Soaring Cost Estimate Prompts Health Law Doubts

It looks like the Obama budget has slipped a 30% increase in the health insurance mandate cost !!

And it's not even in full swing yet !!

The House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich) is demanding an explanation.

At issue are subsidies that will be provided under the health care law to help middle class people buy private coverage in new state insurance markets that open for business in 2014.

Last year's budget estimated the cost of the aid to be $367 billion from 2014-2021. This year's budget puts it at $478 billion over the same period.

that's a $111 Billion increase !!
Gulp & Choke

The revised health care overhaul numbers, buried deep in the president's budget, stumped lawmakers and some administration officials earlier in the week. At a congressional hearing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who is in charge of carrying out the health care law, indicated she was unaware of the changes.

What ELSE is she "unaware" of ?



Still a hint of employers dropping the options ?

Republicans say they're concerned about two possibilities: that the estimated cost of the insurance has gone up, or that the administration has quietly determined that more people will be losing employer coverage as a result of Obama's overhaul. That means they'd have to purchase coverage in the new government-subsidized markets, called exchanges.

Either of those explanations could have major consequences for taxpayers and the nation's health care system.

I keep getting confused as to why "middle-class" people will need subsidies ?

I thought the employers are going to "provide"
( no "mandate" for them ? )

Unless this is for the "unemployed" middle class ?

What will the "lower class" people do ?


The whole Obama'sCare program is sounding more and more like a "bailout" for the insurance companies.
(who never got much if anything from the "stimulus" packages)

And at the same time, a guarantee for high medical prices for the corporatized health industry


When will this hit a $Trillion ?

Well, remember Nancy Pelosi's words? We'd have to pass it to see what was in it. Now I guess we have to wait for it to go into full effect before we can believe we've seen how it will finally stop morphing.

Talk about a bad idea that gets worse with time.

reply to post by xuenchen


Surprise!

Not really..

I keep getting confused as to why "middle-class" people will need subsidies ? I thought the employers are going to "provide" ( no "mandate" for them ? )

For employers if they do not offer health insurance to employees they have to pay a fee (because calling it a fine would just be oh so draconian you know.. ) which is a fraction of the cost to cover even 50% of health costs.

I know many small business owners, including many close friends.. every single one of them are dropping all health benefits once the "Exchanges" open in 2014. The majority will offer disability benefits, life insurance and a few other benefits.. but absolutely no health benefits.

The cost of insurance is going to skyrocket.

The whole Obama'sCare program is sounding more and more like a "bailout" for the insurance companies.

I spent 3 years working in insurance and hated every second of it.. dirty, sleazy, corrupt companies. But depending on how the exchanges will operate, I might jump back in because it could be lucrative. Insurance companies are going to make a freaking killing once everyone is mandated to buy private insurance.. Some people have pointed out that Auto insurance is mandatory and it didn't cause a huge spike in profits of inflation (which it actually did once states began mandating it..) however the costs differences is where the profit will be. To cover a family of 4 the average price is right around $500 (depending on how liberal your state is) once the Exchange opens to cover a family will likely be around $700+ a month, with 20%+ increases year over year.

Eventually it will become unbearable .. we will be screaming for help. What will the Government do? Pass legislation to create a health care tax, using the tax as credits per person towards the exchange .. slowly nationalizing in the name of fixing the system that they built to be broken.