AARP and Many Others Hiking Premiums or Dumping Coverage Because of ObamaCare
WASHINGTON – AARP's endorsement helped secure passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Now the seniors' lobby is telling its employees their insurance costs will rise partly as a result of the law.
In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs.
And AARP adds that it's changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law. Aerospace giant Boeing also has cited the tax in asking its workers to pay more. Shifting costs to employees lowers the value of a health care plan and acts like an escape hatch from the tax.
AARP raising premiums, citing ObamaCare, but said when they were pushing it that this wouldn't happen...
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White House on Health Care: ‘Nothing’ From Election Suggests People Want Repeal - [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX7U65h2Vhk]
IBD - 3M cites ObamaCare - Forced to drop care for 23,000 retirees:
Here’s a Post-it note for ObamaCare supporters and opponents: Over the weekend 3M (MMM), the maker of the ubiquitous sticky message pads, along with electronics, optics and more, decided to end its retirees’ access to its health care plan beginning in 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal:
“health care reform has made it more difficult for employers like 3M to provide a plan that will remain competitive,” (3M said in a) memo. The White House says retiree-only plans are largely exempt from new health insurance regulations under the law.
The company didn’t specify how many workers would be impacted. It currently has 23,000 U.S. retirees.
Americans become eligible for the Medicare insurance program at age 65. Starting in 2015, 3M retirees too young to qualify for Medicare will receive financial support through what the company called a “health reimbursement arrangement” and won’t be able to enroll in the company’s group insurance plan. The company described that as an account retirees can use to purchase individual insurance through exchanges that the health law will create in 2014. 3M didn’t provide details on the financial contributions. [Grats that taxpayer subsidized so WE pay for it - Editor]
Or, as opponents of ObamaCare predicted, they’re finding it cheaper to dump their retirees onto the exchange.
That comes on the heels of a report Thursday that McDonald’s was considering dropping its “mini-med” plan for its employees because those plans may run afoul of the forthcoming medical-loss ratio regulations.
Also on Thursday, the Principal Financial Group (PFG) announced it would stop selling health insurance, which means 840,000 employees who receive Principal coverage through their employers will have to look elsewhere. Just the day before, President Obama said, “So there’s nothing in the bill that says you have to change the health insurance that you’ve got right now.” And he’s right: the bill doesn’t say it; it just causes it.
Indeed, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care was giving the lie to Obama’s statement as he was making it. Harvard Pilgrim announced that it would end its Medicare Advantage plans at the end of the year, leaving its 22,000 Advantage customers scrambling for coverage.
A week before that, a number of health plans including Anthem (WLP), Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI), Humana (HUM), CoventryOne (CVH) and some Blue Cross Blue Shield companies decided that they would stop selling coverage in the child-only market. It makes sense, given that under the new ObamaCare regulations, no child can be denied health insurance for a pre-existing condition and insurers can no longer vary premiums based on health status. Thus, the cagey parent will now wait until his or her child is sick before getting insurance. This is known as adverse selection: The healthy drop out, and those remaining in the insurance pool tend to be sicker. As insurers found out when a number of states tried this in early 1990s, it doesn’t make for a very viable business plan.
Of course, the evidence of what happened when these reforms were tried on the state level was available in a short, easy-to-read format for all of the so-called reformers. But, as IBD has noted before, since when has health care reform been about evidence? It has always been about power — the power politicians have over insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and, ultimately, patients.
Remember we were told the bill would lower premiums?
The Promises - [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yRc1GR9nO0]
August 6, 2008
OBAMA: A system where we're gonna work with your employers to lower your premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year.
October 4, 2008
OBAMA: We will start by reducing premiums by as much as $2,500 per family.
September 6, 2008
OBAMA: Here's what change is saying to people who already have health insurance and the employers who are providing it: We'll work to lower your premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year.
May 3, 2008
OBAMA: I also have a health care plan that would save the average family $2,500 on their premiums.
January 3, 2008
OBAMA: And if you already have health care, then we're gonna reduce costs an average of $2,500 per family on premiums.
October 7, 2008
OBAMA: We're gonna work with your employer to lower the costs of your premiums by up to $2,500 a year.
Campaign Ad
OBAMA: And we'll cut the costs of a typical family's health care by up to $2,500 per year.
March 14, 2008
OBAMA: And if you've got health care, we're gonna work with your employer to lower your premiums by $2,500 per family per year.
February 23, 2008
OBAMA: And we will lower premiums for the typical family by $2,500 a year.
June 17, 2007
OBAMA: And cut the cost of health care by up to $2,500 per family.
August 17, 2008
OBAMA: And if you already have health care, then we're gonna work with your employer to lower your premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year.
Campaign Ad
EVAN BAYH: Barack's policies will provide health care cost reductions of about $2,500 for the typical family.
June 27, 2008
OBAMA: It's time to bring down the typical family's premium by about $2,500. And it's time to bring down the costs for the entire country.
February 19, 2008
OBAMA: And if you already have health insurance, we will lower your premiums by $2,500 per family per year.
April 22, 2008
OBAMA: We're gonna work with your employer through a catastrophic reinsurance plan to lower premiums by $2,500 per family per year.
October 15, 2008
OBAMA: The only thing we're gonna try to do is lower costs so that those cost savings are passed on to you. And we estimate we can cut the average family's premium by about $2,500 a year.
March 1, 2008
OBAMA: We'll work with your employer to lower your premiums by $2,500 per family per year.
Campaign Ad
NARRATOR: Barack Obama will provide rural America with affordable health care, and save the typical American family $2,500 a year.
May 30, 2008
OBAMA: And reduces every family's premiums by as much as $2,500.
April 20, 2008
OBAMA: If your employer does offer you health care, then we're gonna work with your employer to lower premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year.
March 13, 2008
OBAMA: And cut the cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year.