President Obama is 53 years old and grew up in Hawaii (with some time in Indonesia as well). Which probably means that he knows more than a handful of people in Hawaii who are 52 years old.
Which probably means there are more than a handful of people in Hawaii that are right now very, very upset with their old classmate or friend. Courtesy of Hawaii Free Press:
HMSA 19% Rate Hike – Family Plan $2073/month
Thousands of HMSA individual plan ratepayers who did not sign up for Obamacare-compliant policies last year are receiving “thank you for choosing HMSA” letters complete with a whopping 19% rate hike.
The letters… inform ratepayers: “We’re writing to let you know that the premiums listed below were filed with the State Insurance Commissioner for approval. The approved premiums for your HMSA plan will be effective on January 1, 2015.”
These are the proposed new monthly rates for a 52 year old non-smoker:
Single = $690.50
Two-Party = $1381.50
Family = $2073.50
The median household income in Hawaii is around $67,500.
On the plus side, I think we can regard this as evidence that Obama hasn’t gone out of his way to reward his home state with any special favors or policies that might unduly benefit his old friends.
Sean Parnell ([email protected]) is a research fellow for health policy at The Heartland Institute.
