Sen. Barrasso warns of health insurance marketplace cost 'sticker shock'

Sep 10 2013

The former orthopedic surgeon from Wyoming also warned that the law is too expensive and used the weekly GOP address Saturday to push for its repeal.

Reuters: Republican U.S. Senator Senator Warns Of 'Sticker Shock' From Obamacare
Weeks before health care exchanges under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul open next month, a Republican senator attacked the plan on Saturday by saying Americans may experience "sticker shock" from higher prices. Senator John Barrasso said in the weekly Republican address released on Saturday that the Affordable Care Act is hurting middle-class Americans (9/7).

CBS News: GOP Senator Warns of Obamacare 'Sticker Shock'
In the weekly Republican address, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., warned that Obamacare's insurance exchanges, which open on October 1, will be more expensive than many expect (CBS News, 9/7).

The Hill: Barrasso Warns Of Obamacare 'Sticker Shock' In GOP Address
Weeks before a key ObamaCare component is set to get off the ground, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is warning that flaws in the health care reform law will only make things harder for American families. Barrasso, who worked as an orthopedic surgeon for two decades before coming to the Senate, used the weekly Republican address to denounce the Affordable Care Act as too expensive and push for a repeal (Hattem, 9/7).

Costs to buy coverage in the marketplaces are also examined across America --

The Associated Press: Study Estimates Obamacare's Health Insurance Premiums – And How And Where To Enroll Beginning Oct. 1
The No. 1 question about President Obama's health care law is whether consumers will be able to afford the coverage. Now the answer is coming in. The biggest study yet of premiums posted by states finds that the sticker price for a 21-year-old buying a mid-range policy will average about $270 a month (9/9). 

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Minnesota Says Its Marketplace Rates Are Nation's Lowest So Far
Minnesota consumers will be able to buy a health plan for as little as $90.59 per month on MNsure, the new state health insurance marketplace, state Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said Friday. Rothman said Minnesota has the lowest average rates for individuals and families compared to the other states that have revealed the costs of their plans thus far (that includes 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to a Kaiser Health News running tally). Data released Friday offered a first look at the new health insurance plans and rates that will be sold on MNsure (Stawicki, 9/6).

The Associated Press: State Health Care Rates Lowest So Far
Individual health insurance coverage will be available for as low as $91 a month beginning next year through Minnesota's new health insurance marketplace. State officials released the first look Friday at health insurance plans and rates to be sold on MNsure, Minnesota's vehicle for delivering requirements of the new federal health care law. The marketplace is scheduled to go live Oct. 1, and coverage starts Jan. 1 (9/7).

The Associated Press: 5 Insurers Offer Health Plans Through NM Exchange
The cost of medical coverage plans available through New Mexico's health insurance exchange likely will be lower than in many other states, according to a new national study. The state's insurance regulator also said uninsured New Mexicans will find more health insurance options through the exchange than currently are available through the private insurance market (Massey, 9/6).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Colorado Exchange Watchdog Likes What It Sees
Colorado is one of 16 states and the District of Columbia that chose to set up its own exchange, via a bipartisan bill the state passed in 2011. Republicans agreed to vote for it only if it included a special legislative oversight committee that would allow a majority to block exchange funding requests. That hasn't happened yet, but oversight committee hearings have been testy in the past. Not so last Thursday, the final hearing before the exchange's opening day October 1. It was remarkable for the praise members from both parties heaped upon exchange leadership" (Whitney 9/9).