ObamaCare Insurance Risk Corridor Nearly Depleted, S&P Warns

Obamacare is a failure many times over no matter how the administration and the propaganda machine spins it.  Increased costs, increased emergency room visits, lower enrollment rates than predicted and bankrupt healthcare 'coops' are just a few of the failings of  Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.  Executive action delaying the rest of the roll-out until next year and later will not stop the inevitable failure of Obamacare.  As The Hill reports, Obamacare was sold using many BIG lies as a few more come to light.

A key ObamaCare program intended to cushion health insurers from high costs is facing a massive cash shortage going into 2016, Standard and Poor’s said Thursday. 

Under the so-called “risk corridor” program, the Obama administration charges insurers with more-than-expected profits and redistributes the money to plans with losses.

In the first two years of the healthcare law, more insurers than expected have ended up with balance sheets in the red. As a result, the risk pool now has only about $1 to cover every $10 in claims – an equation that is not likely to improve until the market stabilizes. 

“We estimate that that the 2015 ACA risk corridor will be significantly underfunded, as was the case the previous year,” Standard and Poor’s analyst Deep Banerjee predicted in a report Thursday. 

Banerjee said external funding would likely be needed to add to the funds in 2016, a move that would likely have to be made by Congress. 

Federal health officials had expected a rough few years after new rules that said insurers couldn’t reject customers with pre-existing conditions – adding more risk to the marketplace. 

But the risk pool has been depleted faster than expected as insurers intentionally lowered costs in the early days of the ObamaCare maketable with hopes of reeling in new customers. 

The situation could improve this year, with more insurers raising their premiums, Banerjee said.

The risk pool was designed for insurance companies to offer artificially low premiums to entice customers to their plans and enabled the Democrats to say these rates are proof Obamcare was a good deal. Of course now the premiums are rising many times faster than inflation so what is left? Skyrocketing premiums and more deficit spending by bailing out Obamacare with tax money as the article concludes. Where will the Democrats find the funds for their fiasco? ( Incidentally, Barack Obama is the president that asked for and signed 'pay as you go' ).

“In our view, it looks like appropriations may be the only way to fully fund the risk corridor deficits,” the analysis warned.\

 Obamacare was designed to fail and was based on LIES.. It was always a Trojan Horse for a single payer government controlled healthcare system The Democratic party's zero information voter base was expertly exploited by Obama's apparatchiks and they relied heavily on the stupidity of the Democratic voter and their representatives to get Obamacare passed, just as they will when they push for single payer 'medicare for all' .



BTW, single payer is a failure, just ask Vermont....



Other blogs on Obamacare

MN Individual Healthcare Premiums Increase Up to 49%

Overhead costs exploding under ObamaCare

Jonathan Gruber Had Larger Role in ObamaCare Than Previously Known

Nation’s 'Elite' Cancer Hospitals Off-Limits Under Obamacare

Obamacare: MN Individual Health Insurance Rates to Increase 20 - 50% in 2016

Excerpt from the MN StarTribune:

Thousands of Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own are bracing for final word on whether their premiums will spike next year. 

On Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce is scheduled to release 2016 rates for shoppers who buy individual policies. 

Four insurers that collectively cover most people in the market are seeking average increases of more than 20 percent each, including a proposed jump of more than 50 percent for about 179,000 people with coverage from Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — the state’s largest health insurer. 

In ruling on the requests, regulators must walk a line between satisfying consumers who want low rates and insurers who say the business can’t be sustained at current premium levels. 

“We are dying here under the weight of insurance premiums,” Kristi Nelson, 53, of Hastings, wrote Commerce Department officials in opposition to a possible rate increase. “It’s like being dropped off a cliff every year when the new premiums come out.” 

The proposed rates apply to Minnesota’s individual market, where roughly 6 percent of state residents bought coverage last year. That market has changed markedly with the federal Affordable Care Act.

Overhead costs exploding under ObamaCare

The Obamacare law was passed without transparency, was based on lies and relied on the stupidity of the Democrat voter. The failure of Obama's 'signature' legislation is evident reading many different news items. 

Overhead costs exploding under ObamaCare

Five years after the passage of ObamaCare, there is one expense that’s still causing sticker shock across the healthcare industry: overhead costs. 

The administrative costs for healthcare plans are expected to explode by more than a quarter of a trillion dollars over the next decade, according to a new study published by the Health Affairs blog.   

The $270 billion in new costs, for both private insurance companies and government programs, will be “over and above what would have been expected had the law not been enacted,” one of the authors, David Himmelstein, wrote Wednesday. 

Those costs will be particularly high this year, when overhead is expected to make up 45 percent of all federal spending related to the Affordable Care Act. By 2022, that ratio will decrease to about 20 percent of federal spending related to the law. 

The study is based on data from both the government’s National Health Expenditure Projections and the Congressional Budget Office. Both authors are members of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for a single-payer system. 

"This number – 22.5 percent of all new spending going into overheard – is shocking even to me, to be honest. It’s almost one out of every four dollars is just going to bureaucracy," the study's other author, Steffie Woolhandler, said Wednesday...

A breakdown of the costs...... 

The extra administrative costs amount to the equivalent of $1,375 per newly insured person per year, the authors write.

About two-thirds of the new overhead costs are the result of rising enrollment in private plans, which the authors say carries “high costs for administration and profits.” 

The rest is the result of expanded government programs, such as Medicaid. It also includes the cost of running ObamaCare exchanges at both the federal and state levels. 

The federal exchange, as well as the 13 state-run exchanges, have all been boosted by grant money, though those funds will run out by 2016. The exchange will then need to rely on fees to plan premiums.

Next from the Wall Street Journal: 

Health Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Boosts
Proposals set the stage for debate over federal health law’s impact

Major insurers in some states are proposing hefty rate boosts for plans sold under the federal health law, setting the stage for an intense debate this summer over the law’s impact. 

In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016. The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the Oregon health exchange, seeks an average boost of around 25%. 

All of them cite high medical costs incurred by people newly enrolled under the Affordable Care Act.....

Next from CNBC

Obamacare's special enrollments draw little interest

Many were called. Few chose to respond.

The federal Obamacare insurance marketplace HealthCare.gov signed up 147,000 people in 36 states during a special tax season enrollment period, officials revealed Tuesday. That relatively light level of sign-ups was similar to what was seen in 11 other states and the District of Columbia during their own grace periods.

HealthCare.gov issued the final tally via Twitter rather than a press release or news call that Obama administration officials have previously used to announce other numbers and results.
The federal exchange's special enrollment period was open to people who learned they were subject to a tax penalty for failing to have health insurance coverage last year when they were preparing their tax returns. 

In all, it appears fewer than 250,000 people signed up nationally. In Hawaii, no people—as in zero—signed up during the special tax season enrollment...

Lastly, from The LaTimes

Amid slower growth, California's Obamacare exchange cuts proposed spending

After using most of $1 billion in federal start-up money, California's Obamacare exchange is preparing to go on a diet.

That financial reality is reflected in Covered California's proposed budget, released Wednesday, as well as a reduced forecast calling for 2016 enrollment of fewer than 1.5 million people.

The recalibration comes after tepid enrollment growth for California during the second year of the Affordable Care Act. The state ended open enrollment in February with 1.4 million people signed up, far short of its goal of 1.7 million.

A number of factors contributed to the shortfall, but health policy experts said that some uninsured folks still find health insurance unaffordable despite the health law's premium subsidies....

Obamacare is not sustainable by any measure and has failed the American people, just like Barack Obama.

Leftists Protest Vermont Scrapping 'Medicare for All' Single-Payer Healthcare

The coalition protests the Governor interrupting plans for a complete takeover of healthcare by the government in their state of Vermont. Single-payer means 'Medicare For All'  First some background on the recent changing of his mind about single payer....

Why single payer died in Vermont

By SARAH WHEATON 
12/20/14 9:30 AM EST

Vermont was supposed to be the beacon for a single-payer health care system in America. But now its plans are in ruins, and its onetime champion Gov. Peter Shumlin may have set back the cause.

Advocates of a “Medicare for all” approach were largely sidelined during the national Obamacare debate. The health law left a private insurance system in place and didn’t even include a weaker “public option” government plan to run alongside more traditional commercial ones.

So single-payer advocates looked instead to make a breakthrough in the states. Bills have been introduced from Hawaii to New York; former Medicare chief Don Berwick made it a key plank of his unsuccessful primary race for Massachusetts governor.

Vermont under Shumlin became the most visible trailblazer. Until Wednesday, when the governor admitted what critics had said all along: He couldn’t pay for it.

“It is not the right time for Vermont” to pass a single-payer system, Shumlin acknowledged in a public statement ending his signature initiative. He concluded the 11.5 percent payroll assessments on businesses and sliding premiums up to 9.5 percent of individuals’ income “might hurt our economy.”


Vermont’s outcome is a “small speed bump,” said New York Assembly member Richard Gottfried, who’s been pushing single-payer bills for more than 20 years. But opponents says it’s the end of the road.

“If cobalt blue Vermont couldn’t find a way to make single-payer happen, then it’s very unlikely that any other state will,” said Jack Mozloom, spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business.

“There will never be a good time for a massive tax increase on employers and consumers in Vermont, so they should abandon that silly idea now and get serious,” Mozloom added.

Single Payer Healthcare Protesters target the Gov. of Vermont

The sense of betrayal from single-payers’ most passionate advocates after Shumlin’s announcement was palpable, particularly as he had tied his own political persona to the idea. “It is time to put the interests of patients first, ahead of political expedience,” said Andrew Coates, president of Physicians for a National Health Care Program. Single-payer is “the only reform that will cover everyone, save lives and save money. Mr. Shumlin, of all our nation’s governors, knows this well.”

: Read More at Politico 

Betrayal is a form of Grubered. The coalition of leftist activists protest the inauguration of the new Governor. The following video shows the usual tactics of the left. Occupation,and obstruction are methods promoted by the SEIU, the chants are because leftism is a cult.


Obamacare was based on deception and lies.


And your STUPIDITY and your......




Gruber wasn't really involved with Obamacare?


Obama knew the whole time that MILLIONS would lose their healthcare because of Obamacare.




Then again, Obamacare is just a means to and end, single payer... by any means necessary.

Nation’s 'Elite' Cancer Hospitals Off-Limits Under Obamacare

WASHINGTON — Cancer patients relieved that they can get insurance coverage because of the new health care law may be disappointed to learn that some of the nation’s best cancer hospitals are off-limits.

An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington state’s insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it’s in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-of-network agreements with two more.

Doctors and administrators say they’re concerned. So are some state insurance regulators.

In all, only four of 19 nationally recognized comprehensive cancer centers that responded to AP’s survey said patients have access through all the insurance companies in their state exchange.

Not too long ago, insurance companies would have been vying to offer access to renowned cancer centers, said Dan Mendelson, CEO of the market research firm Avalere Health. Now the focus is on costs.

“This is a marked deterioration of access to the premier cancer centers for people who are signing up for these plans,” Mendelson said.

Those patients may not be able get the most advanced treatment, including clinical trials of new medications.

And there’s another problem: It’s not easy for consumers shopping online in the new insurance markets to tell whether top-level institutions are included in a plan. That takes additional digging by the people applying. 

Advocates for cancer patients are in a quandary.

Before President Barack Obama’s health care law, a cancer diagnosis could make you uninsurable. Now, insurers can’t turn away people with health problems or charge them more. Lifetime dollar limits on policies, once a financial trapdoor for cancer patients, are also banned.

“Patients may have fewer choices of doctors and hospitals in some exchange plans than others … but the rules for such plans go a long way toward remedying the most severe problems that existed for decades,” said Steve Weiss, spokesman for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The new obstacles are more subtle.

To keep premiums low, insurers have designed narrow networks of hospitals and doctors. The government-subsidized private plans on the exchanges typically offer less choice than Medicare or employer plans.


The AP asked the centers how many insurance companies in their state’s exchange included them as a network provider.

Of the 19 that responded, four reported access through all insurers: the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore; Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia; Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC; and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn. One caveat: Some insurers did not include these cancer centers on certain low-cost plans.

Two centers have special circumstances. The best known is St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Treatment there is free as long as children have a referral.

For the remaining 13, the gaps are evident.

The New York Post article continues at this link

List: Access to cancer centers under health law

The Associated Press asked 23 institutions that are part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network whether they were included in the networks of insurance companies operating on their state's exchange. Here are the responses they provided:

—Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, Neb.
In-network with three of four exchange insurers, but one of them includes Buffett only on some plans. A fourth insurer does not include Buffett.

—City of Hope, Los Angeles.
In-network for one of three major insurers; a fourth is a health maintenance organization with its own hospital system.

—Dana-Farber, Boston.
No response.

—Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, N.C.
In-network with the two insurers on the exchange, although not included in a low-price option.

—Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.
In-network for the two dominant carriers in the market.

—Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City.
In-network with five of six insurers.

—Hutchinson/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle.
In-network with three of eight insurers on the state's exchange.

—Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore.
In-network for all six exchange insurers, although some individual plans may not offer access.

—Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York.
In-network with two of nine exchange insurers in New York City, two of 16 statewide. Has out-of-network agreements with two more carriers.

—Moffit Cancer Center, Tampa, Fla.
In-network for three of six insurers offering plans in multiple Florida counties.
—Ohio State University/James/Solove. No response.

—Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.
In-network with five of seven insurers in its local area, but only five of 16 statewide.

—Siteman Cancer Center/Barnes-Jewish, St. Louis.
In-network for some of the plans offered by one of two insurers on the state exchange.

—St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
Treatment is free as long as children have a referral.

—Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, Calif.
No response.

—University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
In-network with dominant carrier of two insurers on exchange.

—UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, Calif.
In-network with one insurer, by design.

—UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco.
In-network for two of nine insurers in the northern California market.

—University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colo.
In-network for all plans with six of 10 carriers; included on some plans by three others.

—University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.
In-network for eight of 12 insurers, although not in every plan.

—MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
In-network for two of 11 insurers in the state's exchange, and 43 percent of individual plans in Houston area.

—Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville.
All four insurers have Vanderbilt, but one company does not include it in its least expensive plan

Obama to sign up on health exchange?

By Ian Swanson  December 02, 2013, 03:51 pm  +The Hill 

White House press secretary Jay Carney sidestepped questions Monday about whether the president has signed up for health insurance under ObamaCare.

“I know that he will and has said that he will, the White House has said that he will, but I don't have an update,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Monday.

 Asked what the president was waiting for — and whether his attempt to enroll in the exchange would be open to members of the press — Carney laughed.
“I'll get back to you,” he said.

In 2010, White House spokesman Reid Cherlin pledged the president would sign up o the exchanges in response to an amendment offered by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that would have required the president to purchase coverage.

“The president will participate in the exchange,” Cherlin told USA Today. “But let's be clear: The amendments being offered by Senate Republicans, including this one, are just a ploy to delay the bill.”  

Republican lawmakers have continued to press the administration to enroll in the exchanges following implementation of the law. 

In a heated exchange on Capitol Hill, Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) repeatedly asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius why she had not purchased insurance on the exchanges.

Sebelius incorrectly said that it would be illegal for her to do so, because her healthcare was included in her compensation as a federal employee. Those with employer-provided insurance can purchase separate coverage through the exchanges, but are not eligible for tax credits to reduce the price of premiums. Sebelius, however, is prohibited from buying insurance because she is a Medicare enrollee.

Obama, who is younger, has no such restriction — although presidents and their immediate families are eligible for free treatment in military hospitals during and after their presidencies.

The administration separately touted increased visitors to HealthCare.gov and said technical fixes are making the site speedier and more accessible to visitors.

Obamacare Rollout- Persistent Problems Plague Progress

ObamaCare problems mount

 By Elise Viebeck - 10/18/13 01:20 PM ET excerpt from The Hill:

 The problems for the main ObamaCare enrollment portal are going from bad to worse.

ObamaCare's online marketplace is reportedly creating a mess for insurance companies by approving error-ridden applications, the latest in a series of problems that threaten to dampen enrollment under the healthcare law.


Among the small number of people who have successfully purchased coverage, many have filed out duplicate enrollments, misreported family members or left data fields empty, insurers told The Wall Street Journal.

These errors were attributed to flaws in the design of the online enrollment system, which does not easily allow users to fix their mistakes.

Problems plague Obamacare rollout

 October 17th, 2013 CNN's Jake Tapper excerpt:

President Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and indeed his administration, have been well-known for being on the cutting edge of technology.

Yet when it came to the roll out of Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, someone dropped the tech-savvy ball.

The federal exchange website "healthcare.gov" has at times been slow, inaccessible to users, and – in the words of the White House – prone to frequent "glitches."

and:

"According to other IT experts, it's been software issues, in addition to not knowing what the volume was going to be," said former Medicare director for the George H. W. Bush administration Gail Wilensky.

An early policy decision put undue burden on the website, said Wilensky. Normally, online shoppers can browse products anonymously, decide whether they want to buy something, and then go through the process of providing personal information.

"The administration made the decision that they didn't want people to look at options, unless they also had the subsidy that they would receive available to them. They were afraid of sticker shock," said Wilensky.