18 Reasons the Affordable Care Act Is the Greatest Achievement for the Middle Class

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by jms62

Or did United Healthcare see it as an opportunity to gouge knowing they could deflect the blame.

the health insurers are going to have to do everything they can to continue to make a profit. you ever run a business? there aren't many who can only put 15% of their money into the business and keep it running.

the company i work for announced that there will be rebates forthcoming to their health plan participants. their health insurer spend only 84.7% on claims, so they get to distribute a whopping .3% rebate. a couple of dollars. yeah, that's so worth having coverages changed, curtailed, removed...but at least there are 'free things' being covered now.
lmao. yeah, free.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by Danzig

the health insurers are going to have to do everything they can to continue to make a profit. you ever run a business? there aren't many who can only put 15% of their money into the business and keep it running.

the company i work for announced that there will be rebates forthcoming to their health plan participants. their health insurer spend only 84.7% on claims, so they get to distribute a whopping .3% rebate. a couple of dollars. yeah, that's so worth having coverages changed, curtailed, removed...but at least there are 'free things' being covered now.
lmao. yeah, free.

Nothing really needs to be said.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/12/...n-11_land.html

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by jms62

Nothing really needs to be said.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/12/...n-11_land.html

yep...people think that by passing laws to control costs that they're helping..but companies ceo's, stockholders, big players etc are still going to get theirs. does anyone really think that someone will willingly take a cut so that prices don't go up??? yeah, right! yeah, the co's are going to lower their bottom line, and pass on savings. ha!!! yeah, i have ocean front property here in arkansas for sale, cheap.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

the health insurers are going to have to do everything they can to continue to make a profit. you ever run a business? there aren't many who can only put 15% of their money into the business and keep it running.

the company i work for announced that there will be rebates forthcoming to their health plan participants. their health insurer spend only 84.7% on claims, so they get to distribute a whopping .3% rebate. a couple of dollars. yeah, that's so worth having coverages changed, curtailed, removed...but at least there are 'free things' being covered now.
lmao. yeah, free.

The Affordable Care Act instituted consumer protections against price-gouging, one being that insurance companies must spend at least 80% of your insurance premium dollar on actual health care (rather than, oh, golden parachutes and management bonuses).

Oh, my - you are getting a rebate! That is reason to

A) Be happy your insurance company can no longer price-gouge you
B) Hate the law that protects you from price-gouging
C) Get help for the cognitive dissonance - at least you're covered for that now, by law

[paulo537]

Originally Posted by Riot

The Affordable Care Act instituted consumer protections against price-gouging, one being that insurance companies must spend at least 80% of your insurance premium dollar on actual health care (rather than, oh, golden parachutes and management bonuses).

Oh, my - you are getting a rebate! That is reason to

A) Be happy your insurance company can no longer price-gouge you
B) Hate the law that protects you from price-gouging
C) Get help for the cognitive dissonance - at least you're covered for that now, by law

You seem to think that being in the health insurance business is just a racket for price-gouging, unethical evil doers. If it was so easy, why have all but 5 major comanies stopped writing group health insurance nationwide?

With your logic, we should be surprised that there are not 20 or 30 doing so, like there was 25 years ago.

By the way, there is absolutely nothing in the new law that insurance companies cannot manage. No annual maximums?.... ok, raise rates. No rating up for pre-ex conditions? .... no problem, raise rates. "Free" PReventive Care? ... sure, ... raise rates.

Health insurance rates are going to skyrocket. The pool of all insured people
through commercial carriers is going to deteriorate, health-wise. It has to.

The only question is whether the modest number of positives in the bill outweigh the higher cost for every person who is insured. Maybe that happens.

This is what is happening now:

1. Small Employer (<51 emps) plans will drop like flies. The penalties are just too soft.
2. Nothing has been reformed in health care. Just health care insurance has been reformed.

If you think that increased screening during preventive care and covering the kids until they are closer to an AARP card than their first birthday outweighs the unadressed reasons why HC itself costs so damn much then you should be a very happy person.

If you think insurance companies are shaking with fear at the new law, think again.

[Clip-Clop]

Insurance companies are evil. Therefore we insist you buy their product.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Insurance companies are evil. Therefore we insist you buy their product.

lol kudos.


http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d28...6940497f5a80b9 saw this article earlier...

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by paulo537

You seem to think that being in the health insurance business is just a racket for price-gouging, unethical evil doers. If it was so easy, why have all but 5 major comanies stopped writing group health insurance nationwide?

With your logic, we should be surprised that there are not 20 or 30 doing so, like there was 25 years ago.

By the way, there is absolutely nothing in the new law that insurance companies cannot manage. No annual maximums?.... ok, raise rates. No rating up for pre-ex conditions? .... no problem, raise rates. "Free" PReventive Care? ... sure, ... raise rates.

Health insurance rates are going to skyrocket. The pool of all insured people
through commercial carriers is going to deteriorate, health-wise. It has to.

The only question is whether the modest number of positives in the bill outweigh the higher cost for every person who is insured. Maybe that happens.

This is what is happening now:

1. Small Employer (<51 emps) plans will drop like flies. The penalties are just too soft. 2. Nothing has been reformed in health care. Just health care insurance has been reformed.

If you think that increased screening during preventive care and covering the kids until they are closer to an AARP card than their first birthday outweighs the unadressed reasons why HC itself costs so damn much then you should be a very happy person.

If you think insurance companies are shaking with fear at the new law, think again.

that's the big question right now, who will drop coverage? the answer is most, if not all, small groups will. if it's cheaper to pay the fine than continue to carry the coverage, and knowing employees can get it thru exchanges, why would any small employer keep their current plan? if you can save money by dropping and paying the fee, why wouldn't you? and that's the first budget breaker, as the cbo planned on only a few million losing small group coverage. in fact, most will. 'they' said it could be as low as 3 million people, but....it could be as high as 30 million. when they did the figuring back when members of congress said it 'must cost less than a trillion' they lowballed the number used to figure people losing coverage.


and yes, they will have to raise rates. how could they not? insurance companies have to pay out 85% in claims-but watch the claims come pouring in.
like i said, at least it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. wonder when we get downgraded again.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Danzig

that's the big question right now, who will drop coverage? the answer is most, if not all, small groups will. if it's cheaper to pay the fine than continue to carry the coverage, and knowing employees can get it thru exchanges, why would any small employer keep their current plan? if you can save money by dropping and paying the fee, why wouldn't you? and that's the first budget breaker, as the cbo planned on only a few million losing small group coverage. in fact, most will. 'they' said it could be as low as 3 million people, but....it could be as high as 30 million. when they did the figuring back when members of congress said it 'must cost less than a trillion' they lowballed the number used to figure people losing coverage.


and yes, they will have to raise rates. how could they not? insurance companies have to pay out 85% in claims-but watch the claims come pouring in.
like i said, at least it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. wonder when we get downgraded again.

Health care "exchanges" are just orbitz for insurance companies, there to help you shop.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Health care "exchanges" are just orbitz for insurance companies, there to help you shop.

yep, i know it. and many states are opting not to set them up. the work involved is astronomical. the amount of info that will have to be available is mind-boggling.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

yep, i know it. and many states are opting not to set them up. the work involved is astronomical. the amount of info that will have to be available is mind-boggling.

States can use those funds to set up whatever state-specific type of exchange they want. Oregon and Vermont, for example, are going full-on single payer via the ACA in their states.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

that's the big question right now, who will drop coverage? the answer is most, if not all, small groups will. if it's cheaper to pay the fine than continue to carry the coverage, and knowing employees can get it thru exchanges, why would any small employer keep their current plan?

The program has been designed specifically to increase coverage among small business people and their employees. There are significant new tax credits for companies with less than 50 employees, that provide health insurance through purchase on the exchanges (which makes it less expensive, too)

And if an employer choses to dump his employees off insurance entirely, they will not be left out to dry, they will be able to find individual insurance on the exchanges at the same price and coverageas their previous group rates.

In fact, aside from the huge small business benefits, the entire ACA is a very large middle class tax credit - not a fantasy "huge tax hike".