Oregon insurers seek huge rate hikes

Did anyone really believe that "reform" was going to reform anything? Obama's healthcare plan will make this years rate hikes seem like nothing. You can't pollute risk pools with chronically unhealthy people and expect rates for everyone else to do anything but go stright up. Doesn't anyone ever do any of their own thinking anymore? here is another surprise thats coming your way "the deficit will NOT go down with Obamacare ,... when Obama said that HE WAS LYING!

My insurance went up big time last year so I had to reduce coverage even though I hardly use my policy. I would like to see some competition in the market. Right now it's a protected industry due to heavy lobbying. Here is a quote I picked up from a ROBERT B. REICH's NY times article:

"..the five largest providers of small group insurance controlled 75 percent or more of the market in 34 states, and 90 percent or more in 23 of those states, a significant increase in concentration since the G.A.O.’s 2002 survey."

Sounds like that might have something to do with it.

Steve. Your argument may indeed be plausible for 2014 or beyond, but I'm not sure it adds up for the increases today.

For this year, children are the only ones who cannot be denied coverage on employment-based plans for pre-existing conditions. So first, that ban on denial couldn’t explain dramatic increases in the individual market, the primary subject of the article, because the ban on denying children coverage for pre-existing conditions only applies to employer plans, not individual plans.

Second, I don’t see how banning denial of coverage for kids with pre-existing conditions could explain exponential rate increases in the employer-based plans either, since so few people can actually afford to insure their kids through their employers.

Also kids are generally healthier than adults and are profit centers for insurance carriers. Thus I would think that the number of kids with pre-existing conditions would be relatively low and would not drive rates up significantly.

The article focused on Regence increase of 22.7% in the individual market. In 2006, Regence cut rates by 16, and then every year thereafter increased rates exponentially. It would seem to me that virtually the only people left in their plan are those sick people with pre-existing conditions who have no choice but to pay these stiff premium increases. Those with options have probably fled. So contrary to sick people being forced into Regence’s plan, as you suggest, healthy people instead are being forced out and Regence is stuck with sick people in its plan

The good news for Regence is that the sick people will pay just about any price to keep their policies. They have no real options. No one else will take them because of pre-existing conditions. They’re like smokers or heroin addicts. They have what economists call inelastic demand schedules. They will pay just about any price put in front of them, because they have no other plausible options.

Sorry, I meant my comment to be in response to Robert's post.

Hi Chip,

The point I didn't make very thoroughly as I slid into my rant was that the Obama plan didn't reform health care it didn't even reform health insurance. Obama passes these laws by calling them things they aren't and counting on people not knowing any better to get them passed. Nothing has been done to slow down the escalating costs of health care. in very general terms the costs keep rising because the population keeps making themselves unhealthier. We poison our bodies with fast foods and terrible diets and eating habits. As the people get progressively more obese and unhealthy at younger and younger ages they develop chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease and numerous other chronic conditions which require treatment throughout the rest of their lives. The cost of care will start going down when America slims down and gets back in shape. The other contributing factor to the high costs of care is the amount of it we give away for free (to illegal aliens) those costs don't just go away they have to be spread to the people who do pay. Illegal immigration has taken down some very well run hospitals along the border states and it's a huge huge problem. Billions and Billions of dollars annually are written off and those costs are picked up by everyone else. We can't afford to do it anymore we give away alot of aspirin to people who don't pay and won't pay so when you come in with your insurance in your pocket that aspirin is now $15.00.