Obamacare train pulls safely into the station

[Greenbeard]

A harrowing ride but a satisfying conclusion to the journey!

Exchange enrollment has exceeded expectations

Obamacare Tears Down Goalposts: 8 Million Sign-Ups

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that 8 million Americans had enrolled in private health coverage under Obamacare -- the final evidence that the law signed up far more Americans than most would have thought possible during the doldrums of last fall.

The uninsurance rate continues to fall.

Health insurance gains since last fall hit 12 million, survey shows - latimes.com

President Obama’s health law has led to an even greater increase in health coverage than previously estimated, according to new Gallup survey data, which suggest that about 12 million previously uninsured Americans have gained coverage since last fall.

Premiums and ACA costs are lower than anticipated.

Lower premiums (yes, really) drive down Obamacare’s expected costs, CBO says

The health-care law's expansion of insurance coverage will cost $104 billion less than projected over the next decade, according to revised estimates from nonpartisan budget analysts Monday. Obamacare's lower-than-expected costs will come largely because premiums will be cheaper than previously thought.

The CBO and the Society of Actuaries anticipate only modest premium growth next year.

Smaller premium hikes forecast in 2015 for Obamacare - Jennifer Haberkorn and Brett Norman - POLITICO.com

Insurance premiums under Obamacare are projected to rise less than 3 percent in 2015, a smaller-than-expected jump as the health insurance exchanges enter their second year.

The CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation released a series of new estimates Monday on the law’s costs and the number of people it will cover.

New data signal smaller jump in health care costs

"The double-rate increases we've been hearing are probably exaggerated," says Dave Axene, a fellow with the Society of Actuaries, adding that there would be wide variation across the country. "That's not what we're seeing from the actuarial organizations — I guess we're being a little bit more optimistic."

The exchanges are about to get more competitive.

Insurers see brighter Obamacare skies - Kyle Cheney and Brett Norman - POLITICO.com

Health insurers got their first taste of Obamacare this year. And they want seconds.
Insurers saw disaster in the fall when Obamacare’s rollout flopped and HealthCare.gov was a mess. But a strong March enrollment surge, along with indications that younger and healthier people had begun signing up, has changed their attitude. Around the country, insurers are considering expanding their stake in the Obamacare exchanges next year, bringing their business to more states and counties. Some health plans that skipped the new marketplaces altogether this year are ready to dive in next year.

Health care quality is improving.

National Committee for Quality Assurance -- State of Health Care Qualty

This year [2012] we saw significant improvement in measures included in the Medicare Star rating pay-for-performance program for health plans that participate in Medicare Advantage. Although Medicare Advantage plans have reported on quality and results have been reported to consumers for many years, the Affordable Care Act required the Medicare program to make higher payments to health plans with better quality performance, starting in 2012. In addition to this new program, the Department of Health and Human Services established a demonstration program to complement it, making even higher payments to plans with better performance.

Obamacare Shows Hospital Savings as Patients Make Gains - Bloomberg

Less than five months before the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in, hospitals are improving care and saving millions of dollars with one of the least touted but potentially most effective provisions of the law.

More hospitals improve quality of care | Healthcare Finance News

A larger number of hospitals are showing improvements in their quality of care said the Joint Commission in its annual report on quality and safety of hospitals.

All Pioneer ACOs improved quality; only third lowered costs

All 32 of the accountable care organizations in the program improved patient care and patient satisfaction against benchmarks, according to results shared with the Wall Street Journal in advance of their public release.

Is Obamacare working? Hospitals finally see drop in readmissions

New CMS figures show that the national rate of 30-day readmissions for Medicare patients dropped to 17.8% in November 2012 after spending years stuck at 19%—and White House officials say the Affordable Care Act deserves the credit.

The health care system is re-designing itself to start holding down costs and improving quality in the long-term.

Do Structural Changes Drive the Recent Health Care Spending Slowdown? New Evidence

Value-based purchasing of hospital services has had a significant impact on hospital behavior. Hospitals are highly sensitive to changes in financial incentives. Movement away from a preponderance of fee-for-service payments is also likely to permanently alter hospital behavior. For instance, emphasis on reduced readmissions has reportedly changed how hospital managers think about care delivery, from the care delivered within their four walls towards coordinating care outside their four walls as they track patients as they return to the community or to various post acute care settings.

An observation is that hospitals and other providers are being called to change their care delivery models and business models as payment systems evolve. In a general sense this is leading to a re-engineering of care- slow to start with, but gaining momentum over time. The ACA, with its call for CMMI grants, shows the potential magnitude of private and public sector experiments with alternative organizational forms such as ACOs and medical homes in combination with payment system incentives in the form of payments for value, payment bundling and capitation and prompting the health care industry to reconsider delivery models that reduce incentives for volume of care under fee-for- service. As organizational forms and payment models evolve, augmentation of computing powers and more ready access to “big data” claims files emphasizes an ability to better understand the consequences of change in terms of clinical and economic outcomes.

 

[Rozman]

Isn't a bit early to make these claims....
Sebelius said a few weeks ago that they don't have a clue as to the details of those who signed up.

 

[Rozman]

A month before the deadline they had 6 million.
Now I'm hearing a few weeks later they have 12 million.....

Sorry...I'm not buying it.

 

[dblack]

Greenbeard!

Did you get your contract renewed, or what?

 

[Darkwind]

More lies from the most dishonest administration in American History.

There was never going to be a time when Obamacare did not meet their goals. The numbers were already in announcement form prior to October 2013. They were just waiting for the time to pass.

 

[Stephanie]

OMG, that train should be blown up and so should the people who sold it

all we heard was how 46 MILLION PEOPLE were without insurance...and now 4 year, 38 delay's by our dictators, website didn't work, 1.5TRILLION dollars AND a lousy 8 million people ( which is probably a LIE like everything is about the scam)

how some of you can sleep at night while pushing such dishonesty is actually scary

and who writes this crap, 10 year olds? the train the train boss the train

 

[Rozman]

How many of the 6 million,7 million,9 million,12 million ( the number has gone up LOL) are people that
did not have insurance before?....

And yeah.... where are those 40+ million who were without insurance according to Obama?
Why are they nowhere to be found?

 

[dblack]

My take is, based on the fact that Greenbeard is back in business, the powers-that-be are growing increasingly worried that the "train" is grinding to a halt.

 

[Greenbeard]

How many of the 6 million,7 million,9 million,12 million ( the number has gone up LOL) are people that
did not have insurance before?....

Exchange enrollment + Medicaid expansion (+ some increase in employer-sponsored coverage?) has picked up at least 12 million uninsured so far. The number of insured will continue to grow throughout the year and it'll really pick up in the next open enrollment period in the fall.

 

[Zander]

 

[bluesman]

A month before the deadline they had 6 million.
Now I'm hearing a few weeks later they have 12 million.....

Sorry...I'm not buying it.

Maybe you should buy some reading comprehension lessons. The Op linked to 8 million sign-ups. The 12 million number was a comparison to a previous point in time saying that more people had insurance than a year ago.

 

[Zander]

 

[Zander]

 

[Zander]

 

[Zander]

 

[Zander]

 

[Stephanie]

My take is, based on the fact that Greenbeard is back in business, the powers-that-be are growing increasingly worried that the "train" is grinding to a halt.

Bingo
the greeny was put back in the propaganda business things are so damn bad..
what a horrible thing to do to the people in this country..
greeny you should be ashamed

 

[bluesman]

OMG, that train should be blown up and so should the people who sold it
all we heard was how 46 MILLION PEOPLE were without insurance...and now 4 year, 38 delay's by our dictators, website didn't work, 1.5TRILLION dollars AND a lousy 8 million people ( which is probably a LIE like everything is about the scam)

how some of you can sleep at night while pushing such dishonesty is actually scary

and who writes this crap, 10 year olds? the train the train boss the train

Sounds like a terroristic threat. Obama "sold it" so I guess you are directing the threat at him. It was Obama who campaigned on Obamacare and the people of the United States voted for him. Romney said he would do away with Obamacare and he didn't get elected. Our country is a democracy and not run by whoever makes the biggest threat.

 

[Zander]

Safely in the station!!!!

 

[Zander]