Huge health insurance rate increases in store for 2016

[dismal]

But I digress, the ACA does have the 80% min loss ratio provision which allows for 15-17% expenses and a 3-5% profit margin. The problem is that in some states, these insurers are reporting a 110% loss ratio.

aa

...suggesting to me gross negligence, even incompetence, on the part of the insurance companies in their marketing and customer recruitment, or, in their evaluation methodology, or, more likely, both. Of course what some are saying might be right. This is a starting, marketing, claim that will be adjusted to more realistic numbers by the time new rates are actually fixed.

Isn't "marketing" in the era of Obamacare listing your product on the Obamacare website that the government spent hundreds millions to build and promote? And will slap you with a fine if you don't buy the product?

 

[Togo]

I don't think Oregon is some kind of bellweather for the rest of the country. They've had below average rates for several years. And if we all lost our collective shit every time an insurer asked for a rate increase we'd never leave the bathroom. Saying "insurers are asking for rate increases in my state therefore the ACA is a failure" is analogous to "It's below freezing in the winter in my state therefore global warming is a hoax".

aa

You should take this up with the people who were so hasty to downplay the insurance companies asking for big rate increases.

The issue here, in my opinion, is not so much the insurance companies asking for rate big rate increase so much as the costs per insured appear to be wildly higher than anyone projected because the pool of insured is older and sicker than expected.

Is there any evidence for that apart from treating Oregan as a bellweather for the rest of the country, just as Alcoholic Actuary said?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The issue here, in my opinion, is not so much the insurance companies asking for rate big rate increase so much as the costs per insured appear to be wildly higher than anyone projected because the pool of insured is older and sicker than expected.

Which is reason number one why you needed some form of health care reform. If your previous system made it that you weren't even aware of this problem in your country, then everything you were doing was wrong.