Obamacare’s Christmas Present: Higher Premiums
Even as Americans gather to celebrate the Christmas holiday, they will soon face an unwelcome surprise come the new year: premium increases sparked by Obamacare. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported on a 20% increase sought by California Blue Shield – and what was one of the reasons given for the jump? You guessed it:
The company also expects higher costs from an influx of new customers under the federal healthcare law in 2014. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime change in the healthcare market that will bring a lot of volatility, and we need higher reserves for that,” [a spokesman] said.
If Obamacare results in only a 20% premium increase, customers may be lucky. Recently, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini told an investor conference that premiums could double as a result of Obamacare:
While subsidies in the law will shield some people, other consumers who make too much for assistance are in for “premium rate shock,” Mark Bertolini, who runs the third-biggest U.S. health-insurance company, told analysts yesterday at a conference in New York….“We’ve shared it all with the people in Washington and I think it’s a big concern,” the CEO said. “We’re going to see some markets go up as much as 100 percent.”
Candidate Obama promised repeatedly that his health plan would CUT premiums by an average of $2,500 per family within his first term. But premiums have already risen by $3,065 since Barack Obama was elected President. And the recent news suggests premiums will only skyrocket further in the coming months and years. In other words, Obamacare is shaping up to be a perpetual lump of coal in Americans’ Christmas stockings.
