Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

[c1ue]

Yaaaay Obamacare!

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/posr062110nr.cfm

People who buy their own insurance report that their insurers most recently requested premium increases averaging 20 percent, according to a new Kaiser survey examining the experiences and views of people who buy health coverage in the non-group or individual market.

Overall roughly three in four people (77 percent) with non-group coverage report facing a premium increase with a current or previous insurer. Most say they paid the increase, but 16 percent of all policyholders say they switched plans, either buying a less expensive policy from their current insurer or switching companies altogether. After these so-called "buy downs" are taken into account, people who faced a premium increase ended up paying 13 percent more than before.

...

Kaiser health care.jpg

[sunskyfan]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

I am one of those people and it was going on way before Obama. BCBS raised my rates 75% in three years (I had an knee acl injury I guess that was fixed ) and then tried to sell me a lower cost policy. After lots of conversation they finally owned up that my current policy was not capped and the new one would be a $5 million. Obama's plan may eventually cause problems but don't fool yourself.

[c1ue]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

Sunsky,

I agree the problem existed before Obama.

But ObamaCare was supposed to fix this.

Has it?

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

Sunsky,

I agree the problem existed before Obama.

But ObamaCare was supposed to fix this.

Has it?

The recent "fix" was fought tooth-and-nail by every single republican in congress using every trick in the book. The final result was a watered down and crippled mess. It takes a lot of cheek to blame that poor result on Obama or any democrat.

[DSpencer]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

The recent "fix" was fought tooth-and-nail by every single republican in congress using every trick in the book. The final result was a watered down and crippled mess. It takes a lot of cheek to blame that poor result on Obama or any democrat.

So the republicans who fought the bill "tooth-and-nail" are now to blame for it getting passed by Obama and the democrats and not actually fixing anything?

I'm not a fan of either party, but this seems like backwards logic. I don't see why it's a stretch to blame the content and result of a bill on the people who supported it, voted for it and signed it into law.

[ViC78]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

A public option would have been the best way to fix this mess. I blame Obama for not including this in the bill. Sure, the republicans (and a lot of democrats) did not want this. However, if he truly wanted to fix this, he should have been on the TV daily explaining this stuff to people in an easy to understand way. He has the oratory skills to do that. He could have made it political suicide to vote against a public option.

I am now convinced that he does not want to take a stand on anything, just paper over the cracks until the next election, where he hopes that his campaigning skills will once again pull him through.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

So the republicans who fought the bill "tooth-and-nail" are now to blame for it getting passed by Obama and the democrats and not actually fixing anything?

I'm not a fan of either party, but this seems like backwards logic. I don't see why it's a stretch to blame the content and result of a bill on the people who supported it, voted for it and signed it into law.

Your point is a good one. When true reform had been killed it was a cruel hoax to pass a nearly empty bill.
However, c1ue's statement was a cynical diversion, presented artfully with his considerable intellectual skills.

[mikedev10]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

it doesn't seem that the amount of people buying insurance independently is large enough to have that much of an affect on prices, so it's not surprising that they would keep going up... instead of price discovery being made by consumers and providers it's still being set by providers and insurers

[c1ue]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

Your point is a good one. When true reform had been killed it was a cruel hoax to pass a nearly empty bill.
However, c1ue's statement was a cynical diversion, presented artfully with his considerable intellectual skills.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

Obama has clearly demonstrated (lack of) leadership in this entire endeavor.

Whatever the Republicans did or did not do, ultimately the buck stops with Obama.

The reality of the situation is that both Democrats in Congress and Obama himself had as much or more to do with the failure of the 'reform' bill than anyone else.

There was nothing whatsoever to prevent a completely new bill - with a public option - if indeed the Democratic party and Obama truly wanted to play hardball.

I've consistently and clearly spoken to and demonstrated that having a public option - both on the actuarial and the delivery side - are what is necessary.

I've also clearly and consistently spoken my view that the ObamaCare bill is a travesty.

To say that I'm diverting anyone's attention is clearly ridiculous.

[Mn_Mark]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

The recent "fix" was fought tooth-and-nail by every single republican in congress using every trick in the book. The final result was a watered down and crippled mess. It takes a lot of cheek to blame that poor result on Obama or any democrat.

OK this is hilarious.

The Democrats force a bill on us that the majority of the people don't want, and that not a single Republican votes for...and now liberals are already keying up to blame the bill's failures on Republicans!

Amazing. Shameless. It would be hilarious if it weren't so predictable.

[ph12321]

Re: Russian Roulette: Or how health insurance choices are anything but

Your point is a good one

And yours is a bad/weak one. To do it right would of been tort reform, and open up the state's lines. Instead, they took a broken system, and made it worse. Man up and take responsibility for your failures, not blaming another party. What a sad joke.