How Obamacare Will Certainly Bring Change to America

President Obama is traveling around the country, still touting the passing of his recent health care reform bill. He is still using talking points in an attempt to convince the American people that this recent legislation is in their best interest. To paraphrase one of my favorites that he uses: "If you like your current health insurance plan, you can keep it." While this may be true in the short term, this is absolutely not what your Democratic leaders have in mind for the future of the health insurance industry in America.

According to recent polling data, the majority of Americans still oppose the President's health care plan. Despite this data, the President is still somewhat successful at convincing people who already have health care that their plans won't change. Some critics of the bill even seem to think that this won't change their lives very much. This is high-lighted very nicely in a recent article by an online contributor: What the Health Care Reform Means for Me.

While the President isn't exactly lying, he is being very deceiving. Sure, people who already have health insurance will get to keep their plans (for now). Rates are not expected to go up immediately. Insurance companies stocks have risen in fact, as they foresee millions of new clients in the near future as a result of the health care reform bill. Many of these new clients will be either low income earners or people with pre-existing conditions who didn't qualify for private health insurance before. The low income earners still won't be able to afford to pay extra for health insurance. The people with pre-existing conditions are just going to be a high cost burden on the insurance companies. Who do you think is going to pay for all of this?

The people who already have private health insurance will be the ones who will pay for this in the long run. Just wait until January 1st, 2011. This is when many companies have open enrollment for their employees health insurance plans. This is also when group plans are re-bid between insurance providers and the companies whose employees they insure. I expect that health insurance rates could sky rocket at this time. They will have to in order to pay for all of the added costs to the insurance companies.

To add to the insurance companies woes, there is yet another mandate in the health care reform bill known as the 85-15 mandate. This simply means that insurance companies will be forced to pay out 85% of their revenues in claims, leaving only 15% for all other costs. Other costs include, administrative, salaries, advertising, real-estate, maintenance and so on. Formerly, 65% was required to be paid out in claims. This new requirement is seemingly unsustainable and completely unrealistic. It only adds to the list of reasons that insurance rates are going to go up, some say as much as 300%. All of the new mandates and restrictions put on insurance companies will eventually drive them out of business. This could happen as soon as only two or three years from now.

People who think that the recent health care reform legislation won't affect them are only being naive. This bill will affect everybody, but not until after the mid term elections in the fall of 2010. The Democrats hope to hold as many seats as possible in the House and Senate. After that, get ready to see some real change. You voted for change America, and change is what you are about to get.

Sources:

Pollster.com, April 1, 2010

AC Contributor Meg G, March 31, 2010

Rush Limbaugh Show transcript via Frugal Cafe Blog Zone, March 24, 2010