Health News
- New Ad Blames Problems Of Ky. Hospitals Entirely On Obamacare; They Say It's Only Partly To Blame, But Worry About Future Impacts
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News A new ad in the race for governor says "There's a crisis in our hospitals" in Kentucky, and blames it entirely on the federal health-care reform law. That is not true, according to the hospitals themselves. The TV...
- Second Round Of Private Insurance Enrollment Under Obamacare Starts Nov. 15; Rates Estimated To Rise An Average Of 4.6%
Enrollment reopens Saturday, Nov. 15, for health insurance under the federal health-reform law and the state insurance exchange, known as Kynect. In the second year of what is typically called Obamacare, there will be new insurers, new rates, a shorter...
- Most Kentuckians Who Bought Health Insurance On Kynect Will Pay Higher Premiums Next Year
Most premiums for private health insurance purchased through Kentucky's health insurance exchange, Kynect, will increase in 2015. Most of the people who have used Kynect have been added to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the...
- Expert Says Ky. Is One Of 13 States Where People In Individual Insurance Market Are Better Off Than Before Reform Law
By Molly Burchett and Al Cross Kentucky Health News Most of the focus on Obamacare has been on people who are no longer uninsured, or those who had to get new policies, but Kentucky is one of the 13 states in which the Patient Protection and Affordable...
- Effect Of New Health Care Law On Premiums Debatable
Neither President Barack Obama nor Republicans who oppose him are entirely accurate about whether or not the new health care law will lower premiums. Obama insists it will, Republicans say otherwise. Politico found Obama's claims to be somewhat of...
Health News
GOP claim that Obamacare will hike Kentuckians' premiums 34 percent is 'mostly false,' Herald-Leader says in an analysis
A Republican Party claim that Obamacare will raise Kentuckians' health-insurance premiums 34 percent is mostly false, the Lexington Herald-Leader said in a news analysis Saturday.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee made the claim in a news release attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes. It said, "In Kentucky, individuals will see a 34 percent increase in their health-care premiums," citing a March report by the Society of Actuaries.
But the report itself cautioned, "We suggest readers carefully consider possible variations in outcomes and the actions of competitors and regulators when using this report. We suggest that actual per-member, per-month figures generally should not be used."
And one author of the report told Herald-Leader reporter John Cheves, "We didn't even try to predict the future of premiums in that study." Randy Haught, senior scientist at Dobson | DaVanzo, a health-care consulting firm, said the study "is a heck of a lot more nuanced than that."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/25/2894759/campaign-watchdog-gop-claim-that.html#storylink=cpyCheves cited other health-care experts in writing, "Because there are so many variables involved and changes coming to the marketplace, it's impossible to accurately predict the law's impact on premiums."
The study did make some projections. "The NRSC picked one number from one of many charts in the 83-page report," Cheves reports. "That chart dealt with the small subset of Kentucky's population that would not be covered by employers' insurance plans or Medicaid," about 7 percent of Kentuckians. Using several variables, it estimated premiums for individual policies would average $398 a month, up from $297.
"Though premiums may rise for some Americans, particularly young adults who typically avoid big medical bills and therefore have enjoyed lower rates, different factors will push costs up and down," Cheves writes. "For example, Americans with existing medical problems now will be allowed to buy insurance, which will increase prices overall. At the same time, young people who have avoided insurance are expected to enroll, helping offset that impact. In addition, the law provides for subsidies and tax breaks to lower the final costs for many consumers."
The newspaper's "mostly false" label in its "Campaign Watchdog" series is the next-to-worst on its rating scale, between "false" and "half true."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee made the claim in a news release attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes. It said, "In Kentucky, individuals will see a 34 percent increase in their health-care premiums," citing a March report by the Society of Actuaries.
But the report itself cautioned, "We suggest readers carefully consider possible variations in outcomes and the actions of competitors and regulators when using this report. We suggest that actual per-member, per-month figures generally should not be used."
And one author of the report told Herald-Leader reporter John Cheves, "We didn't even try to predict the future of premiums in that study." Randy Haught, senior scientist at Dobson | DaVanzo, a health-care consulting firm, said the study "is a heck of a lot more nuanced than that."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/25/2894759/campaign-watchdog-gop-claim-that.html#storylink=cpy
The study did make some projections. "The NRSC picked one number from one of many charts in the 83-page report," Cheves reports. "That chart dealt with the small subset of Kentucky's population that would not be covered by employers' insurance plans or Medicaid," about 7 percent of Kentuckians. Using several variables, it estimated premiums for individual policies would average $398 a month, up from $297.
"Though premiums may rise for some Americans, particularly young adults who typically avoid big medical bills and therefore have enjoyed lower rates, different factors will push costs up and down," Cheves writes. "For example, Americans with existing medical problems now will be allowed to buy insurance, which will increase prices overall. At the same time, young people who have avoided insurance are expected to enroll, helping offset that impact. In addition, the law provides for subsidies and tax breaks to lower the final costs for many consumers."
The newspaper's "mostly false" label in its "Campaign Watchdog" series is the next-to-worst on its rating scale, between "false" and "half true."
- New Ad Blames Problems Of Ky. Hospitals Entirely On Obamacare; They Say It's Only Partly To Blame, But Worry About Future Impacts
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News A new ad in the race for governor says "There's a crisis in our hospitals" in Kentucky, and blames it entirely on the federal health-care reform law. That is not true, according to the hospitals themselves. The TV...
- Second Round Of Private Insurance Enrollment Under Obamacare Starts Nov. 15; Rates Estimated To Rise An Average Of 4.6%
Enrollment reopens Saturday, Nov. 15, for health insurance under the federal health-reform law and the state insurance exchange, known as Kynect. In the second year of what is typically called Obamacare, there will be new insurers, new rates, a shorter...
- Most Kentuckians Who Bought Health Insurance On Kynect Will Pay Higher Premiums Next Year
Most premiums for private health insurance purchased through Kentucky's health insurance exchange, Kynect, will increase in 2015. Most of the people who have used Kynect have been added to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the...
- Expert Says Ky. Is One Of 13 States Where People In Individual Insurance Market Are Better Off Than Before Reform Law
By Molly Burchett and Al Cross Kentucky Health News Most of the focus on Obamacare has been on people who are no longer uninsured, or those who had to get new policies, but Kentucky is one of the 13 states in which the Patient Protection and Affordable...
- Effect Of New Health Care Law On Premiums Debatable
Neither President Barack Obama nor Republicans who oppose him are entirely accurate about whether or not the new health care law will lower premiums. Obama insists it will, Republicans say otherwise. Politico found Obama's claims to be somewhat of...