Obamacare is hitting the Volunteer State hard.
Tennesseans are bracing for the worst as health insurance companies prepare to increase the rates of their current plans astronomically due to Obamacare.
BlueCross BlueShield intends to raise their customers’ rates by 19 percent, while Cigna will raise their customers’ rates by 7.5 percent, and Humana by 14.4 percent.
Individuals who purchased health insurance through the Obamacare exchange are set to receive notices of the increase sometime in the fall and will have around 45 days to switch plans. Many Tennesseans are presently fighting to afford their current insurance plans, however.
One such struggling Tennessean is Natasha from Knoxville, Tennessee, who has been uninsured for the past three years. She thought about enrolling in a plan through the Obamacare exchange.
"It scared me because not only do I have to pay rent, utilities, gas, food, and now this is another added expense that comes out after the fact and it’s just going to be hard," Natasha told WTNZ-TN of her harrowing finances.
Upon hearing the possible rate increases proposed by BlueCross BlueShield, Natasha exclaimed "Wow! That just blows my mind."
Jean Alexander, an independent insurance agent, weighed in on the pressing matter. "They [the insurance companies] had no idea how many people were going to sign up, what ages, how sick they were going to be. So, they were really, like I said- flying blind," she said.
She warned that it is not known what plans will be available for 2015 enrollment and if other companies will join the marketplace as well.
Natasha is distraught and worries about how she will afford a necessary health test. "It’s time for a mammogram and I can’t even afford one. I don’t know when my last physical was either because it’s too expensive. You’ve got to have [money for] day-to-day living too, " she sadly told WTNZ-TN.