Online Insurance Brokers Stymied Selling Obamacare Policies

Consumers aren't the only ones frustrated by problems with the online health insurance exchanges being run by the feds.

Private companies that sell health insurance on the Internet are also in a bind. Websites like eHealthInsurance.com that were planning to start selling new, subsidized Obamacare policies on Oct. 1 still can't offer them to customers.

Call operators answer phones on the first day of Obamacare at an eHealthInsurance Services Inc. call center in Sacramento, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 1 2013. (Photo by Ken James/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

First off, the online brokers got a late start. They didn't get permission to sell exchange plans until late July. And the companies say they got plan information data too late to test it sufficiently. The Obama administration declined to comment on the nature of the problems that have the online brokers stuck.

eHealthInsurance.com has been selling health coverage online since 1999. Then, the Affordable Care Act passed and the federal government said it was going to open online insurance shopping sites. Gary Lauer, CEO of eHealth, the company behind the site, fought long and hard for the right for private firms like his to compete. The government finally relented.

But at this point, many consumers still can't shop for these plans on commercial sites, and Lauer says he has no firm date for when they'll be able to.

"I hope in the next few weeks, and I've been saying that for the past couple of weeks," Lauer says. "We're somewhat dependent on this federal exchange working in a stable fashion."

Via: Kaiser Health News

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Thousands Of Consumers Get Insurance Cancellation Notices Due To Health Law Changes

Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.

The main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. Most are ending policies sold after the law passed in March 2010.  At least a few are cancelling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost -- especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify. The law requires policies sold in the individual market to cover 10 “essential” benefits, such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care. In addition, insurers cannot reject people with medical problems or charge them higher prices. The policies must also cap consumers’ annual expenses at levels lower than many plans sold before the new rules.

But the cancellation notices, which began arriving in August, have shocked many consumers in light of President Barack Obama’s promise that people could keep their plans if they liked them. 

“I don’t feel like I need to change, but I have to,” said Jeff Learned, a television editor in Los Angeles, who must find a new plan for his teenage daughter, who has a health condition that has required multiple surgeries.

An estimated 14 million people purchase their own coverage because they don’t get it through their jobs. Calls to insurers in several states showed that many have sent notices.

Florida Blue, for example, is terminating about 300,000 policies, about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 people – about half of its individual business in the state.  Insurer Highmark in Pittsburgh is dropping about 20 percent of its individual market customers, while Independence Blue Cross, the major insurer in Philadelphia, is dropping about 45 percent.

Via: Kaiser Health News

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Obamacare will double my monthly premium (according to Kaiser)

My wife and I just got our updates from Kaiser telling us what our 2014 rates will be. Her monthly has been $168 this year, mine $150. We have a high deductible. We are generally healthy people who don't go to the doctor often. I barely ever go. The insurance is in case of a major catastrophe.

Well, now, because of Obamacare, my wife's rate is gong to $302 per month and mine is jumping to $284.

I am canceling insurance for us and I am not paying any fucking penalty. What the hell kind of reform is this?

Oh, ok, if we qualify, we can get some government assistance. Great. So now I have to jump through another hoop to just chisel some of this off. And we don't qualify, anyway, so what's the point?

I never felt too good about how this was passed and what it entailed, but I figured if it saved Americans money, I could go along with it.

I don't know what to think now. This appears, in my experience, to not be a reform for the people.

What am I missing?

I realize I will probably get screamed at for posting this, but I can't imagine I am the only Californian who just received a rate increase from Kaiser based on these new laws.

UPDATE: Updated the title per some requests. I appreciate all the helpful comments. I am   now on baby duty but will go through these later for more information. I can't keep up with all the comments right now.

I really do appreciate the helpful comments. Peace all. Peace out

Via: Daily Kos

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OBAMACARE FACEBOOK ERUPTS WITH CITIZEN STICKER SHOCK

On Thursday, the government's official Obamacare Facebook page was riddled with people expressing sticker shock over the government's high cost premiums after struggling for hours to wade through the technical failures vexing Obamacare exchanges all across the country.  

"I am so disappointed," wrote one woman. "These prices are outrageous and there are huge deductibles. No one can afford this!" The comment received 169 "likes." 

"There is NO WAY I can afford it," said one commenter after using the Kaiser Subsidy Calculator. "Heck right now I couldn't afford an extra 10$ [sic] a month...and oh apparently I make to [sic] much at 8.55/hour to get subsidies."

Another person shared a link found on the federal government's main Obamacare page listing premium estimates for small business employers:

The information is not very complete as I don't see anything about deductible or other detailed info, but it does given an actual price as to the "Premium." It is VERY SCARY!! For example, my insurance plan right now for my spouse and I costs $545 a month with 100% coverage after my $2500 deductible. We are both 32 years old. When I looked at this site for 80% coverage it says it will be $954.78 a month!!!! So compare my old Plan: 100% coverage for $545 a month To New Plan: 80% Coverage for $945 a month. This is only only an estimate but it is VERY Scary for me to see this kind of increase in rates and reduction in benefits!

A single mother of two said she is in school and working full-time while living "75% below the poverty level." She said she was shocked to learn she did not qualify for a healthcare subsidy. "Are you F'ing kidding me????" she wrote on the government's Obamacare Facebook page. "Where the HELL am I supposed to get $3,000 more a year to pay for this 'bronze' health insurance plan!?!??? And I DO NOT EVEN WANT INSURANCE to begin with!! This is frightening," she wrote.

Via: Breitbart

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Government charges SEIU with intimidation and threats

Kicking in screen doors, shouting down union members, threatening assault, lying about wages and benefits, and destruction and removal of personal property.

The State of California has officially charged SEIU with all these illegal acts, and more. Three years after Fresno homecare workers filed complaints that SEIU broke the law with lies, threats and intimidation in their 2009 election to leave SEIU, the government agency charged with protecting public employees has filed an official complaint against SEIU-UHW.

The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) cited SEIU’s “physical and verbal threats,” “menacing and abusive behavior,” “unlawful destruction and removal” of property and a campaign of lies about wages and benefits intended to mislead 10,000 Fresno homecare workers into voting to stay trapped in SEIU.

FOX News Fresno covered the complaint, and showed chilling footage of SEIU-UHW CEO Dave Regan screaming and urging 1,000 SEIU staffers assembled in Fresno to “kick those S.O.B.s in Fresno County.”

The coverage goes on to show a Fresno homecare worker testifying that SEIU “pressured me into voting for them.  The SEIU came and threatened that they will come everyday, all the time.”

As a healthcare worker in Fresno, this  coverage disturbs me. Why would any healthcare union act this way?  As a Kaiser worker, knowing that SEIU also broke the law and lied and intimidated workers in our 2010 election, this coverage makes me angry.

But, with yet another government agency filing charges that SEIU broke the law and violated workers’ rights, my bottom line question is simple:   

Why on earth is Kaiser management celebrating their “partnership” with Dave Regan and SEIU

Via:NUHW

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