Obamacare Hits 250,000 Virginians With Canceled Policies, Extends Opportunity To Buy More Expensive Ones

September 12, 2014 by Ben Bullard



Last year, U.S. wages and consumer spending fell, even as spending on healthcare costs increased. That’s got to be especially good news for the quarter million people in Virginia who are learning their existing health plans will be canceled this fall.
WVIR News in Charlottesville reported Wednesday that the cancellations fall in line with so many other policies nationwide that simply aren’t legal, because of their coverage options, under the one-size-fits-all Affordable Care Act.
“Nearly a quarter million Virginians will have their current insurance plans cut this fall,” said the local anchor. “That is because many of them did not…are not following, I should say, new Affordable Care Act rules, so a chunk of the companies that offer those individuals their policies [will] make the individuals choose new policies.
“…This goes back to that now heavily-criticized line we heard before Obamacare was put in place: ‘If you like your plan, you can keep it,’” says a spot reporter. “Ultimately, that turned out not to be true for thousands of Virginians and companies in the commonwealth. …[A] staggering number of Virginians will need new plans this fall.”
Those plans will cost more — something insurers have known since at least May. Aside from increased premiums that will likely hit 15 percent on the high end, Obamacare’s metal-graded coverage tier system (platinum, gold, silver and bronze) relies heavily on out-of-pocket contributions that exceed what most canceled policyholders have had to pay prior to the healthcare law.
Here’s an interesting rundown of how out-of-pocket costs are changing, using 2015 rate filings from several states (including Virginia) to illustrate the difference. Hint: the structure is regressive. The costliest tier is also the most expensive out-of-pocket. And it also shares the greatest similarity, in terms of how thorough its coverage options are, to many of the canceled plans it’s supposed to be replacing.


http://personalliberty.com/obamacare...xpensive-ones/