2013
Are you kidding?
Really, “through its mandates and competition-promoting health insurance exchanges” the Affordable Care Act will hold rising premiums in check? Editorials are as we know, the expression of opinion. I suppose opinion does not have to be based on fact and this NYT editorial surely illustrates that. I’m beginning to believe the likes of Limbaugh when he talks about the drive by media. The following is “impressive evidence” the media is interested more in promoting a political agenda, or in this case a social agenda, than reporting objective facts.
Mandates increase health care costs and hence premiums (think coverage for adult children, free this or that service, etc.). Competition among insurers does not contribute to lower premiums, under our system for setting provider fees, it is counterproductive.
Premiums are the least accurate predictor of affordability. The cost of health care services is what really matters. For the individual, total out of pocket costs are what matter. You want “free” insurance, just take a plan with a $50,000 deductible. You take the risk instead of a third party and your premiums will be non-existent.
The Good News on Insurance Premiums
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: July 18, 2013
Individuals and families who buy health insurance on their own will pay significantly lower premiums next year in New York and many other states. It is the most impressive evidence yet that the Affordable Care Act, through its mandates and competition-promoting health insurance exchanges, can hold previously rising premiums in check.
The encouraging news underscores the vital importance of the health law’s “individual mandate,” which requires most people to buy health insurance next year or pay a penalty. The provision is designed to bring in a flood of young, healthy people into insurance pools, which helps reduce the cost of coverage for older and sicker enrollees.
In a symbolic vote designed purely for the campaign trail, Republican leaders pushed a bill through the House on Wednesday to repeal the individual mandate. Fortunately, Democratic control of the Senate and the White House will block that folly before it can harm the very people whose interests the Republicans claim to champion.
Before the House vote, officials in New York State said they had approved premium rates for 2014 that are at least 50 percent lower on average than those currently available. In New York City, individuals who now pay $1,000 a month or more will be able to find policies on the health exchanges — online marketplaces where they can comparison shop for plans — for as little as $308 a month.
NOTE: Individual premiums in New York are among the highest around in large part because of mandates passed by the New York legislature, the very same people shouting about 50% reductions from the high premiums they helped create.
via The Good News on Insurance Premiums – NYTimes.com.
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