Obamacare raises rates

redrumloa

redrumloa

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The so-called "Cadillac Tax" facing employers who offer premium healthcare plans to their workers already is affecting employees, even though it doesn't kick in until 2018.

Employers say they have to get started bringing down costs now, The New York Times reports, so employees who are used to $20 co-pays at the doctor's office and $500 deductibles are learning a new reality. Many now are looking at deductibles as high as $6,000 for families.

That's exactly how Obamacare planners designed it, the Times story says. The intent of what is officially known as the Affordable Care Act all along was to get companies to drop plans that protect workers from the high cost of healthcare, which can lead to unnecessary tests and procedures.

"The consumer should continue to expect that their plan is going to be more expensive, and they will have less benefits," Cynthia Weidner of the benefits consultant HighRoads told the Times.

Still, the tax is one of the most controversial parts of the healthcare law. It imposes a 40 percent tax on the portion of a health plan's cost that exceeds $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family. That cost includes what both the employer and employee pay.

Some employees are feeling the pinch already. The Times talked to a nursing assistant who had to drop out of school and get extra jobs to pay for medicine for her husband, who has cystic fibrosis.

"My husband didn’t choose to be born this way," said Abbey Bruce.

“The reality is it is going to hit more and more people over time, at least as currently written in law, ” said Bradley Herring, a health economist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Herring estimated that as many as 75 percent of plans could be affected by the tax over the next decade — unless employers manage to significantly rein in their costs.
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You also will be penalized depending on the area of the country you live in. The cost of health care is high in South Florida so the Cadillac Tax will apply to families like mine. My plan went from decent to ass rape over the last 2 years. I will be paying at minimum an extra $5k out of pocket this year thanks to that piece of shit in office.

:fail:
 
All I can say is WOW rates seriously differ.

Here in MN at my employer the most expensive family plan - which carries the $20 co-pay and not $6,000 out of pocket is a bit more than $800/month. (I'm not at work so can't check directly.) Under $12K for the family per year and no where near $27,500. Check out the recent post I made about California. They're not seeing rates or offerings like that either.

I wonder if greyhairs have something to do with it?
Here are the 10 cities with the oldest median ages:
1. Scottsdale, Ariz.; 45.4 years
2. Clearwater, Fla.; 43.8 years
3. Cape Coral, Fla.; 42.4 years
4. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; 42.2 years
5. Hialeah, Fla.; 42.2 years
6. St. Petersburg, Fla.; 41.6 years.
7. Thousand Oaks, Calif.; 41.5 years
8. Honolulu, Hawaii; 41.3 years
9. Torrance, Calif.; 41.3 years
10. Centennial, Colo.; 41.1 years
 
I seriously will never understand why anyone wants to live in FL
 
New York’s small businesses and workers will benefit from Affordable Care Act

But because of the Affordable Care Act, New York’s small businesses and their employees are getting better choices, starting with new protections that limit the outrageous rate hikes many small business owners faced in the past.

Insurance companies must now publicly justify every rate increase of 10 percent or more, which has led to a sharp decline in double-digit rate hikes. Starting in 2014, insurers will have to justify every proposed rate increase, even if it’s a 1 percent bump.
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Small businesses are the backbone of New York’s economy. Across the state, nearly 349,000 businesses employ 25 or fewer workers. They are also seeing savings thanks to new tax credits available to help them cover their employees. Many of them have already received a tax credit of up to 35 percent of their health insurance costs. And beginning in 2014, this tax credit will go up to 50 percent.
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Beginning in 2014, New York small business owners will have access to a new Health Insurance Marketplace – the New York Benefit Health Exchange, which opens for enrollment on Oct. 1 – that will allow them to make side-by-side comparisons to find a plan that fits their budget and that’s right for their businesses and employees. Each Marketplace will operate a Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, focused just on small businesses.
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Like your health care policy? You may be losing it

The goal is to cover most of the nation's nearly 50 million uninsured, but even Obama says there will be bumps in the road. And discontinued insurance plans could be another bump.

Also, it doesn't seem to square with one of the president's best known promises about his health care overhaul: "If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan."
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cecilia said:
I seriously will never understand why anyone wants to live in FL
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I can't understand why anyone would want to live in Phoenix Arizona. At least Florida has the ocean.
 
Democrats' New Argument: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Doubles Individual Health Insurance Premiums

Well, it’s been an interesting week in health care land. For a while now, independent analysts—and conservative critics—have raised concerns that Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of individually-purchased health insurance for healthier people. This would, of course, contradict President Obama’s promises that “if you like your plan, you can keep it” and that the cost of insurance would go down “by $2,500 per family per year.” What’s new is that liberal columnists, facing reality, are conceding that premiums will go up for most people in the individual market. But they’re justifying it by saying that “rate shock” will help a tiny minority of people who can’t get insurance today. If they had said that in 2009, would Obamacare have passed?
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Of course it would have passed. As I said at the beginning, Obamacare has NOTHING to do with helping people. It has everything to do with control and enriching the elites.
 
I love how some americans are being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century
 
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