So says Megan McArdle writing in Bloomberg.  And while these proposed rate increases are not likely to be the final rates allowed by states.  McArdle points out that the increases tell a story of their own – that those who have purchased Obamacare insurance policies are older and sicker than projected, leading to massive losses by insurance companies in some cases. Cheerleader Kevin Drum waves his pom-poms and assures his readers that the actual rate increases will probably be in single digits.  But McArdle says this is an illusion as companies try to find a way to make money when claims are skyrocketing. But in the case of the companies cited by the Wall Street Journal, I'd bet they're not going to go down to 4-8 percent. As it turns out, the insurer filings are public information, available on state websites. And in the three cases where I could see supporting data about premium revenue and losses, those losses appear to be large. Moda of...(Read Full Post)