Ohio voters have approved Issue 3 which disapproves the federal government’s mandate to force them to buy health insurance. They have also protested against Obamacare’s directives and restrictions, which are already causing health care premiums to rise.
With Buckeye State voters approving Issue 3, which prohibits
government from forcing them to buy Ohio health insurance, Ohioans seem
to have spoken out against a government-knows-best set of directives.
Many
objections have been raised against Obamacare from different quarters,
and one of the most important is about the effect it will have on
raising health insurance Ohio premiums for individuals and families.
Obamacare has many restrictions and expensive mandates that will push up
health care costs, causing premiums to rise. In fact, the effect on
premiums is already evident.
The Employer Health Benefits Survey
by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that health insurance Ohio
premiums rose by 9 percent in 2011, raising the average rate for a
family to $15,073. This is in addition to the increases of 5% in 2009
and 3% in 2010. The Kaiser study predicts that premiums will hit a high
of $32,175 by 2021.
A report conducted by Milliman Inc.
forecasted that individual premiums in Ohio could rise by 55 to 85
percent in 2014, excluding any costs caused by medical inflation.
Further, based on their current state of health, some individuals are
expected to experience a 90 to 130 percent increase in their health
insurance Ohio premiums while others may see decreases.
The
major factors that are expected to drive health care spending and
premium increase under Obamacare are:
• Preventive
care services: The health care law requires insurers to offer
coverage of certain preventive services at no cost. This will increase
the use of healthcare services, thereby raising the cost of health care.
•
Minimum benefits package: Obamacare directs insurance
companies to offer a minimum or essential package of benefits. In some
cases, the new law also prevents insurers from fixing limits on the
amount of services individuals can use. The effect of both these
mandates will be to raise health plan cost and premiums.
• Ban
on state-of-health based underwriting: Underwriting is
performed by insurers to establish an applicant risk, and healthy
individuals are offered discounted premiums. Under Obamacare, insurers
are banned relying on a person’s state of health to determine premiums.
This would mean higher premiums even for people in relatively good
health.
• Lower discounts for youth: Older
people use more health care services but under Obamacare mandates that
the premiums that the oldest individuals in the risk pool are just three
times higher than the lowest rate. This means younger people will end
up paying higher premiums. Management consulting firm Oliver Wyman
estimates that “premiums will rise by 45 per cent for those age 18-24,
35 percent for those age 25-29 and 26 per cent for those age 30-34”.1
•
Mandatory coverage for children under 26 and no annual or
lifetime limits on health benefits: Keeping children in their
parents’ health plan up to age 26 and the ban on annual and lifetime
limits on health benefits have already led leading insurers to raise
premiums.
Low Medicare reimbursement rates and higher taxes on
insurers, medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are
other factors that would cause premiums to rise.
These
predictions are only the tip of the iceberg. The impact of Obamacare’s
new Ohio health insurance tax alone is expected
to increase health care costs and distort the nation’s financial health
by increasing taxes, leading to job losses, distorting the market and
extending federal control. It’s no wonder that the voice to repeal
Obamacare is growing stronger by the day – not only in Ohio, but in the
nation as a whole.
References:
1Estimated
Premium Impact of Annual Fees assessed on Health Insurance Plans,
October 31, 2011, by Chris Carlson, Oliver Wyman
Obamacare and
Insurance Benefit Mandates: Raising Premiums and Reducing Patient
Choice, by Edmund Haislmaier, January 20, 2011, The Heritage Foundation Obamacare
Increases Health Insurance Premiums, by Brian Blase and Rea Hederman,
Jr., September 21, 2010 The Senate Health Bill: Cost of the Insurance
Premium Tax to Individuals and Families, by Edmund Haislmaier, December
9, 2009, The Heritage Foundation
Tracy McManamon is an Ohio health insurance agent with over 22 years of experience. His clients rely on him to get affordable health insurance Ohio plans that suit their needs.
