The front-page article Nov. 2 concerning the moderate increase in Affordable Care Act insurance premiums did not tell the whole story. The general public needs to know.
That article made it sound as if all is well with Obamacare and that it is a great deal for businesses and the public sector. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
I am a partner in a small business that employees 22 people in Androscoggin County and we supply health care insurance for our employees. Our renewal date is Dec. 1, 2014, and the new quotes have come in from our insurance agent.
Because we are a small business, we are able to stay on our old plan for one more year (until Dec. 1, 2015); however, as of Dec. 1 this year, there will be a 15 percent increase in premiums that we must pass on to our employees, which is bad enough. If we weren’t grandfathered for one more year and we could only offer an Obamacare-compliant plan, that would have raised our premiums by 32 percent.
The Obamacare plan would not only cost our employees double in the rise of their premiums, but their out-of-pocket expenses would be way higher under that plan than our original plan.
The ACA will cause great pain to our employees next year; that’s if we keep offering health care insurance to our employees.
Donald Dubuc, Lewiston
Send questions/comments to the editors.
