Saturday, February 15, 2014

Obamacare Fiasco: Many Americans have Few Health-Plan Choices and Higher Premiums

Hundreds of thousands of Americans in poorer counties have few choices of health insurers and face high premiums through the online exchanges created by the health-care law, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of offerings in 36 states. 
Consumers in 515 counties, spread across 15 states, have only one insurer selling coverage through the online marketplaces, the Journal found. In more than 80% of those counties, the sole insurer is a local Blue Cross & Blue Shield plan. Residents of wealthier, more populated counties in the U.S. receive lower-priced choices than those living in counties with a single insurer.
The White House has said broad participation in the exchanges would help lower health-care costs. On Wednesday, the Obama administration reported about 3.3 million people have signed up for coverage through the online marketplace by January, an increase of more than one million since December, but still with fewer younger Americans than needed to keep down premiums. 
Higher participation rates among young adults, as much as 40%, is seen as essential to balance out the higher costs of covering older people for insurers that are already limiting the counties where they offer coverage.
CLICK HERE to see the rates for Your County/State
The average price for a 50-year-old American to obtain the cheapest midlevel "silver plan" through HealthCare.gov—the marketplace operated by the federal government—was $406 in counties with one health insurer, the Journal found. In counties with four insurers, the average price of the cheapest comparable silver plan was $329. 
The price differences reflect the strategy of insurers to pick markets where they believe they can turn a profit—and avoid areas of high unemployment and a concentration of unhealthy residents they deem more risky.
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1 comment:

BOSMAN said...

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans in poorer counties have few choices of health insurers and face high premiums through the online exchanges created by the health-care law, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of offerings in 36 states.

Consumers in 515 counties, spread across 15 states, have only one insurer selling coverage through the online marketplaces,"


'ONE Insurer'...means ONE CHOICE...How's that for competition and keeping costs down?