Zero Hedge: Hillary Was Unable to Answer Question About Obamacare

[amborin]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-12/what-could-have-possibly-raised-your-costs-hillary-cant-answer-why-obamacare-costs-a

"What Could Have Possibly Raised Your Costs" - Hillary Can't Answer Why Obamacare Costs Are Soaring

Hillary Clinton's strategy to get in front of voters and answer one-on-one type questions is not working out very well.

First, Clinton couldn't explain to an unemployed West Virginian why she was promising to put a lot of coal miners out of work. Now, Hillary can't explain why Obamacare fees are higher than promised, and are set to explode even higher next year.

During a recent town hall event, a small business owner explained to the Democratic front-runner that her health insurance has gone up so significantly for her family that the thought of providing benefits to her employees is secondary at this point.

"As a small business owner, not only are you trying to provide benefits to your employees, you're trying to provide benefits to yourself. I have seen our health insurance for my own family, go up $500 dollars a month in the last two years. We went from four hundred something, to nine hundred something. We're just fighting to keep benefits for ourselves. The thought of being able to provide benefits to your employees is almost secondary, yet to keep your employees happy, that's a question that comes across my desk all the time. I have to keep my employees as independent contractors for the most part really to avoid that situation, and so I have turnover"

"We do not qualify for a subsidy on the current health insurance plan. My question to you is not only are you looking out for people that can't afford healthcare, but I'm someone that can afford it, but it's taking a big chunk of the money I bring home."

To which Hillary responded, to make a long story short, that she knows healthcare costs are going up, and doesn't understand why that would ever be the case.

[tularetom]

1. In fairness to her, I doubt that Obama himself could answer that question about Obamacare

I'm pretty sure that his plan was to be out of office by the time the shit hit the fan.

Obamacare contains no effective provisions for cost control. That's the price Obama had to pay for forcing the insurance companies to cover everybody.

[tonyt53]

3. Wrong! It limits the profit of the insurance companies.

The ACA was a beginning.

[Baobab]

8. They knew the costs would soar right now and its intentional- they want a perfectly timed "Crisis"

See for example,

http://www.pnhp.org/states_flatline/State%20Health%20Reform%20Flatlines%20IJHS%20-%202008.pdf

Also see my other post about the guest worker program and globalization 20 years of negotiations are almost done so the crisis is right on schedule.

However, be aware there is a huge cost in lives - 20 years of dysfunction while the details of GATS were worked out = at least 1 million lives lost.

[jeff47]

15. No. It limits the medical loss ratio.

Which means they have to spend 80% or 85% of premiums on health care (the percentage depends on which kind of plan).

The remaining 20% or 15% can be profit, executive bonuses, etc.

If the insurance companies want more profit, they can get it. All they need is more expensive health care.

Round number example:
1) Health insurance company collects $100M in premiums. $80M spent on health care. $20M can be profit, bonuses, etc.
2) Health care costs "mysteriously" rise.
3) Health insurance company collects $200M in premiums. $160M spent on health care. $40M spent on profit, bonuses, etc.

The health insurance company's profit just doubled.

There are no real cost controls in the ACA. Hospitals will happily charge more money, and consolidation means there is no real competition.

[peace13]

5. Health insurance costs have risen every year for at least 20 years.

The insurance companies always said it was because of the uninsured people. Hospitals had to raise the price for those who could pay, to cover the uninsured. In comes ACA and now we have millions more insured people to carry the load. The one constant to the equation is the insurance companies and their unlimited greed! Ms. Clinton is not going to point this out. They line the pockets of Clinton and her buddies in DC.

In the meantime money spent on insurance is not available for people to use in other ways. Until last month my husband and I paid $2200.00 a month for health insurance. That money could have gone into our retirement fund or been used to purchase things that would help build the economy (x millions of people it would add up). Single payer is the only answer here.

[GummyBearz]

11. I can answer that question with one word

Greed

Now that everyone is FORCED to buy insurance, the insurance companies can charge as much as they want. People have to make a really tough choice between buying a plan from the ACA or paying the tax penalty+odds of a serious illness/injury for the next year. Most go with the ACA because even a 1% chance of getting in a freak accident that results in a $100,000 medical bill is scary as shit.

ACA is literally the insurance companies wet dream. 25% cost increases every year until we choose to take the tax penalty, or someone with a brain and the guts to do it takes them on. Or we just guillotine them I guess

[tonyt53]

2. Can you answer those questions? Can Bernie answer those questions?

The ACA, or Obamacare as you like to call it, was put into place with a lot of unanswered questions for the insurance companies. Those rising costs are the result of insurance companies actually having some competition between them. They jumped into the ACA pool with prices that were lower than they normally would have, but more competition led them to do that. With higher utilization from the policyholders than they expected, their profit margins are not what they thought they would be. Now they are raising their policy fees to compensate. They aren't providing healthcare insurance for free. Individuals purchased cheap policies. Many of those policies were bare minimum policies. Those are the policies that are seeing rising costs. It isn't the policies that covered more then the bare minimum that are seeing rate increases. The people that purchased those cheap policies also felt the brunt of doctors no longer accepting them as patients. They changed the policy, so the discount rate for the insurance company was changed, or rejected by their doctors. The ACA didn't cause that; a personal decision did. Oh, I've been a trustee for two large union healthcare groups for over 20 years and regularly attend education seminars. That is why I can speak with some knowledge instead of nonsense.

About that WV event HRC attended. SHE has the guts to face her critics on their turf. Bernie held his rally in a safe location in front of safe attendees. A leader doesn't hide, but Bernie did. So, I guess you are implying that Bernie could have better explained why he was against coal than HRC did. He had his chance in WV but chose to play it safe instead.

[peace13]

7. Please...

.. questions were planted in the past. I wonder why people are actually asking real questions. They must be going rogue. That is the real kicker!

[reddread]

10. omg, well past time for the planted questions remember whens!

so much chicanery, so little time to recollect.

[peace13]

13. It may not be important to you.

To others it is. These small gatherings of HRC are not by design but necessity. It speaks volumes. She runs from what she created...a sea of unanswered questions that need to be answered before we go any further.

[reddread]

14. it is fundamentally important to me

because I crack unwise doesnt mean I dont care about the world.
I do.
you cannot segregate truth from democracy.
neither should it be permitted.

so many blacklisted topics.
such short lives.



moo.

[jeff47]

16. Sure. They aren't that hard.

Those rising costs are the result of insurance companies actually having some competition between them. They jumped into the ACA pool with prices that were lower than they normally would have, but more competition led them to do that. With higher utilization from the policyholders than they expected, their profit margins are not what they thought they would be. Now they are raising their policy fees to compensate.

None of this is actually true.

There were a few plans where the actuaries were way off. But that shook out in the first year or two. We're not in the first year or two.

Individuals purchased cheap policies. Many of those policies were bare minimum policies. Those are the policies that are seeing rising costs. It isn't the policies that covered more then the bare minimum that are seeing rate increases.

How dare those cheap people decide to eat instead of paying for platinum health insurance plans!!!!!

What raised the costs is health insurance companies benefit when medical costs go up. The medical loss ratio limit means insurance companies make more profit/bonuses/etc when they pay more in costs.

Insurance company collects $100M in premiums. They have to pay $80M in medical costs. That leaves $20M for profit, etc.
Insurance company collects $200M in premiums. They have to pay $160M in medical costs. That leaves $40M for profit, etc.

Higher costs mean more profit, because they can charge higher premiums. Since hospitals will happily accept more money, costs will continue to go up.

The assumption in the ACA is that patients would be the cost control. That patients would "shop around". This doesn't work because of:
1) Emergency/urgent care, where there is no shopping.
2) Patients are not informed of costs up-front, so they have no pricing information to make a choice. And that pricing isn't possible anyway - the doctor does not know ahead of time if that simple childbirth is going to turn into an emergency C-section.
3) Patients do not have the knowledge to evaluate their options - is that "half-price" hospital a bargain, or will Dr. Nick be treating you?
4) Hospital consolidation means there are no choices. I'm in a major city. All of the hospitals are owned by 2 entities.
5) Patients just go without care instead of finding a bargain, making the cost higher when they eventually must get treatment.

Now, a public option would have provided a cost control. Which is why it was excluded from the ACA.

[Mika]

4. She did offer a solution option masked within her babbling. Deregulation.

She seems to be suggesting what the GOPers are suggesting. Deregulating state borders for insurance companies.

From the ZH article, Hillary's answer to the small biz owner ... Bold is mine.

"What you're saying is one of the real worries that we're facing with the cost of health insurance because the costs are going up in a lot of markets, not all, but many markets and what you're describing is one of the real challenges."

[Octafish]

6. Surprised.

I understood she was a smartest-person-in-the-room type.

Most Americans know this: They're one illness away from losing everything they own.

People in Canada don't have to worry. Like most civilized nations, they enjoy health care as a basic right of citizenship.

[Armstead]

9. Trying to defend the indefensible...What else is new?

[EndElectoral]

12. Helluva answer Hill.