ACA Helped Reduce Private Health Care Premiums

ACA has helped me reduce my private health care premiums, no doubt. However, apparently ACA has established a standard Summary of Benefits document that all health care insurers must use to allow fair comparisons to potential enrollees. ACA does not, however require health care insurers to disclose plan documents prior to enrollment – according to my own health care insurer! Its like buying a “pig in a poke”. The summaries do not disclose all facets of the policy. In one case I was billed over $900 for lab tests that were listed as covered in my summary of benefits. Turns out some of the labs were sent to a hospital where they were deemed “out-patient”. I never set foot in that hospital but according to the plan documents I never saw, I was considered an out-patient.

There is no question that insurers are using ACA to take advantage of mandatory enrollment to line their pockets. American citizens are stuck between the law and fraud. Even those plans not associated with ACA have skyrocketed. Lesson learned – any attempt to reform anything as huge as health care should be done in small, bite-sized pieces. How about starting with Health Care Insurance Reform?

Finally, healthcare.gov is appalling. After almost five years since the law passed, there are still broken links, inaccurate information and skyrocketing costs (read taxpayer expense) of getting the site working.

Adding millions of uninsured to the books? If taxpayers subsidize their insurance how is this any less expensive than effectively paying for their health care? All we’re doing is adding a layer of cost in between – insurance premiums. Oh wait, taxpayers are subsidizing those premiums. No wonder the health care insurance companies are seeing healthy year-over-year earnings growth.