Obamacare premiums to increase dramatically, even triple in some areas
by: Jonathan Benson
If you are one of the roughly 4 million Americans who the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) claims has already signed up for Obamacare, expect your premiums to progressively increase over time. Health industry experts analyzing enrollment trends are now predicting that Obamacare premiums will double or even triple in some parts of the country, the latest surprise to emerge from a bill that not a single Congressman who voted for it actually read.
TheHill.com reports that, in the coming months, Obamacare premiums will likely creep up in ares with relatively small populations. The elderly and folks with preexisting conditions, for whom the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was touted as a godsend, will also experience major rate hikes, say experts, as insurance providers strain to meet demand and provide expected levels of coverage across all demographic pools.
"It's pretty shortsighted," stated one insurance executive, who requested anonymity, to TheHill.com about the Obamacare debacle. This same executive, who reportedly lives in a heavily populated swing state, is predicting triple-digit rate hikes on the insurance exchange beginning in 2015. "I think everybody knows that the way the exchange has rolled out... is going to lead to higher costs."
In states with larger populations, premium increases are expected to be less drastic, as a higher number of insurance companies participating in the program means more competition, which in turn also typically means lower costs. But in nearly every state, enrollment numbers are far lower than what the Obama administration had hoped, which means the costs for those participating are going to be much higher than expected.
"My gut tells me that, for some people, these increases will be significant," added Bill Hoagland, a former executive at Cigna and current senior vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, to TheHill.com.
Young, healthy people rejecting Obamacare mandate
A key demographic that the White House was banking on for the program's success -- the enrollment of young, healthy individuals who were previously uninsured -- is also largely nonexistent based on current data. Obviously uninterested in purchasing overpriced government healthcare, younger folks only represent about one-quarter, or less, of Obamacare's current enrollment base, which is hardly enough to cover the flood of previously uninsured enrollees who are signed on with preexisting conditions.
Because of this, the Obama administration is now having to backpedal on its claims that the ACA would ultimately lower healthcare costs across the board, a famous talking point that has definitively proven to be a complete lie. If anything, Americans will now be forced to pay more for less, with the government at the helm.
"Obama-care was designed from the beginning to make this a two tier economy - the rich (like Obama) and the poor," writes one Fool.com commenter about the issue.
One thing is certain in all this: Essentially everything the people were told about how Obamacare would work and how it would supposedly benefit everyone with cheaper healthcare was a bald-faced lie. Meanwhile, millions of hard-working, middle-class Americans who previously had quality healthcare coverage are losing it because of the new mandate, which is really nothing more than a power shift and a major redistribution of wealth.
"Obamacare --- To insure the uninsured we first make the insured uninsured and then make them pay more to be insured again so the original uninsured can be insured for free," adds another Fool.com commenter.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044562_Obamacare_insurance_premiums_price_increases.html#ixzz2xoveXcLb
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