HHS in 2010: 40-67% of those with individual insurance won't be able to keep it

[memphis]

Oh no!  People are going to have to get (gasp) a different health insurance plan!  And, it's going to be cheaper and provide more comprehensive coverage and if I can't afford it, the government will help me pay?  What ever shall we do?

Where on earth do you get the idea what they'll find to replace their lost coverage with is cheaper?  You might want to read the article.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

What did George Schwab find on the exchanges?

Something a hell of a lot better than his old policy, I'm sure. The idea that two olds were receiving adequate coverage for $228/mo is ludicrous.

[krazen1211]

Oh no!  People are going to have to get (gasp) a different health insurance plan!  And, it's going to be cheaper and provide more comprehensive coverage and if I can't afford it, the government will help me pay?  What ever shall we do?

Where on earth do you get the idea what they'll find to replace their lost coverage with is cheaper?  You might want to read the article.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

What did George Schwab find on the exchanges?

If you bothered to read the article, its the very next sentence.

[krazen1211]

Oh no!  People are going to have to get (gasp) a different health insurance plan!  And, it's going to be cheaper and provide more comprehensive coverage and if I can't afford it, the government will help me pay?  What ever shall we do?

Where on earth do you get the idea what they'll find to replace their lost coverage with is cheaper?  You might want to read the article.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

What did George Schwab find on the exchanges?

Something a hell of a lot better than his old policy, I'm sure. The idea that two olds were receiving adequate coverage for $228/mo is ludicrous.

Reading is fundamental!

[Torie]

What also happened here is that Obama tried to keep this promise by grandfathering in plans people belonged to before 2011, but the insurance companies gamed it by switching millions of people into "new, better" plans after that date and then using that as an excuse to drop them.

Anthem in California made it clear, very clear in bold large font type,  in their disclosure documents that if you switched plans, you lost your grandfathering. That was all I needed to read, to toss it all in the trash. I simply was not going to run through the Obamacare traps if it could at all be avoided. So it might be somewhat unfair to characterize it as some underhanded bait and switch scheme by the carriers. Doing that would just invite lawsuits for fraud in the inducement as part of a pre-arranged scheme.

[Torie]

Oh no!  People are going to have to get (gasp) a different health insurance plan!  And, it's going to be cheaper and provide more comprehensive coverage and if I can't afford it, the government will help me pay?  What ever shall we do?

Where on earth do you get the idea what they'll find to replace their lost coverage with is cheaper?  You might want to read the article.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

What did George Schwab find on the exchanges?

Something a hell of a lot better than his old policy, I'm sure. The idea that two olds were receiving adequate coverage for $228/mo is ludicrous.

I'm the exact same age (62), and my monthly premium is  $998.00, so yes, if the numbers above are accurate, his plan must have had very limited coverage. There is no free lunch.

On the other hand, $1,208.00 with that high a deductible does sound expensive, very expensive, for North Carolina, and that is odd, since Obamacare is designed to subsidize olds. So that part does not add up, unless the pre existing condition waiver involves a very substantial additional cost, paid for by those not sick paying higher premiums than the actuarial risk situation would justify. It also suggests what will happen to the premiums of young folks who don't qualify income wise for big subsidies.

[opebo]

But isn't 'individual insurance' just some kind of con the insurance companies sell to the uninformed poors and then decline to cover them when they actually get seriously ill?

[Torie]

But isn't 'individual insurance' just some kind of con the insurance companies sell to the uninformed poors and then decline to cover them when they actually get seriously ill?

No.

[opebo]

But isn't 'individual insurance' just some kind of con the insurance companies sell to the uninformed poors and then decline to cover them when they actually get seriously ill?

No.

Really?  I doubt that!  Why would companies pay out unless forced to by the State?

[Link]

People need to watch Michael Moore's Sicko.  I don't ordinarily recommend his films because of the distortions in them but he does bring attention to so called "junk insurance."  It's insurance you pay money for for years but when you run into a real emergency they drop you and stiff you for most if not all the bill.  Sicko wasn't about the uninsured.  It was about the insured whose insurance plans didn't actually cover them when they were sick.



So throwing out statistics that say 40-67% of individual plans are getting tossed is misleading.  There are a lot of plans that were useless anyway and the government is doing everyone a favor and making them get real insurance.  Now I can't say if that 40-67% number is real and what percentage of that number is junk.  But there is enough junk out there Consumer Reports decided to report on it and someone made a hit movie about it.

[Brittain33]

Oh no!  People are going to have to get (gasp) a different health insurance plan!  And, it's going to be cheaper and provide more comprehensive coverage and if I can't afford it, the government will help me pay?  What ever shall we do?

Where on earth do you get the idea what they'll find to replace their lost coverage with is cheaper?  You might want to read the article.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

What did George Schwab find on the exchanges?

Something a hell of a lot better than his old policy, I'm sure. The idea that two olds were receiving adequate coverage for $228/mo is ludicrous.

Reading is fundamental!

Um, yeah, and the proposal from BCBS sent in a personal letter != what he would find if he went on the exchanges and searched, including if there's any subsidies for his income.

He'll be on Medicare in 3 years anyway. 

[Brittain33]

Is Ameriplan still legal?

[opebo]

Private, for profit insurance seems like it would inherently be 'junk' - the motivation of the provider is to avoid paying.

[Link]

The idea that two olds were receiving adequate coverage for $228/mo is ludicrous.

Reading is fundamental!

Apparently adolescent snark is better than a thimble full of knowledge and common sense.

krazen1211, I don't know how old you are but one day God willing you will have a job and responsibilities and actually pay some bills and taxes.  Anyone who has had a job and had an employer based healthcare plan knows a non smoking 20 something healthy male paying $80 a month through work for health insurance is a pretty good deal.  People with a bit more common sense and insight know that $80/month you are paying is a fraction of the overall cost.  The employer pays the other 250+%.  So if you were to go into the individual market without the negotiating benefit of being in a large pool obviously you are going to pay much more for a similar plan.

krazen1211, it is painfully obvious you have never bought health insurance.  Anyone who has knows that something is fishy or impossible about two olds getting an individual plan for $228/mo.  If my parent's told me they were on a plan like that I would tell them to read the fine print and then forward it to me so my lawyer and I could go over it ourselves.

It really isn't even something to argue about.

Republicans always say they know everything about business.  If you can run a profitable company selling $228/month legitimate insurance to olds get off the internet and go become a multimillionaire.  If not stop trolling.

[krazen1211]

Um, yeah, and the proposal from BCBS sent in a personal letter != what he would find if he went on the exchanges and searched, including if there's any subsidies for his income.

He'll be on Medicare in 3 years anyway. 

Someone still didn't read the very next sentence of the article.

[jaichind]

There is another set of people losing health care plans which clearly has nothing to do with the quality of the plans they have.  Several friends of my are individual contractors that buy group health insurance as part of a professional group.  They had health care plans they like which are quite comprehensive and from a feature point of view clearly were in compliance with Obamacare regulations.  But because the Obamacare law said that sole proprietors with no other employees are no longer eligible for employer-based health insurance, these friends of my lost their health care insurance and now have to go to NY state healthcare exchanges.  They found that either the doctors they like were not available or were available only on plans which were much more expensive than what they have today.  This is a clear case of "if you like your plan, do DO NOT get to keep it, period."

[jaichind]

So people are pissed off about having more money and better care?

Lets be clear, for some a similar plan might be cheaper and for others a similar plan might be more expensive on the exchange.  The main issue is there is no easy way to verify that the doctor they prefer is on the plans.  This violates "if you like your doctor you get to keep it, period."

[krazen1211]

I'm the exact same age (62), and my monthly premium is  $998.00, so yes, if the numbers above are accurate, his plan must have had very limited coverage. There is no free lunch.

On the other hand, $1,208.00 with that high a deductible does sound expensive, very expensive, for North Carolina, and that is odd, since Obamacare is designed to subsidize olds. So that part does not add up, unless the pre existing condition waiver involves a very substantial additional cost, paid for by those not sick paying higher premiums than the actuarial risk situation would justify. It also suggests what will happen to the premiums of young folks who don't qualify income wise for big subsidies.

It has a $10k deductible. Of course, $10k isn't much money really, especially when the liberals are going to screw you out of $700 a month.

In fact, Mr. Torie, someone else in a similar situation in North Carolina has uploaded a copy of their bill. Two adults in good health, children grown & gone. Likely to be 50+ years old.

Link

[Link]

They found that either the doctors they like were not available or were available only on plans which were much more expensive than what they have today.

Who cares?  You want the country ossified in a completely unworkable system simply because someone doesn't want to go out and find a new doctor?  I've moved so much for school and work it's unusual for me to have the same doctor for more than 2 or three years at a time.  People really need to get over it and become adults.

[krazen1211]

Another good person screwed by the liberals.

Link

[jaichind]

They found that either the doctors they like were not available or were available only on plans which were much more expensive than what they have today.

Who cares?  You want the country ossified in a completely unworkable system simply because someone doesn't want to go out and find a new doctor?  I've moved so much for school and work it's unusual for me to have the same doctor for more than 2 or three years at a time.  People really need to get over it and become adults.

That would be fine as a point of view.  But Obama said "if you like your doctor, you get to keep that doctor. period" when he was selling Obamacare law.  Now if he said "if you like your doctor, you need to get over it and become adults and look for another one" during the Obamacare bill debates and then the bill gets passed then of course people now should no reason to complain as the consequences were made transparent.  But that was not what took place.

[krazen1211]

Link

Sue Klinkhamer has a problem.

It’s called Obamacare.


Each year it went up a little to, as of Sept. 1, $291 with a $3,500 deductible. Then, a few weeks ago, she got a letter.

“Blue Cross,” she said, “stated my current coverage would expire on Dec. 31, and here are my options: I can have a plan with similar benefits for $647.12 [or] I can have a plan with similar [but higher] pricing for $322.32 but with a $6,500 deductible.”





Heh. Karma in a way.

[Link]

That would be fine as a point of view.  But Obama said "if you like your doctor, you get to keep that doctor. period" when he was selling Obamacare law.  Now if he said "if you like your doctor, you need to get over it and become adults and look for another one" during the Obamacare bill debates and then the bill gets passed then of course people now should no reason to complain as the consequences were made transparent.  But that was not what took place.

What's your point?  The people complaining the most about this are the same crowd that fervently defend "Iraq has WMDs pointed right at our throats."  In the long list of lies that politicians have told me in the last 10 years or so this ranks as not worth mentioning.

[jaichind]

To some extend I can understand the Obama/Dem prospective.  By passing Obamacare on their own without GOP votes they now ended up "owning" the healthcare systems.  Any issues/problems in the healthcare system including standard annual premium increases now has the potential for it to be blamed by Obama's political enemies onto Obama.  But on the other hand Obama/Dems kept on claiming that because of Obamacare healthcare cost growth last couple of years has slowed down.  So if they want to "own" positive changes in the healthcare sytsem they they has to own negative changes too.  I agree some of the people losing coverage could be because insurance companies using Obamacare as an excuse make changes they wanted anyway.  But it is one of those "your broke it, you own it' situations.

[Link]

To some extend I can understand the Obama/Dem prospective.  By passing Obamacare on their own without GOP votes they now ended up "owning" the healthcare systems.  Any issues/problems in the healthcare system including standard annual premium increases now has the potential for it to be blamed by Obama's political enemies onto Obama.

C'mon man.  Everyone knows Obamacare as is exists is becomes of Dems bending over backwards to accommodate Republican trolls who in the end didn't vote for the bill anyway.  If this thing was written purely by Dems without any thought or quarter given to Republicans it would be very different.  Even after it was passed Republicans did nothing to help fund its development and roll out.

The Obamacare hearings are hilarious.  With all the faux outrage from Republicans you would think they were the mothers of this baby carefully nurturing it and the Democrats were a Catholic priest treating it like a choir boy.

The president is the boss and the buck stops with him but the fantasy you laid out is only for hardcore Republicans.  It is not for consumption by the general public.

[krazen1211]

For the record, since liberals insist on making up drivel, one can go to the BCBS website and get quotes for 2013.

The plan here comes up as $257 monthly in zip code 28078. The 2014 plan comes up at $1153.