Does Obamacare cover a torn campaign Achilles’ heel?
Funny that it’s called The Affordable Care Act, isn’t it?
As Ron Meyer, spokesman for Young America’s Foundation points out below, skyrocketing insurance costs such as a 75% increase at Guilford College are part of a disturbing trend on college campuses (emphasis in original):
Can we stop calling ObamaCare the Affordable Care Act now?
A Young America’s Foundation activist forwarded an email from the Vice President for Finance at his school, Guilford College (Greensboro, NC), informing him that, “For the 2012-13 academic year, the annual cost of the student health insurance is increasing from $668 to $1,179. This insurance premium has been charged to your student account.”
Why the increase? “Our student health insurance policy premium has been substantially increased due to changes required by federal regulations issued on March 16, 2012 under the Affordable Care Act.”
Guilford College has been forced to raise their student premiums 75 percent, yet this administrator still insists on calling it the Affordable Care Act. Seems a bit ironic, to say the least.
Guilford joins a long list of colleges raising their premiums. Virtually all current student insurance plans do not meet ObamaCare’s mandates, and Forbes reports colleges have been forced to drop their plans or raise their premiums rates as much as 1,112% (and no, that’s not a typo).
Most students like their current healthcare, but they can’t keep it.
In the email to Guilford students (available in full here), the VP of Finance lays out exactly why they were forced to hike costs:
“As a result, all collegiate student health plans with an effective date of July 1, 2012 or after must provide a minimum benefit of at least $100,000 per policy year, have no limits on benefits deemed essential by the Act, and provide a preventative care benefit with no deductible, co-pays or co-insurance. In compliance with these mandates, (emphasis added) the following changes have been made to the College’s student health insurance policy.
“For the 2012-13 academic year, the annual cost of the student health insurance is increasing from $668 to $1,179.”
The question is, how many colleges will conceal these skyrocketing costs or coverage drops until after November 6?
Thanks ObamaCare: Guilford College Student Insurance Jumps 75 Percent (Young America's Foundation)
Comments
To be fair, Nancy Pelosi did say that we’d have to pass it to find out what was in it. 😉
Ha! Good one, Peter.
This is kind of horrifying. I don’t recall ever having to pay for a health plan in college, but maybe that’s because of having been on my parents’ coverage for a while, or going uninsured for a short time. Then again, I was also a commuter student, not a live-on-campus (the majority of the 15,000 students at OU were commuter).
I went to a state university in the ’60’s. There was no provision for insurance for the students. I had to have my tonsils removed in my freshman year. It was covered by my father’s policy.
For minor injuries and ailments there was the Student Health Center. It was a zoo but eventually you could get your antibiotics and get back to class.
I don’t recall huge problems with that system.
These increases were not supposed to cut in until after the election. Too bad the school year overlaps like that.
Then again, it’s probably going to be lost in the increases in tuition and other fees, to pay for the propaganda materials the students are getting shoved down their throats.
This is great. We should have never lost the healthcare debate. The clear concise evidence is so valuable.
Seeing the facts laid out like on Dr. Russ Roberts’ econtalk is so valuable.
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/07/scott_atlas_on.html
Hey, isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan defined by bureaucrats supposed to be the best possible solution? With central planning, the solution to any missed goal (if low costs for self-insured or shopped plans was every really a goal) is always MORE interference and regulation. Failure in the mind of progressives is always a sign of not having controlled the matter enough.
An increase in premiums is only the beginning. You’ll also be able to look forward to an increase in the time it takes to see a physician and/or get treatment, and a decrease in the quality of medical care. In other words, you’ll be paying more and getting less, and whatever you’ll be getting will be substandard at best.
But don’t worry – you’ll be able to get “free” rubbers (or whatever form of BC they decide you’ll be allowed) ~
Big whup.