Monday, December 23, 2013

ObamaCare Disaster: Sticker Shock

From the Denver Post:
As a key enrollment deadline hits Monday, many people without health insurance have been sizing up policies on the new government health care marketplace and making what seems like a logical choice: They're picking the cheapest one.
Increasingly, experts in health insurance are becoming concerned that many of these first-time buyers will be in for a shock when they get medical care next year and discover they're on the hook for most of the initial cost.
The prospect of sticker shock after Jan. 1, when those who sign up for policies now can begin getting coverage, is seen as a problem for a new national system that has been plagued by trouble since the marketplaces went online in October.
For those without insurance — about 15 percent of the population— "the lesson is it's important to understand the total cost of ownership of a plan," said Matt Eyles, a vice president of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. "You just don't want to look only at the premium."
Counselors who have been helping people choose policies say many are focused on the upfront cost, not what the insurance companies agree to pay.
"I am so deeply clueless about all of this," said one new buyer, Adrienne Matzen, 29, an actress in Chicago who has mostly been without insurance since she turned 21. Though she needs regular care for asthma and a thyroid condition, she says she is looking for a low monthly premium because she makes less than $20,000 a year.
Hospitals worry that those who rack up uncovered medical bills next year won't be able to pay them, perpetuating a problem that the new health care system is supposed to solve.
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_24778739/experts-worry-about-sticker-shock-cheap-health-care
Whoever thinks ObamaCare is a good bill as it is being implemented is a complete fool, and that includes President Obama and the Democrats.

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