Maggie Mahar Healthbeat Blog: Reverse “ Sticker Shock”— Why are Insurance Rates in the State Marketplaces Lower Than Expected? — Part I
Even Forbes’ columnist Avik Roy is recanting. Earlier this month he acknowledged that under Obamacare, many Americans who buy their own coverage in 2014 will find that insurance is significantly more affordable than it was in the past: “Three states will see meaningful declines in rates: Colorado (34 percent), Ohio (30 percent), and New York (27 percent).”
Colorado, Ohio and New York are not unique. As states announce the prices that carriers will be charging in the online marketplaces (or “Exchanges”) where Americans who don’t have health benefits rate at work will be purchasing their own coverage, jaws are dropping. Rates are coming down, not only for those individuals, but for some small business owners who will be buying insurance for their employees in separate SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program) Exchanges.
What may be most surprising is that premiums will be lower, not only in liberal Blue states but in some Red states that are opposed to Obamacare.
What is making health insurance more affordable?
First, the majority of individuals shopping in the Exchanges will be eligible for government subsidies that will go a long way toward covering premiums. In the past I have written about how these tax credits will help young adults (18-34). But older Americans also will benefit. Fully 30% of those who receive tax credits will be 35-54, and 12.5% will be 55 or older. This is important because in the Exchanges, insurers in every state except New York and Vermont will be allowed to charge a 60-year-old three times as much as they would charge a 20-year-old for exactly the same policy. Without subsidies many would find insurance totally unaffordable.
The second reason premiums are significantly lower than expected is that as I have explained on healthinsurance.org in the state marketplaces insurers are forced to compete on price. All policies sold in the Exchanges must cover the same essential benefits, and follow other rules that will make the plans look very much alike. The only way for a carrier to distinguish himself from the crowd will be to charge less—or have a better network of providers. But the younger customers that carriers covet care far more about price than about the network.
Third, in many cases, state regulators have been clamping down. In Portland Oregon, for example, regulators forced insurers to cut their proposed rates by an average of nearly 10%. Three of the 12 insurance companies in that market had to lower their rates by more than 20% f
Finally, rates in many Exchanges are looking surprisingly affordable because many insurers are narrowing their networks to a group of hospitals and doctors who will offer higher-quality care for less. Meanwhile the fear-mongers argue that this means patients won’t receive the care they need.
What the Times neglected to mention is that the Obama administration had anticipated the possibility that a network could be too narrow and has already addressed the issue. As Modern Healthcare.com reports, “last year, the administration issued a rule” that insurers “must maintain a network of a sufficient number and type of providers … to assure that all services will be available without unreasonable delay.” The rule also requires that “essential community providers” be included in all plans.
This is an important fact. It is not clear why the Times ignored it.
Modern Healthcare.com goes on to quote Dr. Jeff Rideout, senior medical adviser for the Covered California state exchange, stressing that “all plans included in the exchange have to get state and federal regulatory approval for network adequacy.”
But will the in-network providers be as good as those who balk at the notion of charging less than top dollar? Study after study shows that there is little correlation between higher prices and better care. In fact, lower costs and higher quality go hand in hand: when more efficient hospitals co-ordinate care there are fewer “medical misadventures,” hospital stays are shorter; and both patient and doctor satisfaction is higher.
In the 1990s, HMOs that asked that t patients stay “in network” fell out of favor. But today, when Consumer Reports publishes NCQA ratings on quality of care as well as consumer satisfaction, it turns that that HMOs that rely on “networks” outrank other insurers. Networks that coordinate care are the future of medicine.
Ohio—In September the Truth Finally Emerged
Ohio serves a striking case study of “reverse sticker shock.”
Before next year’s rates for individuals buying their own insurance were announced, many Red state officials had warned that prices would spiral. In June, for example, Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a Republican who heads the state’s insurance department, took fear-mongering to a new level by announcing that in 2014, the average cost of coverage would rise by an estimated 88 percent. l
Two months later, when Taylor’s department disclosed the actual premiums that insurers will be charging in Ohio’s marketplace, reality forced her to amend her estimate. Nevertheless, she still insisted that in 2014, premiums for individuals will be a whopping 41 percent higher than they were this year. Republican House Speaker John Boehner then picked up his megaphone, calling her announcement “irrefutable evidence” that Obamacare will hurt the economy as it drives up costs.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer wasn’t buying any of this. Reporting on Taylor’s revised numbers, it immediately observed that her statement “masks the fact that for many individuals, premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses will go down” because the vast majority of Americans buying their own insurance in the state exchanges “will be eligible for income-based federal subsidies to reduce or eliminate their costs.” (It would be difficult to accuse the Plain Dealer of liberal bias. In 2012, the paper endorsed Mitt Romney for president.)
The paper then pointed to a second flaw in Taylor’s reasoning. When she compared the average cost of insurance to 2013 to the average cost of 2014 policies, she included bare-bones plans sold in 2013 that “require deductibles of $10,000 or more and offer only catastrophic coverage.”
This distorts the comparison between 2013 and 2014 prices in two ways:
1) All of the plans sold in the Exchanges in 2014 will offer far better protection and much lower deductibles than the bargain basement plans Taylor used in her comparison. She was comparing apples to rotten apples.
2) More importantly, as the Plain Dealer went on to explain, even in 2013 “relatively few people bought these plans (because of super-high deductibles and crummy coverage).” In other words, in order to draw a fair comparison between “average” prices in 2013 and 2014, one needs to look at the plans that most people purchase.
By September Forbes columnist Avik Roy, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute for Policy Research agreed: rates in Ohio would plunge.
In June, Roy had trumpeted Taylor’s projections that healthcare reform would lift rates in Ohio’s state marketplaces by 88%. But as states announced the premiums they had approved, Roy and his team re-crunched the numbers, and acknowledged: “rates on average will go down for Ohioans” by “30 percent. . . even before even considering the effect of subsidies.” /
Let me be clear: Roy continues to claim that most Americans buying their own coverage will see their premiums rise in 2014. On that point, he still is wrong: in his state-by-state analysis of rates, he doesn’t include the impact of the subsidies.
But a policy’s “sticker price” won’t matter to someone purchasing insurance in the state marketplaces. What will matter is what he actually has to lay out, after applying his tax credit. That will determine whether he believes that the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” is actually offering affordable insurance.
(Keep in mind that most people shopping for insurance in the Exchanges live in low-income and median-income households– and thus are eligible for subsidies. More affluent Americans are far more likely to work for employers who offer good health benefits– or to have coverage through a spouse or a parent. The Exchanges will not be open to them because an employer already subsidizes their insurance.)
Still, I greatly respect Roy’s honesty regarding Ohio. In these polarized times, retractions have become rare, even in highly-respected publications. A hat-tip to Roy and to Forbes.
Anything is more affordable especially when someone picks up the tab..
I sorry Ms Mahar, but you are a dolt for the administration…
Seriously Hans?
If you are American, who do you believe picks up the tab for a large percentage of the tab for your ESI through employer tax deductions from corporate income tax (if you happenned to be one of the fortunate 60% who have Employer sponsored insurance)? I assume you are alo paying your healthcare insurance bill pre-tax which is another deduction and tab pickup. And if you are self employed with bills exceeding 7.5% of AGI, who do you thinks picks up the tab for the tax deduction. If you are not an American resident, who do you think picks up your tab?
For the first time, we have some control over the rising cost of healthcare insurance without having to forgo going to the doctor for an ailment.
“The second reason premiums are significantly lower than expected is that as I have explained on healthinsurance.org in the state marketplaces insurers are forced to compete on price. All policies sold in the Exchanges must cover the same essential benefits, and follow other rules that will make the plans look very much alike. The only way for a carrier to distinguish himself from the crowd will be to charge less—or have a better network of providers. But the younger customers that carriers covet care far more about price than about the network.
Third, in many cases, state regulators have been clamping down. In Portland Oregon, for example, regulators forced insurers to cut their proposed rates by an average of nearly 10%. Three of the 12 insurance companies in that market had to lower their rates by more than 20%.
Finally, rates in many Exchanges are looking surprisingly affordable because many insurers are narrowing their networks to a group of hospitals and doctors who will offer higher-quality care for less. Meanwhile the fear-mongers argue that this means patients won’t receive the care they need.”
Your reasoning is silly with no basis.
Yes Hans that is exactly how upper middle class people afford health insurance – someone else picks up the tab. And the person/company that does pick up that tab actually gets a tax deduction for doing so, meaning that THEIR tab is partially picked up by every taxpayer. In fact the people who are really getting screwed under the current deal are those who make enough to actually pay taxes but whose employers provide them sub-standard plans with high deductibles even as executives routinely get what are known as ‘Gold Plated Plans’.
Now perhaps you can deliver a reasoned and data filled argument as to why tax incentives for giving health insurance to Taco Bell corporate honchos are appropriate but using what are really the same tax dollars to provide subsidies via the exchanges to Taco Bell line employees is just free-loading on the part of the latter. But until then perhaps you should keep the content free ad homs to yourself.
Because while you might not come off to everyone as doltish, I am sure I am not the only one who finds you coming off as dickish. And not even with enough of a track record here at AB to be given forbearance as “well that is just Hans”. Who are you to be passing judgement here? Do you have some established level of proven authority that I just missed? In other words why should anyone care about your opinion?
If you have a reasoned argument then provide it. If it is well enough done then certain contributers here, including me, might well consider putting it up as a guest post for discussion. But there is not a lot of respect for random drive by shootings.
The sheer desperation shows, doesn’t it? The fear that the ACA will be good for almost all Americans, and that eventually they will see that and retaliate at the polls against the liars who did everything they could to make things worse — i.e., Republicans — is overwhelming.
Just for a point of interest I currently have individual coverage for $188 a month. After my plan expires I will have to buy an obamacare plan which will cost me $325 per month for the same network or $315 a month for a cheaper network. This is more money for less coverage as my current plan has no co-pays or co insurance after the $4500 deductable so the max out of pocket is $4500. The new obamacare bronze plan has a $5000 deductable and a co-pay of $70-$120 and co insurance of 30% up to the higher out of pocket max of $6350. So I will pay 72% more for much worse insurance.
What is your situation and how is it going to affect your health insurance bill?
casual:
My ESI ended on August 31, 2013. I am playing chicken right now. I can always get Cobra up till 60 days after August 31st. I can not get normal healthcare insurance due to having a heart attack and open heart surgery December 2012 (Gall Bladder removal September 2012 – it was a tough year). Even with cholesteral of 118 (while in the ER) and a heart ejection ratio of 67% (measured in the ER) while having the heart attack, I am too much of a risk for my insurance even though my cargiologist says I am a low risk. My cholesteral remains low without meds. As a runner, hiker, wing chun do student, kayaker, etc; I was the healthiest one in the ER that day which is probably why I am still here.
So I have gone from having a $2,000 deductible HSA to having nothing until the PPACA kicks in January 2013. Both operations cost in excess of $100,000 at a community hospital which is in the top 5% or open heart.
There is not enough information to answer you myself right now. I know Maggie will be coming by soon to answer questions also. I suspect there is more to the answer. If you are using the old Kaiser, it is in error and will not be correct until it is updated with newer information.
About some of these published rates:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.
None of us really know, time will tell.
Run75411:
Just curious what is your cobra cost per month? What was your out of pocket cost for the two surgeries? How will that compare to the Obamacare plans?
Just for an example if you we’re my age and lived in my area your total yearly cost for healthcare under the CoveredCA rates in your situation would have been:
Bronze : $10082
Silver: $11342
Gold: $12254
Platinum: $10756
Note that if you get very sick the bronze plan is often the best plan to have.
Also you should be aware that HIPPA requires that the insurance companies sell you insurance if you have proof of credible coverage which you can get from your cobra provider. They cannot refuse you insurance and must not exclude your per existing condition.
casual:
As I suggested, the costs for insurance under the PPACA are still not published.If you are using the Kaiser calculator, I would suggest you wait another week till affter October 1st. I had a $2000 deductible and still paid over that each year in 2012 and 2013.When the rates come out I will be able to compare them then.
I have access to Cobra for myself and I understand the portability. Thanks though. Wait one week and then look at the rates again.
Run75411:
The California exchange CoveredCA.com has the rates up. I believe these are the final rates that have been approved for California and will not change in the next two weeks. They also have the plan details as well.
Casual:
As Maggie has pointed out the rates keep changing as companies compete.
Casual: just at a glance those rates would seem to be pre-subsidy and also running up against the limits in the plan which restrict all out of pocket expenses to a percentage of income even for people earning over 400% of FPL.
Or maybe I am just confused. Because on the one hand you are complaining that your current plan costs you a maximum of $4500 with a final bill under ACA pushing that up to $6350 MAX. And yet in response to Run you are explaining that he could have gotten (or will get?) insurance under Covered CA at rates between $10082 and $12254 with what would seem like the implication that he would get a worse deal under PPACA. Even as you cite a maximum $6350. Which should mean that Run gets a substantial discount from that $10 to $12k down to the $6.3 k.
Which would SEEM to be the answer to your “How would that compare to the Obama plan?” Obviously something is not adding up here. Which ‘something’ may just be my defective understanding of the numbers you are deploying in the two respective comments.
Can you slow it down enough to explain how Run could possibly be worse off under the new formula than he would have been under the Covered CA schedule you cite? Or maybe the problem is grammatical and due to the ‘would have been’ which does imply some past condition (however subjunctive).
Run, well yes, run that is what businesses are doing from CommieCare…There are now at least three unions that want a fix or a repeal of the Unafforable Health Act…
I am not sure why your first paragraph was a treatise on tax accounting, which both you and I would agree is a complete pigpen…
Let me ax you, if Kennedy Care is so good, why is it enforced with police powers?
Why do I not have the right to join or unjoin? Why does your side always threaten arrest or jail time when refusing to join?
Have you figure the cost of those 15,ooo government agents to administrate this monster?
Has there been any government programs that declined in cost due to efficiencies..?
I have news for you, run, the insurance industry quite often competes based on pricing…This is nothing new…Those that think so are uninformed.
As you mentioned all policy will be the same, then I will tell you that most policies will cost the same…White beard cost nearly the same in every store, other than what the business wants as it’s margins…
Do you really think that the state regulators “clamping down” will be meaningful? This is what you want, a centralized control by the state over industry to serve as your tool, because you and the minions in government KNOW better…
Wow, now that we have VillageCare, all of a sudden there is a rash of undiscovered doctors (maybe they just crossed the southern borders) whom will offer even higher care at reduced prices… Run, if this is true, then I am for all government programs…The government choo-choo wants it’s own program – Obamaontracks and the post office want one too, Obamadeliveriesforyou…..
Have you noticed the reluctance of UFOs and other aliens to visit us anymore?
Run, your reply is a day at Disneyland, much like ComieCare, as leftwing economics is built on emotion and equality…Pathos, pathos and simply more pathos…
This is about social justice (health justice – no xray, no peace) about more government control and central planning; another special interest group; more regulations (have you wondered why so many companies leave our borders?) ; more lawyers to write and explain them to plebs like me; all this under the lying guise we will make things better….
Perhaps we can modify Fast and Furious and ship our ill citizens down to old Mexico, for truly low cost medical care and a three night stay at a deluxe resort?
Please join the Pathos Party, the party of Peace, Promises, Poltergeist, Politburo and the Proletariat…Join us for our regular pogrom on liberty and capitalists.
Lastly, run, why all the exemptions? Why did CONgress and it’s staff exempt themselves? Should this not be a matter of grave concern and OUTRAGE!
The Rules in WDC, are laughing at you, oh how good it is to have useful idiots, they mumble..
Thank you Mr. Nieder for your opinion.
My revelations on government subsidies goes to the point of your earlier brief blurb. The PPACA is also not enforced by any police power I am aware of to date; but, you will have to pay to not be a part of the PPACA unless you meet some of the exemptions. For example, if you live in a state which will not expand Medicaid and your income is less than 138% FPL, you will be exempt from having to buy healthcare insurance because you will not be eligible for subsidies on the healthcare exchange. Religion is also another exemption. Affordibility is anothr exemption. Hardship is another exemption. Being out of country 330 days of the year exempts you also. Noncitizens are also exempt. Greater explanation is here: http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Insights/Newsletters/Americas/health-care-reform-bulletin/2013/PPACA-Guidance-Individual-Mandate-Minimum-Essential-Coverage-Family-Members-Subsidy-Eligibility If you do not fit any of the exemptions and you choose not to enroll in some type of insurance and choose to pay the penalty (or not); please sign a DNR so we do not have to pay for your care if injuried or suffer from some type of disorder.
Costs: Myth: The PPACA will add to our national debt . . .
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which evaluates all Federal legislation, estimated that the PPACA would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years and by $1.2 trillion over the ten years after that. Health care costs are the biggest driver of our deficit—with Medicare the single largest cause—and the PPACA bends the cost curve and strengthens our nation’s fiscal health. http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=72583 Know off 20% and the PPACA still saves money.
State regulators often times have far more power than Federal regulators. For example, NY States Attorney goes after Wall Street Banks.
Exemptions to companies, etc. are temporary and end in 2014. Do you have any more? If you are going to continue this blathering, please go elsewhere. You do not know what you are talking about as far as the PPACA. The PPACA is a start and a valuable start at that since we waited 20 years since Hillarycare for something to emerge from Congress. For sure, the industry was not going to take the first step. The industry counted on the ignorance of the people such as yourself (or the arrogance) to oppose any movement towards something universal. Is it the best which can happen, no. It is better than another decade of doing nothing.
My Dear Webb:
I support the elimination of all deductions for the nation…Would you concur? More than likely not and that is why we have rot…
The article was about how OC would bring health insurance rates down, but just like run, you begin a narrative which discusses tax policies….
Perhaps both you and run are tax accounts or attorneys..
Why does your side always paint corporate “honchos” as evil villains?
How about your Hollywood crowd, sport players, the singing establishment, high end lawyers and all the millionaires in CONgress, when are they placed into the proper rotation?
That right, Mr Webb, they never make your list…
I am sorry I came off as sounding like “Dickish” Milhouse Nixon…
BTW, Dolt the Bolt, was my nickname in high school which I cherish to this day…
I am ready to discuss this issue with you all day, but please do not give me rosy predictions to evade the real facts of the matter…Neither you or I are sages…
PathosCare, will with certainty destroy the growth (what is left) of the American economy, but then, BOCO, did say that “in the next five days we will fundamentally transform America.”
The left can never say – we are wong or apologize for your errors, as it is too busy on their next agenda…
Remember, dear readers, the left never, never rests…Nor should we!
Mr. Hans
The Onion is always hiring for people with your talent.
Of course most of their hires are consciously snarking . Still they might be able to use your stuff as a baseline (or a bass line) to riff off.
BTW Wingnut Talking Points are always welcome at Angry Bear. Because they offer regular commenters opportunity for teaching moments and counter the claims of some of our commenters that “Nobody on my side makes those kind of claims!” Well except Hans and the much missed (by me) Formerly FA. What are not welcome are drive by’s attempting no substance at all. And instead going right to motive or worse gender.
So keep on keeping on Mein Herr Hans. Because I luv self erecting straw men.
Plus as a former resident of Central Indiana (I believe the home of White Castle) who WOULDN’T welcome a fellow aficiannado of small square burgers served in multiples with grilled onions on top! Hmm tasty! (Though as you note gassy).
Welcome! (Or Velkommen!)
“BTW, Dolt the Bolt, was my nickname in high school which I cherish to this day… – ”
Siteowner Dan! Can we keep him? I promise to feed him and water him and clean out his den under the troll bridge! Because ‘So Cute!’
Run, thank you for your detailed reply….I noticed you did not answer a single question of mine…
Regarding police powers of OC, do you think that the IRS will be teeth less when enforcing the Robert’s Tax? Think you can avoid not paying without being punished?
“Exemptions to companies, etc. are temporary and end in 2014.”
Not so run…
“The waivers allow the health insurance plans, carried by the unions and companies involved, to impose annual limits on what they will spend on a policy holder’s medical coverage for a given year. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, bans annual limits, phasing them out by 2014”. – See more at:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/congress-will-probe-special-exemptions-health-care-law-obama-administration-gave-select#sthash.8hRszIfO.dpuf
Why do you force this upon unwilling Americans? As the left often cries – it’s not FAIR!
run, when you have to go to government for a fix, you are a rudderless ship….
Just say it, run, I am a socialist and all hands on deck…
Mr. Nieder:
Your English while superior to my German still is not so good as to make your point(s) concise and understandable. Your questions and/or remarks were answered. I did not comment on the IRS as the penalty for being uninsured will be taken from whatever refund you may have or added into the total you will have to pay. It is not separate from your yearly filing of income tax returns and there are no officils showing up at your door looking for payment which occurs in Germany when officials show up at your door wanting to know if you use public TV and whether you have paid the tax.
As to exemptions for companies and unions, you are incorrect and the CBS News article you cite may not include the total information. The exemptions/waivers end January 1 2014. Here is a HHS explanation for the waivers/exempts which were temporary from the beginning. http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/limits/ All waviers end on January 1, 2014.
The government stepped in with a healthcare fix as 40% of the employed were without insurance and the healthcare industry (healthcare, medical devices, Pharma, and healthcare insurance) was not making any moves to resolve the situation. In case you did not know, the government does reimburse hospitals up to a certain amount for handling a larger than normal percentage of the uninsured. By Law, Hospitals also have no legal requirement to cure or treat the uninsured beyond stabilizing them from their disorder or illness. While not well publicized, the economy pays for the uninsured in government reimbursement, lost productivity, and in other ways as well. The uninsured also pay a much higher price than what is charged by doctors and hospitals for the insured. Is it the best plan? It is a start to something better.
Mr Webb, mein herr, thank you most kindly for the humor; which all to often missing on economic websites…
I promise to pay for my drink and feed, unlike others…
Admin: I do not know why I am getting double postings?
And you know DAMM well, Mr Webb, that most government programs over promise and under perform..Please tell me why it will be different this time around…
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/123266-2012-11-25-what-has-increased-1-377-since-1960.htm?From=News
Ladies and gentlemen, one reason as to why health insurance cost are so high, if the involvement of governmental units…
It is a stunning fact, that governmental units or 8% of GNP or 50% of the entire health cost industry…
More exploding governmental programs past onto John and Jane Doe, tax slaves, USA…
And of course, not to mention the ever spying NSA, under the federal administration of health care all your records may become public or most certainly examined by varies agencies…
This just happened in EuroLand…Please open your minds and lend me your ears for your future will be full of tears..
“With the Congress and the administration in full battle mode over implementing ObamaCare to convert the United States into a European welfare state, Dutch King Willem-Alexander gave a nationally televised speech to his nation’s Parliament on September 16th declaring that the welfare state was dead. The message, written for the King by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government, stated that current levels of state spending for unemployment benefits and subsidized health care are unsustainable amid Europe’s ongoing economic malaise. With Moody’s credit rating agency threatening to downgrade Dutch debt, the King announced that citizens soon will be expected to create their own social and financial safety nets with much less help from the state.
Economists define a nation to be a welfare state when 20% or more of its gross domestic product (GDP) is spent by the state on welfare and education. The United States has never hit that level, but welfare and education “investment” spending under President Barack Obama rose to 19.4% of GDP in 2012. Implementing Obamacare will convert America into a welfare state for the first time in our history.”
European dreams, European nightmare awaits us….
http://docstalk.blogspot.com/2013/09/are-you-paying-attention-in-america.html
Mr. Nieder:
The better question to ask is whether the US can continue to afford the most expensive healthcare in the world by continuing to do nothing to rein it in and under 1% growth (which is sustainable). The answer is “no” it can not and neither can the US sustain an industry-wide (healthcare and the healthcare industry) cost model of “services for fees” when many of the procedures, pharma, and treatments used to treat patients are unnecessary, have limited impacted when compared to other less costly methods, and duplications in equipment, etc. Do we really need multi-McMansion-Medical Centers or a MRI equipment in every hospital (which often times go under utilized? The answer is no.
The PPACA changes the cost model paradigm from a services for fees to services with better outcomes. With its beginning in 2008, we have experienced a slowing of healthcare costs overall. Medicare/Medicaid is ~1.5% and at the same time Commercial Healthcare Costs have slowed to 4%. This is the lowest growth rate experienced in a decade. Again, while not the best; it is a start to something better and sustainable as compared to wht we have today with commercial healthcare.
It is interesting how the Dutch and Germans associate the collapse of the EU economy to social benefits rather than the financial market. PIIGS did not happen because of social programs, it happened because of financial institutions gambling within the industry with little or no reserves on hand and little or no transparency of the transactions. The same players who were involved with the US TBTF banks and investment firms in 2008 were also involved in PIIGS. Having incurred a PIIGS economic dilemma does provide a convenient excuse for actions with euro programs which impact Hauptstraße. Hauptstraße is bailing out TBTF the same as it did in the US.
The EU Unemployment problems today are more the result of austerity programs put in place and thrust upon the rest of the EU by Merkel and her cronies. With regard to PIIGS, Germany could not sustain itself without these countries and others such as the Czech Republic, Romania, etc . . . countries which re-emerged after WWI, the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, and eventually Russia. These smaller countries are Germany’s market. It would take a bold and unknowing person to claim social programs caused today’s economic in the EU rather than look to the Financial Institution, Financial polices, and austerity. Austerity contracts the economy impacting Hauptstraße rather than the Financial institutes who were the main drivers of the EU economic collapse.
A rallying cry, novels yes, history NO! The left is denuded; a chink in the armor; it’s flank exposed to attack; battle plans draw in hast and without foundations or material resource.
For the growing child, the Father is a rich history book of lessons learnt over the course of a lifetime…The child will benefit enormously by absorbing the wisdom of the Father.
This is the failing of the left, it’s total ignorance and disregard of history…
I am sorry, I pressed the wong key…This should have been included in the upper post…
One of many reason, I maintain, for EXPLODING health care cost is governmental units…
Look at the past and you will see where in all started….LBJ war on common sense…
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/healthcare_spending
Thanks, run, for pointing out that lifetime and annual limits end in 2014…
The point I was making, are the complete exemption from villagecare for hundreds of entities, unions and business firms…
And no you have not answered my primary question, why would you use police force to require your neighbor to sign up for BarrackoCare?
The decline in Medicare costs are in part due to lower reimbursement to our health care providers…
I agree, health care cost are much too high…But you state
“limited impacted when compared to other less costly methods, and duplications in equipment, etc. Do we really need multi-McMansion-Medical Centers or a MRI equipment in every hospital (which often times go under utilized?”
How would you know: why not allow capital flow to best determine utility rather than an opinion…
The collapse in EuroLand is in part due to over spending by the Eurocrats…Too many social programs, too many over payed public employees…Sweden had to bail on this style of economy several years ago and has made significant GNP advancement…
The labor gangs also distorted economic reality, as well as government promotions of asset owning (homes)…
Germany’s markets is Eastern Europe? How so, exports, imports and or labor?
I am still having issue with double posting…
I am sorry…I have been using the post a comment box on the upper right of the “leave a reply” field and now I see a post a comment box under the comment field…
– Dolt the Bolt