Tag Archives: Obamacare

News

Health care reform blamed for huge hikes in premiums

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From NBC Connecticut. (H/T ECM)

Excerpt:

The state has given Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield the go ahead to raise premiums by as much as 47 percent for some members, and says health care reform is the reason why.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan on Oct. 6, asking what he called “excessive” increases were approved without full consideration of all the facts. His letter mentioned rate increases for both Anthem and Aetna.

The new rates took effect Oct. 1, and include increases from 19 percent all the way to 47 percent depending on the individual, the Hartford Courant reported.

Sullivan responded to Blumenthal saying the new rates included “very rich benefits” mandated by federal law.

“There is not one person in the state of Connecticut who will see an increase in their current premiums based on what the department approved for Anthem and Aetna,” Sullivan said in a release. “The rates that were filed and approved reflect the current cost to deliver care and the impact of more comprehensive benefit designs required under the federal healthcare reform law. If the attorney general wants to complain to someone, he should complain to Congress.”

Indeed. We should all be complaining to Congress in November.

News

Is there a Constitutional basis for ObamaCare?

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From Founding Bloggers, clips of Illinois socialist Jan Schakowsky at a town hall meeting.

Ed Morrissey explains what’s in the clip:

At least Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) gives it a few tries.  First she argued “If we can build national highways,” but Adam Sharp noted that the Constitution does include the authority to build interstate “post roads.”  Next, Schakowsky says enacting civil-rights legislation creates some sort of odd precedent, even though those acts existed to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the Constitution.  Schakowsky gives it one last try on Medicare and Social Security, even though the former is voluntary and the latter is an explicit government program (albeit also of dubious Constitutional authority).  There exists no Constitutional reference to force Americans to buy a private product, and Schakowsky winds up walking away…

You’ll remember that this is the same woman who thinks that Obama’s public option would lead to single-payer health care.

So it looks like the Illinois guy from last week was not an anomaly at all. Democrats don’t like explaining where in the Constitution they get the authority for their big spending.

News

3M to drop retirees from its health care plan

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Story from the Wall Street Journal. (H/T National Review via ECM)

Excerpt:

3M Co. confirmed it would eventually stop offering its health-insurance plan to retirees, citing the federal health overhaul as a factor.

The changes won’t start to phase in until 2013. But they show how companies are beginning to respond to the new law, which should make it easier for people in their 50s and early-60s to find affordable policies on their own. While thousands of employers are tapping new funds from the law to keep retiree plans, 3M illustrates that others may not opt to retain such plans over the next few years

The St. Paul, Minn., manufacturing conglomerate notified employees on Friday that it would change retiree benefits both for those who are too young to qualify for Medicare and for those who qualify for the Medicare program. Both groups will get an unspecified health reimbursement instead of having access to a company-sponsored health plan.

The maker of Post-it notes and Scotch tape said it made the announcement now to give retirees a chance to explore different options during this year’s benefit-enrollment period, according to a 3M memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A 3M spokeswoman, Jacqueline Berry, confirmed the contents of the memo.

“As you know, the recently enacted health care reform law has fundamentally changed the health care insurance market,” the memo said. “Health care options in the marketplace have improved, and readily available individual insurance plans in the Medicare marketplace provide benefits more tailored to retirees’ personal needs often at lower costs than what they pay for retiree medical coverage through 3M.

“In addition, health care reform has made it more difficult for employers like 3M to provide a plan that will remain competitive,” the memo said.

But Obamacare won’t force you to lose your existing health insurance. Oh. No.