Health insurance

Obamacare is the Reason for Anemic Growth [Video w/ Transcript]

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Denninger Greg Hunter – Analyst and entrepreneur Karl Denninger predicted years ago that Obamacare would “kill the economy” and “eventually implode.” Today, the first quarter GDP came in at just .9%, and Denninger contends Obamacare is part of the reason the economy is so anemic. Denninger says, “Since the crash in 2008, we’ve had 2% GDP expansion roughly on an average basis, and you are trying to expand the growth of one program in the government by 8.5%, and that’s not going to work.

This is the problem you have. What Obamacare has done has caused the 2% expansion. . . . So, what has happened here is we have taken this program and crammed these costs into the economy on a mandated basis, and the result is the productivity expansion has gone into the toilet.”

https://youtu.be/iimk11lMKt8

Another big problem with Obamacare is the pre-existing conditions. Denninger says, “When you say an insurance company has to cover pre-existing conditions, what you are saying is if this condition costs $10,000, we are going to make it cost $12,000 because the insurance company has to make money.

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Obamacare: Hospitals demand patients pay up front before receiving treatment

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ObamacareJonathan Benson – Deductibles are soaring under Obamacare, and many U.S. hospitals are now attempting to collect medical payments before services are even rendered, according to new reports. The financial burden of medical care has increased so much as a result of Obamacare — just as predicted — that hospitals can now clearly see the writing on the wall: Many more people than ever before will be unwilling or unable to pay their medical bills.

According to CNN Money, Americans today are having to foot a much higher percentage of their medical bills than ever before due to ever-increasing deductibles. Five years ago, for instance, an individual, employer-sponsored policy had a deductible of just over $800. Today, that same policy carries a deductible of about $1,217, a rate more than 50 percent higher.

Similar increases have occurred for family plan deductibles, which the 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust report says have increased by 31 percent overall. Since 2006, family plan deductibles have nearly doubled, jumping from an average of about $1,034 per family to $1,947.

Obamacare deductibles significantly higher than private coverage

For those who didn’t previously have healthcare coverage but now have Obamacare, the deductible sticker shock is even more substantial. Many lower-level enrollees, according to CNN Money, including those who signed up for “bronze” and “silver” plans, pay deductibles ranging anywhere from about $2,000 to upwards of $5,000.

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Why 6 Government-Funded Insurance Companies Created Under Obamacare Collapsed

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insurance
Photo: Tennessee Community Health Alliance

Melissa Quinn – A government watchdog overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services delivered the grim financial state of nearly all of the co-ops—that collectively received $2.4 billion—created under Obamacare several months ago.

Now, following the collapse of six of the 23 that launched in 2013, the co-ops, or consumer oriented and operated plans, face an uphill battle to solidify themselves as competitors in the health insurance market.

To assist the co-ops in getting off the ground, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services disbursed $2.4 billion in start-up and solvency loans to the 23 co-ops created under Obamacare.

However, over the last 10 months, six co-ops, which collectively received nearly $762 million from the federal government, announced they’re closing their doors and pulling out of the insurance market for 2016.

As a result, more than 420,000 Americans who enrolled in health insurance coverage through the nonprofit insurers will lose their insurance and have been instructed to select new plans next year. Continue reading →

Health Insurance Corporations Planning Huge Increases

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insuranceHealth insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans — market leaders in many states — are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

The Oregon insurance commissioner, Laura N. Cali, has just approved 2016 rate increases for companies that cover more than 220,000 people. Moda Health Plan, which has the largest enrollment in the state, received a 25 percent increase, and the second-largest plan, LifeWise, received a 33 percent increase. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage

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A List Of 97 Taxes Americans Pay Every Year

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EconomicCollapseBlog  March 24 2014

TaxOfficeStampIf you are like most Americans, paying taxes is one of your pet peeves.  The deadline to file your federal taxes is coming up, and this year Americans will spend more than 7 billion hours preparing their taxes and will hand over more than four trillion dollars to federal, state and local governments.  Americans will fork over nearly 30 percent of what they earn to pay their income taxes, but that is only a small part of the story.  As you will see below, there are dozens of other taxes that Americans pay every year.  Of course not everyone pays all of these taxes, but without a doubt we are all being taxed into oblivion.  It is like death by a thousand paper cuts.  Our politicians have become extremely creative in finding ways to extract money from all of us, and most Americans don’t even realize what is being done to them.  By the time it is all said and done, a significant portion of the population ends up paying more than half of what they earn to the government.  That is fundamentally wrong, but nothing will be done about it until people start demanding change.  The following is a list of 97 taxes Americans pay every year. Continue reading →