Covered California: Rates will rise 13.2% next year; More than three times the increase of the last two years

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: HOTAIR.COM

URL: http://hotair.com/archives/2016/07/19/covered-california-rates-will-rise-13-2-next-year/

by: John Sexton


Covered California announced its rate increases for next year during a conference call Tuesday. The LA Times reports consumers can expect a double-digit increase in premiums next year, though of course customers receiving subsidies will be shielded from most of that:

   

Premiums for Californians’ Obamacare health coverage will rise by an average of 13.2% next year — more than three times the increase of the last two years and a jump that is bound to raise debate in an election year.

    The big hikes come after two years in which California officials had bragged that the program had helped insure hundreds of thousands people in the state while keeping costs moderately in check.

    Premiums in the insurance program called Covered California rose just 4% in 2016, after rising 4.2% in 2015 – the first year that exchange officials negotiated with insurers.

Kaiser Health News reports that Covered California’s Executive Director Peter Lee says the big jump is not about insurers reaping windfall profits:

   

“Under the new rules of the Affordable Care Act, insurers face strict limits on the amount of profit they can make selling health insurance,” Lee said. “We can be confident their rate increases are directly linked to health care costs, not administration or profit, which averaged 1.5 percent across our contracted plans.”

Covered California blames the sudden uptick on the cost of specialty drugs and the end of the risk corridors program. The reality is that the state has held rates at unrealistically low levels for the past two years, counting on built in buffer programs to shield insurers from the losses. In reality that hasn’t worked out so well. Insurers have been suffering big losses across the country and some are dropping out of the exchanges. With the temporary buffer programs ending, insurers need to bring in enough money through premiums to cover their costs next year.

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[bob434]

how else can they pay the MASSIVE cost of illegals in their state than to steal money from those legal citizens who make it

By the way folks=- the lie that illegals benefit us is just that- a lie- out and out lie- illegal immigration is costing this country a whopping $400 to $600 BILLION dollars a year when everything is taken into consideration like the crimes they commit, the lawyers that represent them- the cost to the families they victimize, etc etc etc FIVE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR- There are over 80,000 violent illegal criminals wanderign our streets today- many of them simply let go from prisons all across the country by our current president

[skeeter]

My rates have tripled and I've been dropped from three different plans in as many years.

Great system. Thanks Barack Obama. Thanks John Roberts.

[GtHawk]

My rates have tripled and I've been dropped from three different plans in as many years.

Great system. Thanks Barack Obama. Thanks John Roberts.

It is only going to get worse as the government is forcing small single providers to close up shop, further limiting our choices and creating longer and longer waits for appointments and wait times in offices.

[truth_seeker]

how else can they pay the MASSIVE cost of illegals in their state than to steal money from those legal citizens who make it

By the way folks=- the lie that illegals benefit us is just that- a lie- out and out lie- illegal immigration is costing this country a whopping $400 to $600 BILLION dollars a year when everything is taken into consideration like the crimes they commit, the lawyers that represent them- the cost to the families they victimize, etc etc etc FIVE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR- There are over 80,000 violent illegal criminals wanderign our streets today- many of them simply let go from prisons all across the country by our current president

You should be pleased today, then. Trump was nominated, and he alone has taken the strongest position regarding illegal immigration, and the crimes they commit.

[Mod1]

Moved to Health category.