Insurers pin rate hikes on health law

[Doc Savage Fan]

Sigh, first off rates going up now have nothing to do with the law as it stands since it is NOT ENACTED. Claims to the effect are speculation. Even after the law, if rates are raised part of the law stipulates that the insurance companies must pay out at least 80% of all collected premiums. The remaining 20% is theirs for payroll, overhead, profit and whatever. Anything not paid out must be rebated back to customers. However, this part of the law does not do anything for rate changes made this year. So many companies are trying to over collect for this year to compensate a lower profit margin in the future. Again, greed is the driving factor pure and simple.

One would think that the market would prevent this as insurers would compete, but the insurance companies are exempted from anti-trust laws and are allowed collusion because they are "regulated" and I use that term loosely. Assuming an area has competing companies, which not everyone in America has more than 1 health care insurance available.

You state you work in this industry, but your ignorance thus far shows otherwise.

FYI...insurance companies are required by law to adequately reserve for expected future liabilities. BTW...how old are you?

 

[ebaycj]

Government interference was causing health insurance rates to go up way before Obamacare was passed.

Care to explain?

 

[Zebo]

You mean Affordable Health for All was a lie? say it aint so... you have seen nothing yet...just wait till all facets are on line.

 

[spidey07]

Care to explain?

The regulations that mandated insurance cover all the extra stuff like mental health, drug/substance abuse treatment, etc. Compare what the typical 80/20 plan that was normal in the 70/80s and covered health procedure to what we have today.

 

[nick1985]

This bill will bring the cost of healthcare down!


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/09/spending-rise-obamas-health-overhaul/


Oh wait. nvm

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Care to explain?

The fantastic cost of regulatory compliance not related to patient health.

For example we were told HIPAA would bring down the cost of doing business. The cost of compliance was staggering. Whole new departments had to be created as a result of regulations. Documents had to be created and kept for year upon year. The result was it saved a dollar by requiring three be spent.

That's the thing about government. It "saves" by making others pay and if the net cost goes up? "Hey it's not our fault"

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Our health insurance rates went up 15% this year before the bill passed. Explain that!

easy, they were anticipating obamacare being passed.
next?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

We all know Spidey is clueless. I don't even think he knows what he supports. He keeps trying to use his "the will of the people argument". Which is funny because the people massively voted in Democrats knowing that the main thing on the agenda was comprehensive healthcare reform. The "will of the people" was for healthcare reform. The republicans did everything they could to block as much as possible making the healthcare bill a shell of what it should be. And that's because the republicans don't support the will of the people and we all know it.

Does anyone else wonder how many drugs spidey does per day?

so people were in support of shitty healthcare reform? BS. we were baited and switched.

 

[nonlnear]

so people were in support of shitty healthcare reform? BS. we were baited and switched.

Don't flatter the people. Most people can't tell the difference between a bill that will destroy health care and a bill that will improve it.

 

[manimal]

Sigh, first off rates going up now have nothing to do with the law as it stands since it is NOT ENACTED. Claims to the effect are speculation. Even after the law, if rates are raised part of the law stipulates that the insurance companies must pay out at least 80% of all collected premiums. The remaining 20% is theirs for payroll, overhead, profit and whatever. Anything not paid out must be rebated back to customers. However, this part of the law does not do anything for rate changes made this year. So many companies are trying to over collect for this year to compensate a lower profit margin in the future. Again, greed is the driving factor pure and simple.



Y.

My bet is savage and nick haven't read any parts of the bill and are completely ignorant of this fact. The law wa so bad that hundreds of thousands of children-including mine btw-could get care for a specific preexisting condition. The high risk pools have begun now and people who have been unable to get health care in the open market are now able to. In a little while hundreds of thousands of seniors are going to get checks to fill the donut hole... OMG these things are sooooo bad...

Polling about health care has been biased and retarded. If you poll people about the specifics of the plan they love it. If you poll them on the entire bill they spout off what they heard on TV....

I seriously hope Mitt Romney runs for president and wins the primary so we can see him come out against health care...

 

[Pens1566]

Polling about health care has been biased and retarded. If you poll people about the specifics of the plan they love it. If you poll them on the entire bill they spout off what they heard on TV....

I seriously hope Mitt Romney runs for president and wins the primary so we can see him come out against health care...

People seem to be conveniently ignoring this fact.

 

[nick1985]

I seriously hope Mitt Romney runs for president and wins the primary so we can see him come out against health care...

Why? Because he understands state's rights? You dont see how someone can be for statewide healthcare, but against a national healthcare? Its pretty basic, and only tards who cant think critically have a problem with it

 

[Pens1566]

Why? Because he understands state's rights? You dont see how someone can be for statewide healthcare, but against a national healthcare? Its pretty basic, and only tards who cant think critically have a problem with it

It's all "states rights" until the word gun is involved ...

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

My bet is savage and nick haven't read any parts of the bill and are completely ignorant of this fact.

My bet is that you're completely ignorant about what I've read as well as to what I think about the bill.

 

[nonlnear]

It's all "states rights" until the word gun is involved ...

You're right. I forgot about the health care amendment. Which one is that again?

 

[Pens1566]

You're right. I forgot about the health care amendment. Which one is that again?

Article 1, section 8

I thought the 10th'ers dropped this one a while ago???

 

[nonlnear]

Article 1, section 8

I thought the 10th'ers dropped this one a while ago???

Error 404
Health care not found

 

[spidey07]

Error 404
Health care not found

He want's to play the "general welfare" angle.

 

[nonlnear]

He want's to play the "general welfare" angle.

And yet he probably doesn't want to pay for my haircut or my car. Odd, don't you think?

 

[Balt]

Insurance rates went up again this year, eh? I guess the sky is still blue and water is still wet.

It's nice that the insurance companies can pretend it's all because of Obama, though, since so many rubes will completely buy it.

 

[zsdersw]

Health insurance rates, like the cost of stamps, never go down.

No act of government, in one direction or another, will change that.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Just because a couple of companies are making that "claim" doesn't mean shit. As others have pointed out, ALL insurers have been jacking up rates for years. Part of the reason the law was enacted in the first place.

However, please try to tell me with a straight face that you actually as of right now believe that this is the sole reason for the greed of these insurers. If you do I am going to demand actual empirical proof from multiple peer reviewed studies on your part that can back up that claim. I know that you can't provide that proof though because it doesn't exist.

Also, do you not think there are plenty of knee-jerk obama haters besides yourself that also run major companies and will do as you do to smear what they can? Shit, the last company I worked for the guy that owned the place was a major hardcore republican, tea-partier, thought Sara Palin walked on water and had an IQ of 200. He would constantly send out emails to everyone about how great everything the GOP did and how evil the democrats are. Similar to you I might add.

Point of fact is he was willing to even to lengths to smear his hated opposition in his eyes. Tell me you don't think there aren't head honchos like him running some insurance companies that are willing to do the same and place blame on Obama because they want to.


That's why these threads are stupid and ridiculous. Until you post more than some self masturbatory <insert I hate this political figure> post with some actual proof, then this is nothing more than a thinly veiled troll post to stoke your own ego.

As long as the cost of healthcare keeps rising rates for insurance goes up . Its all tied to what the medical profession charges for there survices.
People have to have health care than they have to pay the Piper.

The only thing that can= Health care cost rising is Food cost . We haven't seen that. I suspect after this years crops world wide . That Americans are going to be overwhelmed by there grocery bills. These big corp. will take food off of american shelves and put it on the selves of highest bidder . So it beginns this year 2010-2011 Food riots in the USA . Health care will be the last thing we care about.

 

[HumblePie]

As long as the cost of healthcare keeps rising rates for insurance goes up . Its all tied to what the medical profession charges for there survices.
People have to have health than they have to pay the Piper.

That is one point, and one I had already made. I stated that already. I also know many doctors and hospitals are all about the money. Do you know how hard it is to get an itemized bill from a hospital especially if you have insurance paying for it? You can get an itemized receipt from just about everything else in this country but hospital bills.

When you do get a receipt, you would be absolutely amazed at what is charged and for how much. I've caught so many fraud charges when I as able to obtain receipts, which is why you have to scream up and down to get an itemized claim receipt. The insurance companies do not really care that the hospitals are overcharging either. Know why? Because they are just going to pass that cost onto the consumer anyhow and then tack on more so they can get an even bigger profit by fudging the numbers stating that because there was an X increase of Y procedure (which may not have even happened) that there is more "reserve" needed for the following years. That reserve never gets returned and ends up lining the pockets of execs.

I was talking to a friend of mine who had to have his kid go in for a problem. His kid needed an ultrasound and they gave him one. Problem is they used the "portable" ultrasound machine which had a convenience fee of an extra $3000 to use. They never offered him the option to walk a few doors down to the radiology department and get the regular ultrasound done there for $3000 less. Top it off, they listed in the bill as giving a blood transfusion (which never happened) and several other items that never happened. While it's an anecdotal story of a recent event, I've seen this happen more than once. Also, the roommate to my ex-gf was the clerk that handled all the bills for a major hospital in Houston. She told me she was asked several times to place things on bills by doctors of stuff that never took place. She was absolutely sick of it, but there wasn't much she could do since the patients never complained and neither did the insurance companies. Many hospitals do this to make up for the cost of having to treat uninsured people that they would not receive money from for treating them. Hospitals are businesses out to make a profit as well. The whole thing is completely under the table and fucked up.

Again, the cost gets passed on to the consumer. The doctor and hospitals get paid, the insurance companies get to collect extra to create a larger "buffer" in their pool of money, and the average joe gets screwed with increased insurance premiums.

 

[soulcougher73]

That is one point, and one I had already made. I stated that already. I also know many doctors and hospitals are all about the money. Do you know how hard it is to get an itemized bill from a hospital especially if you have insurance paying for it? You can get an itemized receipt from just about everything else in this country but hospital bills.

When you do get a receipt, you would be absolutely amazed at what is charged and for how much. I've caught so many fraud charges when I as able to obtain receipts, which is why you have to scream up and down to get an itemized claim receipt. The insurance companies do not really care that the hospitals are overcharging either. Know why? Because they are just going to pass that cost onto the consumer anyhow and then tack on more so they can get an even bigger profit by fudging the numbers stating that because there was an X increase of Y procedure (which may not have even happened) that there is more "reserve" needed for the following years. That reserve never gets returned and ends up lining the pockets of execs.

I was talking to a friend of mine who had to have his kid go in for a problem. His kid needed an ultrasound and they gave him one. Problem is they used the "portable" ultrasound machine which had a convenience fee of an extra $3000 to use. They never offered him the option to walk a few doors down to the radiology department and get the regular ultrasound done there for $3000 less. Top it off, they listed in the bill as giving a blood transfusion (which never happened) and several other items that never happened. While it's an anecdotal story of a recent event, I've seen this happen more than once. Also, the roommate to my ex-gf was the clerk that handled all the bills for a major hospital in Houston. She told me she was asked several times to place things on bills by doctors of stuff that never took place. She was absolutely sick of it, but there wasn't much she could do since the patients never complained and neither did the insurance companies. Many hospitals do this to make up for the cost of having to treat uninsured people that they would not receive money from for treating them. Hospitals are businesses out to make a profit as well. The whole thing is completely under the table and fucked up.

Again, the cost gets passed on to the consumer. The doctor and hospitals get paid, the insurance companies get to collect extra to create a larger "buffer" in their pool of money, and the average joe gets screwed with increased insurance premiums.

This. If you think that industry works any other way you are a fool. I have said the same thing many times on various health care threads.

 

[HumblePie]

This. If you think that industry works any other way you are a fool. I have said the same thing many times on various health care threads.

Yep, and the health care reform has no impact on many of the despicable practices of the medical industry at the moment. It does on the insurance industry though. As others have stated on these forums, it should have been called health care insurance reform, not health care reform. Yes the bill has stipulations to do research later and improve the medical side of health care, but everything right now is aimed at the insurance industry.

It's just like the recent regulations coming back in for credit cards. Before it was rolled out, credit card companies were doing all they can to jack up rates before they would be stopped by law from doing so arbitrarily. The insurance industry see's that some of the crap that was pulled in the past is no longer going to fly and they are trying to get as much as possible while they can. So, yes they are citing it is the reform that is driving the increased premiums this year, but in truth that is only an indirect cause. The direct cause is they are a bunch of greedy ass bastards who want to squeeze as much blood from this turnip as they can before they are cut off. No different than the credit card industry when they pulled this same shit last year.

And oh Doc, what the heck does my age have anything to do with this discussion?