Fact check: Will premiums go up?

[sabra]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/02/25/2212395.aspx

Fact check: Will premiums go up?

From NBC's Norah O'Donnell, Domenico Montanaro, and Mark Murray
Earlier this morning, Republicans -- including Sens. Lamar Alexander and Jon Kyl -- said that health-care premiums would go up under the Democratic plans.

President Obama responded, "It's not factually accurate. Here's what the Congressional Budget Office says: The costs for families for the same type Of coverage as they're currently receiving would go down 14% To 20%."

According to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact, the CBO said that -- for the most part -- premiums would go down or stay the same.

"The CBO reported that, for most people, premiums would stay about the same, or slightly decrease. This was especially true for people who get their insurance through work. (Health policy wonks call these the large group and small group markets.) People who have to go out and buy insurance on their own (the individual market) would see rates increase by 10 to 13 percent. But more than half of those people -- 57 percent, in fact -- would be eligible for subsidies to help them pay for the insurance. People who get subsidies would see their premiums drop by more than half, according to the CBO. So most people would see their premiums stay the same or potentially drop."

Here's the Washington Post's Ezra Klein: "Yes, the CBO found health-care reform would reduce premiums. The issue gets confused because it also found that access to subsidies would encourage people to buy more comprehensive insurance, which would mean that the value of their insurance would be higher after reform than before it. But that's not the same as insurance becoming more expensive: The fact that I could buy a nicer car after getting a better job suggests that cars are becoming pricier. The bottom line is that if you're comparing two plans that are exactly the same, costs go down after reform."

[county worker]

1. The mandate will increase costs to those who do not purchase insurance now.

But by growing the size of the pool and by adding more healthy people to the pool the cost of insurance those who are insured now could go down, IMHO.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. There is, of course, a HUGE difference between 'could' go down and

'will' go down.

With no regulation capping premiums, there is no reason at all for them to go down. The magic of the marketplace DOES NOT WORK in healthcare. The insurers decide on the premium rates, over drinks at their clubs, and we pay them. Period. It has NOTHING to do with 'supply and demand'.

[spinbaby]

2. It's going up now

I have "good" company health insurance that's been going up about 10% a year for premiums and 30% for co-payments.

[Zoeisright]

3. And how much will it go up if, as the repukes want, we do NOTHING?

30%? 40%???

The sky's the limit? Insurance companies, if they win this, are not going to increase rates by a mere 10 to 13 percent. They'll keep jacking them up, and, like the goose that laid golden eggs, they'll kill off their customers.

The fucking insurance company leeches don't realize that they are going to be out of business in 10 years, or less, if something isn't done to rein them in.

[cbdo2007]

4. So.....from a Repube perspective, they can still say truthfully that premiums will increase.

And I'm sure they will.

Just like with the taxes thing, they all pegged Obama as going to raise taxes because he was raising them on the top 5%.

He should just say that no premiums will increase under his plan and truthfully not let them raise premiums. Then, the Repubes don't have an argument.

[Edweird]

5. .