Posted on 05/03/2016 7:17:57 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
In the face of losses in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is looking for new ways to cut spending.
Starting June 1, the Chicago-based health insurer will no longer accept credit cards as a form of payment for members who buy their own health insurance on or off the Illinois marketplace. The company began notifying customers of the change last month. Blue Cross will still accept other forms of payment, including debit cards.
The new payment policy will not affect customers in the group or Medicare markets.
In an email announcing the new payment policy, Blue Cross said, "Credit card fees are a significant expense that impact all members, not just those who use credit as a payment option."
Blue Cross and other health carriers are trying to drive down their costs because the newest policyholders under the health law have been more expensive to cover than those in employer-based group plans. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which represents 36 health plans across the country, studied the use of medical services by people enrolled in its plans before and after the ACA, sometimes called Obamacare, took effect in 2014.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
That’s because the premiums are getting higher than their credit limits!
It’s dangerous for many of the working poor to carry cash.. and checking accounts for the poor often carry high fees because they can’t carry large balances.
When a large corporation like Blue Cross stops taking credit card payments as a cost-saving measure, you know that the system is in deep trouble. Taking credit card payments is not a large expense for a remotely profitable system.
Obamacare is working as intended, driving private companies out of business. Single payer system is getting closer, perhaps only a few years away if Hillary is elected.
If you like your credit card payments you can keep your credit card payments.
More likely, families are maxing out their credit cards then are unable to pay — probably resulting in the credit company clawing back money from the insurer.
I also envision people getting their last few months of healthcare before dying from whatever condition — leaving nothing to pay off the bills.
This is an insidious development in Obamacare.
For every $100 transaction using a cc, the insurance company starts out with about $98 before any other operating expenses kick in.
Those couple of % points could be yuge!
Now I doubt if there is much weight and truth to my knee jerk reaction to this news but my gut feeling is if there is even a sliver or little bit of truth to my knee jerk reaction it is enough for me to be scared of the future. Hopefully I'm way off target in my knee jerk reaction.
Clawback didn’t used to be the practice with card accounts that were unpaid.
Sounds to me like a different way of managing risk. If you can pay with something other than a credit card, you are a better risk.
Is it any cheaper to do a debit card?
“Those couple of % points could be yuge!”
In some businesses i.e. supermarkets that is their margin on net sales. Yes it is huge.
I don’t feel sorry for any of the insurance companies though as they were big supporters of the forced insurance law. They looked at it as it was going to be a guaranteed profit on much higher revenues. They failed to take into consideration their costs would be capped and they had no flexibility in what kinds of insurance they could sell. They figured the government would pick up the difference with subsidies. They did not know what a back stabbing POS they were dealing with and when you make a deal with the devil, you get your due. They can now go screw themselves which was the original O Hula plan, put them out of work and go to single payer.
What if that is the only way you can pay?
A lot of Obamacare supporters have had cruel games played with them, as the system proved unsustainable.
You can’t use credit to pay for a Government program.
Only the GOVERNMENT can use credit to pay for a Government program. . .
WRONG!
I joined the ranks of working poor, though I’m doing what’s needed to rise up out.
I have no problem using or carrying cash, obviously you don’t carry around a lot of excess. many credit options less available due to income plummet. I use the bank with no fee I simply go into the bank instead of using ATM outside it which is stupid.
People who want convenience and who had made foolish choice and want to continue to be foolish will continue to create their own problems. Personal responsibility to face our self and make changes to stop being needy “victims”.
only a few years away if Trump is elected. By the end of 2017 is Mrs. Bill is elected. If she is the next president she will probably have the Senate and the House also, as well as the USSC. After November it will be too late for an Article 5 Convention when Mrs. Bill is President. The FedGov will suppress any such insubordination by force. It has the troops to do it even if the Army stands down. It certainly has enough ammo and prepositioned heavy weaponry.
If somebody hits you in the knee then your knee will jerk. Uncle Sam is wielding a big mallet.
A little. CC Transaction fees really add up, and they keep going up to cover all the fraud.
The problem is, you’re either a risk or a liability. We all know what happens to liabilities.
Stuff like this is going to drive single payer, and that’s probably the intended consequences.
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