Even with the new political order:
"Health-policy renewals may bring surprise jump in rates; Inaccurate data skew estimates; consumers urged to shop around" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar | Associated Press July 28, 2014
WASHINGTON — If you have health insurance on your job, you probably don’t give much thought to each year’s renewal. But make the same assumption in one of the new health law plans, and it could lead to costly surprises.
Wait until you see WHEN!
Insurance exchange customers who opt for convenience by automatically renewing their coverage for 2015 are likely to receive dated and inaccurate financial aid amounts from the government, say industry officials, advocates, and health care observers.
They are going to shortchange you?
If those amounts are too low, consumers could get sticker shock over their new premiums. Too high, and they’ll owe taxes later.
In either case, not good for Obama and thus Democrats. Now WHEN will this take place?
Automatic renewal was supposed to make the next open enrollment under President Obama’s health care overhaul smooth for consumers.
WHEN?
But unless the administration changes its 2015 approach, ‘‘they’re setting people up for large and avoidable premium increases,’’ said researcher Caroline Pearson, who follows the health law for the market analysis firm Avalere Health.
Obummer may issue an waiver in the form of an impeachable executive order then.
It could be a new twist on an old public relations headache for the White House: You keep the health plan you like but get billed way more.
It will dredge up that LIE HE TOLD?
************
Here’s the issue, in a nutshell:
To streamline next year’s open enrollment season, the Health and Human Services Department recently proposed offering automatic renewal to 8 million consumers who are already signed up.
But the fine print of the HHS announcement said consumers who auto-enroll will get ‘‘the exact dollar amount’’ of financial aid they are receiving this year.
That’s likely to be a problem for a couple of reasons, beyond inflation.
Hard to believe this was all for your good, 'eh?
First, financial aid is partly based on premiums for a current benchmark plan in the community where the consumer lives.
Because more plans are joining the market and insurers are submitting entirely new bids for 2015, the benchmark in many communities will be different.
Second, financial aid is also based on household income. If your income goes down, you are entitled to a bigger health insurance tax credit. If it goes up, you get less.
The 2014 amounts could well be out of date and incorrect for many people. Financial assistance is also affected by age, family size, and where people live.
And that doesn’t get into another motivation for consumers to shop around: Premiums and choices for 2015 are changing, so your current plan may no longer be a good deal.
Can't they come up with a decent set of policies for basic insurance?
‘‘Just continuing in the same plan with the same credit is not going to be the optimal outcome for most people,’’ said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income people. ‘‘Your 2014 credit is going to be lower in most cases, and in some cases it could be too high.’’
About 8 in 10 of those who signed up for private coverage under the health care law are getting financial aid.
In the 36 states served by the federal insurance exchange, the tax credits average $264 a month, reducing the average monthly premium of $346 to just $82.
Even with such generous subsidies, about 4 in 10 who bought a health law plan say they have trouble paying their premiums, according to a poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
And those are the alleged supporters.
Open enrollment starts Nov. 15, and consumers who already have a policy will have about a month to renew or make changes to avoid a break in coverage Jan. 1.
Oh, WOW!
That's like a WEEK AFTER the ELECTIONS, and if you don't think that will be an issue for months before the campaign.... oh, wow! Say goodbye to the Senate with reduced numbers in the House, Democraps.
Millions of new customers are also expected to try to sign up for the first time.
Doesn't it seem like you just signed up for it (because you did about 5 months ago)?
New Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell is hoping that automatic renewal will simplify things, a welcome change from this year’s website problems.
Hoping in the face of facts!!
But the subsidy scheme created by Congress to keep premiums affordable has so many moving parts that it’s turning out to be difficult for the government to administer.
!!!!!!!!
WhoTF wrote this thing, and how could anyone have voted for it?
WTF?!!!!
Administration spokesman Aaron Albright says all consumers are encouraged to contact their health insurance exchange to update any changes in personal and financial details.
That's the problem, you see? We want the good coverage simply to be there, don't want to have to worry about, don't want to have to compare and shop every year, want it like they have in the rest of the industrialized world.
You can do that at any time, before the open-enrollment crunch. However, you will have to wait until the fall to change to a new plan for next year.
I just saw Democrat political prospects taking a huge hit.
Even if the financial aid amounts are off the mark, some advocates say, auto renewal is still a safeguard to keep some people from falling through the cracks.
‘‘It is not a perfect solution, but I’m not sure that there is a better solution in terms of protecting people so they don’t lose health coverage,’’ said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group supporting the overhaul.
I'm Sicko over a better solution.
Pick a country, pick a plan, and the geniuses of corporate AmeriKa can certainly develop a system. I mean, the banks devised all those devious looting schemes that were so complicated. How can health be that hard?
The subsidies are widely seen as essential to the success of the health care law, which was adopted in 2010 and is considered Obama’s most important legislative achievement.
In other words, the TOP FAILURE of a FAILED PRESIDENCY because that is where we are right now.
The administration last week issued new tax forms as part of the effort to enforce provisions of the law that require most Americans to have insurance and to repay any excess subsidies.
The forms require taxpayers to report whether members of their household had coverage for all or part of the year. If they were uninsured for part of the year, they are expected to pay penalties, which for some taxpayers could be nearly 1 percent of their adjusted gross income.
OMG, it is AT BOTTOM a CASH GRAB!
Can't get the site or information correct, but they can hustle out the tax forms to you!
OMG!!!
What if the government websites can't verify your information? Still have to pay a penalty?
--more--"
I think the VA got it right, but there is no sign of it in this administration.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Medicare’s financial health improving, checkup suggests
They $till don't get it.
UPDATE: Appeals court rejects tax challenge to Obamacare
