Intended Consequences

No, I didn't mislabel my column for this week.  I truly believe that what I am about to reveal was fully intended as the federal method of dealing with healthcare reform to limit government cost while fully controlling the populace.

My wife and I each received a disturbing letter this week from our long term insurer, State Farm Insurance.  It concerned a premium increase that will take effect on the policy anniversary date in June.

We purchased long-term care policies in June of  2000.  Of course we hope never to use them, but we took the precautions all the same.  The coverage is very basic and did not include any inflation factor, so it pays $100-per-day after a 90-day waiting period. I think you'll agree that $3,000-per month is not sufficient to cover the full cost of care, but it is a supplement to our own out-of-pocket expenses, should we need long-term care.

Our premiums over the past 13 years have never before increased.  They have remained constant at $834 and $558 respectively, for a total of $1392.  It is a payment that I don't regret making.

The letters we received this week informed us of the increase in premium to $1000 for me, and $670 for Judy.  That is a 20% increase, and benefits will remain the same as they are. We have options that we can exercise to lower the premiums, but that will also lower the benefits and we do not want to do that, so we will pay the increase.

I have to ask myself why this increase came about.  The insurance company says that the costs of long-term  care and the frequency of LTCI claims are increasing, and I can accept that as a partial reason.  But the increase also coincides with the implementation of the new "Affordable Health Care Act" commonly referred to as Obamacare.  I must conclude that at least some of that premium increase is tied to that event even though State Farm does not specifically say so.

It is becoming increasingly clear to me that a lot of health care premiums are going up while health care is being curtailed.  This trend will likely continue and be even more pronounced in the coming months and years as Obamacare comes into being.

It remains to be seen whether the number of doctors who have threatened to retire, leave their practice, or refuse to accept any new Medicare patients will actually do so.  If only a fraction of them take action, it will further limit our choices of doctors and treatments while increasing premiums still further.

In short, the new healthcare is shaping up to be a total disaster for everyone.  It doesn't appear that congress will be able to alter or repeal it, so be prepared for a huge change. That is what we were promised and what we voted for, after all, wasn't it?