ACA in Florida future is bleak

http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/floridas-affordable-care-act-future-is-bleak-20140702/

WTH ?....
That leaves Floridians to pick up the tab. Without taxpayer money, insurers in the state will increase plan premiums to cover the sudden shortfall. They’ll have no other choice — the other option is to go out of business. You might not have a choice, either. The data predicts that the average 2017 premiums for a bronze family plan in Florida may jump from $6,240 to $12,663 — an increase of 103 percent. Undoubtedly, this will be far too expensive for many people. No insurance may be the only financially sound option.

It's rare to see such result oriented journalism anymore...

" The changes will affect all plans sold for 2017 and beyond.

Two big changes will occur that year: Insurance companies will no longer have access to ACA’s “re-insurance” and “risk corridor” programs. The first item currently allows insurers to bill the government for the most expensive patients;the second one guarantees that the industry’s losses will be subsidized by you. When these two programs end,the insurance industry won’t have access to taxpayer money.

That leaves Floridians to pick up the tab. Without taxpayer money, insurers in the state will increase plan premiums to cover the sudden shortfall. They’ll have no other choice —the other option is to go out of business. You might not have a choice,either. The data predicts that the average 2017 premiums for a bronze family plan in Florida may jump from $6,240 to $12,663 —an increase of 103 percent. Undoubtedly,this will be far too expensive for many people. No insurance may be the only financially sound option.

This will cause a chain reaction in the insurance market. As people leave the exchanges,insurers will have fewer customers who can shoulder health care costs. Thus,for 2018,they’ll have to raise prices again —which will only cause more people to leave. This cycle could repeat itself indefinitely."

Then cometh....

The dummy in Washington never thought this through along with the other dummy's who pushed it through. Apparently they had no one to crunch the number's and did not notice for a decade before it was passed the rates were increasing by lower double digits. They didn't realize the reason group insurance rates were so high was the fact they accepted all regardless of pre existing conditions and now individual plans would experience this. Florida won't be the only state. They didn't plan that grandfathered plans would eventually be priced out of the market for a policy holder because of people dropping off to go to the exchange to received a tax credit. They didn't plan that everyone that had anything to do with insurance would try and get a piece of the pie. Most insurance company's hired third parties to enroll and take premium's which resulted in people not really having insurance although they were paying their premiums. They were in such a hurry to rush this through and show the people what a great guy he was. The best plan was on the table but Lieberman shot that in the ass. Then retired. I could go on and on about several screw ups that aren't published yet.

You were busy while I was typing lol.

Yep, the IRS swat team will have a field day the next two years.

No swat teams necessary. When the 20 million Americans with preexisting conditions are threatened with reverting back to a system which abandoned them, it will be less than ten years for medicare for all to be implemented in America, and finally other than supplemental policies, the majority of cost driven medical inflation can be addressed and slowed. Medicare for all has always been the answer as America will join the rest of the world not allowing insurance companies and their profits dictate health care in America.

TEOTWAWKI wrote:WTH ?....
That leaves Floridians to pick up the tab. Without taxpayer money, insurers in the state will increase plan premiums to cover the sudden shortfall. They’ll have no other choice — the other option is to go out of business. You might not have a choice, either. The data predicts that the average 2017 premiums for a bronze family plan in Florida may jump from $6,240 to $12,663 — an increase of 103 percent. Undoubtedly, this will be far too expensive for many people. No insurance may be the only financially sound option.

I have a friend that I have posted about here before who had to get OBAMACARE and her premium has now went from 230 per month to just over 500. WTH. She makes 25k per year working for a local insurance (not health) agency and no the employer doesn't kick in squat. That's freaking stupid that it costs that much even with the subsidy. She's a single mom of a teen that just graduated too.

Obamacaid for all.

It'll suck so bad that it'll leave room for a private market... well the pretense of one anyway.

PACEDOG#1 wrote:

TEOTWAWKI wrote:WTH ?....
That leaves Floridians to pick up the tab. Without taxpayer money, insurers in the state will increase plan premiums to cover the sudden shortfall. They’ll have no other choice — the other option is to go out of business. You might not have a choice, either. The data predicts that the average 2017 premiums for a bronze family plan in Florida may jump from $6,240 to $12,663 — an increase of 103 percent. Undoubtedly, this will be far too expensive for many people. No insurance may be the only financially sound option.

I have a friend that I have posted about here before who had to get OBAMACARE and her premium has now went from 230 per month to just over 500. WTH. She makes 25k per year working for a local insurance (not health) agency and no the employer doesn't kick in squat. That's freaking stupid that it costs that much even with  the subsidy. She's a single mom of a teen that just graduated too.

If it's group insurance from employer and it renewed during the year yes she did have a hefty increase, if it is an individual plan no way, they are not going to see their increases in Jan 1, 2015 and then probably pretty hefty.

Even if we ignore the nationwide stats and restrict to just FL, the aca signups site shows FL is at 145% of projection, so they're in even better shape.

Not for long wait until everyone sees their rate increases and decides to drop.

Sal wrote:This was authored by health care adviser to the McCain campaign and frequent ACA basher Stephen Parente, and it is wrong on many things

Reinsurance and risk corridors are cost control measures for the early phases of ACA implementation designed to protect insurance companies from suffering losses if the total number of enrollees or their demographic mix proves to be unsustainable.

They are designed to phase out once the individual mandate has been in place for a few years and the employer mandate takes effect.

Now, we know that enrollment rates nationwide have been above the CBO's initial projections and the participation mix of cohorts has been deemed sustainable by the insurance industry.

Even if we ignore the nationwide stats and restrict to just FL, the aca signups site shows FL is at 145% of projection, so they're in even better shape.  

The biggest potential driver of cost increases in FL's insurance market is going to be the refusal of the state to accept the Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid expansion...how does that work? MONEY comes raining down from who? OTHER taxpayers?

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/06/04/294130.htm

Florida Gov. Scott Signs Bill Limiting State Review of Health Insurance Rates

By Gary Fineout | June 4, 2013

"Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill that removes the ability of state regulators to challenge health insurance rates for a two-year period.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson had called for the bill to be vetoed, saying the legislation was “unconscionable.”

The GOP-controlled Florida Legislature passed the bill (SB 1842) in response to President Barack Obama’s federal health care overhaul. The bill is designed to bring state insurance codes into harmony with the federal law.

The insurance bill was one of four bills signed by the Republican governor. Another repeals a state law that requires gasoline to be blended with up to 10 percent ethanol.

Scott said in a bill-signing message he supported the decision by lawmakers to remove rate review for 2014 and 2015 while the federal law is implemented. The removal of rate regulation is not for all health insurance plans but for those not “grandfathered” in under the new federal law.

“Rates for new plans will be reviewed by the same federal government that will be enforcing and updating the new rules and regulations throughout this very fluid and uncertain transition period,” Scott wrote.*

Nelson, a Democrat who is being pushed to challenge Scott in next year’s governor’s race, contended in his veto request that legislators removed state rate regulation in order to blame the health care overhaul if rates go up. Nelson was the state’s insurance commissioner before he ran for the U.S. Senate.

Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Nelson, blasted the governor’s decision to sign the bill.

“This is truly outrageous,” McLaughlin said. “It literally turns insurance companies loose on the public.”..."

*In effect, the Florida legislature has attempted to place the rate review process back in federal territory, but there's a small problem with that...the PPACA does not give federal authorities the ability to review and/or set insurance rates within the individual states. CATCH-22