Sebelius: Some Insurance Costs Could Increase When Law Is Implemented
The HHS secretary's remarks came as insurers are becoming increasingly jittery about how sweeping health law changes will impact the marketplace and on the same day that the Society of Actuaries released a study that predicted increased medical claims costs.
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Sebelius: Some Could See Insurance Premiums Rise
Some people purchasing new insurance policies for themselves this fall could see premiums rise because of requirements in the health-care law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Tuesday. Ms. Sebelius's remarks come weeks before insurers are expected to begin releasing rates for plans that start on Jan. 1, 2014, when key provisions of the health law kick in (Radnofsky, 3/26).
Reuters: Some Healthcare Costs May Rise When 'Obamacare' Implemented: Official
President Barack Obama's top healthcare adviser acknowledged on Tuesday that costs could rise in the individual health insurance market, particularly for men and younger people, because of the landmark 2010 healthcare restructuring due to take effect next year. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said definitive data on costs will not be available until later this year when private health plans become authorized to sell federally subsidized coverage on new state-based online marketplaces, known as exchanges (Mason and Morgan, 3/26).
She also spoke about Medicare -
USA Today: White House Warns Cutting Medicare Will Shift Costs
If Congress addresses the nation's budget deficit by cutting Medicare, that will simply shift health care costs to the private sector and not address the underlying issues, Obama administration officials said Tuesday at a White House briefing. "If you only focus on Medicare, you shift the costs," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, adding that Medicare and Medicaid are not the reason health costs are going up (Kennedy, 3/26).
