<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Visionaries:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">With regard to Gary Crabtree's claim that the millions who
lost their health plans received new plans with higher premiums, all that I
could find is what is appended below. As was the case in RomneyCare,
Massachusetts led the nation in declining health care premiums, and now
ObamaCare is effecting that trend nation-wide. If we had done Medicare for All,
premiums would be even lower. For years health care premiums were increasing at
double-digit rates and administrative costs for pre-ACA plans were in the 20-30
percent range with Medicare admini. costs below 10 percent.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Without exact data, I can speculate with some confidence
that those who lost their plans are in better and more comprehensive plans at
perhaps slightly higher premiums.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obamacare-2015-low-premium-increases-110000415.html">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obamacare-2015-low-premium-increases-110000415.html</a></span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">On
average, consumers can expect modest increases of about 5.6 percent from last
year according to <a href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/aca-state-exchanges.jhtml">PriceWaterhouseCooper</a>, which analyzed data from 43 states
and Washington D.C. </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="float:right;word-spacing:1px"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">To be sure, health premiums increase
each year and have long before Obamacare. Now, health experts say that because
of several provisions in the law, premium price growth is actually slowing. </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">The
average proposed premium was about $381. Of course, the price of premiums
varies widely from region to region. In Colorado, for example, rates range from
a 22 percent decrease to a 35 percent increase, according to the study. </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1423101021914_2024"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">A separate analysis by the <a href="http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2014/rwjf416395">Robert Wood Johnson Foundation</a> found that premiums
would increase an average of less than 5 percent from last year. </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><h1 style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-weight:normal">Sticker shock? Not. Obamacare's
proposed 2015 rates</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></h1><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100731877" itemprop="url" style="outline:none">Dan Mangan</a></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Friday,
3 Oct 2014 | 12:53 PM ET<span itemprop="sourceOrganization" style="overflow:hidden" id="sourcelogo-cnbccom">CNBC.com</span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Dire warnings by Obamacare opponents
of dramatically higher insurance premium prices in 2015 are not being borne out
nationally, according to <a href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/aca-state-exchanges.jhtml" target="_blank" style="outline:none">new data</a> showing proposed prices
are rising moderately, on average, nationally.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">While the single-digit average price
increases, coupled with a rise in the number of insurers selling Obamacare
plans for next year, suggest enrollment could remain fairly strong in the new
form of insurance in the short term, questions remain about relative price
stability over the long term.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Six states and the District of
Columbia already issued approved rates for individual insurance plans in 2015,
and the average premium is rising just 2.5
percent, PricewaterhouseCoopers found in its <a href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/aca-state-exchanges.jhtml" target="_blank" style="outline:none">updated report</a>. These plans go on
sale Nov. 15. </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">The average premium in those
states—across different price tiers and ages—would be $327 per month. But that
average doesn't reflect the effect of federal subsidies that about 85 percent
of Obamacare enrollees receive. Those subsidies, which are based on income, can
substantially cut actual payments.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">And in the 38 states and D.C. that
have finalized rates or released proposed rates for such plans, the average
premium would rise 6 percent, PwC said. The average premium would be $382 per
month, before subsidies are factored in.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Just one state so far, Louisiana, has
reported that rates are proposed to rise more than 10 percent. Cajun State
residents are faced with an average proposed premium hike of 15.3 percent for
individual plans. At the other end of the spectrum are Oregon's finalized
rates, which are 2.5 percent lower than that state's 2014 premiums.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">"I think it's probably coming as
a relief to many that we're not seeing double-digit rate increases," said
Ceci Connolly, managing director of PwC's Health Research Institute. "I
think that the worries about excessively high costs and prices have not
materialized."</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 4.8pt"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Connolly said the 6 percent average
tracks "very closely what the average [premium increase] is in in the
employer-based market," which is where most Americans get health coverage.
And that average is 2.2 percentage points lower than what PwC found when it
first began tracking proposed rate hike disclosures in states in mid-summer,
she said.</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 13.2pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
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