[CFrance]

There is an interesting article in The New York Times here http://tinyurl.com/mbq5zs2 "Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%" about how the premiums for individuals are going to fall due to the exchanges set up in NY having created competition in the marketplace.

According to the article, similar reductions in individual premiums are supposedly taking place in all states that have set up exchanges--CA and OR, for two examples.

I admit to being a proponent of the Affordable Care Act. I hope it works. I hope it works for my children and theirs, because the system we have now is causing my children to underinsure themselves. Now if we could somehow rein in the hospital costs so they become similar to those in other first-world countries.

This will be my only comment. Nothing will ever change my mind about this subject. I invite others to give their opinions. But please read the article first, and its addenda.

[Avista]

Great article! Thanks for posting!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by CFrance

There is an interesting article in The New York Times here http://tinyurl.com/mbq5zs2 "Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%" about how the premiums for individuals are going to fall due to the exchanges set up in NY having created competition in the marketplace.

According to the article, similar reductions in individual premiums are supposedly taking place in all states that have set up exchanges--CA and OR, for two examples.

I admit to being a proponent of the Affordable Care Act. I hope it works. I hope it works for my children and theirs, because the system we have now is causing my children to underinsure themselves. Now if we could somehow rein in the hospital costs so they become similar to those in other first-world countries.

This will be my only comment. Nothing will ever change my mind about this subject. I invite others to give their opinions. But please read the article first, and its addenda.

That is indeed comforting news. I had heard all kinds of bad stuff would happen. I hope it works too.

[Irishmen]

The ACA is a tax designed to redistribute wealth. Health Care is the vehicle to do so. Nothing govt run is going down in costs.

[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by CFrance

There is an interesting article in The New York Times here http://tinyurl.com/mbq5zs2 "Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%" about how the premiums for individuals are going to fall due to the exchanges set up in NY having created competition in the marketplace.

According to the article, similar reductions in individual premiums are supposedly taking place in all states that have set up exchanges--CA and OR, for two examples.

I admit to being a proponent of the Affordable Care Act. I hope it works. I hope it works for my children and theirs, because the system we have now is causing my children to underinsure themselves. Now if we could somehow rein in the hospital costs so they become similar to those in other first-world countries.

This will be my only comment. Nothing will ever change my mind about this subject. I invite others to give their opinions. But please read the article first, and its addenda.

It will work.

[gomoho]

My concern is no where in this article did it talk about the deductible, out of pocket maximums, or what might be covered. Interesting everything I read in the Wall Street Journal says exactly the opposite - premiums will rise and so will deductibles. We'll just have to wait and see. I think I'm grateful I'll be on medicare!

[Villages PL]

The announcement came from Gov. Andrew Cuomo which makes me suspect that this rosy low-premium prediction may be biased. Right now the goal is to get as many people as possible to sign up, and talk of low premiums may be designed to provide encouragement. You know what they say: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

[mickey100]

Originally Posted by CFrance

There is an interesting article in The New York Times here http://tinyurl.com/mbq5zs2 "Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%" about how the premiums for individuals are going to fall due to the exchanges set up in NY having created competition in the marketplace.

According to the article, similar reductions in individual premiums are supposedly taking place in all states that have set up exchanges--CA and OR, for two examples.

I admit to being a proponent of the Affordable Care Act. I hope it works. I hope it works for my children and theirs, because the system we have now is causing my children to underinsure themselves. Now if we could somehow rein in the hospital costs so they become similar to those in other first-world countries.

This will be my only comment. Nothing will ever change my mind about this subject. I invite others to give their opinions. But please read the article first, and its addenda.

Great article. Thanks for posting.

[eweissenbach]

Most of those who have been vehemently opposed to the AHCA have no idea how the law will affect them or anyone else. Many of them oppose it simply because they see it as Obama's plan and they oppose him so strongly that they, like rush Limbaugh, want him, and anything he proposes to fail. As I have alleged all along, there will be beneficial repercussions, and there will be unforeseen consequences, as there are with any major legislation - think about how many times social security has been changed for example. It will likely be amended and tweaked many times as the real-life results become evident. It was changed and amended during the process by both parties as well as the "input" by special interests, so that the final law was and is almost impossible for most citizens to fully understand and digest. In fact, I would argue few experts really have a grasp on the totality of its impact.

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

Most of those who have been vehemently opposed to the AHCA have no idea how the law will affect them or anyone else. Many of them oppose it simply because they see it as Obama's plan and they oppose him so strongly that they, like rush Limbaugh, want him, and anything he proposes to fail. As I have alleged all along, there will be beneficial repercussions, and there will be unforeseen consequences, as there are with any major legislation - think about how many times social security has been changed for example. It will likely be amended and tweaked many times as the real-life results become evident. It was changed and amended during the process by both parties as well as the "input" by special interests, so that the final law was and is almost impossible for most citizens to fully understand and digest. In fact, I would argue few experts really have a grasp on the totality of its impact.

You are absolutely correct about everything in your post. When Medicare was introduced in 1965, many states refused to participate. That law has also been tweaked over the decades since passing, but one party is not interested in acting to improve the Affordable Care Act only voting 40 plus times to repeal it.

The Massachusetts Health Care Law, which the ACA was patterned after and which has been in effect for a number of years has an 87% approval rating, while it covers 90 plus % of the adult population and 100% of children. MA has some of the best health care in the country and few other states could match those coverage numbers.

Where is the healthcare plan from the opposing side? They have had ample opportunity to come up with their own plan since the ACA was signed in 2009.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by gomoho

My concern is no where in this article did it talk about the deductible, out of pocket maximums, or what might be covered. Interesting everything I read in the Wall Street Journal says exactly the opposite - premiums will rise and so will deductibles. We'll just have to wait and see. I think I'm grateful I'll be on medicare!

Is that suprising coming from the Wall Stree Journal?

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by gomoho

My concern is no where in this article did it talk about the deductible, out of pocket maximums, or what might be covered. Interesting everything I read in the Wall Street Journal says exactly the opposite - premiums will rise and so will deductibles. We'll just have to wait and see. I think I'm grateful I'll be on medicare!

Originally Posted by Villages PL

The announcement came from Gov. Andrew Cuomo which makes me suspect that this rosy low-premium prediction may be biased. Right now the goal is to get as many people as possible to sign up, and talk of low premiums may be designed to provide encouragement. You know what they say: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

agree with you totally! i got more meaningful concern from reading the bottom half of the article and the comments/fears. tried to remain hopeful after reading the headline, but the promises made when the legislation was voted on kept creeping into my consciousness.

[ilovetv]

The fact that NY has had the highest-priced individual premiums in the country, and why that was, may be why the costs in that state appear to be coming down. This Washington Post column gives some good insights:

"....New York has, for two decades now, had the highest individual market premiums in the country. A lot of it seems to trace back to a law passed in 1993, which required insurance plans to accept all applicants, regardless of how sick or healthy they were. That law did not, however, require everyone to sign up, as the Affordable Care Act does.

New York has, for 20 years now, been a long-running experiment in what happens to universal coverage without an individual mandate. It’s the type of law the country would have if House Republicans succeeded in delaying the individual mandate, as they will vote to do this afternoon. The result: a small insurance market with very high insurance premiums.

(My note as I see it: Fewer people in the risk-sharing pool to pay for the higher-risk, more expensive patient claims in the pool means each one pays for a bigger piece of the claims-payout pie. With more payers, their slice of the claims/expenses pie would be less.)

For years New York has had one of the most heavily regulated insurance markets in the country. The 1993 reforms not only required insurers to accept all customers; they also mandated that insurers charge everyone the exact same price. Young or old, healthy or sick, it doesn’t matter in New York: Everyone gets the same deal.

This is great for someone who is sick and old who, in other states, might get charged a sky high rate or rejected altogether. It’s not great though for the young and healthy, who end up footing a bigger chunk of the bill for all those more expensive beneficiaries......"

Here’s why health insurance premiums are tumbling in New York

[DaleMN]

It's working!....vote to repeal it for the umpteenth time.

[Villages PL]

http://www.heritage.org/research/rep...rance-premiums

The above link explains the following 12 factors that will contribute to higher healthcare premiums.

1. Mandated Benefits

2. No Cost-Sharing for Previntitive Services

3. Limits On Cost-Sharing (on Covered Items) and Limits on Deductibles

4. Minimized Youth Discount

5. Elimination of the Good Health Discount

6. No Annual or Lifetime Limits on Health Benefits and Mandated Coverage of Children Under 26

7. No Pre-Existing Conditions Exclusion and Guarantee Issue

8. Cost-Shifting Because of Low Medicare Reimbursement Rates

9. Taxes on Insurers, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Medical Device Makers

10. Dificulty of Inforcing the Mandate

11. Adverse Selection

12. Increased Demand for Health Care


"Wishes Do Not Trump Common Sense"