Insurance
Insurance
Posted on Nov 2, 2015
Nearly Half of ObamacareCo-Ops Have Failed
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10 of 23 Obamacare co-ops have gone bankrupt, with more to follow. What do you forecast as to healthcare in the U.S?
Ten of the 23 health insurance co-ops created under Obamacare have gone out of business, and experts say more will follow. Utah’s Arches is the latest co-op to fail, along with others in Kentucky, New York, Nevada, Louisiana, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, South Carolina and a co-op that served both Iowa and Nebraska.
Experts say that the co-ops are failing because of artificially low premiums, strict regulations, and too many people requiring payouts. “In most cases, they priced too low relative to what their claims costs were going to be, that’s what the operating margins were all about,”said Thomas Miller, a fellow specializing in health care policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Now what made them attractive was they’re offering lower premiums so more people want to sign up for that, but that’s a dangerous proposition where you’re making up your losses on volume,” Miller explains. “You’re getting more people, but those extra enrollees you’re bringing in are being underwritten at a loss.” “The co-ops are losing more than they’re bringing in because they’re paying out for older, sicker populations and don’t have enough younger, healthier people to help share the cost burden,” says Nathan Nascimento, a senior policy adviser at Freedom Partners. “This is in part because the monthly premiums set up by the co-ops were set artificially low compared to other plans.” “Co-op insurers are heavily subsidized and operate under strict regulations,” he explains. “They’re more heavily regulated than other insurance plans offered in the health care exchange.”
http://freebeacon.com/issues/nearly-half-of-obamacare-co-ops-have-failed/
Ten of the 23 health insurance co-ops created under Obamacare have gone out of business, and experts say more will follow. Utah’s Arches is the latest co-op to fail, along with others in Kentucky, New York, Nevada, Louisiana, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, South Carolina and a co-op that served both Iowa and Nebraska.
Experts say that the co-ops are failing because of artificially low premiums, strict regulations, and too many people requiring payouts. “In most cases, they priced too low relative to what their claims costs were going to be, that’s what the operating margins were all about,”said Thomas Miller, a fellow specializing in health care policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Now what made them attractive was they’re offering lower premiums so more people want to sign up for that, but that’s a dangerous proposition where you’re making up your losses on volume,” Miller explains. “You’re getting more people, but those extra enrollees you’re bringing in are being underwritten at a loss.” “The co-ops are losing more than they’re bringing in because they’re paying out for older, sicker populations and don’t have enough younger, healthier people to help share the cost burden,” says Nathan Nascimento, a senior policy adviser at Freedom Partners. “This is in part because the monthly premiums set up by the co-ops were set artificially low compared to other plans.” “Co-op insurers are heavily subsidized and operate under strict regulations,” he explains. “They’re more heavily regulated than other insurance plans offered in the health care exchange.”
http://freebeacon.com/issues/nearly-half-of-obamacare-co-ops-have-failed/
Healthcare
Insurance
Obamacare
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 39
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CPO Andy Carrillo, MS Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.
They failed and it closed. Now, we are trusting the economy of our country and 850+ Billion Dollars to a pack of nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze.
They failed and it closed. Now, we are trusting the economy of our country and 850+ Billion Dollars to a pack of nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze.
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CPO Andy Carrillo, MS
I remember that venture. Maybe the government revenuers were dipping into the profits?
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CPT Pedro Meza
They failed because the workers went on strike and demand better wages and too many politicians that frequented the establishment would not pay.
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CDR Jon Corrigan
If the US Government took over management of the Sahara Desert, there would be a shortage of sand within five years - William Buckley.
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Simply put it was "bad law." It was bad law for the following reasons:
1) it wasn't sustainable.
2) It relied on too many pieces, which could be challenged independently, and each piece acted as a "keystone" for the entirety of the law. Eventually one of these pieces will fall to a SCOTUS challenge, and the entire law will unravel.
3) It's divisive. Have the country doesn't like it.
4) It's not Health Care. It's Health Insurance Reform SOLD AS Health Care. Health Insurance reform will not fix Health Care. It can't.
5) It is named the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It does not make Health Care (Insurance) Affordable for most. The requirements NOT to allow "statistical discrimination" based on Age nor Gender cause Men to pay for Women's additional health cost (they have more issues, and live longer), and the Young to pay for the Old's additional health cost (they have more issues because they are old). As such 50+% of the population is being subsidized by the other. This is not sustainable.
6) We have a "Free Market" Health Care system. A highly regulated one. That system actually subsidizes the rest of the world's Social Medical system. No one else pays "retail" for pharmaceutical drugs. No one else has the capability. That money has to come from somewhere, but because our politicians are Lawyers, not Accountants, or Businessmen, they don't understand that. Americans pay $300/month for pills so that Indians can pay $30/month for the same pill. It's a Robin Hood business model, and it works. Getting the Government involved in this is just going to damage a delicate ecosystem.
7) Telling Americans "you must do something" doesn't really work. It just pisses us off. Telling us "you can't do something" pisses us off to. The PPACA does both of those things.
1) it wasn't sustainable.
2) It relied on too many pieces, which could be challenged independently, and each piece acted as a "keystone" for the entirety of the law. Eventually one of these pieces will fall to a SCOTUS challenge, and the entire law will unravel.
3) It's divisive. Have the country doesn't like it.
4) It's not Health Care. It's Health Insurance Reform SOLD AS Health Care. Health Insurance reform will not fix Health Care. It can't.
5) It is named the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It does not make Health Care (Insurance) Affordable for most. The requirements NOT to allow "statistical discrimination" based on Age nor Gender cause Men to pay for Women's additional health cost (they have more issues, and live longer), and the Young to pay for the Old's additional health cost (they have more issues because they are old). As such 50+% of the population is being subsidized by the other. This is not sustainable.
6) We have a "Free Market" Health Care system. A highly regulated one. That system actually subsidizes the rest of the world's Social Medical system. No one else pays "retail" for pharmaceutical drugs. No one else has the capability. That money has to come from somewhere, but because our politicians are Lawyers, not Accountants, or Businessmen, they don't understand that. Americans pay $300/month for pills so that Indians can pay $30/month for the same pill. It's a Robin Hood business model, and it works. Getting the Government involved in this is just going to damage a delicate ecosystem.
7) Telling Americans "you must do something" doesn't really work. It just pisses us off. Telling us "you can't do something" pisses us off to. The PPACA does both of those things.
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PO2 Robert Cuminale
Sgt Kelli Mays - It also gave the administration control over all college loans. Students are paying 6.8% interest rates which is over the actual cost even for unsecured loans. They blame the banks because they don't realize it is the feds that are screwing them. And now the presidential candidates use it as a vote buying scheme by offering to wipe out the debts. What could possibly go wrong with a scheme like this?
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Sgt Jerami Ballard
Don't forget the "tax" vs. Premium debacle.
It is currently cheaper to pay the tax penalty and risk it for a year than it is to pay the stupidly high premiums relative to quality of care. If you're a healthy individual, it saves money to do this for a period of 2-3 years before even considering buying insurance, especially since the cost of premium is set to increase every year for at least the next 4 years, not due to inflation (a 2-5% average increase) but because the model isn't sustainable (we're getting a 7-20% average increase for 2016)
Even better is the quality of care.
I did my shopping around (didn't have high hopes for the VA) and found that I couldn't find a plan without nor negotiate out preventative care unique to females under my insurance. I don't need mammograms or pap smears, physically I do not need them, so why do I have to pay for them?
Because they are required by law... The law requires that I pay ~400 a year for services I don't need.
Meanwhile....
Where is my affordable access to mental healthcare? Where is my access in general?
Not included under the ACA, at all.
In fact, the only "value" level Health insurance plan that includes mental health services is the VA.
No lawmaker has brought up this bygone at any point during the writing, voting, or implementation of the law.
And if you thought there were healthcare professionals that were underpaid before, then prepare to hate the government even more. Entry-level healthcare practitioners have seen a drop in average wage, slow in average increase of wage, and have had more jobs cut than have been created by the enactment of this law. Nursing Assistants, Surgical Technologists, Patient Care Specialists, and Lab Associates have all seen a negligible growth in the last 5 years.
Even on the top end, there are less people becoming doctors than 5 years ago because they can't make the money to keep the doors open. So to save money, there has been a marked increase in intermediate level practitioners like PAs and APNs because they provide the same services as a doctor at roughly 70% the cost.
The VA has for the first time in 15 years become the largest singular employer of these practitioners to meet the sequester cuts.
Needless to say, I'm sticking with VA Health insurance until I become a PA where I can make the money to actually be able to afford the health insurance that would cover the medical issues I foresee on the horizon.
It is currently cheaper to pay the tax penalty and risk it for a year than it is to pay the stupidly high premiums relative to quality of care. If you're a healthy individual, it saves money to do this for a period of 2-3 years before even considering buying insurance, especially since the cost of premium is set to increase every year for at least the next 4 years, not due to inflation (a 2-5% average increase) but because the model isn't sustainable (we're getting a 7-20% average increase for 2016)
Even better is the quality of care.
I did my shopping around (didn't have high hopes for the VA) and found that I couldn't find a plan without nor negotiate out preventative care unique to females under my insurance. I don't need mammograms or pap smears, physically I do not need them, so why do I have to pay for them?
Because they are required by law... The law requires that I pay ~400 a year for services I don't need.
Meanwhile....
Where is my affordable access to mental healthcare? Where is my access in general?
Not included under the ACA, at all.
In fact, the only "value" level Health insurance plan that includes mental health services is the VA.
No lawmaker has brought up this bygone at any point during the writing, voting, or implementation of the law.
And if you thought there were healthcare professionals that were underpaid before, then prepare to hate the government even more. Entry-level healthcare practitioners have seen a drop in average wage, slow in average increase of wage, and have had more jobs cut than have been created by the enactment of this law. Nursing Assistants, Surgical Technologists, Patient Care Specialists, and Lab Associates have all seen a negligible growth in the last 5 years.
Even on the top end, there are less people becoming doctors than 5 years ago because they can't make the money to keep the doors open. So to save money, there has been a marked increase in intermediate level practitioners like PAs and APNs because they provide the same services as a doctor at roughly 70% the cost.
The VA has for the first time in 15 years become the largest singular employer of these practitioners to meet the sequester cuts.
Needless to say, I'm sticking with VA Health insurance until I become a PA where I can make the money to actually be able to afford the health insurance that would cover the medical issues I foresee on the horizon.
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Cpl James Goodin
I am in a union, and as such this union pressed and demanded that we pass this crappy law. Now, our company is being sold to another and the union wanted to make healthcare cost a stipulation to renegotiate the contract with the new company. Basically, if our insurance is to good and is valued to high, it will be levied a "Cadillac Tax". If that happens then the union wants the right to negotiate a lesser insurance plan so it is not taxed at the higher rate.
This is BS! Not only did my insurance cost skyrocket, but I also have to take lesser coverage and higher deductibles because the union that wanted this effing law now doesn't want to pay the taxes associated with a law they fought for.
Guess What, I'm No Fan Of The Union When They Rob Me To Tow The Line For The Communist Party.
This is BS! Not only did my insurance cost skyrocket, but I also have to take lesser coverage and higher deductibles because the union that wanted this effing law now doesn't want to pay the taxes associated with a law they fought for.
Guess What, I'm No Fan Of The Union When They Rob Me To Tow The Line For The Communist Party.
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SGM (Join to see)
I mean no insult, but you are the first Union member I have ever heard from who's had the necessary brainpower to figure that out. For almost 40 years now, the main thrust of union negotiations has been high quality health care. Next year, you have to pay the Cadillac tax on those plans, of drop to lower health care coverage. In one swoop, Obama wiped out 40 years worth of union bargaining.
Note that Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriend's wife intends to carry on Obama's plans. I expect union members will follow the lead of their leadership, like children after the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and vote for her. But if I were a union member, I'd fire the current leadership and swing my whole union to the Libertarians.
Note that Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriend's wife intends to carry on Obama's plans. I expect union members will follow the lead of their leadership, like children after the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and vote for her. But if I were a union member, I'd fire the current leadership and swing my whole union to the Libertarians.
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All I know is my insurance just went up a $150/ month. Not sure who decides what "affordable" is, but socialism sucks for the working.
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MSgt James Mullis
Somebody has to pay for those unwilling to work and it won't be George Soros and the rest of the ultra wealthy liberal elite.
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SGT William Howell
MSgt James Mullis I just never understood how a rich liberal can look someone in they eye and say he is for the working man or the poor. What is harder to understand is how somebody can not take two seconds to think about it and call bullshit on it.
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SGT Jerrold Pesz
Just got my notification from my insurance company that my premiums are only going up by about $10 a month. Sounded good until I kept reading and found out that my co-pays more than doubled. I have spent hours online in the last two days looking for a better deal and there are no good deals. The unfortunate truth is that if I have any major medical problem I can't afford to live.
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