Workers hit hard by rising employer health insurance costs

fsu1jreed

Heisman
Apr 1, 2002
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baltimorened

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May 29, 2001
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Remember that the Obama administration had to take advantage of the stupidity of the American voter to pass the bill...... LOL.... 16 years and counting.

And here we are...... "Same as it ever was............."

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6166007-employer-health-insurance-costs-premiums-rise/
there are plenty of reasons for healthcare cost increases, none of which is corporate greed. But you'll never convince one group of people of that.

Somebody has to pay the full price to make up for those that don't.
 

baltimorened

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May 29, 2001
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The ACA is 16 years old. It never lived up to the lies you needed to get it passed. Heck, most of us are still waiting for the $5000 savings we were told it would offer back in 2010.

I guess you are one of the people who claims not to know what Jonathan Gruber said.... lol...
it's true that the ACA never lived up to expectations, some because the concept was flawed...insure more people, require more coverage, and costs would go down...but decisions by both parties led to its downfall.

If we're honest, there were, and still are, some really good points with the ACA. I for one would like to see if we can get back to the original goals...rather than scuttle it for something crazier like Medicare for all.

We could take step one easily by making catastrophic insurance available..that would eliminate all the "healthcare bankruptcies", reduce mandatory ACA coverges, male pregnancy coverage and some other questionable things.
I doubt we'll ever get to a point where no general funds of the federal government will be used (as was promised)

By the way, it's not just workers costs which will go up, while it hasn't been announced yet, I's bet Medicare costs will increase as well.

Face it, inflation, new medicines, new medical discoveries, new technology driven equipment all cost money...we want the best healthcare we can get....
 
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scotchtiger

Heisman
Dec 15, 2005
135,447
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I’m not going to blame it all on the ACA, but the preexisting conditions portion certainly drove up premiums for healthy people.

Now I think it’s the right thing to do to cover unpreventable preexisting conditions. We should all want to chip in to cover childhood cancer for example.

But we shouldn’t all be forced to pay for lifestyle induced conditions that drive massive excess medical spend. Healthy, responsible people could get a HUGE premium cut overnight if health insurers were able to charge appropriate premiums for these people.
 

baltimorened

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May 29, 2001
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I’m not going to blame it all on the ACA, but the preexisting conditions portion certainly drove up premiums for healthy people.

Now I think it’s the right thing to do to cover unpreventable preexisting conditions. We should all want to chip in to cover childhood cancer for example.

But we shouldn’t all be forced to pay for lifestyle induced conditions that drive massive excess medical spend. Healthy, responsible people could get a HUGE premium cut overnight if health insurers were able to charge appropriate premiums for these people.
here's an executive summary of a report on the ACA by Paragon health institute:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA1) was jammed through Congress in 2010 with several enticing promises. Fourteen years later, we look back at the very different real-world results:
  • At least a dozen significant promises were broken.
  • The ACA was supposed to “bend the cost curve” downward, but health care costs increased instead. Premiums for individual market plans doubled.
  • Although touted as a means of reducing the deficit, the ACA has added hundreds of billions to cumulative deficits and is a significant contributor to the growing national debt.
  • The most famous broken promise was that people would not lose preferred insurance plans and doctors. Seven million consumers had their plans canceled already by the end of 2013.
  • Medicaid was supposed to be the cheaper way of expanding insurance coverage. In the real world, the per enrollee cost of Medicaid expansion is nearly 60 percent greater than what experts projected.
This report provides details on these and eight other broken promises regarding life expectancy, emergency room usage, enrollment of unauthorized immigrants, and more.

PromisesResults
The ACA would help cut the deficit, including its student loan provisions.The ACA has significantly added to the federal debt, including costly student loan losses.
The ACA would “bend the cost curve,” saving $2,500 per family.Individual market premiums nearly doubled from 2013 to 2017. The primary ACA provision for bending the curve, the “Cadillac tax,” never went into effect.
The ACA would save lives.Life expectancy fell three consecutive years for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The ACA would be a program only for U.S. citizens.By 2024, many unauthorized immigrants would be enrolled in subsidized ACA plans.
The ACA would take the stress out of shopping for health insurance.The ACA portal was one of the most notoriously unreliable websites ever launched.
Penalties on employers that fail to provide coverage would provide massive revenue.Actual collections are less than 5 percent of what was projected.
The ACA would increase economic growth.The ACA resulted in smaller businesses, fewer full-time jobs, and significant disincentives to work.
Medicaid would be an efficient way to increase coverage.The ACA’s Medicaid expansion is far more expensive than projected.
If you liked your plan and doctor, you would be able to keep them.Millions of people had their plans canceled and lost access to their doctors.
The individual market would become a competitive, robust marketplace.Enrollment was less than half of expectations, with higher premiums and deductibles and more restrictive provider networks than expected through 2020.
The ACA would decrease emergency department use as newly insured individuals would finally have a normal place of care.The ACA, particularly Medicaid expansion, caused emergency room use to soar, particularly for non-emergency services.
The ACA would end abuses by health insurance companies.The ACA has been a gift for health insurers with its massive government subsidies.

I'm not saying through out the ACA..just the opposite. After 15 years of experience, we know the problems. Some have difficult fixes, but not attempting to fix All the problems just perpetuates healthcare problems for the American people.

And I don't know a thing about Paragon Health Institute, but likely more right than left. This is the executive summary, you can read the entire report at their website I guess
 
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scotchtiger

Heisman
Dec 15, 2005
135,447
23,785
113
here's an executive summary of a report on the ACA by Paragon health institute:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA1) was jammed through Congress in 2010 with several enticing promises. Fourteen years later, we look back at the very different real-world results:
  • At least a dozen significant promises were broken.
  • The ACA was supposed to “bend the cost curve” downward, but health care costs increased instead. Premiums for individual market plans doubled.
  • Although touted as a means of reducing the deficit, the ACA has added hundreds of billions to cumulative deficits and is a significant contributor to the growing national debt.
  • The most famous broken promise was that people would not lose preferred insurance plans and doctors. Seven million consumers had their plans canceled already by the end of 2013.
  • Medicaid was supposed to be the cheaper way of expanding insurance coverage. In the real world, the per enrollee cost of Medicaid expansion is nearly 60 percent greater than what experts projected.
This report provides details on these and eight other broken promises regarding life expectancy, emergency room usage, enrollment of unauthorized immigrants, and more.

PromisesResults
The ACA would help cut the deficit, including its student loan provisions.The ACA has significantly added to the federal debt, including costly student loan losses.
The ACA would “bend the cost curve,” saving $2,500 per family.Individual market premiums nearly doubled from 2013 to 2017. The primary ACA provision for bending the curve, the “Cadillac tax,” never went into effect.
The ACA would save lives.Life expectancy fell three consecutive years for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The ACA would be a program only for U.S. citizens.By 2024, many unauthorized immigrants would be enrolled in subsidized ACA plans.
The ACA would take the stress out of shopping for health insurance.The ACA portal was one of the most notoriously unreliable websites ever launched.
Penalties on employers that fail to provide coverage would provide massive revenue.Actual collections are less than 5 percent of what was projected.
The ACA would increase economic growth.The ACA resulted in smaller businesses, fewer full-time jobs, and significant disincentives to work.
Medicaid would be an efficient way to increase coverage.The ACA’s Medicaid expansion is far more expensive than projected.
If you liked your plan and doctor, you would be able to keep them.Millions of people had their plans canceled and lost access to their doctors.
The individual market would become a competitive, robust marketplace.Enrollment was less than half of expectations, with higher premiums and deductibles and more restrictive provider networks than expected through 2020.
The ACA would decrease emergency department use as newly insured individuals would finally have a normal place of care.The ACA, particularly Medicaid expansion, caused emergency room use to soar, particularly for non-emergency services.
The ACA would end abuses by health insurance companies.The ACA has been a gift for health insurers with its massive government subsidies.

I'm not saying through out the ACA..just the opposite. After 15 years of experience, we know the problems. Some have difficult fixes, but not attempting to fix All the problems just perpetuates healthcare problems for the American people.

And I don't know a thing about Paragon Health Institute, but likely more right than left. This is the executive summary, you can read the entire report at their website I guess

How about the most recent big lie? The one that Trump/Republicans increased premiums. When in reality, it was the Biden administration's scheduled reset of subsidies to pre-Covid levels. It's just a shame how misleading both sides are.
 
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firegiver

Heisman
Sep 10, 2007
74,595
21,753
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The ACA is 16 years old. It never lived up to the lies you needed to get it passed. Heck, most of us are still waiting for the $5000 savings we were told it would offer back in 2010.

I guess you are one of the people who claims not to know what Jonathan Gruber said.... lol...
lol the old tactic of republicans is to defund something rather than repeal it and then complain because the defunded thing doesn't do what it was promised to do when it was properly funded. GTFO of here.
 

Gibbs6

Sophomore
Sep 25, 2026
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there are plenty of reasons for healthcare cost increases, none of which is corporate greed. But you'll never convince one group of people of that.

Somebody has to pay the full price to make up for those that don't.
Crazy concept right. The cost of everything in a healthcare setting continues to go up in cost every year, month or even day. The cost of the computer being used, the machine being used, paper, pen, saline, electricity, utilities, labor, you name it, continues to go up. But my healthcare out of pocket continues to rise and that’s what triggers people? How about we take a step back and complain about costs of everything continuing to outpace income every single year.
My insurance coverage went up $10 a month for my family last year. Pretty sure a pound of hamburger alone went up about $5 since last year. That to me is a much bigger issue. I think we spent over$700 last month on groceries for 2 adults, a toddler and an infant just starting to eat solids and that’s just buying basic items.
 
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scotchtiger

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Dec 15, 2005
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lol the old tactic of republicans is to defund something rather than repeal it and then complain because the defunded thing doesn't do what it was promised to do when it was properly funded. GTFO of here.

Were rates not going up before 2017? Oh yes, they were. In fact, the highest average rate increase was in 2011, just after the ACA passed.

Interestingly, the next two highest annual increases were in 2023 and 2024, the back half of Biden’s term. The rate of increase has trended downward in Trump’s first two years.

Even when “properly funded,” the ACA did not do what was promised.
 

m.knox

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Aug 20, 2003
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lol the old tactic of republicans is to defund something rather than repeal it and then complain because the defunded thing doesn't do what it was promised to do when it was properly funded. GTFO of here.

16 years old. It saved nothing. Remember, your side needed to rely on your stupidity to get it passed in the first place.

ACA Architect: ‘The Stupidity Of The American Voter’ Led Us To Hide ACA Costs​


https://manhattan.institute/article...f-the-american-voter-led-us-to-hide-aca-costs
 

firegiver

Heisman
Sep 10, 2007
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Were rates not going up before 2017? Oh yes, they were. In fact, the highest average rate increase was in 2011, just after the ACA passed.

Interestingly, the next two highest annual increases were in 2023 and 2024, the back half of Biden’s term. The rate of increase has trended downward in Trump’s first two years.

Even when “properly funded,” the ACA did not do what was promised.
Hey, don't complain to me, I would have preferred a single payer system. Its a compromise because the stubborn fools like yourself enjoy paying crazy rates for health care because they fear being called a gay communist more than voting for Lindsey Graham.
 

baltimorened

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May 29, 2001
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Crazy concept right. The cost of everything in a healthcare setting continues to go up in cost every year, month or even day. The cost of the computer being used, the machine being used, paper, pen, saline, electricity, utilities, labor, you name it, continues to go up. But my healthcare out of pocket continues to rise and that’s what triggers people? How about we take a step back and complain about costs of everything continuing to outpace income every single year.
My insurance coverage went up $10 a month for my family last year. Pretty sure a pound of hamburger alone went up about $5 since last year. That to me is a much bigger issue. I think we spent over$700 last month on groceries for 2 adults, a toddler and an infant just starting to eat solids and that’s just buying basic items.
wait until you get to college costs ):
 
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baltimorened

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Hey, don't complain to me, I would have preferred a single payer system. Its a compromise because the stubborn fools like yourself enjoy paying crazy rates for health care because they fear being called a gay communist more than voting for Lindsey Graham.
the costs aren't going to go down, just who pays for it,,,and if government is involved, likely the costs will go up even more..
 
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Gibbs6

Sophomore
Sep 25, 2026
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wait until you get to college costs ):
I’m pretty sure a lot of trades now days have some sort of apprenticeship to cut down on costs. Plenty of jobs available at a great wage.
Or if they desire to go to college for 4 years (2 years of wasted tuition) I’m sure we will try to help cover some of the cost. But student loans do exist.
Maybe someone like Biden will be back in offices and pay them off.
 

scotchtiger

Heisman
Dec 15, 2005
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Hey, don't complain to me, I would have preferred a single payer system. It’s a compromise because the stubborn fools like yourself enjoy paying crazy rates for health care because they fear being called a gay communist more than voting for Lindsey Graham.

Not sure what Lindsey graham has to do with my thoughts on healthcare.

I would rather pay high health insurance premiums vs. even higher taxes, the increases to which would substantially outweigh premiums costs. I also have no interest in our government taking control of healthcare nor do I have interest in throttled access to care.
 

baltimorened

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May 29, 2001
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I’m pretty sure a lot of trades now days have some sort of apprenticeship to cut down on costs. Plenty of jobs available at a great wage.
Or if they desire to go to college for 4 years (2 years of wasted tuition) I’m sure we will try to help cover some of the cost. But student loans do exist.
Maybe someone like Biden will be back in offices and pay them off.
work on the grandparent to start saving and help with the tab...that's what mine did :)
 
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baltimorened

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Lol ok gramps. Since you say so.
well, first I prefer grand dad....but there was a really good article by George Will, the other day blasting trump, and I think it was in the Washington post. As usual he did a good job of laying out the low points of trump and his administration. In the article talking about some of trump policies, he said the same thing I posted...when government gets involved it skews the marketplace, usually not for the better....two current examples; government student loan program ...going to return $100billion to the taxpayer..has cost us hundreds of $$billions in loans forgiven...college tuition has skyrocketed and we have a generation of young people in "forever" debt: Or healthcare...government is going to provide a means to insure 41 million people, costs will go down, American families will save $2500/year...you know the rest.

I'm sure though that if the government get involved in healthcare one more time, it will be different...it always is!
 

dpic73

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Jul 27, 2005
36,287
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lol the old tactic of republicans is to defund something rather than repeal it and then complain because the defunded thing doesn't do what it was promised to do when it was properly funded. GTFO of here.
Yup, break it and then blame the other side for not fixing it.
 
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baltimorened

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Likely? Name one thing the government regulates that’s gone down in price.
I was hedging in anticipation that at least 1 poster would find something the government was involved in where cost went down..
Yup, break it and then blame the other side for not fixing it.
the only problem with that theory, not that it might not be correct, is that the ACA wasn't going to meet it goals almost the day after it was passed. Once they eliminated the "Cadillac tax" things went downhill from there.

The ACA never got the enrollment the government projected...still hasn't.

But the ACA can be fixed, IMO. It's a shame that our leaders can't work together to do that. Maybe we bring back the individual mandate as the supreme court ruled it constitutional...
 
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