Friday, March 22, 2013

CBO: Up to 20 Million Could Be Pushed Off Employer Health Insurance Because of Obamacare

What's Obamacare really about? It is going to mean millions will lose employer health insurance. It will mean skyrocketing premiums and it is going to be "rate shock" for the young.  From Investor's Business Daily:

[T[he bulk of ObamaCare doesn't take effect until next year. That's when the so-called insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running, when the mandate on individuals and businesses kicks in, and when the avalanche of regulations on the insurance industry hits.

As this start date draws near, evidence is piling up that ObamaCare will: Boost insurance costs. Officially the "Affordable Care Act," ObamaCare promised to lower premiums for families. But regulators decided to impose a 3.5% surcharge on insurance plans sold through federally run exchanges. There's also a $63 fee for every person covered by employers. And the law adds a "premium tax" that will require insurers to pay more than $100 billion over the next decade. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation expects insurers to simply pass this tax onto individuals and small businesses, boosting premiums another 2.5%.

Push millions off employer coverage. In February, the Congressional Budget Office said that 7 million will likely lose their employer coverage thanks to ObamaCare — nearly twice its previous estimate. That number could be as high as 20 million, the CBO says.

Cause premiums to skyrocket. In December, state insurance commissioners warned Obama administration officials that the law's market regulations would likely cause "rate shocks," particularly for younger, healthier people forced by ObamaCare to subsidize premiums for those who are older and sicker.

"We are very concerned about what will happen if essentially there is so much rate shock for young people that they're bound not to purchase (health insurance) at all," said California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

That same month, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said ObamaCare will likely cause premiums to double for some small businesses and individuals.

And a more recent survey of insurers in five major cities by the American Action Forum found they expect premiums to climb an average 169%.

(ht Bryan Ripp)

4 comments:

  1. I hope you're right! The sooner this fails, the sooner we will get real reform.

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    1. the only reform they'll offer then is their single payer option cos thats what they wanted all along.

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    2. That is something to look forward to! We are currently wasting time and lives. And it will take time to reform other aspects of the corrupt system.

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  2. Nearly four years ago I wrote:

    "While unstated as an objective, I believe reform sets the table for employers to shed that pesky health insurance benefit."

    http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2009/09/hyper-competition-on-health-care-reform.html

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