- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
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now if only i could think of that federal law thingy that so closely resembled MassCare........
what was its' name again? wasn't it supposed to solve our problems?
or at least not make them worse?
The Boston Globe is reporting that the four largest health insurers in Massachusetts — Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan, and Fallon Community Health Plan — lost a combined $152 million in the first quarter of 2010. The companies stated that $116 million of those losses were directly caused by the April 1 institution of price controls by the state’s insurance commissioner.
...
This news will cheer members of three overlapping groups: those who believe that profit is an offensive idea in the realm of health care; those who believe that corporate malfeasance is responsible for most social ills; and those who want the private insurance market to collapse, so that it can be replaced by a socialized model.
But for those who are unfortunate enough to have health insurance in Massachusetts, it is an alarming development. It is also one with national ramifications, as Obamacare rolls the Massachusetts model out across the country.
...
Politicians’ claims that insurers were gouging consumers with reckless rate hikes have been exposed as untruthful. So now, the pols are trying a new line on for size: that insurers are greedily hoarding secret piles of excess cash. But insurers are required by law to hold assets in reserve, so that they can meet their future claims obligations without risking insolvency. The politicians are trying to let themselves off the hook, by demanding that insurers eat their near-term losses and deplete their long-term reserves.
The four insurers listed above — non-profits all — probably have enough in reserve to get through a few years of price controls. But after that, they will have to raise rates dramatically, in order to catch up with several years of health care inflation. If they can’t, they will go broke, and the Left will blame “market forces.”...
what was its' name again? wasn't it supposed to solve our problems?
or at least not make them worse?
The Boston Globe is reporting that the four largest health insurers in Massachusetts — Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan, and Fallon Community Health Plan — lost a combined $152 million in the first quarter of 2010. The companies stated that $116 million of those losses were directly caused by the April 1 institution of price controls by the state’s insurance commissioner.
...
This news will cheer members of three overlapping groups: those who believe that profit is an offensive idea in the realm of health care; those who believe that corporate malfeasance is responsible for most social ills; and those who want the private insurance market to collapse, so that it can be replaced by a socialized model.
But for those who are unfortunate enough to have health insurance in Massachusetts, it is an alarming development. It is also one with national ramifications, as Obamacare rolls the Massachusetts model out across the country.
...
Politicians’ claims that insurers were gouging consumers with reckless rate hikes have been exposed as untruthful. So now, the pols are trying a new line on for size: that insurers are greedily hoarding secret piles of excess cash. But insurers are required by law to hold assets in reserve, so that they can meet their future claims obligations without risking insolvency. The politicians are trying to let themselves off the hook, by demanding that insurers eat their near-term losses and deplete their long-term reserves.
The four insurers listed above — non-profits all — probably have enough in reserve to get through a few years of price controls. But after that, they will have to raise rates dramatically, in order to catch up with several years of health care inflation. If they can’t, they will go broke, and the Left will blame “market forces.”...