I Would Like To Thank Health Insurance Companies For Making My Point
I’m certain everyone has heard of Anthem’s 39% rate increase in health insurance, but did you realize raising rates is all the rage? Actually, if you’re one of the individually insured these rate hikes aren’t new at all. They’re simply part of individual health insurance.
At 11:30 a.m. today, Sebelius will release the report, obtained by TPMDC and titled “Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System.”
It finds that Anthem’s rate increase (now delayed until May) is “not unique” and that experts say premiums will keep rising.
The report quotes National Association of Insurance Commissioners officials predicting the nation will “see rate increases of 20, 25, 30 percent.”
“These massive increases are disturbing examples of the problems that make reforming our health insurance system more important than ever,” the report states.
Why these companies must be suffering financially. Or not…
Last year, as working families struggled with rising health care costs and a recession, the five largest health insurance companies – WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group, Cigna, Aetna, and Humana – took in combined profits of $12.2 billion, up 56 percent over 2008.
These health insurance companies’ profits grew even as nominal GDP decreased by 1 percent over this same time period.
And recent data show that the CEOs of America’s five largest insurers were each compensated up to $24 million in 2008.
Those are some really big profit numbers.
But it’s the timing of these rate hikes that confuses me and makes me think these companies have jumped the gun on returning to business as usual. You’d think they’d lay low until HCR was officially pronounced dead. This move has breathed new life into the patient, and strengthens – in tangible, immediate ways – what we’ve been saying all along, that the system is broken and cannot be sustained.
Something else interesting is happening in HCR. The Public Option has returned, and is gaining support.
So I’d like to take this moment to thank the Health Insurance Industry for simply being you.
Tags: Health Care Reform
Pefect timing for the health care summit. Despite all the Republican rhetoric, most people know there’s a problem and who’s behind it. Because when all the yelling is over, Republicans want the status quo and the status quo raises rates higher than inflation year after year.
Must be all that Swine Flu they had to treat:)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704804204575069833643345608.html
Wellpoint’s rate hikes are the direct result of the Golden State’s insurance regulations—the kind that Democrats want to impose on all 50 states. Under federal Cobra rules, the unemployed are allowed to keep their job-related health benefits for 18 to 36 months. California then goes further and bars Anthem from dropping these customers even after they have exhausted Cobra. California also caps what Anthem can charge these post-Cobra customers.
Most other states direct these customers to high-risk pools that are partly subsidized, but California requires the individual market to absorb the customers and their costs. Even as California insurers have had to keep insuring these typically older and sicker patients, the recession has driven many younger, healthier policy holders to drop their insurance—leaving fewer customers to fund a more expensive insurance pool.
This explains why Anthem lost $58 million in California on its post-Cobra customers in 2009. If WellPoint didn’t raise premiums amid these losses, it would soon be under assault from its shareholders, if not out of business.
So, RWR, you are arguing that if there was a public option and a mandate for everyone to carry coverage, the Anthem increase would not have happened?
No — I’m arguing that this health increase would not have happened if the state had not imposed the sort of regulations that force the company to pass the costs of some folks insurance on to others. Indeed, this is precisely what will happen under the public option — and then you will have no other option but to pay.
The reasoning Anthem gives in the above quote is that they had to increase rates because they had a shrinking pool of healthy individuals who would buy their coverage. If Anthem had to compete with a plan covering all those ‘younger, healthier policy holders’, they would have been more likely to lower their premiums to attract more customers. It’s a lame argument to blame government regulation, at best.
If Anthem were not required to continue coverage for individuals whose COBRA had expired without recouping those costs directly from those individuals, it would not need the general rate increase and would have rates that were affordable for those younger individuals.
Insuring more sick people is more expensive. Raising your rates so much that healthy people choose to go without is the reason we need health care reform.
Why are you only blaming it on California, these huge rate increases are happening in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington as well.
RWR makes a very valid point here–and UI, those “healthy” could mitigate the increase (which believe me I will be hating), by opting for a higher deductible. But unfortunately the US consumer demands low or no co-pays for any and all visits–and use the attitude–oh well I have insurance, instead of waiting out a “healthy” illness. My workplace is FULL of people who are not allowed to vomit for an evening, or permitted to sniffle for more than 48hrs., w/o getting that doctor’s appt.. It blows my mind.
There’s millions of people who don’t have any insurance at all and go for years without getting any medical treatment.
I don’t have time to read this right now, but the headline reminded me of a HILARIOUS email that I got the other day!! (feel free to delete if it’s too long!)
MEDICAL INSURANCE EXPLAINED
Q . What does HMO stand for?
A. This is actually a variation of the phrase , “HEY MOE .” Its roots go back to a concept pioneered by Moe of the Three Stooges, who discovered that a patient could be made to forget the pain in his foot if he was poked hard enough in the eye.
Q . I just joined an HMO. How difficult will it be to choose the
doctor I want?
A. Just slightly more difficult than choosing your parents. Your
insurer will provide you with a book listing all the doctors in the
plan. The doctors basically fall into two categories: those who
are no longer accepting new patients, and those who will see you but
are no longer participating in the plan. But don’t worry, the
remaining doctor who is still in the plan and accepting new patients
has an office just a half-day’s drive away and a diploma from a third world country and the third grade.
Q. Do all diagnostic procedures require pre-certification?
A. No. Only those you need.
Q. Can I get coverage for my preexisting conditions?
A. Certainly, as long as they don’t require any treatment.
Q. What happens if I want to try alternative forms of medicine?
A. You’ll need to find alternative forms of payment.
Q. My pharmacy plan only covers generic drugs, but I need the name
brand. I tried the generic medication, but it gave me a stomachache.
What should I do?
A. Poke yourself in the eye.
Q. What if I’m away from home and I get sick?
A. You really shouldn’t do that.
Q. I think I need to see a specialist, but my doctor insists he can
handle my problem . Ca n a general practitioner really perform a
heart transplant right in his/her office?
A. Hard to say, but considering that all you’re risking is the $20
co-payment, there’s no harm in giving it a shot.
Q. Will health care be different in the next decade?
A. No, but if you call right now, you might get an appointment by then.
To Your Good Health (because as you’ll see, you’ll need it!)
Don’t think this won’t be coming to Delaware. The idiot insurance commissioner together with her bud McDowell had regulation of health insurers put under her jurisdiction not too long ago. Since she’s in bed with all of them, expect to pay more. Just like she let them lower their required claim reserves. Remember? Or did you all conveniently forget since that woman suddenly seems to be untouchable?
Check it out: http://www.delawareinsurance.gov/departments/news/070709-Press-DOI_RegulatesHealthInsRates.shtml
That lovely quote is straight from Elliott Jacobson’s pen, who writes everything. We know what she sounds like without a script.
Treat it like car insurance.If you’re a bad driver, you pay more. DUI, your rates go up. Good driver, you get rewarded.
Smoke three packs a day, pay more. Pre-existing, pay more. Live responsily, pay less.
If it was done this way, you’d keep the young and healthy in the pool. Which would mean lower rates for most.
Wow, bet all those smoking three packs a day children with cancer could have used that stellar advice sooner, h. Idiot.
pandora-I realize the urge for unfunded hari kari treatment here—but we really do need to look at some of our poor lifestyle choices that have been identified as “health risks” perhaps rolled into our premium costs vs. genetics and rotten luck.
I certainly don’t know the answer–but having seen the side of “Hold on–let me turn off your oxygen first, before you light that cigarette”, really is part of the dark comedy of healthcare and what is provided regardless. No doubt because it is such a judgement call to fund what a “patient” perceives as their right to healthcare–no one goes near a funding rubric, just tossing arms to the air, picking up the tab in fear of being incompassionate. UNLESS, it’s a mental health or rehab issue, and then we have all sorts of hoops and jumps, because now you have crossed into a leper colony. Just an observation thru the years……..
Joanne, you’re heading into Gattica territory!
So… smokers should pay more. What about people who eat at McDonalds once a week, twice a month, ever? How about people who live in high pollution states? Or people whose relatives have had cancer, heart disease, etc. Talk about a nanny state.
IMO, and it’ not popular, but we spend way too much money on end of life heroics. My brother, the research scientist, is constantly asked by terminally ill friends and family about their condition, and it’s sad to watch their faces when he tells them to take this time to spend with their family. He doesn’t pull punches.
And… if these lifestyle choices result in higher premiums then how long before we make those choices illegal? Only two glasses of wine for us! Not to mention questions of should people in dangerous professions (firefighters) pay higher rates?
Back to my brother… who swears 95% of illness is genetic related, which brings us back to Gattica.
Now don’t go pickin’ on smokers…..that’s EGGSACTLY my point! But we spend it.
I’m in your brother’s corner—but for both bookends of life—so I’m even harder punching than him!!! Like I’ve posted before–we spend 80% of our healthcare dollars in our last 30 days of life–but my kids can’t get frigging vaccinations covered until I’ve met a $3600 yearly deductible (yup-I pay for them)?!! Maybe I’m supposed to feel better knowing the money goes towards dying expensively, instead of living graciously.
Joanne, I fear I’m getting ready to enter another hospice situation – this time with my best friend since 10th grade. She has two children one year older than each of mine. And while I understand, and hope she will take every option available to her, I know it’s in vain. Add to that that she’s constantly fighting with her insurance company for basic treatment and I really couldn’t care less if every one of these profiteers ends up on the street.
And that’s the point. Health insurance companies are pure scum. You talk about differentiating, but to health insurance companies we’re all collateral damage. So don’t expect me to shed a tear on their behalf.
Sorry, but I’m living this nightmare… again.
So… smokers should pay more.
So then we have health insurance companies making decisions on what to pay for based upon your healthy habits? While smokers definitely have a higher risk of all kinds of illnesses, so do ex-smokers because it takes some time for your body to recover from the effects. Or what about the person who has never smoked and gets lung cancer anyway? Perhaps they live next to a coal-fired power plant. Do they get reduced benefits too?
While I sympathize with the idea that people who don’t treat themselves well perhaps should not expect extraordinary measures to counter that, healthy habits reduce overall health risks — they don’t eliminate them. And I do not want some bureaucrat someplace making payment decisions based on whether he decides I’ve made healthy choices. Besides, if you pay the same premiums as the healthier people (as you would if you had employer insurance or Medicare), it it difficult to tell people after the fact that they do not have as much care coverage as they thought. Unless, of course, they lived up to some standard of a healthy life.
And Pandora, if your friend “chooses” hospice, it should be and could be “inpatient”. But, not every insurance agrees with that. Some only cover out-patient hospice care, essentially leaving a family no choice but to employ all the interventions–because the personal care of the person is too overwhelming to bring home, even though no heroic measures are intended.
Maybe, we should work off a spend down model of healthcare. From the time born you are assigned a million dollar bond. Spend as you need or want on your issues. Buy insurance for beyond the million bucks assigned. It’s a fair start in life!
She’d go for out-patient. Remember she had a 16 and 13 year old. I’m not sure there’s an ideal scenario in this case. But I know she’d want to be home for her boys.
And with all this is the insurance company… raking it in and adding to her misery. I really do hate them.
BTW, this will be my fourth time through hospice. I have nothing but praise for these people.
Pandora,
So you think someone who doesn’t smoke and is in good health should pay the same rate as someone who smokes and is in poor health ?? And you call me an idiot.
No wonder you leftist retards are laughed at by most Americans. November can’t come soon enough.
Hmmm, I wonder if your friends are starting to think you’re bad luck.
Hospice is one of those rare examples where better care actually costs less. Medicare and most insurances reimburse hospices a set rate per day, so hospice has been “on a budget” since medicare began funding it in 1983. We are a model for high-quality, low-cost, high-patient-satisfaction care.
h., first of all, your matron saint of wingnuttery has outlawed “retard” unless the buddha of the wingnuts says it. so get up to date on the Right Wing Terrorist laws.
second, MOST people not covered or dropped by insurance ponzis are so because of non chosen genes. no different than being discriminated against because of race. for all the “american unity” the right wing claims to represent, you really couldnt give less of a crap about anyone but yourselves.
going back to the beginning… Health care was pretty careful when they thought the reform would go through… Quite a few people I know were shocked at several procedures their insurance companies approved..
Now that it appears the 60 votes are not there, they are showing their true colors..
Enough noise needs to be made about these rate increases so that the legislation gets redone in the House-Senate conference to include a public option and no republican dares vote against it because of public outrage…
It can be done.