Critics blast state estimate of skyrocketing health insurance rates under Affordable Care Act

Source: The Wisconsin State JournalSept.儲存 04--The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance projected Tuesday that insurance premiums in Wisconsin will rise, in some cases sharply, for individual health policies when the new federal exchanges take effect Jan. 1.The office said insurance premiums for a 21-year-old in Madison would jump 125 percent for an individual health care plan with a $2,000 deductible and drug coverage -- the largest increase across eight Wisconsin cities and three age categories. The smallest projected increase was for a 63-year-old living in Kenosha, who would see just under a 10 percent increase in premiums, the agency said.Critics, including Citizen Action of Wisconsin and ABC for Health, pounced on the projections, saying the administration of Gov. Scott Walker -- who is a vocal opponent of the Affordable Care Act -- was using misleading numbers to scare the public. Citizen Action executive director Robert Kraig called the numbers "fishy" and criticized the agency for failing to make available the data underlying the estimates."The data is surprisingly thin and unpersuasive as it's presented, and it's incomplete," Kraig said. "They're not even real numbers -- they're percentages."Deputy Insurance Commissioner Dan Schwartzer rejected that characterization, saying his agency was putting out the best information possible before Oct. 1, when sign-up under the private insurance exchanges begins."We are trying to educate in a nonpartisan way," Schwartzer said. "We're not trying to scare anyone, but we're not trying to sugarcoat it, either. We're just trying to put out as much information as possible about what's going to happen in October and January."Kraig said the estimates do not include several vital pieces of information needed to fairly compare the current cost of health care coverage to rates under the exchanges next year. Among the missing factors is how much premiums would be subsidized by tax credits for families earning up to $94,000 a year.Schwartzer countered that the size of the tax subsidies are "all over the map" depending on family size and income. He suggested that people can look up their subsidy rate at healthcare.gov.The comparisons released Tuesday involve the mid-level "silver" plan, Schwartzer said. The Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated tax credits will reduce the average sticker price for a "silver" family plan by 32 percent.That mea新蒲崗迷你倉s, Kraig said, that some of the theoretical consumers in the state's analysis actually will see the cost of health insurance drop."This doesn't help aid consumer education. It just confuses the matter for people," he said. "It's hard for me to see it as anything except a selective release of information to create rate shock to undermine confidence in the law among consumers."Bobby Peterson, executive director of ABC for Health in Madison, said Walker's refusal to set up the health insurance exchanges, forcing the federal government to do it instead, and the governor's opposition to so-called Obamacare also make him "suspicious" of the numbers. Indiana and Ohio -- whose governors have been vocal critics of the Affordable Care Act -- also have come under fire for allegedly putting out misleading cost projections.In a statement, Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel acknowledged that the estimates do not factor in subsidies that will lower the cost of health insurance for some people. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates about half of all consumers would qualify for government tax subsidies."With that said, from our analysis, it appears premiums will increase for most consumers," Nickel said in a news release. "And, while there is no question that some consumers will have subsidies and may not pay these higher rates, someone will pay for the increased premiums, whether it is the consumer or the federal government."In a phone call with reporters last month, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, architect of the Massachusetts health care plan that is the blueprint for the Affordable Care Act, said just 3 percent of the Wisconsin population will need to use the health care exchanges. Most people have coverage either through their employer, Medicare or BadgerCare, the state's Medicaid program.Gruber said some people will face higher premiums under the Affordable Care Act since Wisconsin insurance companies "discriminate" in favor of young healthy people in setting rates. But he added that even if premiums rise, some people will pay less overall for health care because Obamacare requires all insurance plans to cover certain procedures and services not covered under the least expensive health care plans.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at .wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage