Insurers: Brace for fast and furious costs

As the insurance industry prepares to adjust to reform, two big players say mandated changes that kick in soon could push up premiums faster and greater than before.

"The headline for everyone is that costs will be more. Cost will definitely go up," said Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna (AET, Fortune 500), which covers more than 19 million individuals under its plans.

money.cnn.com...
As I personally said, and many many others have said.. forcing reform on insurance companies without actually reforming their practices .. WILL increase costs. Having worked inside the industry for a few years, I know how the pool system works, specifically with business packages. I couldn't fathom a way the Government could subsidize a private plan while keeping costs down..

In effect.. we have seen a HUGE tax increase to cover the expenses.. and those that were responsible enough to buy health insurance, their costs are about to sky rocket. It's going to throw the entire medical field into chaos, as the Government wont be able to pay, the people won't be able to pay, and the insurance companies simply won't pay.

Already, before the programs even kick in, a major promise is broken.. that these "reforms" would not cause insurance prices to rise.. well guess what .. they are about to shoot to the moon. Current estimates from industry leaders hint at a 1-2% increase in increases (yes you read right an increase in increases) compared to annual rates of change pre-Obamacare.

reply to post by Rockpuck


Oh C'mon, government intervention in the free market does not cause prices to soar. You are just fear mongering.

Let me give you some examples, medicare and medicaid made prices go down, farm subsidies and regulations made prices go down, housing regulations and market manipulations made prices go down...........................

Oh wait, I was either wrong or being snarky, which one do you think I was?

well, we got from now until that mandate takes effect to boycott the healthcare system in mass, then we will lose that right...
any one up for the task?
what the insurance companies are saying isn't making much sense to me.
they are saying that making them keep the kid's insurance on their working parents policies is gonna drive it through the roof, but the rest of it isn't really gonna have that big of an effect??

ummm....those kids are healthy, and well, they probably wouldn't be insured if they weren't on their parents policies....so, it seems like this would be free money...
the other things, ya know, preexisting conditions, removing the caps, ect...sounds like they'd be much more costly.

if you want my opinion, our rising unemployment has caused alot of people to lose their insurance, and drop out of the pool, leaving fewer people adding to the pot. the costs are destined to rise, regardless of whatever legislation was passed! they all know that the cost is gonna be getting steep, so well...it's time to try to force us to pay up!!

reply to post by Rockpuck


Wrong thread please remove this post.

[edit on 23-4-2010 by Intuitiveaptitude2009]

reply to post by dawnstar

well, we got from now until that mandate takes effect to boycott the healthcare system in mass, then we will lose that right...

Sadly though, its not something that can be boycotted..

they are saying that making them keep the kid's insurance on their working parents policies is gonna drive it through the roof, but the rest of it isn't really gonna have that big of an effect??

Generally as "kids" (being 23, owning my own house, paying my own bills, living 3k miles from my parents all since I was 18 I refuse to be called a kid even tho the government seems to think 24 'now 26' is the defining age of 'child'...) get older their health care problems increase.. everything from weight related illness, child birth, depression, etc. Instead of buying my own plan, I can stay on my parents.. so naturally my parents premiums will have to make up the difference.

The biggest increase will actually come from pre-existing conditions.. if you have cancer.. just go get health insurance.. well to prevent this, insurance companies will purposefully increase premiums to try and make it nearly as impossible to afford as the hospital bill would be. And as far as I can tell, there is no price fixing for the Government subsidized plan, so I don't know how their premiums will be effected.

the costs are destined to rise, regardless of whatever legislation was passed!the costs are destined to rise, regardless of whatever legislation was passed!

You'd be surprised.. when I worked in the industry I've seen people discard their policies because they simply thought they'd never get sick. And I've seen people loose everything and the only bill they pay is their insurance. Getting insurance when your young is very easy, and for the most part cheap. When you're older it gets harder, by middle age to get a new policy can be exceedingly expensive, sometimes impossible. So yes, I'd say many people have lost their insurance, especially their employer paid insurance.. but most probably kept it at all cost.

sorry if I offended you with the kid bit....kid was easier to type than 20 somethings. I don't view the increase in the parent's policies to cover these 20 somethings as an increase, since in the end, it is probably cheaper than 20 somethings who don't have employee based healthcare to go out and get their own....I'd expect an increase, a large increase, if I were to add a few of my 20 somethings onto my insurance....

actually, I think that might be the next mandate.....parents to insure the kids on their plans...weather or not they can afford to....
then again, most parents would put willing to put themselves in that kind of proverty, just to keep their kids from getting slapped with those kinds of fines and such for not being covered....so maybe they won't have to go that far.

do some study into herbs and such, and well, you might find the healthcare system more easily avoided??

reply to post by dawnstar

sorry if I offended you with the kid bit

lol.. no .. more like after 5 years of filling out Fasfa papers based on people I don't live with deciding how much I pay. Regardless of living off raman noodles I was apparently to rich, to white, to male to get any assistance, but then denied loans because I didn't make enough. When I rented a moving truck a few days ago, I had to pay an "underage" fee because I'm 2 months shy of 24.

Fact is 20 somethings DO have medical bills.. the idea that all 20 somethings are healthy is false. Adding them to insurance just means they are more likely to go to the doctor and get an expensive medication. but I don't think that will be the largest increase area.. it will definitely be adding the pre existing conditions.

do some study into herbs and such, and well, you might find the healthcare system more easily avoided??

I agree! .. or in many cases, NOT going to the ER because your child has a fever. Or not eating like a hog, inhaling big macs every day. So many things could be done by us to reduce the cost of medical care.

ever try to call around and get an estimate for a service that you need....
that's a joke and a half, and I am serious when I do it! they will never, ever, give me a pricetag, not even an estimate, usually, the person I am talking to has no idea themselves.
my kids were in the same predicament as you were when it came time for college, we made too much money, they didn't have the credit history for a loan, and well....I just don't see how them going into debt like that to get an education is really gonna be that helpful...by the time you take those loan payments out of their checks, they probably would be worse off than they are now, without an education.