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Monday, June 23, 2014

Obamacare showing signs of ‘financial death spiral’

Analyst: 'You've got an insurance pool that is probably sicker than average'

A new Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, report designed to show Obamacare is increasing access and lowering health costs may actually provide evidence that the program could be in the first stages of a financial death spiral.

When the Obamacare exchanges opened last year, most patients were expected to enroll in the least expensive, “bronze” plans. However, Wednesday’s “Premium Affordability, Competition, and Choice in the Health Insurance Marketplace, 2014″ report from HHS shows a much larger than expected number of Americans enrolling in the “silver” plans.

National Center for Public Policy Research health-care policy analyst David Hogberg said that could be very significant to the financial future of the U.S. health-care system.

“About 65 percent of enrollees have chosen a silver plan,” he said. “One of the theories behind this has to do with the fact that if you earn 250 percent of the federal poverty level or less, and you choose a silver plan, you get an additional subsidy to help you with your plan’s cost-sharing. So not only do you get a subsidy to help you with your premiums, you also get one to help you pay for deductibles, co-pays and other types of cost-sharing.”

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doing exactly what King Barry wants it to do.. he will have to ride in and save it with a single payer system... Let's ask the VA how that has worked for them?

Anonymous said...

Showing signs?? It was DOA!!

Anonymous said...

The only people who will live past retirement are retired government employees.

Anonymous said...

Tried to find Obama care qualifying insurance but can't. My wife and I are 56 and 57 years old so they want us to die. Insurance was way higher on the Affordable Healthcare Act sites with a $12,000.00 per year deductible. That's right, $12,000.00 deductible. They want us to go broke and die.

Anonymous said...

2:26 That's the plan. You can't pay your medical bills so the Government forecloses on your home and gives that money back to itself and moves illegals in so they will vote for Democrats.

Anonymous said...

Anon: 2:26, if you live in MD you can TRY, if you can get through, the MD Health Connection site. There are plans for your age bracket that are less expensive than what you can get on a private plan.

Anonymous said...

2:26 - did you get what you voted for? Or were you not able to convince enough of your friends to vote to get this country back on the right track?