Mr. President: I Like My Health Insurance And I Would Really Like To Keep It––Can You Help Me Out Here?

How many times have I talked on this Blog about rate shock, the millions of people who would be getting cancellation letters from their current health plan, and the perkara of people having to put up with more narrow networks?

And, how many times have those predictions been met by push back and spin: Today's policies are just junk and people will be better off finding lower cost health insurance under Obamacare.
I have been in this business for 40 years. I know junk health insurance when I see it and I know "Cadillac" health insurance when I see it.

Right now I have "Cadillac" health insurance. I can access every provider in the national Blue Cross network––about every doc and hospital in America––without a referral and without higher deductibles and co-pays. I value that given my travels and my belief that who your provider is makes a big difference. Want to go to Mayo? No problem. Want to go to the Cleveland Clinic? No problem. Need to get to Queen's in Honolulu? No problem.

So, I get this letter from my health plan. It says I can't keep my current coverage because my plan isn't good enough under Obamacare rules. It tells me to go to the exchange or their website and pick a new plan before January 1 or I will lose coverage.

First, the best I can get in a Blue Cross network plan are HMOs or HMO/Point-of-Service plans. In the core network those plans offer, I would have to go to fewer providers than I can go to now in the MD/DC/VA market. And, the core network has no providers beyond my area. I can go to the broader Blues network but only if I pay another big deductible for out-of-network coverage.

Now, my plan covers about everything. Never had a procedure for either my wife or myself  turned down. Wellness benefits are without a deductible. It covers mental health, drugs, maternity, anything I can think of.

The new plan would have a deductible $500 higher than the one I now have and a lot more if I go "out-of-network" inside the rest of the Blue Cross national network.

And, wait all you people telling me rate shock does not exist, the new far more restricted plan costs 66% more than our current monthly premium. Mr. Rate Shock got rate shocked––and benefit shocked to boot.

Now here's the real corker; Maryland has been bragging they have the lowest premiums of all of the exchanges. More, I figured being an old fart the age rating rules, that force younger people to pay more so older people pay less, would help me. Didn't work out.

There are other plans on the exchange (Maryland is one of the few that work) but every comparable plan had much higher premiums.

Thankfully, my Blue Cross plan is offering me an "early renewal" which means I can keep this plan I really like until December 2014––at which point my beloved health plan is toast. My health insurance company is doing everything they can––this is not their fault.

Mr. President: I really like my health plan and I would like to keep it. Can you help me out here?

Substandard Plans Offered By Bad Apple Insurers––Does The Obama Administration Understand How The Health Insurance Market Works?

Yesterday, the President said in Boston that the millions of people who are getting cancellation letters ending their coverage in the individual health insurance market are being saved from "substandard plans" that were sold to them by "bad apple insurers."

I guess these would be the same insurers his staff invited to the White House last week. In their statement following that meeting, the White House said they were "committed to working in partnership with the insurers" toward implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

So, this is how he treats his "partners."

Are health insurance plans in the individual market substandard?

Not the overwhelming bulk of them.

How do I know that?
Because individual health insurance policies have been regulated for decades by the states. Every policy sold in a state has to be approved by that state's insurance commissioner. Have you heard about the longstanding debate over whether or not states over regulate this market with too many state health insurance coverage mandates and policy requirements?

This whole issue over whether the states regulate these policies too much has been at the heart of Republican calls for insurers to be able sell individual health insurance plans across state lines––to be able to buy individual health plans from states with fewer regulations.

In this context, it is kind of hard to argue that this is a "substandard" insurance market.

How many health insurance mandates are there and what kinds of mandates exist?

Here are some charts from a 2011 report issued by the Council For Affordable Health Insurance––an advocacy group formed in great part in opposition to the large number of state health insurance mandates that already exist. This market is so regulated there is actually an advocacy group to fight it!

The first chart lists the total number of health insurance mandates by state. The second chart lists the most common mandates:

Rick Perry's pro-business Texas has 62 mandates!

Given the President's comments, you really have to wonder just how well the Obama administration understands how the health insurance markets work?