Health Insurance Deductibles Rising Faster Than Wages...

The cost curve was not bent down. that was another lie. 

Via NY Times:

It may not seem like much — just an extra hundred dollars or so a year.
But the steady upward creep in health insurance deductibles has easily outpaced the average increase in a worker’s wages over the last five years, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kaiser, a health policy research group that conducts a yearly survey of employer health benefits, calculates that deductibles have risen more than six times faster than workers’ earnings since 2010.
Keep on reading…

You can keep your plan update: 13 states canceling non compliant plans in coming weeks...

36 Times Obama Said You Could Keep Your Health Care Plan...

Via Fox News:

More than a dozen states plan to cancel health care policies not in compliance with ObamaCare in the coming weeks, affecting thousands of people just before the midterm elections.
"It looks like several hundred thousand people across the country will receive notices in the coming days and weeks," said Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
The policies are being canceled because states that initially granted a reprieve at the request of President Obama are no longer willing to do so.
In coming weeks, 13 states and the District of Columbia plan to cancel such policies, which generally fall out of compliance with the Affordable Care Act because they don’t offer the level of coverage the law requires.
Virginia will be hardest hit, with 250,000 policies expected to be canceled.
And because federal law requires a 60-day notice of any plan changes, voters will be notified no later than November 1, right before the Nov. 4 midterms.

Tweet of the Day: US CENSUS BUREAU finds uninsured actually increased in 2014...

Obamacare hardest hit...

US CENSUS BUREAU: 1.25 million MORE Americans uninsured in January to April 2014 than in 2013. pic.twitter.com/TSdSHAWSYB
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) September 19, 2014

Confirmed: Covered California cause 55% rate increases...

Obamacare is significantly raising health insurance rates. Anyone who tells you different is a liar who is playing you for a fool.

Via Breitbart:

Facing political shock and awe as ten million working Californians are soon to get notices of big insurance premium increases for next year, Democrat Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones admitted July 29th that rates for individuals that enrolled in Covered California jumped by an average of 55% last year.
Patrick Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of the California Association of Health Plans, said last year just before the launch of Covered California, “The arithmetic is inescapable.” Costs must be spread, so while some consumers will see their premiums drop, others will pay more – “no matter what people in Washington say.”
After two years of swearing that Covered California would save money for working state residents, Insurance Commissioner Jones in a news conference said, “The rate increase from 2013 to 2014, on average, was significantly higher than rate increases in the past.” He eventually got around to admitting that "significantly higher" meant average healthcare insurance premium increases of 22% to 88%.

Study: Obamacare will cause significant reduction in the private insurance market in 2017 and beyond...

Private insurance will decline and Medicaid will expand. Nice job democrats.

Via WaPo:

National Enrollment Estimate: Private Insurance, Medicaid and the Uninsured 

The ACA offers subsidies in the private individual insurance market and offers states the choice to expand Medicaid coverage with federal support. As a result of varied Medicaid decisions and prior state market conditions, enrollment is expected to vary widely by state. States like California, New York and Pennsylvania are estimated to experience substantial increases in enrollment, while states like Texas, Ohio and Florida are likely to see a steady decline in individual and employer insurance enrollment leading to increase in the uninsured. We have included 10 state economic analyses in this report to provide additional insight into state insurance markets that are expected to experience significant levels of disruption.

Nationally, we estimate an initial decrease in the uninsured with greater use of the private health insurance subsidies, but over time health plan prices are likely to increase faster than the value of the insurance subsidy. As a result of the declining purchasing power of the insurance subsidy, the implementation of the qualified health plan requirements and the end of the reinsurance and risk corridor programs we estimate a significant reduction in the private insurance market in 2017 with steady declines continuing for the rest of the decade. The Medicaid population is estimated to grow substantially in 2015 as more individuals are enrolled in states who have chosen to expand the program. Medicaid enrollment is estimated to slow down to between 2% to 3% each year from 2016 to 2024.

Obamacare causes Moody's to turn negative on healthcare companies...

It's only going to get worse because the worse is yet to come. 

Via The Washington Times:

Moody’s Investor Service has changed its outlook for the U.S. health care insurance sector from stable to negative, citing Obamacare’s rollout and the uncertainty it brings.
The private credit rating agency said potential fallout from the Affordable Care Act’s implementation — including changes to the individual market and the impact of the law’s “employer mandate” on commercial group plans in January 2015  —  presents the greatest challenge to health insurers’ credit profile. Lower reimbursement rates among Medicare Advantage plans also are creating financial pressure, it said.
“While all of these issues had been on our radar screen as we approached 2014, a new development and a key factor for the change in outlook is the unstable and evolving regulatory environment under which the sector is operating,” Moody's said. “Notably, new regulations and presidential announcements over the last several months with respect to the ACA have imposed operational changes well after product and pricing decisions had been finalized.”

Only 11% of those who signed up for Obamacare were previously uninsured?

This is a massive fail. It is likely that more people are uninsured now than before Obamacare was enacted. 

Via Forbes:

At the end of the day, for all of the rhetoric and promises about what Obamacare would achieve, the health law’s most ardent supporters have stuck to their guns because of one thing: coverage expansion. But new data suggests that Obamacare may fail even to achieve this goal. Instead of expanding coverage to those without it, Obamacare is replacing the pre-existing market for private insurance. Surveys from insurers and other industry players indicate that as few as 11 percent of those on Obamacare’s exchanges were previously uninsured. If these trends continue, the probability increases that Obamacare will eventually get repealed.
The latest reporting on this topic comes from Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews of the Wall Street Journal. They cite several industry surveys on the coverage history of those signing up for insurance on the Obamacare exchanges.

Insurance executive on getting people to pay Obamacare premiums, “It’s been pulling teeth,”

There are reasons so many people didn't have health insurance before Obamacare. Some were young and felt they didn't need it. They wanted to spend their money on other things. The others wanted and knew they needed health insurance, but they couldn't afford to pay the premiums. Except for the people getting free Medicaid or heavily subsidized Obamacare plans, these people can afford it even less now because Obamacare actually raised unsubsidized premiums an average of 41%.

Via WSJ:

Insurers are struggling to get their premium payments from people who signed up for coverage through the health-law marketplaces, leaving many plans with fewer enrollees than expected at the start of the new year.
Friday was the deadline the industry set last month for people to pay for coverage that started Jan. 1. A big gap between the roughly two million people the government said selected plans in the marketplaces and those who actually pay—the final step to getting coverage—could pose a fresh challenge for the Obama administration. It also raises the stakes for small health plans and startups that are relying heavily on the marketplaces for business.
Smaller customer pools are riskier for insurers, partly because there may be too few healthy customers to offset even a handful of costly patients.
Several insurers have said that despite the Jan. 10 cutoff, they will have to informally continue to accept payments that flow in late. Others, including several of the biggest, officially pushed back their deadlines to later in the month.
“It’s been pulling teeth,” said Shaun Greene, chief operating officer of Utah-based Arches Health Plan, a startup. As of Thursday, Arches had collected about 60% of premiums for people who signed up for coverage that took effect Jan. 1. He said Arches would urge customers in email and phone calls to pay for at least a few more days, even after the deadline.

Keep on reading…

Cancer Patient Chooses Death After Obamacare Causes His Premium to Increase By 833% - http://t.co/OPlG56UFHe pic.twitter.com/LaxJmYwDHc
— The Last Great Stand (@LastGreatStand) January 7, 2014

Oregon's health insurance exchange robocalling applicants, "If you haven't heard from us by Dec. 23, it is unlikely your application will be processed..."

Oregon's health insurance exchange fail boat arrives...

Via The Oregonian:

Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange began robocalling applicants Friday, warning them that if they don't receive enrollment confirmation by Monday, they should seek coverage elsewhere for Jan. 1.
"If you haven't heard from us by Dec. 23, it is unlikely your application will be processed for Jan. 1 insurance coverage," a woman's voice on the pre-recorded call from Cover Oregon says. "If you want to be sure you have insurance coverage starting Jan. 1, you have other options."

Obama throws insurance companies under the bus...

It's hard to work up any sympathy for health insurance companies. They willingly plotted this Obamacare disaster with Obama and democrats. Even though they undoubtedly didn't like the new rules and regulations, the idea of the government forcing 40 million Americans to buy their product was too much for their greedy souls to resist. Insurance companies willingly screwed their loyal customers in exchange for expected future profits. There is just one problem with their plan. They trusted Obama. Many of the recent emergency changes to provide political cover to Obama and democrats have carried a high price for insurance companies. Now, Obama is letting people who had their insurance canceled, but bought overpriced Obamacare plans, to cancel them and return to catastrophic plans. This will cause many young healthy people to leave the Obamacare insurance pools. Insurance companies are going to loose their butts next year and have to hope Obama will bail them out. They are completely at the mercy of a man they can't trust.

HHS has clarified: if u got a cancellation notice, bought insurance but thot price was too high, u can cancel and now sign up for bare bones
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) December 20, 2013

Interesting: Capitol Hill staffers told not to trust healthcare exchange information...

Well, doh!

Via The Hill:

Capitol Hill staffers who signed up for ObamaCare through the Washington, D.C., healthcare exchange, called DC Health Link (DCHL), are being told to confirm their enrollments in person, and not to rely on data provided by the website.
The Hill obtained an email sent to staffers on Wednesday warning them, “it is essential that you confirm your coverage in DCHL through the Disbursing Office.”
“Do not rely on your ‘My Account’ page or other correspondence from DCHL,” the email reads.
“Please do not assume you are covered unless you have seen the confirmation letter from the Disbursing Office,” the email continues.
Capitol Hill workers had until Monday to sign up for healthcare in D.C., where members and their staffs are eligible for a generous employer healthcare subsidy from the government.
DC Health Link, the online healthcare portal for the District, has experienced a number of technical issues over the last few weeks.
According to the email obtained by The Hill, those staffers who were not able to enroll because of technical difficulties now have until Dec. 16 to sign up. The extension was granted because of problems with the website.
Keep on reading…

Get prepared for the Obamacare insurance exchange rate death spiral...

Early results indicate young people aren't interested. When it comes to a new iPhone or health insurance they think they don't need, young people are getting an iPhone. 

In California, the state with the largest uninsured population, most of those who applied were older people with health problems. In Kentucky, nearly 3 of 4 enrollees were over 35. In Washington state, about 23 percent of enrollees were between 18 and 34. And in Ohio, groups helping with enrollment described many of those coming to them as older residents who lost their jobs and health coverage during the recession.
"They have been putting off treatment for a long time, just praying they live until they turn 65 and qualify for Medicare," said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which received federal grant money to help people establish coverage.
That people with serious health conditions would be the first to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act was expected. But that direction must shift.
In general, someone in his 60s uses $6 in health care services for every $1 tallied by someone in his 20s... Keep on reading...

Karma: Harry Reid's Nevada will face a 179% increase in Individual-Market healthcare premiums...

I hope the voters of Nevada come to understand elections have consequences. They could have easily defeated Reid in 2010. Without Reid at the helm in the Senate, we might have gotten true bipartisan healthcare reform. 

Via Forbes:

The eight states that will face the biggest increases in underlying premiums are largely southern and western states: Nevada (+179%), New Mexico (+142%), Arkansas (+138%), North Carolina (+136%), Vermont (+117%), Georgia (+92%), South Dakota (+77%), and Nebraska (+74%).

Hilarious Video: Hitler Finds Out his Health Policy has been cancelled (X-Angel Version)

One million lose their health insurance plan in California...

Unbelievable...

Via CBS:

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California has agreed to a two-month extension of about 104,000 individual policies after failing to give the required 90-day cancellation notice.
The policies had been set to expire on Dec. 31 but will be extended until Feb. 28.
State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced the extensions Tuesday. He said the company notified the Department of Insurance that it failed to give enough notice because of a computer glitch.
Jones says more than 1 million cancellation notices have been sent to Californians as the Affordable Care Act begins allowing individuals to buy insurance through exchanges. The federal law requires policies to offer minimum levels of coverage, forcing companies to terminate many existing plans.
Keep on reading…

WhiteHouse.gov finally edits webpage claiming "If you like your plan you can keep it "

Strangely, they left the lie intact and added a link to Obama's propaganda so-called NBC apology interview.

Here is the original version via CNBC.

Here is the current version on WhiteHouse.gov.

Unbelievable: Less than 2% of individual and family plans meet so-called Essential Health Benefits requirement...

Democrats thought Americans were too stupid to know when an insurance plan was good enough.

Via American Commitment:

. . . Millions of Americans are being told their plans are “lousy” or “crummy” because they are indeed, in a hyper-literal sense of the word, “substandard.”
Meaning they fail to meet the new standard for so-called Essential Health Benefits required of all plans in the individual and small-group markets when they lose grandfather status. This is the “standard,” in brief [seen above]:
This “standard” excluded nearly every plan in the individual market.
According to HealthPocket: “The data shows that there will be a near complete transformation of the individual and family health insurance market starting in 2014. Less than 2% of the existing health plans in the individual market today provide all the Essential Health Benefits required under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).”
Even the best of the best plans are being canceled in the individual market

White House actually debated whether to lie to American people about keeping their health plan...

You know how that debate ended...

National Review reported:

President Obama’s aides debated his now infamous “if you like your insurance plan you can keep it” line, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Advisers discussed whether it was a promise that could be kept and even considered having the president add some nuance in media interviews. But they decided that the president should be sweeping and emphatic, or, as one former official put it, talk “in broad, intelligible points that cut through.” But aides were divided:

One former senior administration official said that as the law was being crafted by the White House and lawmakers, some White House policy advisers objected to the breadth of Mr. Obama’s “keep your plan” promise. They were overruled by political aides, the former official said. The White House said it was unaware of the objections.

Some aides believed that the (inadequate) grandfather clause was enough to make Obama’s assurance true enough, but the White House clearly didn’t want to confuse people with the full story of the disruptions that would occur under the law. “Simplification and ease of explanation were a premium, and that was true throughout the process,” former speechwriter Jon Favreau told the paper.

Obama to people he lied to about losing their health plans: Companies will offer plans in their place

Obama thinks people losing their health plans are being misled. He is right and he is the one doing the misleading.

Via National Journal:

President Obama today addressed concerns over people being dropped from their health care insurance plans since the implementation of Obamacare. Certain people who had purchased individual insurance plans, in recent weeks, are finding out that such plans are not compliant with the new law. And some of these people will have to pay more for upgraded plans.
Critics of the administration, and fact checkers at publications like The Washington Post, are saying this is a direct contradiction of the president’s campaign promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep it” under Obamacare.
Addressing these concerns, the president said these dropped customers should use the new insurance marketplace to buy better plans. This, meanwhile, was after an admission that such marketplaces barely work. The president said that anyone ‘peddling the notion’ that insurers are summarily dropping people is being disingenuous, because the companies will offer plans in place. “if you leave that stuff out, you’re being grossly misled.”

Obama knew many people couldn't keep their plans and wrote regulations to force more off their pre-Obamacare plans

This isn't a conspiracy. It's a fact. Obama told a baldfaced lie to the American people about keeping their health insurance plan if they like their plan and, then, wrote regulations to force even more off their pre-Obamacare health insurance plans. The logic behind this was undoubtedly to force healthier and younger people off their old plans and into newer higher-priced plans that would help subsidize  people with pre-existing conditions. This is a knife in the back of the American people and it has Obama's fingerprints on it.

President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.” [...]

The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision...