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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Republicans’ Not So Secret Weapon in 2012

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 27th, 2011 at 09:58 AM  | 

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I got an email from a friend of mine yesterday forwarding an email regarding healthcare. I got an email from another friend yesterday doing the same. Both use the same company for health insurance.

That company, MetLife, announced right after the 2010 election it would end long-term care insurance.

There are a number of companies in the same boat. And the reasons do not all have to do with uncertainty about Obamacare. In fact, in addition to the unexpected future costs to health care companies due to Obamacare and the availability of Obamacare for employee shifting, ridiculously low interest rates, etc. are a contributing factor.

But this is becoming more common not just for long term care rates, but general health insurance rates as well.

In the examples of both of my friends, MetLife is raising rates 45% on existing employees and denying new employees access to coverage. In effect, MetLife is trying to extricate itself from the business of long term care and charging customers through the nose hoping the customers will drop the policies.

This is a not so secret weapon for the GOP in 2012. In addition to inflation and the diminished purchasing power of the middle class because of Barack Obama’s economic policies, his health care policies are jacking up costs as well.

The economy will be the message if the GOP can just focus on it instead of the many sideshows the Obama Administration and the media will try to throw at them.

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COMMENTS

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  • freentn

    eating their own and rally behind a candidate. The attacks of Perry by Bachmann and Santorum have been damaging to all three of them. Had they simply stated their positions rather than attacking Perry with lies and smears they might have benefited.

    At any rate the conservatives need to unite or the Republicans run the risk of nominating romney by default and that will be a disaster.

    I read on Frum’s site that Huntsman may benefit from challenging romney from the right. Just to show the Mormons here that it is NOT about romney’s religion, although he is definitely not my preference I would support Huntsman if he could take romney down.

  • edintexas

    There’s a difference, other than Huntsman doesn’t have Romneycare hung around his neck? If Huntsman could support Dear Leader, by being part of his Administration, how different from the RINO Romney is he really?

  • freentn

    I will support him. If romney is the nominee, I honestly don’t know what I will do you should read the Frum article at least Huntsman is not a Flip-Flopping Father of ObamneyCare.

    http://www.frumforum.com/huntsmans-chance

  • lineholder

    These rate increases apply only to employees or to all enrollees of MetLife LTHC insurance programs?

    Also, I know that O-care is a very fluid, dynamic, multi-faceted piece of legislation and it can be difficult to stay on top of what is going on via CMS rulings and manner of implementation. But is there any chance that we could get a written report of where things stand at the present?

    For example, I know that CMS just issued a ruling expanding Medicaid by 14 million people (4.5% of our population). Given trends that have developed during recent years whereby Medicaid recipients have been receiving access to care via their local ER, won’t this drive costs through the roof to add this many more people into the program at once?

    The national shortage of primary care docs hasn’t changed to the extent that it would impact costs reductions for this shift in enrollment. Even if it had, due to the imbalance in reimbursement rates, there are plenty of private practice healthcare providers who just can’t afford to take on new Medicaid patients. And with Obama’s decision to make cuts in government spending by cutting reimbursements rates to doctors for Medicare and Medicaid services, we could see even more doctors making that choice, which could drive more people to the ER.

    It would just be interesting to an analysis of where things stand, from a conservative point of view. The more informed we are, the more we can present a credible argument in public.

  • Raven

    This is an endemic Long Term Care (LTC) problem and insurance problem in general. Companies like MetLife get caught up in just how GREAT a new insurance program may be. Be it Universal Life and Disability Insurance in the 80s or LTC now. They start competing to see who can offer THE best policy for the lowest rates and ignore how much those policies will cost them and how little their rates will bring in. The result is that they get in trouble.
    Companies like MetLife cut plans and raise rates and are taken to court in lawsuits over false promises to consumers and smaller companies go under. Both of which leave the survivors, who were responsible with their offers and rates, to pick up the mess and bad business, which forces Their rates to go up to cover the bad business from other companies.

    That’s what happened to MetLife. They have too little coming in and too much going out. Again. Because of internal problems that have nothing to do with the law.

    Full Disclaimer: I am an insurance agent in PA for Life, Medicare Supplement and LTC, among others.