{"id":3601,"date":"2010-10-16T10:48:28","date_gmt":"2010-10-16T14:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=3601"},"modified":"2010-11-08T09:44:57","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T14:44:57","slug":"health-care-reform-bending-the-cost-curve-upward-in-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/16\/health-care-reform-bending-the-cost-curve-upward-in-connecticut\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Care Reform Bending the Cost Curve Upward in Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suppose this is one of times were I could say I told you so, but I won’t. Throughout the debate on health care reform President Obama and Congressional Democrats lectured us about how passing their health care reforms would bend the cost curve downward… It was bullshit and we’re starting to see the effects of Democrat’s health care reform measures take hold here in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

From the Hartford Courant<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s largest insurer has been approved to raise health premium rates by 41 percent to 47 percent for some of its policies sold to individual buyers, in the largest price hikes yet seen in Connecticut since the adoption of national health care reform.<\/p>\n

For all of its individual market plans, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has received approval to raise rates by at least 19 percent \u2014 including a range of 30 percent to 44 percent for the brand of plans in the individual market that was most popular in 2009, Century Preferred.<\/p>\n

The reason for the increases is the new federal health reform mandates, according to Anthem and the state Department of Insurance, which is defending its approval against charges by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Those reforms took effect Sept. 23.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These increases shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone with even a bit of common sense… The thing liberal politicians never seem to grasp is Newton’s third law of motion, \u201cEvery action has an equal and opposite reaction\u201d, applies as readily to economics as it does to physics\u2026 Simply put, as Anthem spokeswoman, Sarah Yeager explains these costs are directly attributable to new benefits mandated in ObamaCare:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] compliant individual products include expanded benefits such as elimination of lifetime dollar maximums, no cost share for preventive coverage, and extension of dependent coverage to age 26. With this enhanced coverage, pricing levels have also been adjusted to make sure that the cost of claims incurred is offset by the premiums collected, and that we anticipate the cost of future, expected claims. Low cost low benefit plans experienced a higher rate adjustment because with the health care reform provisions the plans now offer richer benefits. Other plans that already offered rich benefits did not experience as much of an adjustment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All the new benefits mandated in Obamacare mean insurance companies are assuming higher risks, those higher risks have to be offset by higher premiums or eventually the insurance company will go broke.<\/p>\n

Ed Morrissey sums the situation up pretty well<\/a> over at Hot Air:<\/p>\n

Well, Obama\u2019s been busy getting an education at public expense, hasn\u2019t he?\u00a0 We know what the economic consequences of mandates and broader regulation are.\u00a0 The political consequences will depend on who\u2019s in charge.\u00a0 Either Congress will roll back ObamaCare and replace it with a reform that attacks the true cause of escalating health-care costs \u2014 the third-party payer structure that is a relic of World War II wage freezes \u2014 or the Obama administration will push for price freezes that will utterly destroy the private insurance market.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes this election so important, and why conservatives have to ensure that Democrats do not retain control of the agenda in the 112th Session of Congress.\u00a0 We won\u2019t be laughing if they keep enough of a grip on power to create the final act of nationalization of health care.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This election is one of the most critical in American history, if we can\u2019t break the Democrats hold on Congress and restore some fiscal and regulatory sanity in Washington we\u2019re doomed to years of high unemployment, limited economic growth and diminished liberty.<\/p>\n

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