Posted on 11/02/2013 8:26:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
So how much more is your health insurance going to cost you?
That’s the question, really, as Obamacare begins taking effect and the stories pour in from around the country: how much your premiums are going up, not if they are.
Rising costs are a fact of life, but the changes Americans are seeing as a result of the president’s signature law are putting the “shock” in “sticker shock.” I recently had lunch with a friend who said his perfectly healthy 28-year old son had just received a notice from Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Illinois that on Jan. 1, his monthly premium will go from $90 to $268.
It’s no coincidence that this is the effective date of the first phase of Obamacare -- whose formal name, the Affordable Care Act, looks increasingly ironic with each passing day.
This 28-year-old is far from alone. Americans everywhere are getting such letters, as insurance companies and employers are forced to explain how the new law is necessitating much higher premiums.
Take Ben Neptun and his wife, Charla. Home health nurses in Mobile, Ala., they each make about $23 an hour, and manage a tight budget for their blended family of five -- a 15-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 10-month-old. According to Ben, “there’s no room for several hundred dollars extra per month” in their budget.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they’re going to need, thanks to Obamacare.
The Neptuns buy their health insurance directly from Blue Cross-Blue Shield. They currently spend about $2,000 a year (not including the monthly premium) on health care for the family. But like so many other Americans, they recently got the dreaded letter -- and learned that their premiums will more than double, from $419 to $899.
“Thousands of Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them,” begins an article in the Los Angeles Times, “and many don't like what they see.”
Think about how changes like this affect the economy. If you suddenly have to come up with an extra $200, $300, $400 a month (or more), what do you do? You economize. You eat out less. You drive that old car even longer. You put off moving. You stop saving what little money you were putting aside. You contribute less to retirement funds.
What if you’re an employer? You have to cope with these skyrocketing costs, too, and in the same way: by economizing. You delay making necessary changes to improve your business. You rely on old equipment for longer. You reluctantly raise prices, knowing it will cost you customers. You cut back on hours for your employees.
Most importantly? You stop hiring.
According to a new Gallup survey, two out of every five small-business owners report that they are holding off on hiring because of Obamacare. They need employees, yes, but they also need to be able to afford them. And the changes brought about by the new health care law have made affordability a thing of the past.
Just ask the Federal Reserve, which regularly collects feedback from businesses and issues reports about the economic outlook. “Many contacts also commented on reluctance to expand due to uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act; some employers cut hours or employees,” the Reserve says in its latest report.
So we see the fallout from Obamacare even before it takes full effect: Workers facing soaring additional costs for health coverage -- even as their hours are cut, leaving them with even smaller paychecks. Employers refusing to hire. And each group feverishly looking for ways to cut costs.
Small wonder that Ben Neptun says he’d “rather file bankruptcy and do without health insurance” because “the fines are less.”
There are financially sound ways to reform health care so that more people get the coverage they need. The UN-Affordable Care Act doesn’t come close.
Many businesses are going to respond by rising prices, causing inflation so things that were formerly affordable are now less affordable. ObamaCare essentially demands that we all have cadillac health plans whether we can afford them or not.
You can thank the rats and the main rat at the Spite House for it.
Being that the admitted foreign born twice unconstitutionally elected Islamic Marxist lied about Obamacare and on national TV no less, couldn’t that be seen as deception in the courts and therefore have the whole thing overturned? See, if the government forces me to buy a car sight unseen or pay a fine and they tell me the car has an engine and I go and buy it and I find it has no engine am I therefore stuck with that car? That’s flat out fraud and deception because you could say if I knew it had no engine I would have paid the fine instead because what use is the car? The same thing is going on here with Obamascam. They are forcing you to buy a companies product or pay a fine and they lied about it.
That’s right. As much grief as we give them, no Republicans voted for it.
This is pure donkey, all on the Democrats.
Obama’s war on the middle class, year 5.
As someone stated elsewhere ‘and if you think these rates are high see what they’re like when 30 million border jumpers, their families, shirt-tail relatives and friends tuck into this “affordable”/free system of healthcare.
Wait a moment. Lets say i am a 27 year old male or female and i do not want to have health insurance in any manner and i do not buy any and simply refuse to buy any. I am unemployed, pay no taxes and live off my parents, do not own anything. What can “The State” do to me? Since i have no income i am not taxed and refuse all assistance or tax refunds. Are they going to make me get a job so i can pay into the system? If so shouldn’t ALL people living off “The State” be forced to get a job so they can buy in “The State” run plans? How can it be Constitutional to force me to buy something? Can they next force me to buy a car or shoes or even ok lets say gay sex toys? Dunno where the last one came from but as a citizen of the United States i do not see it anywhere that says the government (”The State”) can force me to buy something ever. Has this been challenged in the courts? If so anyone that says i must buy something can kiss my ass. I refuse.
OK, i reply to myself. A better example. I am 70 years old. I want insurance but i do not need to be covered for maternity needs in any manner. I do not need to be covered for AIDS treatments in any manner. I am sane so i do not need insurance for mental help or marital counseling. I do not smoke and nobody ever died in my family from cancer so i do not need that. I do not take part in risky activities. exercise daily, eat properly, and live a clean life. Why do i need maternity care included or AIDS treatment included. Say i am rich take all my investments and convert them to cash and gold. I buy everything with cash and I refuse social security and medicare, Medicaid and all the other horseshit given away by the government. I have no money in the bank and i keep it all in my own safe at home deep in the woods and guarded by me and my guns. I refuse to buy something i do not need. What are you going to do to me if i refuse to “Comply with The State�
Well, WTF! why are we getting this sh*t shoved down our throats? This is bull sh*t and these people need removed from office. Every last one of them. I was under the impression that Congress can pass no law that it does not abide by. Again, WTF! Why are these hogs exempt? Is the Senate held to the same standard as Congress? What about the guy in the White House? This is not what this country is about. This has become a dictatorship and that is a lot of bunk! Time for a Revolution.
Ultimately they will do what all governments do when you refuse to obey. They will kill you.
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington
I could fix health insurance problems for $0.
1. No insurance from employers, other than accident. Employers cover all accidents whether on the job or not (as done in Switzerland). Those who are currently providing health insurance for their employees, give them that amount as part of their salary.
2. Insurance allowed to be sold across state lines.
3. Every insurance co doing business in the USA is mandated to provide for sale a low cost bare bones coverage to anyone wanting it. This coverage gives the poor person a chance to visit a doctor (not any doctor, lower amount of care) and a hospital if very sick or hurt, ward style care, not as much attention, but decent cheap care. (As done in Switzerland)
Insurance companies sell only to individuals and families, but they can be free to make their own kinds of groups or deals as they see fit as free markets allow.
Government get out of the way and watch health insurance plans get creative and people will find deals online or in other states for anything. Let the creativity of the marketplace grow.
This is no longer true. Now businesses are reluctant to expand due to CERTAINTY surrounding the Affordable Care Act.
Nice typo.
OH!
A bonus for Obama and the Democreeps.
With this they have a new plug for their other pet project of socializing 401Ks
Only rich people have 401Ks so we should equalize this retirement program and role it in to Social Security.
The Left will never leave productive people alone.
A FReeper suggested that the ACA be called Hussein’s UnAffordable Care (HUAC)
Yes it is popularly labeled Obamacare like two decades ago it was called Hillarycare. No one is suggesting a substitute.
But using one of the left's all time favorite pejorative expressions against one of their all time favorite laws is proper justice.
I would like my auto insurer (State Farm) to sell me some health insurance, de-coupling me from my employer who I buy it from/with.
I already have 4 policies with State Farm, not just auto, plus a truck loan, and it’d be convenient if they broke into health insurance, I’d use them.
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