I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up! There is a story in the SF Gate about a nurse at a retirement facility who would not preform CPR on a resident who collapsed and had a heart attack. This is not something new, but standard policy for many facilities.
No kidding? This is exactly what the Obama administration and their socialist cohorts want. Employers will look at the options, and all of them will slowly come to the realization health care benefits cost money and since the federal government is going to cover everyone, why be involved at all?
A major argument of those in favor of Obamacare is that it will stop cost shifting. The theory goes something like this…because so many people are not paying for medical care, health care providers make up that loss by increasing their prices, insurance companies pay those higher prices, and pass those higher prices on to their insureds in the form of higher premiums. However, if everyone is forced to buy health insurance, the cost shifting will go away, and premiums will be lowered. Read more
No kidding? Although higher health care insurance premiums are mostly the result of higher costs at the provider level, AARP – who endorsed the Democrat’s health care legislation – admits part of the new premium increases are the direct result of Obamacare. On top of that, they are increasing deductibles and co-pays specifically to avoid a possible hit by the 40 percent “Cadillac” health care tax taking effect in 2018.
So, remember all those promises that the Democrats and the President made about healthcare? Get to keep your doctor, save you money and it would all be delivered by flying unicorns?
Well, maybe not. Read more
Eleven months ago, I wrote about the future physician shortage mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. This was prior to the passage of the Democrat-owned health care legislation and nobody wanted to discuss the issue. A study by the Association of American Medical Colleges notes the shortage will now be worse than expected.
Steve did a post earlier this week about the rise in insurance premiums that consumers are now seeing. The insurance companies have said that anywhere from 1% to 9% of those increases are the direct result of Obamacare mandates, with the rest of any increases attributable to rising health care costs.
Yesterday, the Obama administration struck back.
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, issued the warning in a letter to Karen Ignagni, the insurance industry’s top lobbyist.
Ms. Sebelius said some insurers were notifying enrollees that their insurance premiums will increase next year as a result of the law’s new benefits…
“There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases,” Ms. Sebelius wrote. “We will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections.” [emphasis supplied]
Let’s analyize that statement.
Beginning soon, as an example, insurers will have to provide “free” preventive care to their insureds. So, when a patient has a mammogram performed at her local hospital, the patient will pay nothing. Is the hospital performing the procedure for free? Is the radiologist reading the test results for free? Of course not. Currently, you and your insurer split those costs in some fashion. Within months, the insurance company will have to pay the entire cost. How will the insurance company cover their additional cost…by raising premiums, of course.
Months ago, the Congressional Budget Office warned us about this, but apparently, Ms. Sebelius didn’t get the memo.
CBO found that premiums in the individual market will rise by 10% to 13% more than if Congress did nothing. Family policies under the status quo are projected to cost $13,100 on average, but under ObamaCare will jump to $15,200.
So, the “misinformation” Ms. Sebelius speaks about in her warning letter would be better directed at those who not only voted for Obamacare, but who also spent months telling us that our insurance costs would fall when Obamacare was passed.
I submit, just as the CBO knew what would happen, so did Congress. But, they needed to spread that misinformation in an attempt to convince the American public that this was a good bill. Now, they are confronted with the stark reality of what they did.
As Pogo would have said, “we have met the enemy and he is us”.
As a companion piece to my health care trade-offs post more than two weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal has another article today discussing the premium increases that are starting to hit businesses now that the legislation is law, and open enrollment season is around the corner.
Really simple actually. If the federal government mandates additional coverage – like coverage for 26 year old “kids” and no lifetime or yearly limits – the cost to provide that coverage will go up. We know that is exactly what Democrats in Congress want. Ask your employer. Ask small business owners. Health care costs are going up … way up.
Yup, that’s right. After spending months ensuring the American people the health care individual mandate is certainly not a tax, the Obama administration’s Department of Justice has gone to court in defense of their mandate, arguing the mandate is a tax.