Why can no one spell?

Apparently, the folks at the Washington Free Beacon can't spell "$2,500 premium savings:"

"Obamacare premiums will increase by 27 percent next year ... the government’s increase of 22 percent “can be misleading” because most of the 2017 Obamacare plans will be new"

That's because carriers have been deleting plan after plan in order to find some way to staunch the flow of claims dollars. And of course, carrier after carrier has been leaving the market completely, to the point that "one-third of the country will only have one insurer to choose from in the exchanges."

Regardless of what the new administration does (or doesn't do) come inauguration day, the die has been cast - for at least a while - for folks signing up now.

Talk about train-wrecks.

#ObamaCareWinning

[Hat Tip: FoIB Holly R]

Car Insurance That Pays For Routine Maintenance

Wouldn't it be nice if our car insurance covered the cost of routine maintenance?

Get new tires for a small copay. Free oil changes, every time.

Radiator flush?

No problem. Send the bill to my auto insurance carrier.

But it doesn't work that way. And that is a good thing. If all you had to do for routine auto expenses was have the bill sent to you car insurance carrier I doubt many of us could afford car insurance.

Since your car insurance does not pay for routine services, there is a price chart on the wall when you take your car in for work. If what you need isn't on the wall you can ask and the service manager will quote you a price.

But it doesn't work that way for health care. And it probably never will.

Enter Trumpcare 

Some agents I know have been debating suggestions for Trumpcare which is expected to be a much improved version of Obamacare. When the new model is available in the show rooms, and whether people will want to trade in their old Obamacare plan for a shiny new Trumpcare plan is subject to speculation. When it happens we will see. Until then, suggestions for Trumpcare are simply fodder for discussion.

Price Transparency

One of the hotly debated items is price transparency. More than one member of our roundtable wanted to know why we don't have price transparency when it comes to health care.

If I need to get my car repaired, I know exactly how much it will cost before  I have the work done.

True.

But who will pay the bill?

The person who owns the car.

And who pays the doctor or hospital when you get sick?

The lions share, typically 80% or more, of your medical bills are paid by the insurance carrier.

Networks

There is no transparency because of provider networks. That's why 5 people can go to the doctor for the exact same procedure and pay 5 completely different amounts.

Networks can be frustrating but they also save us money.

Without network pricing we would never know if we were being overcharged or not.

Without networks we could be balance billed for amounts over and above what the carrier says is a reasonable charge.

No matter what your doctor or hospital charges for treatment, almost invariably someone will say they have been overcharged. Who are we (as patients) to say that $12,000 is too much to pay to take out a bum appendix? Does it really matter, as long as the pain stops and you are once again fully functional?

Networks set the pricing for removing an appendix. You may still think the doctor and hospital are overcharging but so what? You are paying 20% (or less) of that cost of your care.

Network pricing results in a pre-determined cap on how much you pay for the procedure. There is no balance billing.

And that is a good thing.

#Obamacare  #Trumpcare

Promising Health News

Some potential good news for fans of the Much Vaunted National Health System©: they may be able to move on from using maggots to treat MRSA.

How's that, you ask?

Well:

"A 25-year-old student has just come up with a way to fight drug-resistant superbugs without antibiotics."

The greatest challenge in treating these "superbugs" is that we keep throwing stronger and stronger anti-biotics at them (with who knows what effects on ourselves) and pretty soon they become inured to them (think Borg). Now, Ms Lam (a 25 year old Australian PhD student) has developed what seems to be a microscopic shuriken that literally rips the bugs to shreds.

It's still early days, so we likely won't be seeing this in use on humans soon, but very cool.

Kudos, Ms Lam!

[Hat Tip: Ace of Spades]

Another ObamaCare Success Story

For certain values of "success" (via Dr John Goodman):

"The IRS demanded John payback the subsidies he had already received which amounted to $6,900 hit on his taxes. In order to pay back what he owed John took out a 2nd mortgage on his home."

The victim citizen (called "John" in the post to protect his identity) found, through a series of unfortunate events, that his previously "affordable" coverage was no longer such a deal, and as a result of clawback was forced to cough up almost $7 large. Adding insult to injury [ed: do ObamaPlans cover those?] their insurance plan now costs over $7,000 a year, and then another $12,000 in out-of-pocket.

But hey, Mrs John gets free birth control convenience items.

So, success.

On Veteran's Day 2016

[Jennifer Agnello, President of Cornerstone, has graciously granted us permission to share her profound, heart-felt thoughts on this day honoring those who've served]

"In honor of Veterans Day...

After a big week in our country, (no matter how you voted), tomorrow is a day where we should all be especially thankful.  In honor of Veterans Day, please take some time to remember that it is because of our veterans we all enjoy the freedom to express our own opinions and choose to vote however we individually see fit.  Please pause to recall the sacrifices that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen have and will continue to make, serving our Nation where and whenever they have been called upon. These courageous and brave individuals have sacrificed family life, their careers and potentially their lives by willingly taking on the greatest responsibility, upholding our freedom.  They have voluntarily joined the ranks of America's Armed Forces, fully aware of their obligations as citizens and the risks they are taking in order to stand for what our country believes in and what it was founded upon.  They serve and have given their lives for the USA with courage and unquestioned commitment, for all of us.

Through their sacrifices they have secured for millions of others the blessings of freedom, democracy, and the unmatched opportunity that we enjoy in the United States today.

Please thank and/or remember those special folks.  Cornerstone has several employees who have served (Eric Pouncy, Hal Demmerle and Miles Massey) and many more have family members currently serving or whom have served in the past and they deserve to be recognized and respected.

We have chosen to give our own Veterans ½ day off on Friday afternoon to show our appreciation corporately.

Thank you to our employees and families for making this sacrifice.  We are grateful to you for allowing us to continue to live in a thriving, peaceful, FREE country.  Have a safe Veterans Day, and as always, God bless the United States of America.

...Please take the time to THANK A VETERAN."

[Thank you, Jennifer. HGS]

Omens & Portents, Part Two

Via email an hour or so ago:

"Important Notice: Discontinuance of Individual LTC Insurance Sales

To our LTC Distribution Partners and Producers:

After a recent analysis of the macro-economic trends facing the long-term care (LTC) insurance industry, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue sales of our individual LTC insurance policies in all states.  As many of you well know, the distribution landscape for LTC insurance has shrunk significantly since the peak of the industry in 2002.  Today, there are far fewer outlets through which individual LTC insurance is sold, impacting the growth potential of the product.  In addition, consumer demand for individual LTC insurance has fallen and remains stagnant. These trends, combined with the significant capital requirements of the LTC insurance business, are the primary reasons for this decision, which was not taken lightly."

Hancock has been an 800-pound gorilla in the Long Term Care insurance market for as long as I can recall.

So I reached out to our friend and LTCi guru Ray C for his thoughts, and he reminded me that "several years age, ManuLife purchased John Hancock.

I believe this change is now saying, they wanted Hancock for life and annuity - investments and not long-term care.

We stopped doing John Hancock three years ago.

So, we see no negative impact on our business - but another black eye on the industry."

I'm glad he reminded me of this, because I then went back and saw this in a post from '13:

"Executives at Manulife Financial ... think the benefits of staying in the private long-term care insurance (LTCI) market outweigh the benefits of getting out."

Looks like they've had a change of heart.

Omens & Portents

I haven't commented on the fate of ObamaCare in the wake of Tuesday's election, nor do I currently have any plans to do so. But I was intrigued by one specific electoral result:

"Amendment 69, the ballot measure known as ColoradoCare that would have created a universal health care system in Colorado, was soundly defeated Tuesday night."

On the one hand, I've always championed the 58-state laboratory model; that is, rather than the one-size-fits-very-few ObamaCare debacle, that each state should be free to try out its own proposed solution(s). So I was actually rather happy to see Colorado put it on the ballot.

On the other hand, many of us have said all along that Single Payer was the ultimate goal of ObamaCare in the first place, so the results of this ballot measure are telling: it went down in flames 4:1 (~80% to 20%). That's a clear repudiation in a state that went pretty solidly for Mrs Clinton.

So what message should one take from this?

Well first, it seems to vindicate the state-by-state laboratory model (as if it needed vindication). And second, the end-game of ObamaCare might not be as  inevitable as its proponents may have believed.