Posted on 05/22/2014 5:39:08 AM PDT by maggief
States are nailing down dates to release 2015 premium costs under ObamaCare, and their decisions will guarantee a drumbeat of news about rate hikes all the way to the November midterm elections.
Democrats are bracing for grim headlines that could put the unpopular law back at the forefront of voters’ minds.
Premiums are expected to go up in a majority of states, as they do every year, but the size of the increases could go a long way toward determining how much political damage Obama-Care inflicts on vulnerable Democratic lawmakers. A survey by The Hill of state insurance commissioners found that news about ObamaCare premiums will hit nearly every week this summer, providing ample opportunity for Republicans to attack any significant premium hikes.
A slew of states will publish proposed prices in June, including Colorado and Louisiana — where the GOP is targeting Democratic Senate incumbents.
Others will wait until later in the season, including West Virginia and Arkansas. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, a fact that his opponent, Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), has repeatedly raised.
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), a top GOP target, will see her state publish rates on Aug. 15 or later.
Health rates on the individual and small-group markets usually attract little to no attention from the political press. This year will be different.
Control of the Senate is within the GOP’s reach in 2014, and a resurgence of bad news about ObamaCare could boost Republican chances.
“That has the potential to be a very powerful weapon for the GOP in the midterms,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
The following is a list of responses from states on when they plan to release insurance premium rates. Dates are subject to change. Sixteen states did not respond or did not specify a date.
May
Maryland
Montana (May 27 or later)
Maine (May 30)
Connecticut (May 31)
Ohio (by May 31)
June
Colorado
Rhode Island
Kansas (June 1 and available via records request)
North Dakota (June 6)
Michigan (June 9)
Delaware (June 13)
South Dakota (June 15)
Louisiana (June 27)
July
Florida (end of the month, or early August)
August
Nevada (Aug. 1)
Nebraska (mid-month)
Wisconsin (late in the month)
Massachusetts (Aug. 15)
North Carolina (no earlier than Aug. 15)
September
Tennessee
West Virginia (available via records request)
Arkansas (Sept. 10)
November
New Jersey (Nov. 15)
January 2015
New Hampshire (Jan. 1)
Will not release rates
Idaho
Iowa
Missouri
Wyoming
No response, or no month given
Alabama
Alaska
California
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Minnesota
Mississippi
New Mexico
New York
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas (will release rates that rise by more than 10 percent via public records request, no month or date given)
Utah
Already released, in full or in part
Arizona
Indiana
Kentucky
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/206901-premium-hike-drumbeat-before-nov-election-day#ixzz32RoGRgSh
More important is when (if) we get the numbers on the lapse rate of those who “signed up” for Obamacare, and either never paid a premium, or paid one or two and then stopped..
I hope the hammer every state with a RAT up for reelection.
15+%. 30% would be better yet.
But I thought Hussein was paying off the insurance companies with BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to fend off the massive rate hikes shortly before the Nov elections?
Lapse rate
That is the key number
When released it will be devistating
What the stupid Rats will never realize is that Hussein cares about no one other than himself...first, last and always.
In a few years Americans will get used to these new chains.
Is an executive order in the works to not release the new rates until December?
There’s a deal between Obama and the insurance companies to delay rate hikes in exchange for a 80% (taxpayer) bailout for any losses they incur.
The elitist rats really don’t care about whether this program succeeds or not as long as they have more power as a result.
“I don’t seek truth, I seek advantage.”
Rate hike or Obama stealing tax payer money to pay the bill ,should get crazy
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