Obamacare Taxes - The Beginning of the Pain...

http://ahip.org/Issues/January-1-2014-Provisions.aspx

The whole "piece" on this issue is in the link above.  However, some of the more pertinent parts are directly below.  The short version is something akin to the following:

Uncle Sam decides what insurance is acceptable =>  Some are going to lose what they have and spend more in "upgrades".  

Obama was lying or ridiculously foolish in saying everyone would be able to keep what they have.....uhh...nope!  Of course, this became evident the very second the "mini-plans" with McD's etc were rejected, and a kzillion more "exemptions" were granted too other companies offering health plans not meeting "Federal Standards" on mandated coverage.

Mr. Foster, the Actuary of Medicare, some a long time ago said there were several plausible reasons to think Obamacare would NOT lower health care costs, and in fact may very well increase them.

Any thoughts or comments are welcomed btw..... :)

Restrictions on Age Rating 

The ACA strictly limits how much premiums can vary based on a person’s age, which will result in significantly higher premiums for younger individuals and families. This increases the likelihood that younger, healthier people will choose to wait to purchase health insurance until after they get sick or injured, thus driving up costs for everyone else.   = Yep!

Health Insurance Tax 

The ACA imposes a new $100 billion sales tax on health insurance that will add to the cost of coverage for people purchasing coverage on their own, small employers, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, and Medicaid managed care programs. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that this tax will be “largely passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums.”  An analysis by Oliver Wyman estimates that this tax alone “will increase premiums in the insured market on average by 1.9% to 2.3% in 2014,” and by 2023 “will increase premiums 2.8% to 3.7%.” = Has anyone had their premiums lowered???

An updated report by Oliver Wyman, “Annual Tax on Insurers Allocated by State,” estimates the impact this tax will have on individual market consumers, employers, and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in all 50 states, as well as the impact on state Medicaid managed care programs. AHIP has released infographics detailing the specific impact the tax will have on each of the 50 states.

Minimum Essential Health Benefits

All health insurance policies sold in the individual market and to small employers will be required to cover a broad range of mandated benefits, many of which are not included in some policies today. As a result, millions of people will be required to “buy up” and purchase health insurance that is far more costly than they currently have.  The CBO found that premiums would increase because policies “would cover a substantially larger share of enrollees’ costs for health care (on average) and a slightly wider range of benefits.”