Wow! This article is from back in June, but it's a heck of a find; insurance-tracking website HealthPocket ran an extensive study comparing the ACA exchange-based policies against their off-exchange equivalent plans, and their findings were pretty striking (and I'm surprised that this hasn't received more coverage):
Overall the least expensive metal plans from United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, and Assurant were significantly more expensive than the least expensive metal plans available on state exchanges. Across the bronze, silver, and gold metal tiers, the least expensive plans offered by the four off-exchange carriers were over 40% more expensive on average than the least expensive plans on the exchanges. This suggests that if these carriers entered new exchanges in 2015, then they would not usually be competitive with the cheapest on-exchange plans unless they substantially lowered their current premiums. It is important to note that these premium costs do not factor premium subsidies, which are only available for on-exchange metal plans.
OK, I don't know what the requested rate changes for 2015 were in Oklahoma, but this appears to be the final word:
Health Insurers Submit Exchange Rates for 2015
OKLAHOMA CITY –Oklahomans shopping for individual health insurance policies through the federal exchange will be able to choose from six different companies offering multiple plans. Rate renewals for 2015 policies range from a decrease of 9.1 percent to an increase of 29 percent. The actual rate for an individual will depend on several factors, including age, geographical location and tobacco use.
“In the second year of the federal exchange, carriers have adjusted their rates to adequately reflect their utilization costs, comply with federal rules on medical loss ratios and reflect revisions to their provider networks,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak.
Thanks to Objective Politics for reminding me of this ugly moment from the 2012 GOP primaries...
The context was a Twitter discussion between LA Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, U of Chicago professor Harold Pollack, and CATO Institute healthcare guru/Halbig co-architect Michael Cannon. "Objective Politics" chimed in with the link to the infamous moment above, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the opposing points of view at play in the ACA debate.
There's nothing wrong with reminding people about this, but I'm pretty disappointed with both the author as well as PBS for treating this as if it's a "surprise" or something unexpected:
Consumers may soon find a surprise in their mailbox: a notice that their health plan is being canceled.
Last year, many consumers who thought their health plans would be canceled because they didn’t meet the standards of the health law got a reprieve. Following stinging criticism for appearing to renege on a promise that people who liked their existing plans could keep them, President Barack Obama backed off plans to require all individual and small group plans that had not been in place before the health law to meet new standards starting in 2014.
Chad Terhune of the LA Times has a great story about how CoveredCA is ramping up their efforts for the 2nd year of open enrollment. It's a good read overall, but one number in the opening sentence leapt out at me:
Looking to avoid the pitfalls and confusion that surrounded the launch of Obamacare, California is gearing up to get 1.2 million people to renew their health policies for next year.
This caught my eye because the total QHP enrollment number for California was actually 1,405,102 as of 4/19.
Now, Peter Lee did state that 85% of that number had paid their first month's premium as of just a week later, by 4/27...and as it happens, 1.2 / 1.4 = 85.7%, so it's possible that this is what the "1.2 million" refers to.
For awhile there I was concerned that Oregon's uglier-by-the-minute legal/technical headaches had caused them to stop bothering with regular updates; fortunately, they seem to be back on track again, updating both QHP and Medicaid numbers:
September 1, 2014
Update: Private coverage and Oregon Health Plan enrollment through Cover Oregon
Medical enrollments through Cover Oregon: 353,120
Total private medical insurance enrollments through Cover Oregon: 100,758
Oregon Health Plan enrollments through Cover Oregon: 252,362*
*OHP enrollment data is current as of August 13, 2014. An updated number will be posted soon.
Dental enrollments
Total private dental insurance enrollments through CoverOregon: 20,572
Net enrollments Net private medical: 78,683
Net private dental: 14,502
Wow! The WA Health Benefit Exchange, which hasn't issued an actual enrollment update since the end of the Open Enrollment period, just came through in a big way:
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Healthplanfinder today announced 11,497 Washingtonians have taken advantage of special enrollment periods since March 31 that allow them to enroll through wahealthplanfinder.org if they have a qualifying life event outside of the standard open enrollment period. The next open enrollment period starts on Nov. 15, 2014 for coverage beginning in 2015.
Data also shows that nearly 700,000 residents are now enrolled in new free or low-cost health coverage options, with more than 147,000 customers currently enrolled in Qualified Health Plans. Including customers who are renewing their existing Medicaid coverage, more than 1.28 million residents have enrolled in health coverage through wahealthplanfinder.org.
Yeah, yeah, I know; a test server for Healthcare.Gov was successfully hacked into recently; no sensitive data was stolen, but Security was Breached, etc etc etc.
No, I'm not shrugging the incident off. I'm the one who called Hawaii's state exchange website out for taking over a week to resolve their own Heartbleed SSL vulnerability last spring. Yes, security is very important, especially with personal financial, medical and citizenship data. Hopefully the HHS techies are eliminating vulnerabilities, beefing up security and so forth.
I'm swamped with my day job at the moment, so I don't have a whole lot to add to the discussion at the moment...
North Carolinians could have three insurance carriers to choose from when enrollment under the Affordable Care Act reopens in November.
The state Department of Insurance has approved individual plans from UnitedHealthcare for the online marketplace, but they still need to be approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because the federal government operates the exchange.
A reader forwarded this to me; I ran a search for the organization they referred to and sure enough, it's legit:
Email today from Texas Well and Healthy that might suggest another one of those "we have to craft a uniquely TX solution for a uniquely TX problem because Obamacare sucks" deal. Copy follows...
County Leaders Call for Insurance Solution as Texas Senate Commitee Discusses Alternatives to Medicaid Expansion
Our state leaders may be moving slow on health care, but local leaders are giving them a nudge in the right direction.
Leaders of six of the state's largest counties -- ranging from Harris County's Republican Judge Emmett to Dallas County's Democratic Judge Jenkins -- have joined together to call on the legislature to find a "uniquely Texas solution" to covering uninsured low-wage workers.
The county leaders wrote to the legislature as the Senate Health and Human Services Committee met to discuss Texas alternatives to Medicaid expansion.
