Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the state's largest insurer, is fighting over payment increases sought by Hospital Corp. of America, one of the nation's largest hospital chains.
Care to guess which one made the biggst on campaign contributions to Harry and Nancy?
Blue Cross has reason to push back hard. Since the Affordable Care Act kicked in fully in 2014, the Texas Blue has lost $720 million on its exchange business. HealthCare.gov customers turned out to be sicker than expected, and its parent company, which includes Blues in five states, lost over $2 billion in the market niche.
Unexpectedly.
Over the same two years, HCA Holdings earned $4 billion and revenue grew 16 percent.
Cost-sharing has already become a burden for many workers. Since 2010, deductibles have grown seven times faster than wages and inflation, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.Unexpectedly!
Higher deductibles have helped hold down monthly premiums. So have higher co-pays, narrower networks and restrictions on prescription drugs. Before the ACA, insurers also limited risk by excluding people with pre-existing conditions.
I wonder what percentage of people were denied due to pre-existing condition's? Bet they're all covered now!
I don't know about coverage, but the pre-existing conditions piece has helped drive costs sky high.
Through surveys and the ACA exchange, customers have consistently shown they'll trade lower premiums for a narrower network. So they'll have to get used to changes, even the occasional extreme disruption.
Coming soon! Even lower cost and fewer choices!
"This is an evolution, and people sometimes forget that in 2014, the insurance market fundamentally changed," Carpenter said.
Anyone think that was unexpected?