Define Affordable

ObamaCare's Costly Benefit Mandates Are Only the Beginning

Posted 02/21/2013 06:42 PM ET



ObamaCare: The Obama administration released its final rule Wednesday on the "essential benefits" to be part of health plans sold under ObamaCare. Small businesses say it will cost too much. They don't know the half of it.

There's no question that ObamaCare's benefit mandate will cost us all more money.

It bans plans from charging any patients anything for "preventive" services. It requires they cover mental health and substance abuse treatment, and pediatric dental and vision care, and it requires that insurance plans pay for "habilitative services" for those with medical conditions who want to learn new skills — benefits few individual or small group plans provide today.

Plus, there will be limits on out-of-pocket costs and deductibles that will be lower than many existing plans in these markets today.

More free benefits! Less out-of-pocket costs! Who could complain? Left unsaid, of course, is the fact that all these goodies will drive up the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.

Before the Health and Human Services department issued its "final rule," various small-business groups pushed the administration to pare back the list of essential benefits, citing "growing concern among insurance analysts that coverage will be unaffordable in the new health care exchanges."

To no avail. As a writer for Health Affairs put it, "HHS apparently believed it had hit the right balance between cost and coverage in the proposed rule."

Just how HHS would know this, given that few, if any, of the bureaucrats trying to strike this balance have ever run a business, is unclear.

But however unaffordable ObamaCare's list of mandated benefits is today, it will get worse in the future as advocacy groups mount nonstop lobbying campaigns to get their services included as "essential benefits."

That, at least, has been the experience at the state level, which has seen the list of benefit mandates climb from 850 in 1992 to nearly 2,300 today, and includes everything from circumcisions to breast implant removal, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance. These mandates add anywhere from 10% to 50% to the cost of insurance.

ObamaCare will increase pressure on states to expand their benefit mandate list as well, since everyone will now be required to buy insurance.

The official name of ObamaCare is the "Affordable Care Act." Is there anyone out there who actually still believes that this law will live up to its name?

Define Affordable

ObamaCare's Costly Benefit Mandates Are Only the Beginning

Posted 02/21/2013 06:42 PM ET



ObamaCare: The Obama administration released its final rule Wednesday on the "essential benefits" to be part of health plans sold under ObamaCare. Small businesses say it will cost too much. They don't know the half of it.

There's no question that ObamaCare's benefit mandate will cost us all more money.

It bans plans from charging any patients anything for "preventive" services. It requires they cover mental health and substance abuse treatment, and pediatric dental and vision care, and it requires that insurance plans pay for "habilitative services" for those with medical conditions who want to learn new skills — benefits few individual or small group plans provide today.

Plus, there will be limits on out-of-pocket costs and deductibles that will be lower than many existing plans in these markets today.

More free benefits! Less out-of-pocket costs! Who could complain? Left unsaid, of course, is the fact that all these goodies will drive up the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.

Before the Health and Human Services department issued its "final rule," various small-business groups pushed the administration to pare back the list of essential benefits, citing "growing concern among insurance analysts that coverage will be unaffordable in the new health care exchanges."

To no avail. As a writer for Health Affairs put it, "HHS apparently believed it had hit the right balance between cost and coverage in the proposed rule."

Just how HHS would know this, given that few, if any, of the bureaucrats trying to strike this balance have ever run a business, is unclear.

But however unaffordable ObamaCare's list of mandated benefits is today, it will get worse in the future as advocacy groups mount nonstop lobbying campaigns to get their services included as "essential benefits."

That, at least, has been the experience at the state level, which has seen the list of benefit mandates climb from 850 in 1992 to nearly 2,300 today, and includes everything from circumcisions to breast implant removal, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance. These mandates add anywhere from 10% to 50% to the cost of insurance.

ObamaCare will increase pressure on states to expand their benefit mandate list as well, since everyone will now be required to buy insurance.

The official name of ObamaCare is the "Affordable Care Act." Is there anyone out there who actually still believes that this law will live up to its name?

Define Affordable

My property taxes are paying nearly $25 K per teacher for health insurance for a family policy. Please tell me how a public union can demand that a taxing authority be made to pay that much money to a PRIVATE company for insurance. It's insane that more than 1/3 of my state is employed by government - either state or local - with unions demanding that the taxing authority provide insurance at obscene prices. The insurance companies don't need the rest of us for their profits. No free market here. We need a single payer system - period. I have the best health care that this country offers. The government owns my hospitals and clinics, owns the testing equipment, pays all my health care providers a salary and a good one, no insurance involved, I don't get it for free - my health care costs average $200-$300 a month, which is OK - and I get HEALTH CARE - and I AM PORTABLE. I can get health care in any state that I travel to. I AM A VETERAN. The money paid for insurance is not going for health care but to the bottom line of the insurance companies - screw them. Let their employees go out and grow something, make something or mine something and become useful instead of just pushing money and tapping the flow through the system while denying care for people who need the care. Talk about death panels - what do you think insurance companies are? We need to get away entirely from employer provided insurance - everyone must buy their own just like car insurance oh wait - the teachers have to drive to school - we should probably buy the poor babies car insurance too. Watch the prices drop dramatically when employers - especially the government, get out of the picture. Watch the doctors demand a salary with no paperwork. Watch the hospitals say - will the government run us and pay our people salaries. Watch the system settle down into something sane instead of out of control and the citizens actually get health care.
Mary Anne

Affordable? OOPS!

Sept. of 2009: "I will not sign the Affordable Healthcare Bill if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period."

FEBRUARY 26, 2013
Obamacare to cost $6.2 trillion according to Government

Edited by Rogerdodger, 26 February 2013 - 02:27 PM.

ObamaCare's Costly Benefit Mandates Are Only the Beginning

Posted 02/21/2013 06:42 PM ET



ObamaCare: The Obama administration released its final rule Wednesday on the "essential benefits" to be part of health plans sold under ObamaCare. Small businesses say it will cost too much. They don't know the half of it.

There's no question that ObamaCare's benefit mandate will cost us all more money.

It bans plans from charging any patients anything for "preventive" services. It requires they cover mental health and substance abuse treatment, and pediatric dental and vision care, and it requires that insurance plans pay for "habilitative services" for those with medical conditions who want to learn new skills — benefits few individual or small group plans provide today.

Plus, there will be limits on out-of-pocket costs and deductibles that will be lower than many existing plans in these markets today.

More free benefits! Less out-of-pocket costs! Who could complain? Left unsaid, of course, is the fact that all these goodies will drive up the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.

Before the Health and Human Services department issued its "final rule," various small-business groups pushed the administration to pare back the list of essential benefits, citing "growing concern among insurance analysts that coverage will be unaffordable in the new health care exchanges."

To no avail. As a writer for Health Affairs put it, "HHS apparently believed it had hit the right balance between cost and coverage in the proposed rule."

Just how HHS would know this, given that few, if any, of the bureaucrats trying to strike this balance have ever run a business, is unclear.

But however unaffordable ObamaCare's list of mandated benefits is today, it will get worse in the future as advocacy groups mount nonstop lobbying campaigns to get their services included as "essential benefits."

That, at least, has been the experience at the state level, which has seen the list of benefit mandates climb from 850 in 1992 to nearly 2,300 today, and includes everything from circumcisions to breast implant removal, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance. These mandates add anywhere from 10% to 50% to the cost of insurance.

ObamaCare will increase pressure on states to expand their benefit mandate list as well, since everyone will now be required to buy insurance.

The official name of ObamaCare is the "Affordable Care Act." Is there anyone out there who actually still believes that this law will live up to its name?

Define Affordable

My property taxes are paying nearly $25 K per teacher for health insurance for a family policy. Please tell me how a public union can demand that a taxing authority be made to pay that much money to a PRIVATE company for insurance. It's insane that more than 1/3 of my state is employed by government - either state or local - with unions demanding that the taxing authority provide insurance at obscene prices. The insurance companies don't need the rest of us for their profits. No free market here. We need a single payer system - period. I have the best health care that this country offers. The government owns my hospitals and clinics, owns the testing equipment, pays all my health care providers a salary and a good one, no insurance involved, I don't get it for free - my health care costs average $200-$300 a month, which is OK - and I get HEALTH CARE - and I AM PORTABLE. I can get health care in any state that I travel to. I AM A VETERAN. The money paid for insurance is not going for health care but to the bottom line of the insurance companies - screw them. Let their employees go out and grow something, make something or mine something and become useful instead of just pushing money and tapping the flow through the system while denying care for people who need the care. Talk about death panels - what do you think insurance companies are? We need to get away entirely from employer provided insurance - everyone must buy their own just like car insurance oh wait - the teachers have to drive to school - we should probably buy the poor babies car insurance too. Watch the prices drop dramatically when employers - especially the government, get out of the picture. Watch the doctors demand a salary with no paperwork. Watch the hospitals say - will the government run us and pay our people salaries. Watch the system settle down into something sane instead of out of control and the citizens actually get health care.
Mary Anne

MaryAM

How about employees pay a tax for basic insurance FROM their paypacket.

We did it in Aus starting with just 1% of gross income.

This puts no burden on employers.

Of course this is basic coverage and those unemployed too are covered.

There is therefore no problems with changing jobs or being unemployed.

If you want "elective" surgery then take added private.

If you want "instant" care for things like hip replacement etc. then take added private.

All too easy.

Can't see why the US make it so complicated.

We need a single payer system - period.

There is no one answer to the health insurance issue. And, it will be getting more stressed in the future as the population of the USA ages.

Look at the UK. With all the years and experience they have; their health system is failing. Canadians come to the USA because the waiting list for some procedures are too long.

I don't see any improvement coming in the future, but more of the same in the USA.

One thing that could help would be allowing the sale of generic health insurance policies nation wide instead. Each state makes the laws for health coverage which is why we have so many health insurance companies and the associated overhead.

We need a single payer system - period.

There is no one answer to the health insurance issue. And, it will be getting more stressed in the future as the population of the USA ages.

Look at the UK. With all the years and experience they have; their health system is failing. Canadians come to the USA because the waiting list for some procedures are too long.

I don't see any improvement coming in the future, but more of the same in the USA.

One thing that could help would be allowing the sale of generic health insurance policies nation wide instead. Each state makes the laws for health coverage which is why we have so many health insurance companies and the associated overhead.

In addition to national or at least regional insurance policies (the difference between state regulations on premiums can be huge) I would also add tort reform and incorporation of health savings accounts. These would be a good incremental start and then evaluate where we are.