One-third of health plan enrollees in new insurance marketplaces are 55 or older, the Obama administration said Monday, a figure that insurers said makes the pool older than they would need to sustain their coverage at current premiums.
Administration officials said they are pushing to enroll more young people before a March 31 deadline for most people to get coverage for this year, and some cushions built into the law mean it won't necessarily face trouble right away even if the 2014 pool of enrollees skews older.
Still, the release of the data, showing for the first time the age breakdown of people who had signed up for coverage through December, highlighted the challenge in persuading younger people who may not have a pressing need for health coverage to sign up for policies that can cost about $200 a month before subsidies.
"This is concerning to us that we're seeing this portion come in so old," said Marty Anderson, marketing director for the Wisconsin-based Security Health Plan, which serves rural counties in the state.
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Just under a quarter of the roughly 2.2 million people who signed up for private plans nationwide by Dec. 28 were between the ages of 18 and 34, while one-third were in the 55-to-64 range, just short of the age at which most qualify for Medicare, the federal government program for the elderly. Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy think tank, has said census data suggest that about 40% of people who could be buying coverage through the exchanges are in the 18-to-34 group.Read the rest of the story HERE.
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2 comments:
It's beginning to to look like ObamaMESS will not be able to take care of itself without raising premiums even higher than what they are now. EITHER WAY...WE GET SCREWED. Because the alternative will be to Bailout the insurance companies...This option was hidden in the ObamaMESS bill.
My guess is..Unless Congress acts and repeals the Bailout clause, it will be both...
Higher premiums and bailouts
WITHOUT the Bailouts...Insurance Premiums will rise...folks will drop out..and ObamaMESS will self-implode.
We need to pressure our Representatives in Congress to repeal anything that would bailout ObamaMESS with more of our Tax Dollars.
With the current unpopularity of ObamaMESS and 2014 elections on the horizon, NOW is the time for them to ACT.
Premiums have gone up by a huge amount for decades.
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