Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Maryland demands lower insurance rates; Aetna says sayonara to the state’s insurance exchange
Hot Air ^ | AUG 4,2013 | ERIKA JOHNSEN

Posted on 08/04/2013 12:00:16 PM PDT by Hojczyk

For instance: Maryland would really very much appreciate it if the insurance companies operating in their state could offer rates that the state arbitrarily deems to be affordable and attractive offers, the better to lure potential participants into the state’s ObamaCare exchanges. Insurance companies, meanwhile, would really like it if they could avoid operating at a loss. It’s selfish, really.

Aetna Inc pulled out of Maryland’s health insurance exchange being created under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law after the state pressed it to lower its proposed rates by up to 29 percent. …

In an August 1 letter sent to the Maryland Department of Insurance, Aetna said the state’s requirement for rate reductions off its proposed prices would lead it to operate at a loss. The rate reductions include products from Aetna and Coventry Health Care, which it bought this spring.

“Unfortunately, we believe the modifications to the rates filed by Aetna and Coventry would not allow us to collect enough premiums to cover the cost of the plans, including the medical network and service expectations of our customers,” Aetna said in the letter to insurance commissioner Therese Goldsmith.

According to online documents, Aetna had requested an average monthly premium of $394 a month for one of its plans and the agency had approved an average rate of $281 per month. And it was just the other day that ObamaCare’s supporters were touting Maryland’s lower rates as proof of the health care overhaul’s success.

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: aetna; bho44; healthcare; healthinsurance; obamacare; omalley
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

1 posted on 08/04/2013 12:00:16 PM PDT by Hojczyk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Unexpected!


2 posted on 08/04/2013 12:03:29 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

I suppose O’Malice will try to double down and tell Aetna that they can’t sell insurance in Maryland. I wonder whether that then provokes such a howl from the private market that the whole cookie crumbles.


3 posted on 08/04/2013 12:06:11 PM PDT by gusopol3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

I wonder what Blue Cross Blue Shield is doing?


4 posted on 08/04/2013 12:07:36 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

You know what I find annoying? People who excerpt text without signaling that they have done so. It’s as if I’m starting a conversation that’s already half-way over, and must look at a transcript to catch-up.


5 posted on 08/04/2013 12:08:30 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

The state could set a $10 rate if they really cared about the people. While nobody could actually buy insurance at that rate, it would certainly be the lowest rate in the country and something worth bragging about. Oh joy - Liberalism triumphs over those evil insurance companies once again. :=)


6 posted on 08/04/2013 12:09:19 PM PDT by Bob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

If you liked your insurance, up yours.


7 posted on 08/04/2013 12:09:33 PM PDT by Nachum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk
That's all part of the master plan,to make government the only one who's willing and able to finance health care.
8 posted on 08/04/2013 12:10:20 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (If Obama Had A City It Would Look Like Detroit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

You have to cover everything and everyone, but lower your price...

right, thats gonna happen


9 posted on 08/04/2013 12:11:15 PM PDT by GeronL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

bump


10 posted on 08/04/2013 12:12:04 PM PDT by GeronL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

The ‘RATS want Cadillac healthcare at used car prices.


11 posted on 08/04/2013 12:13:27 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (ObamaCare is just commie DemocRAT code for genocide.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Some democrat idiot was telling me that the state was going to demand that the insurance companies drop their rates. And that it was a great idea.

She was shocked when I told her that they do not need to do business in MD. They can leave. We can’t force anyone or any company to operate at a loss. She was also unaware of the jobs this state already lost many jobs when companies fled after the Rats passed gun control and other tyrannical laws.

And these morons can and do vote.


12 posted on 08/04/2013 12:17:04 PM PDT by RedMDer (http://www.dontfundobamacare.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

We were looking at property in Maryland. Retiring to the bay area attracted us. That was until we saw the Democrat led tax hikes, Baltimore financial mess and the crazy rain tax. These Democrats are nuts. I will never consider moving there with such nitwits running the state.


13 posted on 08/04/2013 12:28:01 PM PDT by oldironsides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: FlingWingFlyer

I think you’re being too kind.

They want Cadillac health care at used tricycle prices.


14 posted on 08/04/2013 12:29:03 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Kill the bill... Begin enforcing our current laws, signed by President Ronald Reagan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: gusopol3

Next step in this slow-motion catastrophe: if you sell insurance in any state, you have to sell it in all of them.

I wonder what would happen if suddenly no one at all sold health insurance? Well, I suppose that the government would have to take that task for itself...which of course is the end-game here.


15 posted on 08/04/2013 12:30:31 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

The inane Democrat logic is that private insurers leaving the state is a good thing, because that means the federal government will have to pick up more of the tab, and Obama and the Democrats are willing to spend America into incontinence for a few more votes.

Thus the Republicans need to make it loud and clear to the blue states that once Obama is gone, they are going to have to pay through the nose to get those insurance companies back.


16 posted on 08/04/2013 12:34:12 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Be Brave! Fear is just the opposite of Nar!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Antiyuppie

But if they spring the trap too soon, the 70% who were adequately served prior to Obabmacare are going to be a formidable aroused constituency. There’s a small chance the insurance companies were smart enough to have realized they were being coaxed into the slaughter pens.


17 posted on 08/04/2013 12:36:58 PM PDT by gusopol3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Shocked!


18 posted on 08/04/2013 12:41:05 PM PDT by fortheDeclaration (Pr 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation:but sin is a reproach to any people)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy; Hojczyk

And here’s the BIG kicker... articles from Hotair.com do not need to be excerpted.


19 posted on 08/04/2013 12:54:39 PM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Red_Devil 232
I wonder what Blue Cross Blue Shield is doing?

I don't know but that's what my family has...

20 posted on 08/04/2013 1:17:44 PM PDT by BreezyDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson