Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 08:18 am:

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How Will You Fare in the Obamacare Exchanges?
By Drew Gonshorowski, Oct 16, 2013

Enrollment in Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges has proven to be a somewhat difficult process amidst technical glitches and delays. Aside from the issues associated with actually purchasing health care, once an individual gets a quote for health insurance on an exchange, is the premium higher or lower than before?

Our research finds that for many states, the insurance on health exchanges will cost more than existing insurance. This study illustrates that the general experience for individuals shopping on the exchange is that of increasing premiums from what was available to them prior to implementation of the exchanges. Many families and individuals will face this reality as they apply for coverage, and the implications of experiencing sticker shock are important to consider if enough people choose not to sign up for coverage for various reasons.

Methodology

The Heritage Health Insurance Microsimulation Model (HHIMM), in concordance with insurer data compiled by Mark Farrah and Associates, is used to create a snapshot of what it looks like to shop for insurance prior to exchange implementation. This data is used to build weighted average premiums within the rating areas, similar to the process described in the most recent release from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).[2]

First, we use expected age distribution in the individual market from the HHIMM. Next, we use census data for the county populations in order to scale up to the state level, creating something that is roughly comparable to the weighted averages presented by HHS.[3] This comparison is different from others in that, rather than comparing specific plans, it is designed to capture the difference in premium levels between the exchange and what could be acquired in the market.

This paper is meant to provide a necessary segue to HHS’s data summary, creating an apples-to-apples comparison of exchange data to what the costs are for individuals. Effectively, we have used the same methods that were employed to provide summary data on the exchange markets to prior insurance data in order to get the closest comparison.

Some state-based exchanges have data releases that are more limited than the 36 federal exchanges. For state exchanges, some premiums must be estimated. As is the case with all studies built to address the changes in exchange premiums, it is important to note that when more data becomes available, results could vary slightly.

This study considers the data as released by HHS. States with little data released are omitted from this study.[4]

Results

Individuals in most states will end up spending more on the exchanges. It is true that in some states, the experience could be the opposite. This is because those states had already over-regulated insurance markets that led to sharply higher premiums through adverse selection, as is the case of New York. Many states, however, double or nearly triple premiums for young adults. Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, and Vermont see some of the largest increases in premiums.[5]



The Obama Administration is desperate for younger people to enroll to prevent an adverse selection death spiral. As pointed out by Sam Cappellanti at the American Action Forum, “The enrollment of these low cost young adults…is essential as they are required to subsidize the costs of insuring the elderly and chronically ill.”[6] However, young adults face a penalty for not enrolling that is projected to be far less than the insurance coverage they could receive.

Our findings confirm that younger populations see larger percentage increases in premiums. A state that exhibits this clearly is Vermont, where the increase for 27-year-olds is 144 percent and the increase for 50-year-olds is still 60 percent, but far less. All states exhibit this relationship.

Many individuals will experience sticker shock when shopping on the exchanges. It is clear that many policies and cross-subsidization within Obamacare will lead to upward shifts in premiums. These policies include the health insurance tax, essential health benefit and actuarial value regulations, less allowed age variability in premiums, community rating, and guaranteed issue.[7] However, real uncertainty, amidst a rocky start, surrounds what enrollment will look like in the exchanges.

Fantasy Savings

Obamacare will leave many people paying more for their health insurance. The healthcare.gov website is learning to crawl, with additional data trickling in. However, based on information already released by HHS, states, and insurance plans, the claims of savings on premiums for the average participant is a fantasy.

—Drew Gonshorowski is a Policy Analyst in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation.

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Posted on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 10:33 am:

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A Parliament of Traitors and Whores

Dear Patriot,

The Republican establishment just sold us out. Mitch McConnell received his $3 billion of silver to betray the base and the grassroots, via an amendment authored by Lamar Alexander. They're such sluts for a good porking, and their explanation strains credulity: we had to spend $3 billion on a dam to make sure the taxpayers didn't lose $160 million. That's Washington math at its finest.

President Obama made one concession: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius will certify that income verification measures are in place to verify eligibility for Obamacare subsidies. That certification will consist of a letter to Congress, and it will be followed by GAO reports that reveal how much of a liar Kathleen Sibelius is. And yes, that's right: those income verification measures weren't already in place.

It takes $2.9 billion to put Mitch McConnell on his knees before President Obama, whoring himself out and betraying his Kentucky constituents. There's no relief for the good people of Kentucky or their families, who will see their premiums go up and their available providers go down. Their senator didn't bother to insist that President Obama face the music for his unconstitutional and illegal delay of the employer mandate, or the out of pocket limits, until 2015. There's good money to be made betting on another delay in 2015.

This is war. We're not going to stand by as the whores in Washington betray us and their constituents to send money to their crony sugar daddies, including the pharmaceutical companies who stand to make an estimated $35 billion in profits from Obamacare. We're not going to stand by while insurance companies charge their policyholders huge premium increases for out of pocket limits that won't be in place until 2015. We're going to burn Mitch McConnell and his parliament of whores at the stake in 2014 and 2016. That's right, we're coming in multiple election cycles for revenge.

Washington might not be helping you, or working families, but it's damn sure taking care of its own. Take recently deceased Senator Frank Lautenberg's widow, whose worth is $56 million: the Senate made sure she got another $174,000 of your money as a final payout. They did this while you're struggling to make ends meet, because what's another $174,000 of somebody else's money among millionaire politicians and their families?

These 81 whores curbstomped liberty and defecated on the Constitution yet again tonight. We aren't going to forget. We're coming in 2014, and they will hear us coming. They will remember this day and rue it, and we will pour forth the fires of your wrath upon their heads. We're not running away, and we are not beaten. This is but one battle, and we are turning tonight's defeat into a historic triumph.

Every dollar you contribute to us is a bullet aimed at the heart of the status quo in Washington, a bullet aimed at the parliament of whores and traitors who sold you out tonight. While the Senate did not respect our will tonight, they will fear our will in the primaries and they will know our resolve in the general election. We are coming, and we are never going to stop until we take down every last one of these 81 whores.

You aren't funding a political campaign. You're funding a revolution. Your donations are history-making ammunition to execute those who spat in your faces tonight with their vote. It's time to take these whores and traitors out. Donate today, and know that your dollars will rain down like mortars on those who betrayed us tonight in 2014. A season of vengeance is upon us, and it is time for the establishment to reap what it has sown.

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Posted on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 07:54 pm:

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Dear Patriot,

After seeing some of the crony handouts in the legislative deal yesterday I instructed our team not to pull their punches and portray the rage that we are justifiably feeling over just the latest example of Washington corruption.

Although my name was at the bottom of that email it was not written by me and some of the rhetoric I felt went over the line. I'd like to apologize for that and since it had my name on it, ultimately it is my responsibility and I apologize for some of the more brash rhetoric.

The fact is that these politicians who are granted the sacred honor of representing our interests ARE whoring themselves out to lobbyists and special interests and that corruption is eroding the basic principles of liberty that our country was founded on, and it can't continue.

The corruption is so vast and the solution so difficult that it can become overwhelming. Our team is humbled and honored for the opportunity to dedicate our lives to fighting these evil bastards. We only succeed when we responsibly represent your voice in our activism and our email earlier stepped over the line. We apologize for that, but not for calling it like we see it.

The upcoming elections are our best opportunity to effect critical changes peacefully. I hope you'll continue to stand beside us and forgive our uncouth choice of words as a mark of our teams passion for the cause of liberty. We'll learn from this mistake and pledge to do better in the future!

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Posted on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 11:54 am:

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Insurers say the federal health-care marketplace is generating flawed data that is straining their ability to handle even the trickle of enrollees who have gotten through so far, in a sign that technological problems extend further than the website traffic and software issues already identified.
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The flaws could do lasting damage to the law if customers are deterred from signing up or mistakenly believe they have obtained coverage.

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Posted on Saturday, October 19, 2013 - 05:50 pm:

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ObamaCare's Third World Experience
Oct. 18, 2013

Closer examination of the design and implementation of the ObamaCare enrollment website reveals a long list of mistakes that could have been avoided, but instead were compounded by politically motivated decisions made by the Obama administration. And problems likely won't be resolved for months.

Late in the design phase of the exchanges, the Department of Health and Human Services removed fundamental elements of the site that would have allowed consumers to actually see the cost of insurance so as to reduce “rate shock.” It had become apparent even to the true believers that ObamaCare wasn't affordable or flexible in its options. The truth would have led to reduced enrollment, so HHS opted to reject transparency for the sake of political expediency – and they still got low enrollment. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius still refuses to reveal the true number of enrollees, which private sources estimate is a paltry 20% of the government's target for October.

Source, more: http://patriotpost.us/articles/21006

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