...The failure to expand Medicaid is costing everyone who uses health care services in the form of increased insurance and provider costs.
No, the failure of the Obama administration with the help of a Republican congress
to reign in medical costs is why insurance premiums and provider costs
have continued to rise
...Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state’s largest health insurance company, is considering withdrawing from the Affordable Care Act marketplace because the company is losing money under the new health insurance system.
This problem doesn’t stem from an inherent failing of the ACA, but with the state’s stubborn refusal to take part in the system.
Not true Susan.
They didn't fix the overcharging for pharmaceuticals
and they didn't lower doctor and hospital payments
which cost more than double other developed country health care costs
...Recently informed of a study by Wake Forest University showing that any costs of expanding Medicaid would be equaled by economic benefits...
Who would pay for the expanded Medicaid,
and where would the money come from Susan?
We are all Americans, right?
...Who pays for the uninsured? Everyone who is insured.
Including everyone if Medicaid was expanded.
Are you under the impression the money comes from thin air Susan?
Did an editor fact check your article,
or is this a hit piece for Hillary against Bernie
at the behest of Jeff Gauger and Warren Buffett?
“Covering the cost of the uninsured is the biggest driver of rising health care costs,” Rob Luisanna, managing partner at Pilot Benefits, said at a recent forum on Medicaid expansion.
Rising health costs have been caused by runaway increased pricing
for the drugs, devices and services of the medical industry.
Might want to get a non-biased reference Susan,
instead of a health care lobbyist to confirm your bias.
Blue Cross raised its rates by an average of 32.5 percent this year but is operating at a loss...
...all three health insurance companies offering subsidized policies under the ACA have threatened to leave the market. Thousands of North Carolinians would be left with no health insurance options.
Because the ACA didn't fix anything Susan,
because it wasn't affordable, because the press didn't tell the public
how fucked up it got because of health care industry campaign contributions
leaving their profit machine firmly in place.
Even if Blue Cross doesn’t withdraw from the ACA marketplace, we still pay in the form of increased premiums and health care costs.
Wilson told the News & Observer of Raleigh that his company’s decision would be based on the size of the rate increase approved by the N.C. Department of Insurance for next year.
You can bet it’s going to be a whopper.
Which is your fault Susan,
for not telling the truth of how the medical industry legally steals from its patients
for the benefit of Warren Buffett and Hillary Clinton.
...Blue Cross saw a drop in enrollment of 46,495 customers between December and January.
Why no mention of single payer Susan?
...The state lost $2.7 billion in 2014 and $3.3 billion in 2015 by failing to expand Medicaid, according to a nonpartisan study paid for by the Cone Health Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
Nonpartisan D and R wise but biased as hell.
You are citing a health care lobbying group Susan
to justify your argument for the increased profits
of their "non-profit"
Do you know what you are doing?
...What is the human cost? How many lives have been and will be lost because people don’t get preventative care? Because they don’t get medication? Because they don’t get life-saving surgery?
Why didn't you cover why the costs are actually so high Susan?
...if the health care system in North Carolina implodes, it won’t be Obamacare that’s to blame.
It will be reporter/opinion/talking heads to blame,
who misled their readers as what has actually occurred
for the benefit of insurance and health care corporations
http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/around_town/susan-ladd-blame-bergerblock-not-obamacare-for-rising-costs/article_6a1dc1cd-25e5-5e18-a59d-091dd6054930.html
.
.
From the Comments;
Linda Kinstle; Sorry Susan but your premise that BCBS left the state due to a lack of Medicaid expansion falls flat in the face of the fact BCBS has left at least one other state that had Medicaid expansion in place after being denied a 51.6 percent increase in premiums. I paid 657 each month for my BCBS premiums and had a 3,000 deductible so paid for all medical expenses and high premiums for 2015. Private Insurance companies only care about outrageous profits. The system needs to be drastically changed...
Iris Carter; ...The uninsured drive costs even HIGHER because there is more loss. Also, the U.S. has turned medical treatment into a lucrative business rather than a service for the infirmed. We have the highest rates for treatment than anywhere in the world because of corporate greed.
Thus, insurance goes up to cover the continued rising costs.
Frank Swanson; Ms. Ladd simply doesn't understand how the ACA works. It is impossible that a government can mandate that everyone buy a product from a private company, and that if you can't afford it, it will be provided for you, and expect costs to come down and quality go up.
This is a mathematical impossibility.
If that same government mandated that everyone must buy a new car next year, and those who couldn't afford one would be provided one on the remaining taxpayers' backs, does Ms. Ladd really believe that Ford, GM and all the rest would lower their prices and improve their quality?
Of course just the opposite would happen.
On the subject of Medicaid, we pay for that, too. Nothing is free, somebody has to pay for it. My health insurance premiums have now tripled in the past three years. ...It's the fault of a president and congress that do not understand math and what happens when you remove an industry
from the free market system and are no longer required to charge no more than the market will bear. The ACA cannot work. It was impossible from the start.
Jeri L. Donnelly; "It's the fault of a president and congress that do not understand math and what happens when you remove an industry from the free market system and are no longer required to charge no more than the market will bear."
The reason ACA has problems is that it was manipulated and mangled from the start by the R's, insurance, and pharmaceutical companies.
They effectively had a monopoly that they didn't wan to give up. The ACA was supposed to be designed on a model akin to single payer (like
Medicaire) which would be able to negotiate prices based on its market share, much like Walmart does. Little entities, like companies, are unable to do this, so the insurance industry just kept creeping up the cost of insurance over time. That model was unsustainable and costing our GDP a bucketload.
But the insurance industry has not been removed from the system. It is fighting tooth and nail to have it go back to the old system...
Samuel Smith; This writing qualifies for the 100% horse manure award.
Gary Metzger; How this woman can sleep at night is beyond me.
Patrick Sigafoos; Sooooooo Susan, you would like the state to buy into a healthcare plan backed a federal government which is currently over 18.9 trillion (18,900,000,000,000.00) dollars in debt and climbing?
When national debit levels eventually become unmanagable and the federal government is forced, by fiscal reality, to reign in social services spending and slash Medicaid benefits, this is the program you would like the citizens of the state of North Carolina to be dependent on?
Really?
ACA premiums in NC to rise sharply in 2016; Thanks Andrew Brod
http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/11/aca-premiums-in-nc-to-rise-sharply-in.html
Dear Greensboro's Andrew Brod, On the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Obamacare) and Deficit Projections, of which Dr. Brod was Incorrect
http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/06/dear-greensboros-andrew-brod-on.html
Dr. Andrew Brod, my deadline for this article is Monday morning at 10am.
http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/03/dr-andrew-brod-my-deadline-for-this.html
Susan Ladd and Warren Buffett's News and Record is part of the problem
http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/02/andrew-brods-legacy-blue-cross-projects.html
