Fox News has a story out today about a family of 4 in Kentucky who have private insurance from Humana - a high deductible catastrophic plan. They have received a premium increase notice. The Mangione's monthly premium is going from $333 a month to $965 a month. It came with a notice:
"If your policy premium increased, you should know this isn't unique to Humana -- premium increases generally will occur industry-wide.
"Increases aren't based on your individual claims or changes in health status," it continued. "Many other factors go in to your premium including: ACA compliance, including the addition of new essential health benefits."
Such a lovely family, such a shame.
Problem is, Fox News forgot to mention some crucial details.
Meet Andrew Mangione:
Andrew J. Mangione Jr. is the Vice President, Government Relations, for AMAC. Andy’s career spans the medical device, pharmaceutical and managed care sectors of health care. He has held senior and executive sales positions with organizations including Humana, Inc., Pfizer, Inc. and Invacare Corporation. Andy serves as the lead legislative and government contact in Washington, DC for AMAC, and is also responsible for national grassroots outreach and developing strategic relationships. Andy earned a B.A. in Management from Malone University and his Master of Business Administration from Lake Erie College.
According to the AMAC website:
For many years, there was only one senior organization.
Today, The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) is here to protect your interests, and to offer an alternative perspective on how to best solve the problems seniors face today.
AMAC will be on your side when it comes to fighting high taxes, which are especially harmful to those living on a fixed income. You can count on AMAC to speak out to preserve the values that helped make America a great nation. AMAC is not afraid to say we still believe in God and Country.
I want a picture of Mr. Mangione on Oct 1st when he checks out the prices on Kynect (Kentucky's health care exchange website). But I don't think Fox News will follow up. They never even mentioned that the exchanges aren't open yet. They just blamed ACA.
And then Fox News sat back and let over 4000 uninformed readers comment on the horrible costs of Obamacare. Their ignorance of the law is astounding. When these readers find out what's really available on the exchanges after Oct 1st, I hope they have coverage for psychologists - they are going to need them.