Brace Yourself, Take Action! Your Premiums Are Going Up!

I want you to brace yourself for 2018: all estimates tell us that health insurance premiums are going up.

Theories on why the costs continue to increase are all over the board. Progressives point to efforts by conservative lawmakers over the past few years to defund the ACA. Conservatives blame the ACA for requiring insurance companies not to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and thus increasing the costs of care. I have some of my own theories based on my experience and research that I explored in a previous article (check it out my original post, Chicago Tribune, and Madison Cap Times).

Healthcare costs have been exponentially increasing for decades. In large part, the ACA was a first big attempt to try to lower costs and create a level playing field for all consumers. Before ACA, people with even minor pre-existing conditions were denied care (check out my story about a resolved ankle injury for which I was denied insurance at the age of 27 that is one of my big motivators to be an advocate). 

Where are we now? Congressional and executive leaders have resigned to obstructing the ACA because their attempts to repeal it were not successful. This has caused great instability in the market. The current president is still deciding whether or not to leave cost-sharing subsidies in place that make insurance affordable for millions of Americans. Molina cited this uncertainty as one of the main reasons they are pulling out of the Marketplace in 2018. We expect premium costs to increase significantly because of this uncertainty. 

What can you do? Call your representatives today. Call the Whitehouse. Tweet the president. Let them know that you are paying attention.