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Penner Wary About Local Affordable Care Act Impact

Murray-Calloway County Hospital

Murray-Calloway County Hospital CEO Jerry Penner says a new federal healthcare policy will increase premium costs on rural consumers like those in western Kentucky.

Penner says the Affordable Care Act outlines policies on all Americans despite age or pre-existing conditions. 

Penner says those policies, which will begin to go into effect next year, put burdens on health insurance companies and small-town employers.

Those burdens, Penner says, are likely to fall on the consumer, raising deductibles and causing some people to forgo medical treatment for financial reasons.

"That’s playing out across the United States. Businesses are passing through those additional costs – those additional risks that they’re getting from their insurance – back to their employees," he said.

Penner says, as a large employer, he has to weigh the costs of removing employee health insurance benefits all together.

He says that illustrates some of the negative consequences the law can have on insurance providers and employees.

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