Aetna Pulling Back From Obamacare

[panamaican]

possibly it was a scratch my back and I'll scratch yours scenario. Maybe Aetnas back started itching and realized the Govt. wasnt going to scratch it.

Or Aetna is using the Obamacare losses and this pullout to bolster their argument that a merger wouldn't hurt competition. A "How can we possibly be too big? We're not even capable of staying within Obamacare." argument. Merger goes through...Humana and Aetna re-enter the exchanges.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

It depends on the business. Health insurance should be looked at as a whole and as part of a national health care system. The business responsibility is to the whole of the nation in that regard.

I would agree with that if the government would let Insurers sell their plans nationally.

 

[ripskater]

The company isn't actually losing money, it's just losing money on Obamacare plans.

And bingo! That's the problem. Any smart company gets rid of any part of the business that is losing them money. And they foresee that it will keep losing them money.

 

[m52nickerson]

I would agree with that if the government would let Insurers sell their plans nationally.

The federal government does allow them to sell their plan's nationally. I think you are confusing federal requirements with state requirements.

 

[ripskater]

Obama care was setup to fail by the Republicans. It is unfortunate because something really needs to happen regarding healthcare in this country.

Republicans voted against Obamacare.

 

[djacobox372]

they lost 430 million this year in those areas. You do understand this is a business not a charity right?

Yep, and instead of changing their business practice so they can compete and be profitable, they shun millions of potential paying customers and then blame Obamacare.

Political move. Pure and simple.

Mark my words, once hillary is elected they'll "magically" find a way to make money in those markets.

 

[djacobox372]

Republicans voted against Obamacare.

Republican's authored the parts of Obamacare that they are complain about (mandate, exchanges), and Democrats authored the parts that even republicans want to keep (extended family coverage to 26, pre-existing condition protection) .

 

[panamaican]

And bingo! That's the problem. Any smart company gets rid of any part of the business that is losing them money. And they foresee that it will keep losing them money.

So why didn't they pull out 6 months ago? Why did they pull out only when the DOJ moved to block a merger. They didn't pull off the government tit. They're still selling Medicare and Medicaid plans.

They stated that the "losses" were actually cheaper than the investment they would have spent to acquire those customers without the exchanges.

Aetna’s medical benefit ratio – the percent of premiums spent on claims – rose to 82.4% from 81.1% a year earlier as medical costs increased in the Obamacare business.

They're still keeping more than 17% of the premiums for their other costs. A 1.3% decrease over last year while making more money overall. The argument that they suddenly found the exchanges a bad investment...right after the DOJ tells them no...is too convenient for me.

 

[method115]

Republican's authored the parts of Obamacare that they are complain about (mandate, exchanges), and Democrats authored the parts that even republicans want to keep (extended family coverage to 26, pre-existing condition protection) .

I remember a thread about Obamacare once. Some criticized Obamacare and blamed it on Obama and I asked if Obamacare was passed exactly how Obama wanted it to be. Since I knew things like this are often changed and have things added and removed just to get people to vote for it. Simply asking that question had someone call me an idiot and say this is what is wrong with America. Glad to know that the bill was in fact changed. Which is another issues I have with a president. This thing was changed and is not exactly how Obama wanted it but who gets blamed? Obama. No one even looks at all the other people involved in getting this thing past.

 

[ripskater]

I remember a thread about Obamacare once. Some criticized Obamacare and blamed it on Obama and I asked if Obamacare was passed exactly how Obama wanted it to be. Since I knew things like this are often changed and have things added and removed just to get people to vote for it. Simply asking that question had someone call me an idiot and say this is what is wrong with America. Glad to know that the bill was in fact changed. Which is another issues I have with a president. This thing was changed and is not exactly how Obama wanted it but who gets blamed? Obama. No one even looks at all the other people involved in getting this thing past.

Obama had a committee put Obamacare together. He also had democratically controlled House Senate that voted Obamacare in. And Democrats blame the failure of Obamacare on Republicans when Obama and the democrats should man up and blame themselves. That's called blaming others, not manning up and just being a wussy.

 

[method115]

Obama had a committee put Obamacare together. He also had democratically controlled House Senate that voted Obamacare in. And Democrats blame the failure of Obamacare on Republicans when Obama and the democrats should man up and blame themselves. That's called blaming others, not manning up and just being a wussy.

According to Panamacian Republicans also had a hand in writing some of Obama care is this true or not? If it's true which parts did they write? and are those parts the ones causing an issue?

 

[ripskater]

According to Panamacian Republicans also had a hand in writing some of Obama care is this true or not? If it's true which parts did they write? and are those parts the ones causing an issue?

Put the blame on Obama democrats for constructing the pieces of Obamacare. They put that disaster together. They could have left bad parts out.

 

[method115]

Put the blame on Obama democrats for constructing the pieces of Obamacare. They put that disaster together.

Your not answering the questions and your approaching this from a black and white point of view. Don't ever be so loyal to one side that your blinded to anything they do.

 

[ripskater]

Your not answering the questions and your approaching this from a black and white point of view. Don't ever be so loyal to one side that your blinded to anything they do.

Lets say I make nuts and bolts. But a car company buys nuts and bolts off of me to build their cars. But they make a crappy car. Don't blame me for your crappy car. You put that together.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

I remember a thread about Obamacare once. Some criticized Obamacare and blamed it on Obama and I asked if Obamacare was passed exactly how Obama wanted it to be. Since I knew things like this are often changed and have things added and removed just to get people to vote for it. Simply asking that question had someone call me an idiot and say this is what is wrong with America. Glad to know that the bill was in fact changed. Which is another issues I have with a president. This thing was changed and is not exactly how Obama wanted it but who gets blamed? Obama. No one even looks at all the other people involved in getting this thing past.

Republicans didnt change anything. This was a white house and democrat senators project. They didnt need to change anything for republicans bc republicans were voting no. Heres how the senate voted on Obamacare.

Dems=58 yes and 0 no
Indep=2 yes and 0 no
Republicans=39 no and 0 Yes


"This was originally a health reform bill created by the Senate. The negotiations that led to it were essentially between the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate, since Republicans were unanimous in opposing the bill."

https://www.healthreformvotes.org/congress/roll-call-votes/s396-111.2009

 

[method115]

Lets say I make nuts and bolts. But a car company buys nuts and bolts off of me to build their cars. But they make a crappy car. Don't blame me for your crappy car. You put that together.

Yes but lets say the nuts and bolts you make are made from cheap material that breaks when put under to much stress. I would feel your are also partially to blame for that even though the car company will receive all of the blame.

 

[method115]

Republicans didnt change anything. This was a white house and democrat senators project. They didnt need to change anything for republicans bc republicans were voting no. Heres how the senate voted on Obamacare.

Dems=58 yes and 0 no
Indep=2 yes and 0 no
Republicans=39 no and 0 Yes


"This was originally a health reform bill created by the Senate. The negotiations that led to it were essentially between the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate, since Republicans were unanimous in opposing the bill."

https://www.healthreformvotes.org/congress/roll-call-votes/s396-111.2009

Ok exactly what I was looking for. I also did some googling and I can't find any information on Republicans having any say in what goes in Obamacare.

 

[Falsedawn]

Lets say I make nuts and bolts. But a car company buys nuts and bolts off of me to build their cars. But they make a crappy car. Don't blame me for your crappy car. You put that together.

If your nuts and bolts are the point of failure, you most certainly are to blame.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

Republican's authored the parts of Obamacare that they are complain about (mandate, exchanges), and Democrats authored the parts that even republicans want to keep (extended family coverage to 26, pre-existing condition protection) .

No they didnt it. Look at the votes. it's not your fault though. You're trained to blame everything on the Republicans.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Ok exactly what I was looking for. I also did some googling and I can't find any information on Republicans having any say in what goes in Obamacare.

The reason people keep saying that is because some prominent leaders in the gop drafted a similar plan in the 90's.

The fact that they did not vote for the ACA doesn't mean all that much considering they also voted for 0% of everything Obama put his name on in the last 8 years. But the fact that it was not endorsed by a majority of republicans in the 90's, does.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfac...5/ellen-qualls/aca-gop-health-care-plan-1993/

Republican Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island was the point man. The bill he introduced, Health Equity and Access Reform Today, (yes, that spells HEART) had a list of 20 co-sponsors that was a who’s who of Republican leadership. There was Minority Leader Bob Dole, R- Kan., Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and many others. There also were two Democratic co-sponsors.

Among other features, the Chafee bill included:

• An individual mandate;
  
  
• Creation of purchasing pools;
  
  
• Standardized benefits;
  
  
• Vouchers for the poor to buy insurance;
  
  
• A ban on denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition.

"You would find a great deal of similarity to provisions in the Affordable Care Act," Sheila Burke, Dole’s chief of staff in 1993, told PunditFact via email. "The guys were way ahead of the times!! Different crowd, different time, suffice it to say."

That said, the Senate plan from 1993 was not identical to the health care law that passed in 2010. The Republican bill did not expand Medicaid as Obamacare does, and it did have medical malpractice tort reform, which the current law does not. In contrast to the current employer mandate, the Chafee bill required employers to offer insurance, but they were under no obligation to help pay for it.