bmac32 Loc: West Florida

Daddy's calling!!!

Last week, President Obama tore into GOP governors and legislatures who have opposed his new health care law. President Obama made these remarks during his visit to Miami Dade College, but also hit on an issue that is more of the root of the problem, as well as something that was entirely predictable. Concerning opposition to the law in the states, Obama explained:

https://youtu.be/r-Al0Y4irnQ

What that means is the insurance pool is smaller and gets a higher percentage of older and sicker people who are signing up because if you’re sick or you’re old, you’re more likely to say ‘well I’m going sign up no matter what because I know I’m going to need it.’ If you’re young and healthy like you guys, you say, ‘eh, I’m fine. Life’s good. So you’ve got more older and sicker people signing up. Fewer younger and healthy people signing up, and that drives rates up.”

Yet, while the opposition has mostly been concentrated with Republicans, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton admitted earlier this month that Obamacare is unaffordable. Guy wrote about the 2017 sticker shock that’s about to hit us next year, with Cortney noting that one of the most popular plans offered is projected to see their premiums rise by 25 percent. So, in June, the administration launched an effort to get more young people to sign up for health insurance.

Here’s the problem. We’ve known for a long time that young, healthy kids don’t think they need health insurance—and for good reason: they don’t nearly go to the doctor or hospital for ailments as frequently as the elderly. It also doesn’t incentivize those already under their parents’ health care plan to sign up since Obamacare expanded the age limit for dependent coverage. Young Americans can remain on their parents’ plan until they turn 26. Then again, these kids are already insured, so that’s a good thing, right?

Maybe if there was a better job climate where these kids can move out of mom and dad’s house, get a job, and get off their families insurance, then the economic health of the country and possibly Obamacare’s future would be brighter (I would rather scrap the latter). Instead, no one has really felt this economic recovery, most young people are opting to remain in school, accruing insane amounts of debt to the point where they do get a job—they have a home mortgage chained around their ankles. Do you think these folks can afford Obamacare premiums?

In all, the law is such a failure that even those who need to buy health insurance to avoid paying a tax for being uninsured are opting to pay it because it’s more economical for them. The co-op network that was established in 23 states to encourage competition with insurers have all but collapsed; only six remain, though all of them could fold up shop by the end of the year.

Don’t blame young people that Obamacare is failing. It’s a big government program that failed to curb costs (shocker) and now that it has failed in accomplishing that goal, the Left is touting the number of those insured, which wasn’t really the point of the lance in the sales pitch to the public. This country never had an insured problem, 85 percent of Americans already has health insurance, mostly through their employers. Oh, and the numbers for those projected to be insured by this point was off by 24 million.

Maybe it’s the federal government, Barry. Maybe they just can’t get it done because they have a track record to prove that much.

peter11937 Loc: NYS

Obamacare was the exact wrong way to do it. The A and H Ins. carriers should have designed it, and we would have had something that worked AND delivered the right level of coverage for those that needed it.

robmull Loc: florida

"WE" had the best healthcare system in the world, 11937, all it needed was interstate competition to make it more affordable with MUCH lower deductions, and careful taxpayer subsidies for those below a certain pay-grade that could-well have been decided quite rapidly, in a bi-partisan effort. Hijacking the system by the (D) Party was a Marxist play for power and control of every living person in America. The ACA/ObamaCare was NEVER meant to be anything but a "single payer" system. No ifs ands or buts. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TRUMP!!!

peter11937 Loc: NYS

More, we need a conformity of policy forms, rate schedules that reflected the area's medical costs, the ability to chose the form that best suits the individual, eg. men do not need pregnancy coverage, women do not need prostate coverage or E D cures., coverage open to all A and H Ins. carriers with a BBB+ Best's rating or better, an insolvency fund that is actually funded and a catastrophic loss fund, also funded plus a last resort re-insurance facility to cover a loss of Biblical proportions.

L8erToots

Here in AZ we're down to TWO insurance companies to choose from and only ONE in Maricopa County, where I live (they're the ones raising their rates 74.5%) beginning Nov 1. No wonder they can raise rates 51-74% next year - there is no where else to go. And with so many companies staying under the hours limitation, good luck getting it from your employer. I know there are many young people who need to work two jobs in order to get 40 hours of work a week, and neither comes with health insurance.
In AZ, for a single man, age 27, premiums are jumping 116%, from $196 to $422 (no "subsidy" rate). Remember: subsidies are funded from taxpapers (like everything in Washington) so if you make enough $ and/or work for a large company and are disqualified from receiving a subsidy, you are - in effect - paying the highest amount for insurance PLUS paying taxes toward the subsidy fund, of which you don't get a cent.