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As Reed Abelson and Katie Thomas reported in The Times last week, three independent estimates by Wall Street analysts found that five million to seven million people will qualify for federal subsidies that will exceed the cost of the cheapest plans for individuals and families on the exchanges. Neither the Obama administration nor the insurance companies, however, are promoting the plans vigorously. They believe that many consumers would be better off paying a bit more for a policy that would cover more of the out-of-pocket costs for a doctor’s visit or hospital stay.
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Jonathan Gruber, a health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who played a role in shaping the Affordable Care Act, estimates 12 million people are currently covered by policies bought on the individual market. He says that, after factoring in subsidies on the exchanges, perhaps eight million will be covered by less costly policies next year, and four million will be covered by more expensive policies, which often provide richer benefits.
Individuals facing higher premiums are understandably distressed. But there is no getting around the fact that health reform changes the status quo — including requiring insurance companies to provide essential health benefits that were not previously covered and to take on people who were rejected before because of their health.
Those who will pay more should take comfort in the knowledge that should they lose their jobs or face financial hardships or a medical crisis their previous policies would not have adequately covered, they would benefit from a health care safety net that offers federal subsidies and comprehensive coverage.
Next to black citizens who tend toward bloc voting, the over 65 vote heavily. So upcoming elections might well be determined by seniors who are influence by 2 biggies: Medicare and Social Security. If those 2 programs are damaged or people think they are, then look out incumbents.
Republicans have their own base.. They might even come up with their own giveaways for their base.. Remember Medicare Part D...that was never paid for and cost 40 billion per year. Funding for Medicare Parts B, C, And D all come out of the general fund and are about three times bigger than the ACA and cost taxpayers about 300 billion per year. One thing you wont hear from Republicans is curbing the cost of Medicare this year. Republicans actually ran to the left of Democrats in 2010 promising to put 50 billion in cuts back into Medicare which would actually end up going to hospitals and doctors.
That sounds more like the whole truth. The opponents promote only the negative, so it is difficult to see the whole truth. Of course the opponents are not interested in anything but the negative, but most people would like to know the whole story.
On the contrary, voters saw what a fraud the 2010 wins were and got buyer's remorse. Remember when in 2010 they said they would focus on jobs like a laser?
They won't forget about higher deductibles and losing their doctors...
This seems to be the conservative mantra of late. You do know don't you that people on the open market have been paying high deductibles for years and many people have high deductibles on their houses and car insurance. Losing doctors and changing plans because of coverage is nothing new. The only people I see getting upset by this are Republicans who aren't even impacted and don't have a clue. Its good politics though.
A death spiral happens when only the sickest beneficiaries get into an insurance pool, causing the cost of medical claims to rise, and in turn raising future premiums.
These higher premiums, in turn, dissuade healthier beneficiaries from buying coverage. This exacerbates the strains and makes sure the pool continues to attract only the sickest consumers who are most in need of the medical coverage, and willing to pay the rising premiums. This is how the downward spiral ensues.
Commentators have rightly noted here and here that Obamacare contains some provisions to guard against this sort of outcome. Chief among them are “risk corridors” that limit the losses insurers would face from higher-than-expected medical claims
Wait... so the Obama Admin promised insurers kickbacks if the Obamacare costs were higher than expected because only the subsidized and sick enroll. WHO is PAYING for that?
How Many Democrats in Congress will Lose their Seats over
Obamacare
The question should really be, "How many Republicans in Congress will lose their seats over because of their efforts to make it more difficult for people to obtain healthcare coverage."
The America-haters in the GOP will suffer the most, not just for their attack on our ability to obtain healthcare coverage, but because of the mean-spirited attack when they shut the government down. The nation will not support the American Taliban.
Sarah Palin has not lived in Alaska, or owns any property in Alaska, in over two years. Please tell us, genius, how is a citizen of the State of Arizona going to run for Senator in Alaska?
Once again, another fine example of a completely irrational thought process.
As we all know 2014 is a midterm election year. A few short weeks ago I wouldn't have thought it possible for the GOP to retake the Senate but with Obamacare now making life miserable for millions of Americans I'd say that it's a very real possibility. The mainstream media and the internet surfing Obamabots (such as those posting on this site) are in a frenzy trying to do damage control and regurgitating more lies and propaganda about how great this law is. To all those whose policies are getting cancelled or whose premiums have/will increase it doesn't matter though. They are pissed off and just itching for a chance to make their voices heard next November. The Dems in Congress know it and are very much scared of what 2014 brings. This is why many of them are starting to call for a delay of the individual mandate. They don't give a damn about the harm that is being done to the American people but they are prepared to do and say whatever it takes to keep their place in Congress. It looks like it may be too little too late though. When it finally gets here the 2014 midterms may have Dems thinking of the 2010 midterms as the good all days.
The real question is, how many democrats would lose reelections if they were truthful with the people about their agenda, to destroy our current health care system so the government could take it all over, from soup to nuts.
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