Surveys Show Health Insurance Rates Rising, Provider Networks Shrinking
Surveys Show Health Insurance Rates Rising, Provider Networks Shrinking
White House "Fixes" Forcing Premiums Higher
(Washington, D.C.) – When enrollment begins under the second year of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, millions of consumers nationwide will see rate increases and narrower provider networks. According to new data from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the average rate increase nationwide will be 8.2 percent this year. These rate increases are partially due to the unilateral changes to the law made by the Obama Administration during the disastrous first-year rollout of the law.
In order to deal with the rising cost of Obamacare mandates, more employers are turning to plans with narrow provider networks. This means that employees are likely to see insurance costs increase, while the number of participating doctors and hospitals continues to fall. This contrasts sharply with the promises made by supporters of the law, who vowed that the new regime would expand choice, lower premiums, and increase the availability of quality care.
Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative, released the following statement:
"The new health care law is not reducing the cost of insurance for families; it's increasing it. And what's more, it is leading more consumers to lose access to doctors and hospitals that they have relied on. As cost pressures increase, these changes will affect more and more people. And the unilateral 'fixes' put in place by the Obama Administration are simply forcing premiums to go higher. While it may have been well-intentioned, this law is fundamentally flawed.
You can't improve health care in America with a set of one-size-fits-all mandates and controls from Washington. We need to incorporate reforms that encourage market competition to lower cost and expand choice. That will take a bipartisan process – not more unilateral orders from the White House. It is time to reform the reform."
For interviews with a LIBRE representative, please contact: Brian Faughnan, 571-257-3309 or Steven Cruz, 202-578-6173
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