NC Blue Cross raises Obamacare premiums 34.6 percent, Obama lies healthcare dies, Affordable Care Act driving up costs, Replaces June request of 25.7%, ACA customers use expensive services for chronic conditions and visit emergency department in high numbers

NC Blue Cross raises Obamacare premiums 34.6 percent, Obama lies healthcare dies, Affordable Care Act driving up costs, Replaces June request of 25.7%, ACA customers use expensive services for chronic conditions and visit emergency department in high numbers

“Contrary to industry expectations, ACA (Affordable Care Act) customers continue to be unhealthy and use more health care services than expected. BCBSNC’s (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina) data shows that ACA customers use expensive services for chronic conditions and visit the emergency department in high numbers.”…BlueCross BlueShield of NC August 6, 2015

“If you’ve got health insurance we’re going to work with you to lower your premiums by $2,500 per family per year.”…Barack Obama

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico has requested rate increases averaging 51 percent for its 33,000 members. The proposal elicited tart online comments from consumers.”

““Our enrollees generated 24 percent more claims than we thought they would when we set our 2014 rates,” said Nathan T. Johns, the chief financial officer of Arches Health Plan, which covers about one-fourth of the people who bought insurance through the federal exchange in Utah. As a result, the company said, it collected premiums of $39.7 million and had claims of $56.3 million in 2014. It has requested rate increases averaging 45 percent for 2016.”…NY Times July 3, 2015

“We are being lied to on a scale unimaginable by George Orwell.”…Citizen Wells

Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to keep the costs of healthcare down?

Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to encourage preventive measures and reduce emergency room visits?

Who is going to pay for those high deductibles that many patients cannot afford?

Obama lies healthcare dies.

From the News Observer August 6, 2015.

“Blue Cross now seeking 34.6% rate hike in NC for ACA plans

Insurer is scrapping June request for 25.7% increase

Blames Affordable Care Act for driving up costs

Says most on ACA plans are chronically ill people who run up medical costs

Insurer also eliminating broad network plans in Triangle and Charlotte”

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Carolina’s largest health insurer, is scrapping its June request for a 25.7 percent rate increase in favor of a larger rate hike: 34.6 percent.

In announcing the change Thursday, the Chapel Hill organization blamed the Affordable Care Act for driving up costs by extending health insurance to many chronically ill people. As the state’s dominant health insurer and the only ACA insurer in several dozen counties, Blue Cross is seen as a barometer of North Carolina’s health insurance market for pricing and access.

The company’s request, which requires approval from state and federal regulators, would affect about 380,000 people Blue Cross covers in North Carolina on individual policies under the Affordable Care Act. It does not apply to the majority of the 3.9 million Blue Cross covers in the state under employer plans, state plans and other policies.

Blue Cross continues to see a large number of chronically ill people who require expensive medical care this year, the second year of ACA enrollments, said Patrick Getzen, the insurer’s chief actuary. The ACA made it illegal for health insurers to turn down people with pre-existing conditions and charge older customers exorbitant rates, common practices in the past that helped insurers control their expenses.

The architects of the health insurance law anticipated an influx of older, sicker customers, but expected that the cost of treating them would be offset by attracting younger and healthier customers. That hasn’t worked out for Blue Cross so far, despite the company’s marketing campaign to attract “young invincibles” and federal penalties for those who fail to obtain health insurance.

Getzen said that in 2014 the company’s health care costs in North Carolina exceeded revenue by $123 million, even after receiving $343 million in reinsurance and other financial assistance from the federal government to offset ACA expenses. Getzen said the financial picture was expected to improve this year, but he said that expenses keep rising.”

“For example, a 40-year-old non-smoker living in Raleigh who has a Blue Value Silver plan with a $2,500 deductible pays about $315 a month today. With the adjusted proposed increase, this customer will pay about $418 for the same plan in 2016, an increase of 32.7 percent.”

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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article30244941.html