ObamaCare strikes out with workers
Of note:
Strike Two: ObamaCare creates strong incentives for employers — even while holding workers financially harmless — to drop employer-sponsored health insurance for as many as 35 million Americans. This is sure to lead to widespread turmoil in labor compensation, employee insurance coverage and labor relations.
…
Health insurance is generally only one piece of an overall compensation package that employees receive as a result of competitive pressures. Evidence suggests that if the health insurance portion of that package is reduced or eliminated, the wage aspect will ultimately be increased as a competitive necessity to retain and attract valuable labor.
So the key question is whether the employer can keep the employee “happy” — appropriately compensated and insured — and save money.
The answer is frequently “yes” — thanks to the generosity of federal subsidies. In a study available at the American Action Forum website, we find that for a worker with an income of $59,250 — 250 percent of the federal poverty level — the employer could drop $12,000 in insurance, pay the $2,000 penalty ObamaCare imposes on doing so, give the worker a raise of $8,391 and pocket a tidy $1,550.
More important, the worker could use her raise and the $7,530 subsidy to purchase insurance as good as what she gave up.
What’s not to like — as long as the other 138 million taxpayers are financing the deal?
The potential affect is large. There are now 123 million Americans at or below this income cutoff. Roughly 60 percent of Americans work; about 60 percent of those receive employer-sponsored insurance. This suggests that there are about 43 million workers for whom it may make financial sense to drop insurance.
In the interest of being conservative, let’s say it is 35-40 million.
CBO estimated that only 19 million would receive subsidies, at a cost of about $450 billion over the first 10 years. This analysis suggests that the number could easily be triple that — or 19 million plus an additional 38 million in 2014. Meaning the price tag would be $1.4 trillion.
On top of that, there would be a disruptive and vast reworking of compensation packages, insurance coverage and labor market relations.
Read the full piece here. [via Politico]
eHealth Announces Partnership with Healthcare Blue Book to Bring Health Insurance and Healthcare Price Transparency to Consumers
Mountain View, CA, April 13, 2010 – eHealth, Inc., parent company of eHealthInsurance.com, the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, today announced a partnership with Healthcare Blue Book, the leading online provider of fair healthcare pricing information for consumers in their markets.
The Healthcare Blue Book was established to provide consumers with the knowledge they need to get fair prices for their healthcare and is used by consumers who pay for their own healthcare, have high deductible health insurance plans, or need services that their insurance company does not fully cover. The consumer pricing guide helps consumers find fair prices for surgeries, hospital stays, doctor visits, medical tests and much more.
The eHealth and Healthcare Blue Book partnership will combine the two companies’ core strengths to deliver a one-stop shop for purchasing fairly priced health insurance along with unbiased healthcare pricing information. The free online platform will help consumers get the most value from the plans they purchase by enabling them to:
- Compare, research and purchase online over 10,000 health insurance products from over 180 carriers;
- Obtain personal assistance from the eHealthInsurance customer care center, staffed 24/7 with licensed health insurance agents; and
- Get fair, upfront pricing data for hundreds of healthcare services and products throughout the nation.
Bit of a game changer.
Read the full release here.
RE: Six Companies Pushing for Transparency in Healthcare Pricing - GOOD
Part of my series over at GOOD about fixing the sickness industry with good design.
Add eHealth, Inc. (@eHealthInc on Twitter)
“Like Orbitz for health insurance.”
More posts on eHealth, Inc. here.
About eHealth, Inc.:
eHealth is like “Orbitz for Health Insurance.” eHealth brought e-commerce to the insurance business. Through its eHealthInsurance Services subsidiary, the company sells health insurance in an online “exchange” to more than 600,000 individual, family, and small business members. The company is licensed to sell in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and it has partnerships with some 180 health insurance carriers. It offers more than 10,000 plans online — including health, dental, and vision insurance products from the likes of Aetna, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and Wellpoint, as well as more than 40 Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensees. The company was founded in 1997. It is the largest provider of insurance plans to individuals, families, and small businesses.
Health Insurance Coverage and Reform: Five Reasons Not to Wait Any Longer
Based on the results from last week’s U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, the future of health reform legislation is increasingly unclear. While the debate continues, those who have delayed getting health insurance while waiting for a government solution may be leaving themselves open to serious risks. To address this, eHealthInsurance today released a list of five reasons why holding off on health insurance can be risky, and also provided a list of helpful resources for the uninsured.
Top Five Reasons to Get Covered Now:
1) Emergency Rooms aren’t a good fallback plan.
2) Health care is more expensive when you’re uninsured.
3) Medical bills are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy.
4) You run the risk of making yourself uninsurable.
5) Youth offers no protection.
Persons between ages 19 and 29 are more likely to be uninsured than most other groups. Young adults are also more likely to visit the Emergency Room than many other groups. No one should start out their adult life under a mountain of medical bills. Even a basic individual health insurance plan will limit exposure to unexpected medical costs. Individual health insurance plans for adults ages 18-24 can be as low as $100/month, or less.
Often much less.
Click through to read the full article here.
If you are uninsured and are considering getting coverage, what are your options?
Research your health insurance options through an online resource like eHealthInsurance.com. If you have questions, call a licensed agent at 1-800-977-8660.
If you’ve never purchased your own health insurance before, get a quick start by using free online resources like eHealthInsurance’s “Health Insurance Buyer’s Guide.”
If you were laid off or are unemployed, talk to your benefits administrator about your rights to COBRA coverage and the availability of the COBRA subsidy. For more information on options for the unemployed, look at this helpful guide.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are unable to afford health insurance, talk to a licensed agent or contact the Foundation for Health Coverage Education at http://www.CoverageForAll.org to determine what free and low-cost health care options are available to you in your area.
If you have medical debt or need help understanding your rights, eHealthInsurance encourages you to review Families USA’s consumer guide: Your Medical Bills: A Consumer’s Guide to Coping with Medical Debt.
Will people comply with health-insurance mandate?
The mandates will both increase the participation in the pool of higher-risk patients and increase demand for services from providers. That will have the same effect nationally as we have seen in Massachusetts and Maine, which is to make insurance premiums much more costly, wait times for services lengthen, and eventually put providers and insurers out of business if they can’t raise prices to meet those conditions. Even with higher penalties imposed by the IRS, many of these non-compliants will still resist the notion of subsidizing cheaper prices for higher-risk people when they could handle their own costs without third-party payers.
Oh, and don’t forget the side benefit of making a vast new class of criminals out of people who only want to be responsible for their own costs, and not everyone else’s. We should be asking Congress why they want to sic the IRS on such people, rather than make it easier for everyone else to handle their medical care in the same efficient manner with some real reform based on eliminating third-party payers from the system altogether.
Hear, hear.
Full article here.
See also:
Top Nine Health Care Charts You’ve Never Seen Before
Trial lawyers are the second biggest donor to the Democrats’ Political Action Committee, trailing only the union bosses of the IBEW.
The “lawsuit industry” gives more money (roughly $127 million in 2008) to Congress than every sector of the health care industry, combined.
Medical malpractice costs continue to skyrocket to new historical highs, growing far faster than any other component of health insurance premiums.
Which makes the percentage of your health premium going to pay for the trial lawyers’ mansions roughly 75%.
And trial lawyers bring in more money than either Microsoft or Pfizer.
Tort reform is an easy way to reduce health care costs without destroying the entire system.
But Congressional Democrats — in their current addled state — won’t have a bit of it. They require money, power and control. And the trial lawyers continue to provide them with sustenance.
Charts: Source
via Hot Air Green Room
The current health care “reform” bill(s) do not contain a single line regarding tort reform. This, despite the Congressional Budget Office suggestion that it could could save billions over the next decade.
One more practical, piecemeal solution to real reform not being addressed by the 7 people involved in crafting the health care clusterfucks/bills behind closed doors.
-WSJ/Comic Book Guy
Tell us how you really feel, guys.
Click image or here for a link to the WSJ story on the latest incarnation of the House healthcare bill.
If the link only takes you to the article preview, simply Google the actual text of the headline —- “The Worst Bill Ever” —- and click through from the search results page to get by the pay wall.
Congressional Budget Office: Tort Reform Could Save Billions Over The Next Decade
Tort reform could affect costs for health care both directly and indirectly: directly, by lowering premiums for medical liability insurance; and indirectly, by reducing the use of diagnostic tests and other health care services when providers recommend those services principally to reduce their potential exposure to lawsuits.
Link is to the actual CBO report.
