As benefits election season 2018 begins, non-government consumers of health insurance are ignoring this enormous "intersectionality" and potential powerhouse of action in favor of the cheap, the divisive, and often frantically ignorant views of the close-minded. This year's enrollment is another failure on our part that we should recognize as we all sit trying to figure out the best ways to get our families, loved ones and ourselves "insured."
No headline will "rescue" us from the lack of choices on exchanges--That ship sailed before Obama left office as the ACA's payoffs to insurers in the Act's sections 1341 and 1342, reinsurance, risk corridors and risk adjustment, (See Fool us Once…Risk Corridors and Elections, September 26, 2014 for definitions), DESIGNED TO BE TEMPORARY ended for this benefits year and we saw insurers opt out of exchanges. In fact, Obamacare called these provisions "TRANSITIONAL."
Higher premiums? They've been forecast by the Obama government itself for at least three years:
"[N]ongroup premiums are projected to grow somewhat more quickly over the next few years because of factors related to the ACA (including a phaseout of the reinsurance program discussed below)." -CBO
"Over the period from 2005 to 2014, premiums for employment-based insurance grew by 48 percent for single coverage and by 55 percent for family coverage. CBO and JCT expect them to grow at similar rates over the next decade." -CBO. That's the OBAMA government talking.
No headline will "rescue" us from the three strategies used to hold down insurance company and government costs under Obamacare, also described by the Obama government:
"One way that insurers control their health care spending is limiting their provider networks." -CBO
"Another strategy to control health care costs involves managing enrollees’ use of services more directly. For example, insurers may cover certain expensive services only if they have authorized them in advance; require enrollees to get a referral from their primary care physician before seeing a specialist; decline to cover a more expensive treatment before expensive services or medications from coverage altogether." -CBO
"Over the past 15 years or so, insurers have made more use of a third strategy: increasing cost-sharing requirements and thereby increasing enrollees’ out-of-pocket spending…enrollees in plans with higher cost-sharing requirements face more variability in their health care costs." -CBO
OK, so digest these three facts, Obamacare PREDICTABLY ended up in a reduced number of insurance company exchange participants because federal payoffs to insurers ended in 2016 AND premiums have been going up and PREDICTABLY will continue to rise and the ONLY means of controlling those premiums are the strategies of providing less coverage for more money--These facts are courtesy of the CBO under Obama.
It's now crystal clear that strongly identifying with a President or against a President has resulted in harm to non-government citizens searching rescue from exorbitant health insurance prices. It is suggested here that we stop focusing on the President and start focusing on the policy to protect ourselves. Not every Obama policy, especially Obamacare was a consumer benefit, not every Trump policy will be a consumer disaster. Look at the policy.
It's true, the Republicans have no alternative to offer, in my opinion largely because both Democrat and Republican Congressman and others are essentially EXEMPT from Obamacare and therefore don't care what they impose on the rest of us. Yeah, we were distracted with gibberish and language games as Democrats claimed it wasn't an exemption: (See Polling to Distraction: Obamacare, December 4, 2016)
This was never true with Obamacare which extended the benefits of a government-insurance company partnership to public federal employees through the mechanism of a de facto exemption whereby their "employer" is the federal government and their "employer" chose to provide them with superior benefits (naturally ignoring that the majority of such funding comes from the pockets of Americans).
The language game was used against consumers from the start with Obamacare, as we bought in not only to the flat-out lies but the tricky language eg Affordable Care Act, Affordable for insurers and government payers not consumers.
But this couldn't be stated because the Obama fanboys and fangirls couldn't muster up enough ethical commitment to say anything negative about Obama. This blind love got us into this mess. And just like it did for Hillary Clinton, who believed her own press and "metrics," results belied what we were told.
Well, the flip side is also true. You like the adrenaline rush of hating Trump? Meanwhile, Congress has once again done nothing to address government health insurance policy towards themselves or others.
So, for 2018, ENROLLMENT FOR OBAMACARE is 11/1/2017 to 12/15/2017. You can still call healthcare.gov and listen to a neutral list of your choices of health insurance plans on exchanges. You can be enrolled and pay two months worth of premiums and only then get notice after notice of additional paperwork you must provide.
OUT OF POCKET MAXIMUM: While you were sleeping, as they've done every year, out of pocket maximums have gone up, from $7150 to $7350 for an individual and from $14,300 to $14,700 for a family. (Speaking of intersectionality, THIS is part of why health savings accounts remain plans for the healthy or wealthy).
The INDIVIDUAL MANDATE is still law, the Obama government-insurance company partnership that promised government would force people to purchase the consumer financial product of health insurance or pay a fine in exchange for insurers covering those with pre-existing conditions, is still alive and well.
So for those who don't care about health insurance and its actual coverage of and affordability for all non-government employee citizens, a pretty big example of potential intersectionality, for those who instead would rather cling to the untrue glory days of our prior President's unprecedented partnership of government and insurance companies that worked against the majority of consumers in this nation, yea, you've got it.
Blind love got us nowhere with significant consumer education and action designed to improve the health insurance industry. Blind hate of Trump will also get us nowhere. But the upside of Trump's Administration is that President Trump, like Obama, knows little of health insurance and therefore, Congress' failure to repeal and replace, is really good news for us, because the Republican plan was worse in many ways than even Obamacare.
This delay may frustrate the President, but for consumers it's an opportunity. Finally, understand what's going on with health insurance. Demand that the law of the land, eg like Obamacare is really the law of the land not just for some. Demand that out of pocket maximums be reflective of wages in our country, if wages stagnate out of pocket maximums should be frozen for health insurance. Demand that pre-Obamacare thresholds of 7.5 percent of income rather than Obama era 10 percent of income thresholds be met before the medical expense deduction kicks in. Demand that limits on what percentage of income can be spent on health insurance expenses are limited for FAMILIES, not only individuals so that millions of families cannot afford health insurance for their dependents.
There are opportunities and it's really time for all the intersectionalists to focus on an issue that affects more Americans than any of their other gripes affect and where they could actually do some good. For thinking Americans, sorry, hating Trump is as hollow as loving Obama, gibberish.
