Misplaced blame
The Oct. 5 letters were full of people bemoaning their rise in health insurance rates and blaming the Affordable Care Act. Certainly the financial burdens on these folks should not be minimized. But they are blaming the wrong source!
There is nothing inherent in the ACA that forces BCBS to raise its rates as precipitously as it has. The law does not require insurers to subsidize the underinsured (although it should). Yet using the ACA as an excuse, the company has raised its premiums as much as two to three times while enrolling thousands of new customers.
The clearinghouses are a service, not a requirement. It was hoped that through them, more affordable packages would be available, but not enough insurance companies signed on. If people start insuring with companies other than BCBS, market forces will bring the costs down for everyone.
If state government had agreed to set up the clearinghouses itself, more leverage might have been put on BCBS to maintain affordable rates. Also, if the state government had allowed Medicaid expansion, many of the people complaining would have had an affordable alternative.
The writers have a genuine gripe, but they should place blame on the real culprits.
Keith Mankin
Cary
