David Akadjian on The Daily Kos gets into the raising of individual rates under ACA:
1. Experts warned the states that if they didn’t expand Medicaid coverage, customers could see higher premiums.
Why? Because hospitals tend to shift the costs of emergency room care to private insurers. In Nebraska in 2014, for example, hospitals provided uncompensated care to 54,000 people who would have qualified for coverage under Medicaid expansion.
Adrian Sanchez, a spokeman for the Nebraska Hospital Association, said:
As a result of Nebraska’s failure to expand Medicaid, insured Nebraskans are likely to see an increase in health insurance premiums as they continue to cover the uncompensated healthcare costs of the uninsured.
The Indiana Hospital Association similarly released a report saying individuals would see premiums drop by $241 and families by $691 if Indiana expanded Medicaid and extended coverage to 400,000 residents under the ACA.
States that refused to expand Medicaid are almost all Republican-led states.
And there’s lots more, in typical Daily Kos fashion. However, it’s worth noting that Minnesota has one of the highest rate jumps in the nation, and did already expand Medicaid as recommended; Arizona falls into the same category. The other two states in the category of highest jump in rates are Oklahoma and Tennessee, neither of which have expanded Medicaid.
While the frantic rhetoric of the GOP is unsurprising, given their unswerving antipathy, I have to wonder if there’s a more subtle influence at work as well: the instant gratification generation (a phrase I made up 20+ years ago when the fencing coach suggested it would take time and work to become a good fencer). After several years of rather good progress, the ACA has hit a bump. Perhaps we’ve lost our capacity for following long term plans. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton (D) voices intemperate thoughts concerning the ACA and turns it into a crisis.
It’s not. As Mr. Akadjian notes,
3. Nearly 8 in 10 people enrolled through the Obamacare marketplace can find a plan for less than $100 a month after tax credits.
77 percent of people looking for plans in the marketplace can find a plan for less than $100/month with subsidies. More than 7 in 10 (72 percent) can find a plan for $75/month or less.
Atlas V 401 launch of Cygnus OA-4. Photo Credit: ULA
Historic high rates of insured citizens and a bend in the healthcare cost curve. These are achievements that many writers such as Jonathan Chait can document better than I. As an engineer, you don’t throw out the Atlas V rocket just because it’s sprung a leak. You evaluate the problem and fix it.
And ignore the hysterics who want to throw you into the lake for offending the sky gods.
