Proof that Obamacare will drive a major change through the insurance industry

[BlueStreak]

See http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/22/business/la-fi-health-insure-20130523

UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna are all talking tough, saying they won't get into the California exchange. And why not? Obviously because they don't want to have to compete on price. This is their last stand. They think that if they can make California's exchange fail then they can go back to business as usual.

But that's a big gamble, bailing out of the most populous and most affluent state. California thinks they have this covered, with Kaiser Permanente and Anthem participating. And California projects that individuals will be able to buy policies that are no higher than 2% more than the best small business group rates, and usually a lot less than today's small business group rates.

UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna can go f### themselves. Kudos to Jerry Brown and his administration to standing up to these economic terrorists. UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna will be back next year, hat in hand begging to join the exchange.

Now it starts to get interesting.

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Kaiser Permanente is superior to any of those three sub-par ProfitCare conglomerates.

The state’s three biggest individual insurers are Kaiser, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, with a collective 87% of the market. All three will participate in each of 19 different geographical markets set up by Covered California, with the exception of Kaiser, which isn’t taking part in the Santa Cruz-Monterey region.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/california-health-exchange-includes-13-insurers-2013-05-23

Besides, we don't need United Heath, Aetna, and Cigna since they only hold 7% of the individual insurance market.

From the same article:

Conspicuous in their absence, however, are three major insurers: UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH -0.48% , Aetna Inc. AET -1.79% and Cigna Corp. CI -1.02% The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that the three wouldn’t participate in the exchanges, but said they held only 7% of the individual insurance market.

There are already thirteen insurance carriers and more will be added, and let's not forget that the U.S. supported health care insurance is also opening across the fifty states that will compete directly with the other insurance conglomerates.

So the sub-par ProfitCare "Big Three" conglomerates can talk tough all they want because we don't need them.

[BlueStreak]

6. Good. And let's hope that among those other 13, there are some decent, ethical companies

that aren't all about killing people to maximize executive compensation. The nation owes California a big debt for taking the lead on this.

Let's help some of those smaller companies grow so they can challenge the health terrorists in some other states.

[ReRe]

2. California...

K&R

... the laboratory of democracy. Where common sense survives, except the occasional flip-out when they err by voting in movie star Governors. I know things aren't perfect there, but things are more perfect there than anywhere else in this county. You Go, Governor Moonbeam. Keep up the good work. Stand up to the strong-arm of big insurance for your People.

[madrchsod]

3. i've had blue cross several times when i worked

i never had any problems covering any procedure. all the doctors and hospitals had no complaint with the payment of treatment and timely billing. yup those three will be back begging with lower prices.
the best insurance i've ever had is what i'm on now-medicare. since i'm "low income" i pay a little over 50 a month with 100 for drug coverage. each year i get a rather large list of healthcare providers and drug plans for me to chose from.
.from what i can tell obamacare is the big leap to medicare for all.

[SoapBox]

4. All I need is a smiley

flipping the finger.

And that would say it all to those vulture companies.


I LOVES my California!

[Mr.Pain]

5. I have been asking one question since all of this began.

What in Sam Hell does Obamacare have to do with affordable healthcare? Guaranteed profits for the insurance companies is the only real possible outcome from this horrible mistake, not more affordable healthcare. If I need healthcare I'm not going to visit my insurance man, I'm going to go to a doctor or hospital, yeah those are the people who work in healthcare, not Joe the insurance salesman. If an MRI costs $500 in France then tell me, why the hell does it cost $5000 here? WHY?

[ninjanurse]

9. can't wave a wand

He's the first president to get us this far. It's not as far as I want, but it's not a horrible mistake. I have a college age kid. I'm already benefiting from Obamacare.

[Mr.Pain]

11. Please believe me, I am not against "affordable healthcare".

I am just saying that those insurance companies are now guaranteed to profit form this piece of legislation that their own lawyers drafted for congress to vote and pass, for the benefit of those same companies. This legislation has nothing to do with keeping healthcare affordable, nor does it guarantee healthcare treatment to all who may need it. It is simply an insurance mandate, which, in the case of auto insurance makes sense as automobiles can cause damage to others and property that without insurance, would never get paid for. Healthcare is different in that their is no inherent liability. Again I ask. If an MRI costs $500 in France then why the hell does it cost $5000 in the U.S. Address that question and you may find the answer to "Affordable Healthcare", and more importantly you'll find that "insurance" is not the answer, as they are nothing but a profiteering third party, whose very presence in the equation detract from the optimal solution to the problem.

[pnwmom]

12. It has already brought the cost curve down. It's not the ideal plan,

but it is a big step forward.

[BlueStreak]

10. I assume that is a rhetorical question.

The health terrorists are so deeply entrenched into this political system that we could not get single payer -- not yet anyway.

But the next best thing is to force the for-profit health insurance companies to act responsibly and not engage in price gouging and de facto death panels. It has been a long time coming, but there are two heavy weapons built into the ACA. The first is already in place, requiring that at least 85% of premiums (for group policies) go to actual health care. That is already making a difference. Before the ACA debate started, our health care costs were rising about 17% a year -- a pace that had us near bankruptcy, personally and nationally. Since ACA became law, the increases are only slightly higher than inflation -- about 3% a year. Such a low rate of cost increases hasn't happened for decades. It is no coincidence.

And the second big weapon is FORCED COMPETITION, which almost sounds like a contradiction in terms. After all, "the American way" always is best because we always enjoy the blessings of free competitive markets, right?

Wrong. Most of our big markets (health, telecomm, energy, travel, you name it) are fundamentally broken, but none was broken more than health care. These exchanges really did make a difference in Massachusetts, and it looks like they will in California as well. Sadly, some primitive states (like Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi -- the usual list) will fall decades behind. But it looks like there will be a critical mass of states that take this forward. Maybe even Arizona, surprisingly. And maybe this will be the factor that finally sends Texas over the tipping point, to become a solid Blue state. When that happens, some big changes naturally follow.

Those two ACA weapons alone will not get us to parity with single payer systems, but they will get us half way there, and most importantly, get us off the path to bankruptcy.

[creeksneakers2]

13. If you buy health care on your own

You'll be charged about 5 times what the insurance companies pay for the same thing, and 10 times what Medicaid pays. Competition doesn't lower health care cost. Size and bargaining power are what are effective. The reason it costs $500 in France is because the government there has great bargaining power.

[TygrBright]

7. Wish Kaiser would expand to MY state... n/t

[ninjanurse]

8. Rhode Island

We are starting our health insurance exchange soon. It's not as good as I would wish, but we have a Medicaid expansion that will help the people who need it the most.