Posted on 11/15/2013 8:03:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
President Obama’s decision to let insurers offer limited plans that do not meet ObamaCare’s requirements could sink the entire healthcare law, the head of the group representing state insurance commissioners said Friday.
“It threatens the solvency of the system and it threatens to spike the cost to policyholders across the board,” said Jim Donelon, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
Donelon argued on CNN that the White House proposal is not logistically feasible and would be an administrative nightmare. He said premium prices have been set based on assumptions about what plans would be available.
“The problem is you can’t change the rules at the last minute when the game’s about to start,” he said. “And the rules have given benefits to lots of policyholders – guarantee issue, caps on coverage for older policyholders.”
The state insurance regulators would play a big role in implementing Obama’s fix. Donelon, who is also Louisiana’s insurance commissioner, said Friday there was near unanimous opposition among state regulators to the White House proposal.
“At the NAIC level, we had two calls yesterday in the aftermath of the president’s announcement,” he said. “And I was pleased and surprised at the unanimity that I found across the board in concern over what the president is proposing.”
On Thursday, the country’s largest healthcare insurance company trade group, the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said the order wouldn’t work in practice and could cause marketplace chaos. The American Academy of Actuaries leveled a similar criticism.
The White House on Thursday sought to quell the bipartisan outcry that the healthcare law doesn’t comply with the president’s promise that if you like your plan you can keep it. Millions are receiving policy cancellation notices.
But even Democrats — particularly those in the Senate who face tough reelection prospects in 2014 — have been reticent to embrace the president’s proposed fix.
Six Democrats in the senate have signed on as co-sponsors of a bill proposed by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) that would require insurance companies to continue offering plans to those that continue making payments on them, even if the plan doesn’t comply with the minimum requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
And the House will vote Friday on a GOP bill that has four Democratic co-sponsors that would allow insurance companies to continue offering limited plans. The White House has said it will veto that bill.
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act worry that such workarounds would torpedo the law by forcing the beefier, and in some cases more expensive federally-compliant plans, to compete with the cheaper, limited plans that don’t meet minimum requirements.
ObamaCare needs to recruit young and healthy consumers for a balanced risk pool, and if the limited plans are still available, the young and healthy might opt to keep their old plans.
Let’s hope so.
And Obama is the “smartest man to ever be President...” He he he
If a real evaluation had occurred in August...maybe there would have been time. Frankly, if I were one of the thirty-five health insurance companies in the US....I would not take the bait on this. Too much chance for screw-ups or failure.
Adding to the mess...a bunch of lawyers are likely reviewing how each state moves forward. A President’s waiver? It’s not legal in any court as far as I can see. It had to be a legislative thing, and he just wasn’t going that direction.
The “fix”? It’s made things twice as bad as I can see.
They can’t just change their individual state policies based on what a president says at a press conference.
There has to be legislation passed, which would change the existing legislation which all of these states are operating under.
The president can’t just by decree change parts of his law.
Even a good liberal, Howard Dean, made this observation, saying that it was questionable that a president can just waive parts of the law, or extend deadline dates written into the text of Obamacare law. Or any law for that matter.
...is that covered under Obamacare....?
It would be a legal clusterfix, but I don’t any state allowing this to proceed.
Think that's great? Just wait for Hillary. Cankles will put him to shame.
Maybe Ted Cruz can help you:
“Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz previewed a new plan to repeal Obamacare and replace it with different health care reforms.
“The only way to stop the problems is to admit this idea was fundamentally flawed to begin with,” Cruz told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. “At this point, starting over, stopping Obamacare, is the essence of pragmatism.”
Cruz’s approach differs from some congressional Republicans and Democrats who are working to pass a bill delaying the Obamacare individual mandate or help Americans keep their current health care plans.
Cruz said that he would release a bill to empower Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines, creating a “true national market.” Insurance can only be purchased intra-state at present.
“In the coming weeks, I intend to layout a plan to provide exactly that, a plan to repeal Obamacare altogether and at the same time expand options for five million-plus people, who have lost their health insurance and 300 million people across this country to expand their options to have affordable, personal, portable health care,” Cruz said...........”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3091666/posts
Obama’s fix is all about giving political cover to Democrats up for reelection and was hatched by White House political operatives who gave little or no thought to if it could be done. Besides Obama does not have the legal authority to make this change. I have a feeling that states attorney generals will rule that insurance companies cannot issue policies contrary to the AHA without Congress amending the law no matter what Obama says .
You will have to go to the new website to see what is and isn’t covered.
I take it then today’s arm-twisting meeting was a No Sale?
What else would you expect from a community organizer?
“[Donelon] said premium prices have been set based on assumptions about what plans would be available.”
Translation of Donelon’s points: ObamaCare works by forcing people who already have adequate health insurance to pay much much more for a “government” plan.
The excess cost is a tax because the payers receive no benefit in exchange — it merely raises money to pay for benefits for others who pay little or nothing. Only some people must pay this tax.
When Chief Justice Roberts ruled ObamaCare to be a “tax”, he wasn’t kidding. Only after these taxes have been levied can they be challenged in court; ObamaCare violates the Constitution on many levels and cannot stand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.