Archive for the ‘Health Care Costs’ Category

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ObamaCare Will Raise Premiums Significantly and Limit Health Insurance Options

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

ObamaCare PremiumsWhat the Obama Administration Didn’t Tell You About ObamaCare Exchange Plans –Heritage Foundation

(Washington Examiner) The Obama Administration today, released a report on the costs of ObamaCare for most Americans, heralding its interpretation that 95% of the nation will be able to buy health insurance below earlier projections.

Note the words “earlier projections” that does not mean that the insurance that Americans will have to purchase or be fined, under ObamaCare will be less expensive than what one pays today before ObamaCare takes effect.

We know this because at the same time the Obama Administration was releasing their broad study, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander released his analysis of the report’s portion on his state Sen Alexander found that ObamaCare will cost far more than what many of his Constituents are paying today–some by as much as 190%

From Sen. Alexander’s release:

  • Today a 27 year old man in Memphis can purchase a health care plan for as low as $41 per month. On the ObamaCare exchange the lowest state’s average is $119 per month a 190% increase.
  • Today a 27 year old Woman in Nashville can purchase a health care plan for as low as $58 per month. On the ObamaCare exchange the lowest priced plan is $114 per month a 97% increase–even with a tax subsidy that plan is $104 per month, almost twice what she can purchase it for today.

On the 31 May, I wrote here that the ObamaCare/Covered California exchange will in fact increase individual market premiums by as much as 146% One of the most serious flaws with ObamaCare is the blizzard of new regulations and mandates that drive up the cost of insurance for people who buy it on their own–this problem will be especially acute when the law’s main provisions kick in on the 01 January, 2014 leading many to worry about a health insurance ‘rate shock.’

In Nashville, 105 insurance plans offered today will be unavailable in the ObamaCare exchange.

In California, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that insurers in the new ObamaCare/Covered California exchange are limiting choices, raising concerns that patients will struggle to get health care.

On the 22 July, I wrote here that Anthem Blue Cross has joined a growing list of other health insurance companies that will not participate in ObamaCare/Covered California exchange.

Related: Study: Yes ObamaCare Will Raise Premiums Significantly

Posted in California, Economy, Health Care Costs, Obama Administration, ObamaCare | No Comments »

Rand Paul: Require All Federal Employees to Enroll in ObamaCare, No Exemptions Should Be Permitted

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Guess Who Is Exempt From ObamaCareGood For Thee But Not For Me –Image: God Family Country/Twitter

(Daily Caller) Arguing that federal workers should not receive ‘special treatment’ Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) says that he does not want taxpayers subsidizing the personal heath care plans of any federal employee including the Chief Justice John Roberts–anymore.

Paul’s proposal would outlaw any special treatment for government employees, requiring that all federal employees would have to purchase their health care from the ObamaCare exchanges just like everyone else.

What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.

Posted in Health Care Costs, ObamaCare, Sen. Rand Paul | No Comments »

Walgreen’s Pharmacy 160,000 Employees Latest ObamaCare Casualty

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

Companies Dropping Health Care BenefitsObamaCare Side Effects: Companies Dropping Health Insurance and Taxpayers Get the Bill –The Foundry/Heritage Foundation

(Forbes) Walgreen’s is joining 17 other large employers that have decided to give their 160,000 employees a subsidy to buy their own health insurance and dump them into the Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange.

In August CNN Money reported that United Parcel Service announced that they would be discontinuing coverage for 15,000 spouses citing ObamaCare as the culprit, which mandates coverage of dependent children until the age of 26 and adds new government fees.

Yesterday I wrote here that Southern California based “Trader Joe’s” announced they will be dropping its company health care benefits for their part-time employees and instead will give them a $500 stipend to buy their own health insurance from ObamaCare/Covered California.

Posted in California, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare | No Comments »

Southern California Based “Trader Joe’s” Dropping Health Insurance For Part Time Employees

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

ObamaCare Broken PromiseObamaCare Broken Promise –Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC)

(LAist) Southern California based Trader Joe’s has announced that they are dropping health insurance coverage for their part-time employees and instead will give them a $500 stipend to buy their own health insurance from ObamaCare/Covered California.

On the 09 September, I wrote here that IBM citing rising health care costs, plans to move about 110,000 of their retirees off its company sponsored health insurance plans and force them into ObamaCare exchanges.

Related: Duke Energy Dropping Retiree’s Health Care Coverage

Obama’s Watch: Median Income Down $2,627 Record 46,496,000 Poor

Posted in Barack Obama, California, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare | No Comments »

ObamaCare Death Panel Begins First in California

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

Someone Lives Someone Dies Welcome to ObamaCareSomeone Lives–Someone Dies…Welcome to ObamaCare
Maggie/Twitter

(Bloomberg) The latest bad news from ObamaCare comes to California–a state in which the Obama Administration has consistently pointed to as an important indicator of the federal takeover of 1/6 of the American economy as a success.

President Obama in June was in California claiming that his legislative achievement was already ‘pushing down costs’ for Consumers, unfortunately actuary analyses have recently revealed that because of ObamaCare individual health care premiums are headed anywhere but down in California.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday, “Insurers in California’s new health insurance exchange are–limiting choices, raising concerns that patients will struggle to get care.”

The doctor can’t see you now.

Consumers may hear that a lot more often after getting health insurance under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

To hold down premiums, major insurers in California have sharply limited the number of doctors and hospitals available to patients in the state’s new health insurance market opening on the 01 October.

On the 22 July, I wrote here that Anthem Blue Cross has joined a growing list of other health insurance companies that will not participate in California’s small business and individual ObamaCare/Covered California Exchange.

Posted in Barack Obama, California, Death Panels, Health Care Costs, Obama Administration, ObamaCare | No Comments »

Heritage Foundation: A Real Vote to Defund ObamaCare

Friday, September 13th, 2013

ObamaCare May Be Dangerous to Your HealthObamaCare May Be Hazardous to Your Health

(Heritage Foundation)  One of the disillusioning facts about Washington is that Congress can vote on something and that vote won’t mean a thing.

It would seem that a Congressional vote should be a meaningful occasion, with Members weighing the cost and benefits of voting for the particular measure at hand. Unfortunately, political gamesmanship often leads them to create voting opportunities that have no real impact but will allow them to tell their Constituents:”I voted for this” or “I voted against that.”

The House of Representatives was heading in that direction–considering a proposal that purported to ‘Defund ObamaCare’ but would not actually achieve that goal. That is what voters have come to expect from Capitol Hill and why Congress has such a low standing with the American people.

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint called for an end to these “pretend votes” and gimmicks.

We don’t need empty show votes to pull the wool over the American peoples eyes we need our elected representatives to fight for the American people.

Thankfully there are other alternatives to defund ObamaCare and fund the government, including a proposal introduced on Thursday by Rep Tom Graves (R-GA) and 42 of his colleagues, that will force lawmakers to have a real debate and make the tough choices when they vote–so their votes will mean something.

We’re just 17 days out before the ObamaCare Exchanges are to open, we’ll soon see how well that goes?

If one needed proof that ObamaCare isn’t working Americans have to look no further than President Obama himself as The Washington Times reported this week.

“President Obama has already signed 14 laws that amend, rescind or otherwise change parts of his health care law and he’s taken 5 independent steps to delay the Affordable Care Act on his own.”

Public support of ObamaCare has dropped below 40% its unfair, unworkable and unaffordable. One may lose their current insurance coverage, see their hours cut back and end up with bureaucrats coming between you and your physician.

Congress should take its responsibility seriously and defund ObamaCare now.

Posted in Barack Obama, Democrats, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare, Republicans | No Comments »

Citing Rising Costs, IBM to Move Retirees Off Company Sponsored Health Care Plan

Monday, September 9th, 2013

ObamaCare Train WreckWho Would Have Guessed? ObamaCare Train Wreck –Norsu/Twitter

(FOX News) Intl Business Machines Corp (IBM) plans to move about 110,000 retirees off its company sponsored health plan and instead give them a payment to buy coverage on an ObamaCare Exchange, a sign that even large, well capitalized employers are not likely to keep providing the once common benefits as medical costs continue to rise.

The move will affect all IBM employees once they become eligible for Medicare and will relieve the technology giant of the responsibility of managing retirement health-care benefits. IBM said the growing cost of care makes its current plan unsustainable without a large premium increase.

On the 31 May, I wrote here that ObamaCare in California is expected to increase individual market premiums by as much as 146%

Flashback: Remember when Obama claimed that health insurance premiums for a family would be $2500 lower by the end of his first term, they are actually about $3000 higher–a spread of about $5500 per family, thanks to the blizzard of new regulations and mandates that take effect next year.

More here from The Wall Street Journal

Related: ObamaCare Health Ins Premiums On the Rise in Ohio & Florida

Posted in Barack Obama, California, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare | No Comments »

ObamaCare Hard Sell in California Still Developing Strategy, Navigators Target Low Income Families

Monday, August 26th, 2013

ObamaCare California NavigatorsObamaCare California Navigators –Image: John C. Stires

(LA Daily News) ObamaCare is a hard sell especially in California and with the state’s healthcare exchange scheduled to open in just 37 days supporters are becoming desperate.

Covered California spokesman Larry Hicks said in an email, Our community outreach educators (ObamaCare Navigators/Monitors) were chosen from a variety of organizations that know their communities inside and out and from all income levels.

Many of the organizations that received some of the $37 Million in grants to sell ObamaCare in California to the public (If its so good, why are people not beating down the door wanting to sign-up? –I digress) are traditionally focused on low income populations.

For the first time in their careers of social work (ObamaCare Navigators–Monitors, Outreach Workers) some 2,200 must reach a population in many way more skeptical of “reform” than the poor: California’s ethnically diverse  working and middle class.

“The target group is difficult. We’re still trying to develop a strategy on how to reach this community,” said Wendy Zheng.”We mainly target lower income families–looking for a population up to 400% higher than the federal poverty level.”

Should people not sign-up for ObamaCare, they’ll be hit with a tax penalty of $95 per individual–$285 per family or 1% of their income whatever is greater. By 2015 the tax penalty rises to $695 per individual–$2,085 per family or 2.5% of their income.

Good luck in collecting them tax penalties from the ‘ObamaCare target group’ in a tough California economy with health insurance rates expecting to rise from 64% to 146% during a deepening jobless crisis across the state.

Posted in California, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare | No Comments »

Lies, Damned Lies: Obama Claims Health Ins Will Be “Significantly Cheaper” Under ObamaCare

Friday, August 9th, 2013

ObamaCare Premiums On The RiseObamaCare Premiums on the Rise –Image: Rep Trey Radel/Twitter

(Weekly Standard) At today’s White House Press Conference, President Obama claimed that health insurance plans offered under ObamaCare will be ‘significantly cheaper’ than plans currently on the market but a string of recent reports says that just isn’t true.

“What happens on October 1, in 53 days, is for the remaining 15 percent of the population that doesn’t have health insurance, they’re going to be able to go to a website or call up a call center and sign up for affordable, quality health insurance at a significantly cheaper rate than what they can get now on the individual market,” Obama said.

Not true, as CNN reported this week, rates will be 35% higher in Florida and 41% higher in the State of Ohio on average under ObamaCare.

In California, major health insurers such as Anthem Blue Cross and a growing list of companies are exiting the state’s health insurance exchange where health insurance rates are forecast to to increase by as much as 146% and to keep premiums from rising even higher insurers will be limiting access to doctors and hospitals some facts which President Obama conveniently left out of today’s lecture.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that insurance companies “have already warned small business customers that premiums could rise 20% or more under the affordable unaffordable  care act.”

Related: ObamaCare Levies New Fines for Charitable Hospitals

Posted in Barack Obama, California, Health Care Costs, ObamaCare | No Comments »

California ObamaCare Call Center Jobs are Part-Time With No Health Care Benefits

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

ObamaCare Call CenterObamaCare Call Centers Hiring P/T Workers No Health Ins Benefits –Image: Political Follies

(National Review) In order to ensure that Americans understand how to access the benefits available to them when many provisions of ObamaCare go online October 01, the Obama Administration announced last month, that it is setting up a call center that will be accessible to Americans 24 hours a day.

One branch of those call centers is located in California, where reportedly 7,000 people applied for 204 jobs according to the Contra Costa Times however about half of those jobs are part-time with no health care benefits–a stinging disappointment to workers and local politicians that believed the positions would be full-time.

One recent hire who last week learned the job would only be part-time said that the new “intermittent” employees feel like they’ve been used as a political tool and many now regret applying for the (ObamaCare Call Center) jobs.

“What’s really ironic is working for a call center and trying to help people get health care but we can’t afford it ourselves,” said the ObamaCare Call Center worker, who asked for anonymity for fear of losing the job.

The new hires, many of who left other full-time jobs for the ObamaCare Call Center  positions were told they were ‘the cream of the crop’ the recent hire said.

Orientation and training started this month but abruptly stopped on the 18th July, when employees were told they would have private meetings about their positions, the employees said.

“It reminded me of that George Clooney movie where he goes around the country firing people (Up in the Air),” the Woman said, “I know you were led to believe you would be full-time but things have changed…You are actually part-time intermittent.”

The ObamaCare Call Center worker said no clear reasons for the change were given.

Those who became part-time were told they would have to pay ‘full freight’  for their Affordable Care Act/ObamaCare health care plans ranging from $600 to $1200 per month for a single worker and between $1400 to $2900 a month for an employee with a family.

That is a steep bill for employees with part-time jobs paying from $15.33 to $18.63  an hour.

Posted in Barack Obama, California, Health Care Costs, Obama Administration, ObamaCare | No Comments »

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