<p>
That there’s a price variance is clear. That a variance proves a huge problem with affordablity is a great big old stretch.</p>
<p>If there was supportive data for that argument, you’d think it would be around. That it’s not commonly quoted might say about all that needs saying.</p>
<p>That Fluke was speaking on behalf of a whole slew of struggling Georgetown students was something I put in an earlier post. You might have missed it.</p>
<p>The rate increases can be a problem for many. </p>
<p>I have said that before and now. Just not as many as you say. </p>
<p>And you ignore those that are helped which is a larger number. Much larger. </p>
<p>Yes. The cancelled statement is true.
And Anthem is adding more people. Figure it out. </p>
<p>I am not spinning anything. I care about facts. The conference is public. You can hear a repeat. Start at 1:30. </p>
<p>Wellpoint.com</p>
<p>I could link countless articles in major publications all over the country today regarding these huge premium increases (in some case they are going to double) that are coming. The administration has expanded the risk corridors program (probably illegally) to try absorb the rising cost but premiums are expected to significantly increase anyway. Middle class people are going to get killed. What a mess. </p>
<p>GP…</p>
<p>Dont get too excited… The March numbers arent in yet. ;)</p>
<p>Most Middle class people receive subsidies.</p>
<p>CF, I relistened to parts of the conference call. There has to be large off exchange sign ups. At least the first three months. Many people just resigned and exchange sign ups were so low.</p>
<p>One thing that is interesting is how important Calif is to Wellpoint. Wellpoint has 1.7 million individual members and I guess there are approximately 800,000 members in Calif.</p>
<p>The risk corridors are shrinkng next year and is one cause of the expected rate increases. Another reason is the cost of health care is increasing. If you are in a state that is allowing people to keep their plans, the costs of others are going up.</p>
<p>Doubt this will surprise you, dstark: <a href=“CBS News - Breaking news, 24/7 live streaming news & top stories”>CBS News - Breaking news, 24/7 live streaming news & top stories;
<p>Moderator’s note: Discussion around a person who is aligned with a political party and camgained for the party does not meet TOS.</p>
<p><a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/advantage-latest-obamacare-delay-134522529.html”>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/advantage-latest-obamacare-delay-134522529.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“Insurers see double-digit Obamacare price rises in many states next year”>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/insurers-see-double-digit-obamacare-price-rises-many-183202166--sector.html</a></p>
<p>“Many consumers seeking affordable coverage. 936k visits to healthcare.gov and 206k calls yesterday. #GetCoveredNow
10:43 p.m. Fri, Mar 21”</p>
<p><a href=“Half of callers to Covered California give up as deadline looms”>Half of callers to Covered California give up as deadline looms;
<p>“Nearly half of callers to California’s health insurance exchange in February and March couldn’t get through and abandoned their call, state figures show. Those service woes could worsen as more people try to beat the March 31 deadline to get Obamacare…”</p>
<p>Hopefully the Marx Brothers movie is over. :)</p>
<p>So I have a question. Michigan is supposed to start enrolling people on April 1 for Medicaid (yeah, we’re efficient). If you enroll in April, your coverage is retroactive to April 1. I have zero faith that it’ll be ready on April 1 but I digress. </p>
<p>Anyway, would people who didn’t have coverage Jan-March but got it effectively on April 1 be subject to the non-insurance penalty? I don’t believe so but I’m just curious. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.chcf.org/publications/2013/03/data-viz-health-plans”>http://www.chcf.org/publications/2013/03/data-viz-health-plans</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/C/PDF%20CAHealthPlansInsurersAlmanac2013.pdf”>http://www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/C/PDF%20CAHealthPlansInsurersAlmanac2013.pdf</a></p>
<p>CF, There are two regulators in Cal. Look at Appendix B towards the end of the second link. The 1.1 million is regulated by one regulator, the second regulator regulated close to 500,000. </p>
<p>No wonder we keep seeing different numbers of insured.</p>
<p>Both links come up with a number in the 700,000+ range for Anthem.</p>
<p>Looks like the individual insured market had close to 1.6 million in 2011. I believe there was a small decline in 2012.
Wellpoint has 500,000 new members as of Jan31. As of Nov 30th, Wellpoint had fewer than 1,000 new members. </p>
<p>Approximately 40 percent or so of Wellpoint’s individual health indurance business is in Cal.
This is a 2011 list…
I dont think it has cchanged thst much after listening to the conference call.</p>
<p>:-O </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“New” meaning people who were not Wellpoint customers? New members in California or nationwide?</p>
<p>Romani, if you have coverage for nine months of the year, you’re golden.</p>
<p>New to Wellpoint nationwide.
Wellpoint expected and expects to keep most of their old customers and expects their competitors to do the same. My words…home field advantage.</p>
<p>I think it is safe to say that over 200,000 new members are from Calif. </p>
<p>This is as of Jan31. </p>
<p>Wellpoint should have well over 400,000 new members in Cal by the time the sign ups are over. And Wellpoint’s market share is decreasing so how much are they really poaching? </p>
<p>Two states count newly insured signing up on exchanges and medicaid thru the exchanges. NY and Kentucky. Both report over 70 percent of the sign ups are newly insured. </p>
<p>Anyway, looking at Wellpoint and the sign ups in Cal, both by Wellpoint and all the parties in Cal, I can see well over 2,000,000 newly insured in Cal. There is a decent possibility of over 1,000,000 newly insured in Cal with individual insurance.</p>
<p>I bring this up because… If Cal ends up with 600,000 newly insured individual insurance…ok 10 percent plus rate hikes. If Cal ends up with over 1,000,000 newly insured…and the rate hikes are over 10 percent, time to switch to the two words not allowed to be written in this thread. 
</p>
<p>The law is arbitrary, unfair and its economic impact is only going to get worse.</p>
<p>The biggest problem with this crazy law:</p>
<p>“The result has been a race to the bottom in access and quality of care. To keep premiums as low as possible, the insurers are offering very narrow networks, often leaving out the best doctors and the best hospitals. By keeping deductibles high and fees so low that only a minority of providers will accept them, the insurers are able to lower their premiums, thus attracting still more healthy individuals at the expense of overall care.” </p>
<p><a href=“John Goodman: ObamaCare's Fourth Anniversary—A Costly Failed Experiment - WSJ”>John Goodman: ObamaCare's Fourth Anniversary—A Costly Failed Experiment - WSJ;
<p>The real problem is, we spend too much on health care. This is not a left vs. right issue. GP and I are in perfect agreement (I think) that the growth in Medicare spending is simply unsustainable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t know about Kentucky, but I wouldn’t extrapolate from NY’s numbers. Before the ACA, NY’s private insurance market was broken.</p>
<p>Medical advantage revenues are supposed to drop at Wellpoint by 6 percent next year. Or is it this year ? Lol Govt is cutting reimbursement rates. </p>
<p>It’s this year I think. And none too soon-- we were paying more per person for people on Medicare Advantage than on regular Medicare because why? Particularly since the people on Medicare Advantage are healthier than people on regular Medicare.</p>
<p>We know why. The private sector said they could do medicare cheaper than the govt. Did not happen.</p>
<p>One reason they pay more per person is because Medicare Advantage plans provide more generous services than traditional Medicare. These extra benefits include dental services, vision care, hearing aids, podiatry, and other supplemental services. More than half of the Medicare Advantage plans offer some form of gym or health club membership. Even though they are more expensive than traditional medicare, their costs have undershot initial govt projections. Real competition and consumer choice is a good thing.</p>