Assurant Raises Concerns About Health Care Bill

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In an email received today from Assurant, they offered the following comments about the current bill before the House of Representatives:

– Government prescribed benefit plans are too rich. “Legislators want our insureds to pay no more than 35 % of their total health care costs. Eighty percent of our customers currently pay more than 35% of those costs. They do this to try to keep their premiums down. We believe it is bad public policy to force people to buy benefits they don’t need or want.

– Restrictions on age rating – “Currently, individuals who are 65 pay four times the amount than those who are 20 years old for health insurance. In the House bill, they propose compressing the rating band for age to 2 to 1. If that happens, people under the age of 30 will see a 70% increase in their premiums.”

– New taxes on private insurers – “These are part of the proposed bills. Insurance companies will have to pass these taxes on to their customers, resulting in higher premiums. ”

– Addtional cost-shifting – “The Congressional Budget Office believes Medicare reimbursement will be further reduced. Because Medicare underpays providers, the providers will shift more costs to the private insurers. Ultimately, this cost-shifting also means higher premium prices for health insurance consumers.”

What does all this mean to you? Get ready for your costs to go up 70-100% the minute the Bill passes and goes into effect.