Free Birth Control + Higher Premiums

[somarco]

Yes, it is an election year and Obama wants another 4 years in office. So he is buying votes by handing out freebies using OPM.

Free contraceptives = higher health insurance premiums.

What a concept.

Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays - The Hill's Healthwatch

 

[STIBROKER]

So he is buying votes by handing out freebies using OPM.

man.....still waiting on the free gas and mortgage......

 

[AllenChicago]

Literally speaking, doesn't the U.S. Government's definition of Birth "Control" refer to any procedure that prevents a baby from exiting the mom alive? There are probably all sorts of disgusting medical procedures to accomplish this, with more being dreamed up as we speak, in preparation for this crazy mandate's August implementation.

Hopefully this latest mandate will help the Supreme Court lean even more towards overturning key aspects of the Affordable Care Act this Summer.
-ac

 

[somarco]

SCOTUS is supposed to hear the case this spring, before the August freebie's arrive.

In theory, birth control should cover not only BC pills, but patches, implants, condoms and even sterilization.

Since sterilization is a costly surgical procedure, if the declaration by HHS Shebullshits isn't clear you can bet the carriers will want clarification before adjusting rates.

 

[HealthGuy]

I forsee a time soon when Obamacare becomes such an unaffordable, unfundable monstrosity..where even if it stays in place, the govt. will concede it cant cover everything, and boom you have an under 65 supplement market...Can you say cash cow? The longer this piece of garbage is in place the more I see an opportunity to make money selling supplement plans to the under 65ers or at best CI plans, accident plans, cancer plans - Folks, the govt. will not and cannot cover everything...Long term there are going to be holes in coverage to sell into IF there is any disposable income left after they get done taxing and penalizing for this monster bill...Seriously folks, the legislation won't stand as is, it can't, it wont - even if Obama is reelected and the Supremes don't overturn this thing - this health bill is unsustainable and a pipe dream. I'm ready to sell something cuz the gov't won't cover it all unless we go single payer and thats not happening anytime soon. There is going to be some serious money to be made. I'm not worried anymore. Somebody prove me wrong, or at least try. The more this bill is implemented, the less I fear, the less I care.

 

[cwlives]

>>>In theory, birth control should cover not only BC pills, but patches, implants, condoms and even sterilization.

In Colorado we already have this via state mandate (not to mention maternity covered as any other illness). I know from investigation that it covers more then the pill. Don't know about sterilization.

This and more is why CO individual insurance rates have had drastic rate increases. I have a family in WI that got a GR HSA plan 2 1/2 years ago and never seen a rate increase. My Colorado clients (not to mention "me") would find that mind-blowing.

 

[CABenefits]

Yep, rates will be forced up. California is making maternity coverage mandatory this summer. Our rates have been fairly good compared to other states. Now the state is toying with the idea of a single payer. Healthguy is right on CI and accident plans. I'm writing more CI plans and explain to people costs are continuing to rise and PPACA does not address costs whatsoever.

Mike

 

[Ann H]

I forsee a time soon when Obamacare becomes such an unaffordable, unfundable monstrosity..where even if it stays in place, the govt. will concede it cant cover everything, and boom you have an under 65 supplement market...Can you say cash cow? The longer this piece of garbage is in place the more I see an opportunity to make money selling supplement plans to the under 65ers or at best CI plans, accident plans, cancer plans - Folks, the govt. will not and cannot cover everything...Long term there are going to be holes in coverage to sell into IF there is any disposable income left after they get done taxing and penalizing for this monster bill...Seriously folks, the legislation won't stand as is, it can't, it wont - even if Obama is reelected and the Supremes don't overturn this thing - this health bill is unsustainable and a pipe dream. I'm ready to sell something cuz the gov't won't cover it all unless we go single payer and thats not happening anytime soon. There is going to be some serious money to be made. I'm not worried anymore. Somebody prove me wrong, or at least try. The more this bill is implemented, the less I fear, the less I care.

Healthguy, I'm glad to see your statement. From your posts in prior months, I could sense your frustration with PPACA and your fear that it would end the market. But I've long held that this thing cannot be implemented as-is, just like you stated above. It's functionally impossible. It might take us underwater for a while until we rise above water again (and many agents may not be able to survive that storm), but it's inevitable that this PPACA ship will sink. I'm thinking of starting a thread about all of PPACA's failures so far. Pert near every major piece has been delayed, terminated, or drastically altered when the time of scheduled implementation came around. Major portions like PCIP are a grand failure. CLASS ACT was cancelled. Delays in grandfathering rules, W-2 reporting, waivers for major groups and states... This gargantuan monster is just functionally impossible to institute on the grand scale that has become law.

But..... if my prediction/hope is wrong and it becomes implemented, how long can it last? At the very least, congress will be forced to lower benefits to meet budget, which opens a supplement market. That's the very least. Personally, I predict that it won't be implemented in anything even close to its current form. But even if it is, and if you can diversify enough to keep in this business, there will inevitably be a market again. Canada has a supplement market. Someone from the UK was on this board recently looking for an alternative to their NHS system. Medical tourism is flourishing... on & on the list goes.

Some agents fear single-payer healthcare system. I hate it as a taxpayer/consumer, and don't want it as an agent. But there's lots of money in supplemental insurance to single-payer. Medicare is essentially a single-payer, and look at the booming supplement business, and the cross-selling opportunities once you get your foot in the door. One constant about insurance is that it must be ever-changing in order to avoid over-utilization. Once benefit usage exceeds premium income, you either raise the premium or reduce the benefit. Those never-ending holes create a supplement market.

The biggest questions to agents is: "Can you alter your business model to succeed in the short-term market, the middle-term market that will arise, and the long-term market, and do you wish to do so in order to remain in this business?" That's an important question even if PPACA was never introduced, because the health care market is headed for a major change anyway. Even without PPACA, it's crazy to assume that the USA's current model of health care could sustain itself at these absurdly rising rates. In many states there will be a revised healthcare system, and those agents will need to diversify, or do business in other states, or do something else until the market rises again. It's inevitable that health care reform will come to all of us. It just doesn't mean the end of the market, or the end of your business unless you decide you don't want to change repeatedly to meet the ever-changing landscape that's called this insurance business. Let's hope that next time the govt convenes to "fix it", they do so in an effective and productive way.

 

[somarco]

Biggest challenge to Obamneycrap is funding. There simply isn't enough money to run the thing, especially when employers drop group plans.

Had lunch with a senior marketing director for a regional carrier last week. We both shared this belief as well as the domino theory for Fortune 500 companies. All of them have commissioned studies on the cost of dropping group health and paying the fine.

Every one of them will save money. How long post 2014 before Verizon, AT&T, Ford, 3M, John Deere and others say bye-bye to group health?

All it takes is one and the others will follow.

Obamneycrap is counting on fines for non-participation and "Cadillac" plans to fund coverage for the poor. Add in savings from Medicare reductions.

What they did not anticipate is a rush to cancel existing coverage.

DC never takes in to account human behavior when they make new laws or change the tax code.

You would think they would learn, but obviously not.

 

[rapidrobert]

The cure for Obama care is to vote the frickin commie out in 2012!!! I don't care if its Bongo the Wonder Chimp on the opposite ticket!!!