Obama's overhaul hasn't solved the problem of price spikes.
Is this the same state that turned down money for medicaid expansion that would ultimately go towards financially helping the system overall?
Not really true. In this and many cases nothing more than corporate greed.
Aren't insurance rate increases regulated and as such must be approved by some .gov agency?
So, they have roughly 600,000 individual policy customers, lost roughly 600 million, which works out to about $1000 per person, and want to raise premiums by 60%? wtf kind of math is that? Are premiums really that cheap in Texas that they need to raise them by 60% to cover the losses and provide a reasonable profit?
Is this the same state that turned down money for medicaid expansion that would ultimately go towards financially helping the system overall?
Yes. Because freedumb and tru patriots.
And then there's "In a statement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas said its request is based on strong financial principles, science and data. "It's also important to understand the magnitude of the losses ... experienced in the individual retail market over the past two years," the statement said. The company says it lost $416 million in 2014 and $592 million last year."
I nearly choked from laughing so hard when I read that.
Regulators can request more information from the company, but the federal government can't order Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas to roll back the increases, said Larry Levitt, an expert on the health care law at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
"Given how much money (the company) lost, it's likely that a substantial rate increase is merited," Levitt said.
And stopped reading:
Fact: Healthcare costs went up after ACA passed.
Then again, healthcare costs have been skyrocketing year after year long before that. Never the less, I am confident ACA is the sole reason as the Texas insurance company hiking rates so claims.
HCSC has recently reported underwriting and net losses mostly driven by the impact of provisions of ACA and new exchange enrollment. The companys operating performance was negatively affected by the grandfathering of individual commercial plans as this provision was not included in the companys pricing assumptions for this segment.
To a much lesser degree, under-writing and net income was also impacted by the companys expansion into Medicare and Medicaid as the company invested significantly in these operations.
Nope.
First, BCBS of Texas is actually part of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, that conducts business as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois/Texas/New Mexico/Oklahoma/Montana where it provides health insurance coverage to over 14 million members. So when HCSC says BCBS of Texas lost money, it seems it was partly covered by the other states it operates within, given that in the 2015 AM Best credit rating report it lists the 2014 net revenue loss of the company, HCSC, as $281M.
Second, while true ACA has cost them money, it's not the only place this BCBS has had expenses exceed revenues.......from AM Best:
http://www.hcsc.com/pdf/AM_Best_report.pdf
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And as of 2014, the company's capital and surplus was its second highest amount since 2010, with 2013 being the highest. In 2010, it had capital and surplus of $7.763B. In 2013, it held $10.271B in capital and surplus; in 2014 that figure decreased to $9.942B--which was still higher than 2012's figure of $9.553B.
sad thing is the ACA was supposed to help those above the poverty level yet below what i guess is upper middle class.
yet it seems to be hitting those people the hardest.
guess this also shuts down the argument that the ACA was written by the insurance compaines to make more profit..
the ACA is a mess.
sad thing is the ACA was supposed to help those above the poverty level yet below what i guess is upper middle class.
yet it seems to be hitting those people the hardest.
guess this also shuts down the argument that the ACA was written by the insurance compaines to make more profit..
the ACA is a mess.
It is the way of life for so many politicians. Claim the government does things poorly, then as part of the government make sure things go poorly, and then beat your chest saying that you were correct. That is far easier and gives a far better ego boost than actually making things run well.What a nice coup for these forward-thinking governors: reject ACA subsidies to aid those target groups, then blame the ACA several years later when the lack of ACA presence puts those individuals in a bad place.
And then there's "In a statement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas said its request is based on strong financial principles, science and data. "It's also important to understand the magnitude of the losses ... experienced in the individual retail market over the past two years," the statement said. The company says it lost $416 million in 2014 and $592 million last year."
I nearly choked from laughing so hard when I read that.
So, they have roughly 600,000 individual policy customers, lost roughly 600 million, which works out to about $1000 per person, and want to raise premiums by 60%? wtf kind of math is that? Are premiums really that cheap in Texas that they need to raise them by 60% to cover the losses and provide a reasonable profit?