By LAS
The
Washington Post of July 17 reports that health insurance premiums in
New York state will plummet
under PPACA (aka ObamaCare) provisions – some at least by half and
some to as little as a third of the cost before controls take effect.
According
to the Post, “Individuals
in New York City who now pay $1,000 a month or more for coverage will
be able to shop for health insurance for as little as $308 monthly,”
Roni Caryn Rabin and Reed Abelson report. “With federal subsidies,
the cost will be even lower.”
New
York has had a law since 1993 that insurers have to accept anyone who
applies for a health care insurance policy, no matter what kind of
pre-existing condition they might have. That explains the highest
premiums in the country. In fact, the Post explains it in
scintillating simplicity thus: “New York has, for 20 years now,
been a long-running experiment in what happens to universal coverage
without an individual
mandate. It’s the
type of law the country would have if House Republicans succeeded in
delaying the individual mandate, as
they will vote to do this afternoon.
The result: a small
insurance market with very high insurance premiums.”
(my bold)
However,
now that some of the provisions of the PPACA law are taking effect,
healthy individuals who had believed that they would always be
healthy and never have to have medical care, will now be contributing
to the pooled coverage, and bringing the average cost of healthcare
(AND insurance premiums) down. Yes, DOWN.
That
is why the House attempts to gut the individual mandate are very
disturbing and will only serve to undermine the promised savings of
the program. So far, the Senate has not caved in to Republicans or to
the corporate pressure to delay or delete sensitive provisions of the
PPACA program. Let's hope it stays that way!
[For
original story in the Washington Post, you may go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/17/heres-why-health-insurance-premiums-are-tumbling-in-new-york/
]
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