Obama's New Shame Police (employment, Pelosi, health care, premium)

[momonkey]

A recent survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found insurance premiums for family policies rose to more than $15,000 a year in 2011. That's an increase of $1,300 over the past year for the average policy, the highest single-year premium hike since 2005, according to Kaiser.

What's the administration planning to do about this? Well, given that insurance premiums have risen largely because of the mandates in Obama's health care law – requirements to do all sorts of things that cost insurers more money – his administration recently declared ... a public relations war.

Obama’s new shame police | administration, obama, year - Opinion - The Orange County Register



I knew the cost of Obama and Pelosi's compassion would hit job creators, the middle-class and working poor the hardest.

[cisco kid]

Cha-ching!

That's the sound of your bank account getting emptied out by big banks, big pharma and now big insurance.

Obamacare is a healthcare bill only an insurance company could love. Obama is a snake oil salesman who is pro at peddling false hope and change for the worse. And the sheeple eat it all up with a grin on their face.

[GreenGene]

Although the original opinion piece didn't include the title of the report from the Kaiser Family Foundation nor a link to the report, I believe I found it (the Kaiser Family Foundation's website has a TON of reports on it).

Employer Health Benefits - 2011 Summary of Findings

The average annual premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2011 are $5,429 for single coverage and $15,073 for family coverage. Compared to 2010, premiums for single coverage are 8% higher and premiums for family coverage are 9% higher. The 9% growth rate in family premiums for 2011 is significantly higher than the 3% growth rate in 2010. Since 2001, average premiums for family coverage have increased 113%.

If that last sentence means that for the years 2001 through 2011 inclusive (i.e., 11 years in all), that means that premium increases have averaged 10.3% per year, and that last year's average premium increase of 9% is less than this 11-year average.

My wife and I were lucky. For maybe the second time ever, our health insurance premiums actually went down very slightly for this year.

The report's conclusion includes this:

Changes from the new health reform law are beginning to have an impact on the marketplace. Significant percentages of firms made changes in their preventive care benefits and enrolled adult children in their benefits plans in response to provisions in the new health reform law. Most employees with employment-sponsored insurance are in grandfathered plans that are exempt from some of the law’s new provisions, but this may change over time as firms adjust benefits and cost sharing or change plan design to incorporate new features. The survey will continue to monitor employer responses to health reform as firms adapt to early provisions in the law and as new provisions take effect.