BCBS of NC Says Obamacare Will Cause Premium Increases

HT: Obamacare Watch

WRAL reports that Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC is blaming Obamacare for some current and future health insurance premium increases:

While citing rising medical care costs as a primary driver in the proposed rate increases, company officials said provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health care reform law also will impact rates charged under the two plans. Those provisions include requiring insurers to remove the cap on lifetime benefits, enhance preventive care coverage and allow unlimited mental health services, prescription drugs and other types of care...

"Given what is known today about the health care reform law, premiums will be generally higher for individual policies after 2014," the company said in a statement. "Rates generally will be lower for less healthy consumers and higher for healthier consumers than they would have been without reform."

Note that the article indicates the premium increase for my HSA plan will only be 2% this year.  The premium increase last year was reasonable also.  That is one of the things HSA plans are supposed to do-- keep the premium increases as low as possible.

But folks, according to our state's predominant insurer, just wait until 2014 when the full effects of Obamacare become manifest.

Comments

[Bubba]

"Rates generally will be lower for less healthy consumers and higher for healthier consumers than they would have been without reform."

Ah, but but under the full blown mandates of Obamacare, healthy consumers may opt out of buying insurance until they need it. That factor alone greatly depletes the risk pool, and subsequently drives costs higher by itself.

The drumbeaters for health insurance "reform" have not yet figured out all the unintended consequences of the abomination of Obamacare yet. They're too busy posturing, prancing, and babbling on about those "EEEEEEEEEEEVIL insurance companies."

[Joe Guarino]

I agree, Bubba. There are many unfortunate dynamics that will unfold, unless Obamacare is somehow put to a stop first.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Heavy sigh.

The drum-beaters are killing this country, Bubba.

They've never wanted to hear from those of us with knowledge or experience in the "reforms" they have endorsed (particularly those of us well-versed in "unintended consequences" of laws already on the books) . . . they don't want to touch the third rails that are the real source of much of the problem . . . they've demonized their opponents as racists and bigots . . . healthcare is a "right" to which they are entitled (as opposed to a service that must be paid for by someone) . . . and they're content to "wait and see".

It boggles the mind. It really does.

[Joe Guarino]

What is mind-boggling, Mary, is the ignorance. But of course, for some of those who engineered this situation, it was a deliberate vehicle to pave the way for "single payer"-- i.e., pure socialized medicine. Of course, what we are getting is still socialized medicine, but a somewhat more subtle form than single payer. It is socialized medicine masquerading as private medicine.

[Stormy]

CBS News - 4/23/10

"Administration officials argue the increase is a bargain price for guaranteeing coverage to 95 percent of Americans. They also point out that the law will decrease the federal deficit by $143 billion over the 10-year period, even if overall health care spending rises."

Yeah, right!

[Joe Guarino]

Stormy, I am just waiting for that deficit to contract. In fact, the more charity care funded by the government, the more the deficit will contract.

It's a great country!

[Stormy]

And, what's the odds that 95% of Americans actually ever receive "quality health care" in their lifetime under ObamaCare?