I got my insurance cancellations yesterday,” Hughes said. “And I got kids and the wife that needed all that stuff.”

Hughes went on to say that he had “no issue” with his cancelled health insurance and doesn’t “even know where to begin” with the new paperwork.

“I have no (expletive) idea how to even attempt this,” Hughes steamed. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/04/opie-and-anthony-i-dont-know-why-were-not-having-a-revolution-over-obamacare/

 

[DrLeftover]

10 April
I never wanted to be a pawn in President Obama’s absurd and irresponsible attempt to mandate, regulate and complicate the American health care system. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a choice.

I was a casualty of Mr. Obama’s Big Lie. You know the one: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” By the time my plan vanished, the only individual health insurance plans available had been captured by the tentacles of Obamacare.

PHOTOS: Conservatives in Hollywood: Celebrities who lean right

Signing up for insurance under Obamacare was harder than making sense of Donald Trump’s hair. It took more than 20 attempts over four days just to get on the “Health Insurance Marketplace” website and shop for insurance. The plan I found most similar to my canceled plan cost nearly $1,000 more a year, and my deductible increased from about $2,000 to more than $5,000. So I was forced to pay almost twice as much for a whole lot less insurance.

It’s surprising there’s not a link to buy a solid-gold eight-track player on the Healthcare.gov site — everything else for sale in Mr. Obama’s marketplace is also ridiculously overpriced and pretty much useless.

Signing up for Obamacare was a tremendous hassle. But even that experience was a joy compared with what I went through to cancel my coverage.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/10/johnson-health-care-on-hold/

 

[DrLeftover]

16 Apr 2014

A New York woman suffering from a neurological disease that has required four brain surgeries has been dropped by all of her doctors and denied medications due to her Obamacare plan.

"I've been vomiting. I lost 22 pounds. The pain is unbearable," said Margaret Figueroa, 49, on Wednesday. "My medication helps me function during the day."

Figueroa suffers from a disease known as Arnold Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia. Even though the Obamacare plan she purchased assured her that she was covered, her insurance card was denied when she went to fill her prescriptions. Then she learned that none of her doctors accept her Obamacare plan. Figueroa says she cannot find a doctor who accepts her Obamacare plan; indeed, there are only six doctors in all of Staten Island who take her plan, none of whom she's been able to get appointments with.

Figueroa's congressman, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), intervened to help her obtain some of her vital prescriptions. Grimm says he's already received calls from at least a dozen Staten Island residents facing the same problem with Obamacare's "narrow networks" – extreme restrictions to doctor and hospital access imposed by Obamacare.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/04/16/Brain-Surgery-Patient-s-Obamacare-Plan-Denies-Meds-Drops-Doctors

 

[DrLeftover]

If you do not pay the premium, you Do Not have insurance.

That's just the way it works. Or at least, that's the old way it legally worked.

Apr 16, 2014

Georgia insurers received more than 220,000 applications for health coverage in the Affordable Care Act’s exchange as of the official federal deadline of March 31, state officials said Wednesday.

Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, though, said premiums have been received for only 107,581 of those policies, which cover 149,465 people.

“Many Georgians completed the application process by the deadline, but have yet to pay for the coverage,” Hudgens said in a statement Wednesday.

March 31 was the official deadline for individuals to get insurance coverage or face a financial penalty under the ACA. Yet because of the deluge of last-minute shoppers, federal officials relaxed the rules for those who reported having trouble with the exchange, and gave them into this week to sign up.

Given that extra time, there have presumably been more Georgians both signing up and paying for their premiums in April. They would not be included in the figures released Wednesday.

http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/2014/04/georgia-exchange-applications-hit-220000/

 

[DrLeftover]

4 May
Own a small business? Brace for Obamacare pain

Local business owners might be hoping the Affordable Care Act’s insurance mandates cover sticker shock.

The law’s employer coverage mandate doesn’t take effect until 2015, but early plan renewals are starting to roll in. And for some businesses, the premium jumps are positively painful.

Local insurance brokers are reporting spikes ranging from 35 percent to 120 percent on policies that renew from July to December. The increases are especially acute among employers with workforces made up of younger, healthier men. That’s because Obamacare prohibits offering lower rates to healthier groups. It also narrows the allowed premium gap between older and younger enrollees.

“It’s like if there were no more safe-driver discounts with State Farm,” said local insurance broker Frank Nolimal of Assurance Ltd. “Everybody has the same rate, whether you have three DUIs, or you’re a (nondrinking) churchgoing Mormon.”

The changes put as many as 90,000 policies across Nevada at risk of cancellation or nonrenewal this fall, said Las Vegas insurance broker William Wright, president of Chamber Insurance and Benefits. That’s more than three times the 25,000 enrollees affected in October, when Obamacare-compliant plans first hit the market.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/politics/own-small-business-brace-obamacare-pain

 

[DrLeftover]

Hospitals Look to Health Law, Cutting Charity

MAY 25, 2014

Hospital systems around the country have started scaling back financial assistance for lower- and middle-income people without health insurance, hoping to push them into signing up for coverage through the new online marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act.

The trend is troubling to advocates for the uninsured, who say raising fees will inevitably cause some to skip care rather than buy insurance that they consider unaffordable. Though the number of hospitals tightening access to free or discounted care appears limited so far, many say they are considering doing so, and experts predict that stricter policies will become increasingly common.

Driving the new policies is the cost of charity care, which is partly covered by government but remains a burden for many hospitals. The new law also reduces federal aid to hospitals that treat large numbers of poor and uninsured people, creating an additional pressure on some to restrict charity care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/us/hospitals-look-to-health-law-cutting-charity.html?_r=0

 

[DrLeftover]

GAO Launched an Obamacare Sting Operation—and Almost All Fake Insurance Applications Were Approved
The report suggests the health care law’s eligibility verification system isn't working.

July 23, 2014

An undercover operation found that the majority of fake Obamacare applications submitted were approved by the health law's enrollment system.

Fake applicants were able to get subsidized insurance coverage in 11 of 18 attempts, according to a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. The agency conducted the sting operation to test the strength of the Affordable Care Act's eligibility-verification system.

The findings will be discussed at a House Ways and Means hearing Wednesday. They were revealed in an advance copy of the testimony from Seto Bagdoyan, head of GAO's Forensic Audits and Investigative Service, provided to the Associated Press.

The undercover investigators created fake identities by inventing Social Security numbers, income, and citizenship, and by counterfeiting documents.

Eleven of 12 fake online or telephone applications were approved, according to Bagdoyan. Five of six phone applications were successful, with the exception of one caller who declined to give a Social Security number. Six online applications were initially blocked by the verification system, but the investigators were able to find a workaround by going through the call center.

"The total amount of these credits for the 11 approved applications is about $2,500 monthly or about $30,000 annually," Bagdoyan said, according to a report from NBC. "We also obtained cost-sharing reduction subsidies, according to marketplace representatives, in at least nine of the 11 cases."

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/the-gao-launched-an-obamacare-sting-operation-and-almost-all-fake-insurance-applications-were-approved-20140723

 

[DrLeftover]

4 August

Floridians who buy health insurance on the individual market for next year will face an average increase of 13.2 percent in their monthly premiums, according to rate proposals unveiled Monday by the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation.

The rate proposals affect all Affordable Care Act-compliant health plans on the individual market, whether they’re sold through the federally-run exchange or not. Small and large group health plans typically offered by employers were not included in the data released by the state.

Fourteen companies filed ACA-compliant plans for Florida’s 2015 individual market, including three new companies that did not participate on the federally-run exchange last year.

Of the 11 returning plans, eight filed average rate increases ranging from 11 to 23 percent, and three filed rate decreases ranging from 5 to 12 percent, the state’s insurance regulator reported.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/04/4271376/proposed-prices-for-health-plans.html

 

[DrLeftover]

21 Sept

A significant benefit of the Affordable Care Act is the opportunity to receive money-saving tax credits up front to cut the overall cost of health insurance, but now hundreds of thousands of consumers could owe back some of that money next April.

Those affected took advance payments of the premium tax credit for health insurance. Some married couples could owe $600 or $1,500 or $2,500 or even more. It might feel like a raw deal for some who are already suffocating under the escalating costs of health insurance.

"Health insurance is confusing enough, and now they're adding the complexities of the Tax Code," said Lorena Bencsik, a member of the Michigan Association of CPAs and owner of Prime Numbers in Ferndale.

When you file that 2014 tax return next year, the Internal Revenue Service will compare your actual income for the year with the amount you estimated when applying for exchange-based health insurance under the health insurance law.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/tompor/2014/09/21/susan-tompor-tax-refunds-will-be-cut-for-some-who-get-health-credits/15958211/

 

[DrLeftover]

"The court holds that the IRS rule is arbitrary, capricious, and abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.706(2)(A), in excess of summary jurisdiction, authority or limitation, or short of statutory right, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 706(2)(C), or otherwise is an invalidation of the ACA [Affordable Care Act], and is hereby vacated. The court's order of vacatur is stayed, however, pending resolution of any appeal from this order."

page 20 of the ruling
http://www.ok.gov/oag/documents/Oklahoma%20v%20Burwell%20ruling.pdf

 

[DrLeftover]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to eliminate health insurance coverage for some of its part-time U.S. employees in a move aimed at controlling rising health care costs of the nation's largest private employer.

Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that starting Jan. 1, it will no longer offer health insurance to employees who work less than an average of 30 hours a week. The move affects 30,000 employees, or about 5 percent of Wal-Mart's total part-time workforce, but comes after the company already had scaled back the number of part-time workers who were eligible for health insurance coverage since 2011.

The announcement follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot and others to completely eliminate health insurance benefits for part-time employees. It also comes a day after Wal-Mart said it is teaming up with an online health insurance agency called DirectHealth.com to help customers shop for health insurance plans.

"We had to make some tough decisions," Sally Welborn, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of benefits, told The Associated Press.

Welborn said she didn't know how much Wal-Mart will save by dropping part-time employees, but added that the company will use a third-party organization to help part-time workers find insurance alternatives: "We are trying to balance the needs of (workers) as well as the costs of (workers) as well as the cost to Wal-Mart."

The announcement comes after Wal-Mart said far more U.S. employees and their families are enrolling in its health care plans than it had expected following rollout of the Affordable Care Act, which requires big companies to offer coverage to employees working 30 hours or more a week or face a penalty. It also requires most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WAL_MART_HEALTH_CARE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-10-33-49

 

[DrLeftover]

CBO report:

Deficits would be increased under H.R. 6079 because the net savings from eliminating the insurance coverage provisions would be more than offset by the combination of other spending increases and revenue reductions. In total, CBO and JCT estimate that H.R.
6079 would reduce direct spending by $890 billion and reduce revenues by $1 trillion over the 2013–2022 period, thus adding $109 billion to federal budget deficits over that period
(see Table 2). For various reasons discussed elsewhere in this document, the estimated budgetary effects of repealing the ACA by enacting H.R. 6079 are not equivalent to an estimate of the budgetary effects of the ACA with the signs reversed.

https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43471-hr6079.pdf