Premiums to Skyrocket Under Obamacare

Premiums to Skyrocket Under Obamacare: "Skyrocketing insurance premiums will slam millions of consumers next year because of 'indirect taxes' contained in both the House and Senate versions of healthcare reform, according to various medical and insurance industry experts.

Healthcare reforms that were supposed to contain costs actually will cause a sharp hike in premiums, they add. In fact, several studies indicate consumers' premiums could more than double next year if healthcare reform takes effect.

'So even though this bill tries to hide these costs as indirect taxes,' Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recently told a business symposium, 'average Americans who purchase health plans, take prescription drugs, or use medical devices will end up footing the bill.'"

The rate hikes stem from the hundreds of billions in proposed fees and taxes levied on providers.

For example, the Finance Committee's proposal would assess $322 billion in taxes and fees on insurance premiums, prescription drugs, and medical devices, according to the Senate's Joint Committee on Taxation.

The committee and other experts say virtually all of those costs will be passed along to consumers in all tax brackets — despite President Barack Obama's pledge not to raise taxes "one dime" on those earning less than $250,000 per year.

Another likely frustration for consumers: The premium hikes will take effect right away, while the subsidies and benefits in healthcare reform won't kick in completely until 2014.

Scott Gottlieb, a physician and American Enterprise Institute resident fellow, stated Thursday in a New York Post op-ed that, by front-loading the costs and back-loading benefits, Congress is resorting to "a gimmick that imposes a stiff price on the public."