Welcome to Obamacare? One Family's Nightmarish Story

Many have long warned that the implementation of Obamacare will be painful for middle-class American families -- and it looks like we’re getting our first look at just how painful the new health care law could be.

Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Ky. (Image source: Fox News)

Take Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Ky., who were recently told that their health insurance, which was purchased on the individual market, will triple in 2014, according to a letter the family received in the mail.

"When I saw the letter when I came home from work," Andy Mangione told Fox News, "(it said) 'your action required, benefit changes, act now.' Of course I opened it immediately."

The letter said their insurance would go from $333 a month to $965 a month because of the new health care law.

"This isn't a Cadillac plan, this isn't even a silver plan," he said. "This is a high deductible plan where I'm assuming a lot of risk for my health insurance for my family. And nothing has changed, our boys are healthy -- they're young -- my wife is healthy. I'm healthy, nothing in our medical history has changed to warrant a tripling of our premiums."

"Well I'm the one that does the budget,” Amy Mangione told Fox. "Eventually I've got that coming down the pike that I gotta figure out what we're gonna cut what we're gonna do, to afford a $1,000 a month premium."

The insurance company declined to comment to Fox.

But here’s something interesting in the Mangiones' insurance notice:

If your policy premium increased, you should know this isn't unique to Humana -- premium increases generally will occur industry-wide.

Increases aren't based on your individual claims or changes in health status … Many other factors go in to your premium including: [Affordable Care Act] compliance, including the addition of new essential health benefits.

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for American Health Insurance Plans, said that "for people who currently choose to purchase a high deductible, low premium policy that's more affordable for them, they are now being required to add all these new benefits to their policy.”

“That," he said, "is also going to add to the cost of their health insurance premiums."

So as U.S. lawmakers in the nation’s capital continue to debate whether Obamacare will increase rates, the Mangiones may have an answer for them.

--

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Featured image screen grab.

[related]