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So much for "You can keep your current health care plan".
Quote:
Nine insurance companies are pulling out of Nebraska's major medical insurance market, and some of them cite Obamacare as the reason for their departure.
Seven of the nine companies have notified the state of their plans to leave since August. Most of them have a minor piece of the major medical market in Nebraska, and likely don't think it's worth it to make the changes necessary to comply with the federal health care law.
This was an intended effect of the large healthcare insurers when they helped write most of the legislation.
They added fixed expense and "consumer protection" regulations that makes it harder for smaller companies to compete with the big healthcare insurers.
Mandatory, for-profit insurance with provisions that stifle the competition. What's not to love?
Most regulation is created for that purpose. These huge companies pretend to balk at regulation but in the end they know it means that new and smaller companies will never be able to compete with them, which is why capitalism is failing in this country.
Most regulation is created for that purpose. These huge companies pretend to balk at regulation but in the end they know it means that new and smaller companies will never be able to compete with them, which is why capitalism is failing in this country.
Insurance is one of the businesses that typically has smaller barriers to entry, unlike say....an auto maker.
You just don't have the huge fixed costs, economies of scale issues....which is why you see a lot of little mutuals that might just operate in one state or a region etc. and while some of them might be a little more expensive they often fill certain niches, offer more service etc.
When they instituted the 80% of premiums must be paid out in claims clause under the guise of consumer protection, they basically said that unless you are big enough to generate a profit and pay all expenses out of 20% of the premium you won't be able to compete in the market.
So, you also put say....200k of compliance or regulatory costs\fees...whatever in the bill.
So now a regional competitor with 20mil in annual premium just got hit with 1% of additional expense. Might not sound like much but for some types of insurance that's dang near the entire profit margin.
The big player with 800mil of annual premium only faces an additional expense of 1/40th of a %.
The same thing is going on in farming where additional "consumer safety features" costing hundreds of thousands of dollars are being used to try to stifle smaller dairies out of business. These are being pushed by large corporate lobbies.....
As a Nebraskan, this directly reduces the choices we have. I'd like to know what our options are, but I've been unable to see what plans are available through Healthcare.gov after trying for nearly two weeks straight to get through their horribly broken website.
My wife's insurance plan is getting cancelled, directly due to Obamacare, so we're now scrambling to find something that's not going to cost far more than what we are currently paying. The plan they moved her to will cost us thousands more in out-of-pocket costs next year, but has the same premium.
Why Nebraska? Obamacare regulations and protections are the same across the country. Perhaps the combination of the ACA on top of Nebraska specific state regulations and paperwork made it unattractive to these minor players to serve this small population.
I'm surprised that "Aetna, American Family Mutual Insurance, Humana, Independence American Insurance Company, Reserve National Insurance Company, Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Companion Life Insurance and United Security Life and Health Insurance" are considered minor players in Nebraska. Who are the big players?
Why Nebraska? Obamacare regulations and protections are the same across the country. Perhaps the combination of the ACA on top of Nebraska specific state regulations and paperwork made it unattractive to these minor players to serve this small population.
I'm surprised that "Aetna, American Family Mutual Insurance, Humana, Independence American Insurance Company, Reserve National Insurance Company, Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Companion Life Insurance and United Security Life and Health Insurance" are considered minor players in Nebraska. Who are the big players?
As a Nebraskan, this directly reduces the choices we have. I'd like to know what our options are, but I've been unable to see what plans are available through Healthcare.gov after trying for nearly two weeks straight to get through their horribly broken website.
My wife's insurance plan is getting cancelled, directly due to Obamacare, so we're now scrambling to find something that's not going to cost far more than what we are currently paying. The plan they moved her to will cost us thousands more in out-of-pocket costs next year, but has the same premium.
The quoted piece said that the nine were a minor part of the HC market. I'd bet if you went online you would find lots of plans to compare.
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