Tag: Health Insurance

Almost All Likely Voters Are Worried About Health Care Costs

Buck Banks

80%

A new Commonwealth Fund/NBC News survey finds that 31% of voters were worried about being able to afford their health insurance in the next 12 months, 29% feared they wouldn’t have enough money to pay for out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and 32% worried about being able to afford other out-of-pocket costs. Nearly 80% of likely voters said they thought reducing health care costs should be a high priority for the next president.

Health Insurers Caught Lying to Customers about Policy Cancellations

Jon Ponder

Talking Points Memo investigated the rash of policy cancellations by heath insurers as a result of implementation of the Affordable Care Act. TPM reporter Dylan Scott found that insurers are routinely not informing customers that cheaper but better policies are available on the insurance exchanges:

If Donna had taken the default option that LifeWise offered outside of the marketplace, she would have paid nearly $1,000 more per month for a worse plan than she was able to obtain on the marketplace.

Before Obamacare, Donna paid a $724 monthly premium for $10,000 deductible, catastrophic health coverage from LifeWise, a subsidiary of the state’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate. She asked that TPM withhold her last name because she was disclosing personal financial information.

The Sept. 16 letter from LifeWise told her that her existing plan was being canceled to comply with the new requirements of Obamacare and that she would automatically be rolled over into a new plan that was the “closest match” to her old plan. “If we don’t hear from you, we’ll automatically move you to this plan and you’ll be covered starting January 1, 2014,” the notice read.

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Health Insurers Report Record Profit – But Leave 50 Mil Uninsured, Shift Uninsureds’ $49 Bil Unpaid Hospital Bill to Taxpayers

Jon Ponder

art-leechesFour recent health-care related stories in the news, taken together, put the current state of the crisis into perspective:

  • Despite failing at its core mission of providing insurance to everyone, the insurance industry rakes in record profits:

    The five largest insurers — WellPoint, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and Humana — which along with some other competitors boasted a 250 percent return over the past decade, earned over $15 billion in 2010. That’s 22 percent growth over their combined $12.2 billion earnings in 2009.

  • And yet, the insurance megacorps are demanding large premium hikes:

    Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care.

  • These companies have rigged the system so that one-sixth of the U.S. population can’t afford insurance:
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