CDZ Gov Herbert UT reveals Healthy Utah plan using federal money for the poor

[JakeStarkey]

"Gov. Gary Herbert addresses the media as he releases his detailed Healthy Utah plan, which is an alternative way to expanding health care coverage for the poor without technically expanding Medicaid. The plan was hammered out in months of negotiation this year with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."

Gov. Gary Herbert unveils his plan for covering Utahns in the health care gap The Salt Lake Tribune

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Nice! That's like capitalism at work in shet.

 

[Derideo_Te]

Herbert, who surrounded himself by a phalanx of medical, insurance, business, religious and charitable leaders at a news conference Thursday, said Utah should provide concrete help in the face of such discouragement.

"These are our neighbors, our friends and our family members," said the governor. "Turning a blind eye and doing nothing is really not the Utah way."

Let's hope he succeeds for the sake of all of those who need coverage but can't afford it.

 

[Treeshepherd]

Still looks like corporate welfare. Healthy Utah essentially gives vouchers to people to buy a product, increasing demand for that product, and driving up price.

We're so pigeonholed now into that way of thinking. I see no difference between Healthy Utah and Obamacare, except it skews the ratio more into private insurance and less into Medicaid.

We've completely forgotten about the public option, which was given no chance by either party.

Have a public insurance option, put measures in place so it doesn't compete unfairly with private insurance (like operating at a loss), and give people that choice.

 

[jwoodie]

Still looks like corporate welfare. Healthy Utah essentially gives vouchers to people to buy a product, increasing demand for that product, and driving up price.

We're so pigeonholed now into that way of thinking. I see no difference between Healthy Utah and Obamacare, except it skews the ratio more into private insurance and less into Medicaid.

We've completely forgotten about the public option, which was given no chance by either party.

Have a public insurance option, put measures in place so it doesn't compete unfairly with private insurance (like operating at a loss), and give people that choice.

Aww, you're spoiling their little party...

 

[Greenbeard]

We've completely forgotten about the public option, which was given no chance by either party.

Have a public insurance option, put measures in place so it doesn't compete unfairly with private insurance (like operating at a loss), and give people that choice.

The substitute for the public option was federal seed money for start-ups that could enter insurance markets and provide new competition--non-profit, member-owned health insurance co-ops that compete with established insurers.

Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers

HealthyCT, which cut its 2015 premiums by an average of 8.5 percent, is one of at least a half dozen co-ops created through the Affordable Care Act that have lowered 2015 premiums in a bid to boost membership in their second year of operation. But those low premiums are upsetting so-called “legacy” insurance plans like Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates that have traditionally dominated insurance markets.

Two dozen co-ops, which received $1.9 billion in federal loans, were designed to compete with established carriers and lower prices. For 2015 at least, co-ops are offering the lowest-cost silver plans in all, or large parts of Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico and New Jersey, according to NASHCO. The silver-tiered plans are the most popular type of plan on the federal and state insurance exchanges.

Co-ops that did price competitively in their first year saw robust enrollment. The Maine Community Health Options Co-Op grabbed 83 percent of the exchange market in 2014, largely because it offered the lowest-cost silver plans. Before 2014, Anthem was the dominant player in Maine’s individual market.

“It just goes to show you can do well by people and do well financially,” said CEO Kevin Lewis.

Montana Health CO-OP spokeswoman Karen Early — a former spokeswoman for Blue Cross of Idaho — said her plan will save consumers money without sacrificing care or service.

But she does agree with her old boss on one thing: “We will disrupt the market,” she said.

There's nothing particularly magical about a public insurer as opposed to new privately run competitors like these co-ops. Unless you're talking about a government insurer that has the ability to dictate rates to health care providers. That's a slightly different story.

 

[Agit8r]

Well, that looked more generous than my employer-provided insurance. Probably won't pass as is.

 

[Listening]

This is a debate zone.

Is there a reason we get an OP that has no argument ?

 

[Listening]

From the article:

The governor faces a skeptical Legislature, though, especially after he and lawmakers learned this week that any alternative to expanding traditional Medicaid will cost millions more than previously thought.

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Utah isn't fond of being lied to.

And when is it ever the case that costs come in as estimated ? Was anyone surprised ?

If so, they have a lot to learn.

Reading further:

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Healthy Utah would be a three-year pilot program. The state’s share would rise from $4.6 million for half a budget year in 2016 to $80 million to $90 million per year by early in the 2020s. That’s steeply higher than the previous estimates, which had the state saving money for the first few years.

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Where have we heard that before ? Saving money ?

Utah must not have looked at what happened to Tennessee when they went this route. They almost bankrupted the system and wound up throwing tens of thousands off the rolls to keep it solvent.