Report: Healthcare fee to raise insurance costs by billions

article from The Hill
By Elise Viebeck - 06/08/12

Report: Healthcare fee to raise insurance costs by billions
Well here we go again !

Another ObamaCare "fee" that will ultimately cause health insurance rates to go up !!

It seems we keep finding these things as we continue to "read" the bill !!

This one "mandates" a fee to be paid by the insurance companies to the government !!

An annual fee to raise money for President Obama's healthcare law will increase insurance premiums by billions of dollars on the whole, according to a new report by a conservative think tank.

The American Action Forum, led by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, argued that the annual fee from insurers starting in 2014 amounts to a tax on the middle class.

The fees will escalate each year after 2014 based on insurers' premium revenue and are not tax deductible, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

And it's a whopper !!

"The data suggest that roughly 85 percent of the burden will come out of the wallets of those making less than $100,000," American Action Forum said in a statement.

The fee will raise $8 billion in its first year. Holtz-Eakin calculated that this figure will translate to an aggregate premium increase of $10.6 billion, including $2.8 billion from policyholders with incomes between $10,000 and $30,000.

Another $2.2 billion would come from people with incomes between $30,000 and $50,000, while a comparatively small portion — $41 million — would come from the most affluent, the report concluded.

Nancy Pelosi said, "But we have to pass the [health care ] bill so that you can find out what is in it."

How will YOU pay ??

reply to post by xuenchen


Obama's healthcare bill will fail in the Supreme Court.

What is dangerous, is if he gets re-elected and tries again.

reply to post by xuenchen


Maybe you can answer this question for me.

I haven't read the bill so excuse me.

Can you just totally opt out of health care? I heard something, somewhere there would be fines involved.

Thanks.

reply to post by litterbaux
Ironically enough, I believe the penalties for not being in, are cheaper.

(I'll have to check though)

reply to post by beezzer


After thinking about it.

You are being taxed regardless. You pay (in taxes) for healthcare or you pay (in penalties) for not being in the healthcare.

Your choices are pay, or pay.

Sounds like the Kenyan dictionary definition of freedom.
*in my best Obama voice* You have a choice, pay here... or pay here.... *insert applause here*

Originally posted by litterbaux
reply to post by xuenchen

 

Maybe you can answer this question for me.

I haven't read the bill so excuse me.

Can you just totally opt out of health care? I heard something, somewhere there would be fines involved.

Thanks.

Don't be worried about "not reading" the bill.

It's long and very complicated.

The Supreme Court may never read the whole thing either !!
(I think they even said so !)

It's a boondoggle white elephant.

Here's an article from April 2010.

It seems to explain the 'deal".

AP reports that “4 million Americans — the vast majority of them middle class — will have to pay the new penalty for not getting health insurance when President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law kicks in, according to congressional estimates released Thursday. The penalties will average a little more than $1,000 apiece in 2016, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report.”

Penalties will be phased in from 2014. By 2016, the fine will be $695 or 2.5% of household income, whichever is greater. More than a dozen states are challenging the individual mandate in federal court as unconstitutional.

If only candidate Obama could explain to President Obama why mandates aren’t such a good idea:

Back in 2008, he ripped Hillary Clinton for supporting a mandate, claiming that was a “genuine difference” between them.

Four Million Americans To Pay ObamaCare Fine In 2016

here's a related thread:
IRS Already Gearing Up for Health-Care Crackdown