2013
What happens when politics get involved. In the quest to make sure everyone had what policymakers said was essential coverage, they have taken away what millions of Americans found acceptable. There was absolutely no need for this.
Millions of Americans are getting their health insurance canceled under the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration has known for about three years that this would happen, NBC News is reporting.
About 50% to 75% of 14 million consumers who buy health insurance individually will receive a “cancellation” letter or its equivalent in the next year because their current policies don’t meet the standards laid out by the new law, the news organization reports, citing four sources deeply involved in ACA.
Of those who will be forced to buy new insurance, many will face huge price increases, NBC reports.
Initially, the administration stipulated that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010, could be “grandfathered” or kept even if they don’t meet the requirements of the new law. Later, the Department of Health and Human Services wrote regulations that narrowed that provision to dictate that if any part of those policies, such as co-pay or benefits, had substantially changed since then, they would not longer be grandfathered in.
NBC alleges the administration knew that up to 67% of customers on the individual market could have their policies canceled, but instead, President Obama said as recently as in 2012, “If (you) already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”
The White House told NBC that people whose policies will be canceled will, in most cases, be automatically shifted to plans with better protections.
“Nothing in the Affordable Care Act forces people out of their health plans,” White House spokeswoman Jessica Santillo told the news organization.
White House spokesman Jay Carney acknowledged that some plans would not meet the new minimum standards and would “not qualify for the Affordable Care Act.”
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The policies being cancelled are “junk insurance” policies that do not measure up to the high standards of the ACA. These poor people didn’t really have effective health insurance and they didn’t know it until now. The ACA is cracking down on companies selling unwitting people meaningless health insurance policies. Do your research, Quinn.
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They were policies people wanted to keep in many cases. Who is the government to tell people what is adequate coverage for them or how high their deductible should be?
What would have been wrong in allowing these policies to exist while also allowing these Americans to buy coverage in the Marketplace as an alternative if they chose to do so? This cancellation likely means that many people will have to switch doctors because most of the marketplace plans have very limited networks.
Dick
Richard D Quinn Quinnscommentary.com
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High standards? Just because you mandate everything be eligible doesn’t mean it’s all paid for.
CATASTROPHIC
less than
60%of the total average costs of care
BRONZE 60% of the total average costs of care
SILVER 70% of the total average costs of care
GOLD 80% of the total average costs of care
PLATINUM 90% of the total average costs of care
Plus the premium
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The ACA is saving people from health insurance scams that they were not aware of. Health Insurance Policies are intentionally written in language that few customers can understand and you, of all people, should know that.
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Buy insurance from reputable we’ll known companies and avoid such problems.
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Not necessarily.
“Some consumers fear they are being targeted because they are unhealthy or otherwise unprofitable for an insurance company. Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said insurers can only discontinue entire blocks of business and cannot simply pick and choose certain customers to cancel. Those whose policies are canceled can sign up instead for a new plan and can’t be rejected because of their health. Insurers say they are ending policies that don’t meet the law’s standards or were not grandfathered. And some of those are profitable plans: Kaiser Permanente in California, for example, says the biggest block of policyholders losing their current coverage were enrolled in a popular $4,000 deductible plan with no maternity benefits that was doing so well that they had not had to raise rates in several years. They actually had to send rebates to policyholders last year under a provision of the health law that requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of enrollees’ premiums on medical care or issue rebates. (KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente).”
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Isolated anecdotes, aside, the ACA IS saving large numbers of people from health insurance scams that they were not aware of. Most people don’t read their policies beyond the premium amount. That is because the “insurancese” is not readily understandable to the average citizen. They never know that their health insurance policy is a “junk policy” until they become ill and need coverage that is not there. In a great many instances, personal bankruptcy has followed.
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I think you are applying limited situations with a broad brush. Millions of Americans with individual coverage had good albeit expensive coverage.
We forgive you though, that’s just what good liberals do. You know, like millionaires earning $250,000 don’t pay their fair share.
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“Good albeit expensive” coverage that does not meet the standards of the ACA can not be categorized as “good”. Not even in your world. You know about health insurance. You should admit that health coverage that does not include the 10 key provisions of the ACA is “junk insurance”.
A few days ago, you said that the budget would be balanced on the backs of the middle class because “that is where the big tax breaks are”. You could not be more ill informed. Correction – you know better than that – you are not ill informed – don’t worry about becoming senile – when it happens ,you won’t realize it.
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The single largest revenue loss for the federal government is the tax free employer contribution toward health insurance, the pre-tax premiums many workers pay and the tax free FSAs and HSAs. Those are all benefits that are directed at the middle class and they are now on the table in budget talks.
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Those issues ARE NOT on the table during budget talks because Lyan Ryan cannot even reconcile an Excel spreadsheet and present a budget plan that balances. You are on the wrong side of this issue, Quinn.
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Very few plans met the standards of the ACA, individual or group and they were fine for decades. No one has a right to free contraceptives or anything else any more than they have a right to free cable TV. When I started managing health plans we didn’t have any out patient coverage or prescription coverage, surgical care was based on a fixed fee schedule. Today our definition of “good” is mostly free paid for by someone else.
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Quinn, I fear that you have lapsed into the aged members of a prior generation and that your thoughts and opinions are no longer relevant. That is very sad because you are very knowledgeable.
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