Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Big Health Insurers Pull Out

Won’t Sell Individual Policies
individual mandate weakened by insurance companies’ pullouts.
There are so many problems with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – better known as ObamaCare – that you could write an entire book on its issues. In fact, several people have already done that. The latest problem – and there will be plenty more of them exposed as time goes on, believe me – is that some of the insurance companies that were supposed to make up the states’ exchanges where people could purchase health insurance are bowing out of the program.
Decision makers at these companies have determined that due to the limitations that some states are placing on customer rates, they will not be able to make enough money
Deciding to not participate in some states’ exchanges are some of the big boys of the health insurance industry, including Blue Cross, Aetna, Humana and United. Aetna has pulled out of Connecticut (where it is based), plus Georgia and Maryland, and it never intended to participate in California. These companies can still sell group policies to employers in those states, but they won’t sell individual policies.
The law stipulates that all Americans have health insurance or face a fine, and it also requires states to set up exchanges in which people can purchase insurance. With insurance companies being required to accept patients with pre-existing conditions and also being limited by the rates that individuals must pay, some insurance companies are getting out while the getting is good. 
All of which will deliver yet another blow to the train wreck known as ObamaCare.
The votes are not there to repeal ObamaCare – at least not yet – so the problems will continue to be exposed. The losers will be the individuals and families whose rates will rise, the companies that will go out of business because they can’t afford to offer what ObamaCare requires, and the states that could go bankrupt when the health insurance law takes full effect over the next few years.
What have your experiences with ObamaCare been so far? Please let me know how it has affected you, your family or your business.  
Comments
The best insurance is self-insurance. You get to keep all your money. If you had a catastrophic illness, you shopped around and often chose treatment in another country for a fraction of the US cost. It worked fine.
The most popular individual health insurance prior to Obamacare was low cost, $200 a month Major Medical for expensive, catastrophic hospital bills. It was like “stop-loss” insurance to cover 100% of a catastrophic bill with a $5000 and up deductible. That is how insurance is supposed to work.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
 

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