http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_PREMIUMS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-10-24-17-03-27
hosted.ap.org
News from The Associated Press
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Barack Obama's health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That will stoke another "Obamacare" controversy days before a presidential election.

Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.

Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles.

"Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period," said Larry Levitt, who tracks the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Republicans will pounce on the numbers as confirmation that insurance markets created by the 2010 health overhaul are on the verge of collapsing in a "death spiral." Sign-up season starts Nov. 1, about a week before national elections in which the GOP remains committed to a full repeal. Window shopping for plans and premiums is already available through HealthCare.gov.

The sobering numbers confirmed state-by-state reports that have been coming in for months. Administration officials are stressing that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will insulate most customers from sticker shock. They add that consumers who are willing to switch to cheaper plans will still be able to find bargains.

"Headline rates are generally rising faster than in previous years," acknowledged HHS spokesman Kevin Griffis. But he added that for most consumers, "headline rates are not what they pay."

The vast majority of the more than 10 million customers who purchase through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts do receive generous financial assistance. "Enrollment is concentrated among very low-income individuals who receive significant government subsidies to reduce premiums and cost-sharing," said Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health

But an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are either not eligible for the income-based assistance, or they buy individual policies outside of the health law's markets, where the subsidies are not available. The administration is urging the latter group to check out HealthCare.gov. The spike in premiums generally does not affect the employer-provided plans that most workers and their families rely on.

In some states, the premium increases are striking. In Arizona, unsubsidized premiums for a 27-year-old buying a benchmark "second-lowest cost silver plan" will jump by 116 percent, from $196 to $422, according to the administration report. Oklahoma has the next biggest increase for a similarly situated customer, 69 percent.

Dwindling choice is another problem factor.

The total number of HealthCare.gov insurers will drop from 232 this year to 167 in 2017, a loss of 28 percent. (Insurers are counted multiple times if they offer coverage in more than one state. So Aetna, for example, would count once in each state that it participated in.)

Switching insurers may not be simple for patients with chronic conditions.

While many carriers are offering a choice of plan designs, most use a single prescription formulary and physician network across all their products, explained Pearson. "So, enrollees may need to change doctors or drugs when they switch insurers," he said.

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Online:

www.healthcare.gov

It's all going according to plan.

FBHO

Nothing to see here. This was only the cornerstone of the presidency and it is a complete failure. Move along and vote for Hilary so we can solve the tough problems facing middle class Americans.

You know, I am about to the point of just wishing for single payer commie style Healthcare. At least that is honest theft.

Plus, we can finally put some boomers in front of the death panels.

GO FUCK YOURSELF, DICKHEAD.

I can't imagine how much more "sharply" they can go up.  

What fucked up idiot would vote Hillary, which is a continuation of Obamacare

not to worry, Obamacare has kept it from being triple digit rise.

But it's not their fault....unforeseen....insurance companies' fault....

Wrong, it's Bush's fault.

They've already been in front of them for some time. There's no difference between some government bureaucrat declining medical treatments or medications and an insurance beancounter doing the same.

Let me tell you a story about that....The Tricare contract was negotiated by the government again this year.  We went from having 3 regions to 2, supposedly to save money.  

As a result, my provider of choice cancelled all Tricare coverage east of the Mississippi with barely 30 days notice....because they got the contract for everything West of the Mississippi.

Not a big deal you say?  As you get older, things in your body begin to change...you start to move from more acute illnesses and injuries to more chronic issues that probably require longer period of treatment.  How are you supposed develop and maintain an effective relationship with a doctor/facility when government gets to make decisions for you?

This has been said before and I'll will repeat it, if you want to know what single payer health care is like, ask any veteran or military service member. It's going to be Tricare, but worse.   The Public Health Service will become the largest federal government agency in the United States.

Remember, the guy that finishes last at medical school is still called doctor.

Damn you, George Bush.

Fucked up FSA dickheads.

FBHO's constituency (statists, FSA, illegals, terrorist women and orphans) aren't experiencing any "premium increases."

If you don't pay we'll send the IRS after you!! Welcome to the new Amerika comrades!

Wait...wait...wait.

Hold on a fucking minute here.

You mean to tell me that "free" shit winds up being very expensive, and people have to PAY for it?!?

<---Head explodes.

To the only people that matter, Husseincare is awesome AND free.

None of you in this thread matter.

I don't matter.

Nameless , faceless slaves to the preferred classes .

Well, the Supreme Court DID rule that Zerocare is constitutional under the government's power to levy taxes.

(Thanks for THAT fucking, Roberts).

Obamacare wasn't meant to fix it. It was meant to destroy it so we beg for single payer.

All they had to do was open up competition across state lines.

SOME people have to pay.

How can people still vote Hitlery after this?

We have a winner.

Just so we're clear here, under the Commerce Clause, the government can regulate pretty much anything. Under the Necessary Clause, Congress can make laws about pretty much anything. Under the Spending Clause, Congress can spend money and establish programs on pretty much anything. And now, under the Taxation Clause, forcing citizens to buy a product is a tax.

So much for limited government.

because it is republicans fault for not doing something to or with legislation that not a single one of them voted to make law.

I would hate to see what it would be if we weren't already saving $2,500 per year just like Obama promised.

Drugs paid for by obummercare

Wiping out the middle class especially the small business owners

Marxists HATE the middle class

Then he joins the military to practice medicine since no one will hire him and he has $500k in student loans to pay.

Reading this thread is making my head sore, BRB...gonna run to the ER and get some aspirin

FPNI.  Forward to single payer.

People without insurance end up just going to the ER.  They don't pay and then the hospitals charge everyone else with insurance more to pay for the deadbeats.

So we're paying one way or the other.  Might as well give them free preventive care so they don't rack up a 50k ER bill for something preventable.

People who get it for FREE (or highly subsidized) will vote to keep their new entitlement.  The Dems and the media are still saying it's a success.

Though people who actually pay for health insurance.......won't/don't necessarily agree.

Aloha, Mark

First I was wondering how anyone could possibly think this, then I recognized your join date. Carry on.

How is all of this in the best interests of the insurance companies? They are the ones who wrote it after all. Right?

now you're talkin

"GOP remains committed to a full repeal"

Lol ya right, Trump might be for it but the GOP is not.

They didn't take the Dems agenda into account, just the money that would be coming their way.

I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance companies aren't simply nationalized.

 
Sounds like there should be a class action lawsuit against the President.  

All part of the plan.

A 13er calling out someone else's join date. That's rich

Class Action Lawyer: He lied!
Obama: I'm a politician. Of course I lied. You're the ones who put me in office. Caveat Emptor.

The same people getting the subsidies and other free shit on the backs of the people who actually work and pay taxes.

If a 5 year old could figure out where all of this is headed, how did it slip the minds of some of the most calculating (by nature and job description) people on the planet?

Go libtards! But don't worry dipshit says she'll fix it.

 
Of course they did.  Roberts was appointed by the establishment shill named GW Bush.  In the 1990's twenty establishment Republicans actually co-signed a bill pushing the individual mandate.  One of those Republicans continued on to become a Governor, pushed the mandate in his state, and signed it into law.  His name is Mitt Romney.  The establishment, including Mitt Romney are now working hard to defeat Trump because he threatens to eliminate Obamacare.  The GOPe and Romney are also supporting Hillary, who will keep and expand Obamacare.


Thank the establishment, DNCe and GOPe, for all of this.  The rich elite didn't get rich by being stupid, they became the elite by buying politicians.  Several billionaires of pharmaceutical companies are Republican and encouraging people to vote for Hillary.

I just got my final bill for my last doctor bill today.

The other one on Friday.

My doctor visit was 125, exam 125 ( waived when I was paying cash), $58 dollar script bill.

Friday bill was $13.95, exray bill was $39.00


Fuck obungo care......

First time  at a Doctor since 2003.....I think.

and I am 47 years old.

The feds can lick my nuts

Yet those same Republicans could never pull their tongues out of Obamas asshole long enough to repeal it.