Posted on 04/08/2014 6:00:02 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
There is yet another ObamaCare surprise waiting for consumers: from now until the next open enrollment at the end of this year, most people will simply not be able to buy any health insurance at all, even outside the exchanges.
"It's all closed down. You cannot buy a policy that is a qualified policy for the purpose of the ACA (the Affordable Care Act) until next year on January 1," says John DiVito, president of Flexbenefit which has 2,500 brokers.
John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas adds, "People are not going to be able to buy individual and family policies, and that's part of ObamaCare. And what makes it so surprising is the whole point of ObamaCare was to encourage people to get insurance, and now the market has been completely closed down for the next seven months."
That means that with few exceptions, tens of millions of people will be locked out of the health insurance market for the rest of this year.
Only about one in four subsidy-eligible people signed up for health insurance," says Robert Laszewski of Health Policy Associates. "That means about 13 million subsidy-eligible people have not yet signed up for health insurance."
Add to that millions more who waited, or thought the policies under ObamaCare were too expensive and decided just to pay the tax penalty.
Although those who failed to buy insurance during the enrollment period could face a government penalty, most will not have to pay that penalty until they do their taxes next year.
“In all likelihood," says Laszewski, "we've only signed up somewhere between one in five and one in seven people who were uninsured prior to the start of ObamaCare."
That means millions are left outside the health insurance market...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This insult to America, Obozo Care, just gets worse and worse.
The insurance companies and men quoted here will get to know their IRS interrogators very well over the next couple of years.
“What kind of business model has sales people working three months of the year? These agents will have nothing to do for 9 months now ?!
Stupid”
They will probably become field nazis for the IRS after they are given their Glocks and ammo with no training. Then they will make house calls on those who haven’t signed up.
Remember when the IRS bought guns and ammo.
I am talking bout the insurance agents that sell the policies. I think you are thinking govt agents.
Most insurance agents want and have worked 12 months out of each year, less vacation of course. If they can only sell for 3 months, then what?
The sales staff is the same as the customer service staff at the health insurance operation with which I am most familiar. They will be busy year-round. There also are qualifying event enrollments year-round.
Yep two different types.
What if you lose your insurance mid-year? You simply can’t buy insurance directly?
Will some obnoxious white liberal explain to me how this is some kind of progress?
I agree. When you decide not to get any form of insurance or get a minimal policy, you assume the risk. OF COURSE those who didn't sign up should be accountable. Anything else would be unfair to those who got insured.
Just two points. One is that I don't remember there being any part of the publicity to get people to sign up saying that after 3/31 they can't sign up until next year. That's odd, because it would've been a great sales point. The other thing is....what happens to people who, for some reason or another, were insured at the beginning of the year, but their situation changes? They should be allowed to sign up.
I think that's excused as a "life changing event," but that doesn't make it any less weird.
The degree of interference with normal contracting--that you can't buy insurance normally--is astounding, but less so when you think about how f'd up the insurance industry--and all medical pricing--is because of government involvement.
AOK, makes sense.
PS... I’m obnoxious and white, but not liberal, haha.
Speaking of mid-stream I’ve been trying to figger out how the million or so college grads who will be new to the job market this June will be handled? “Handled” might be an understatement for what they’re gonna get?
Well, from the viewpoint of the ACA regime, recent graduates have lost their college insurance... a life changing event. They can either stay on their parents plan, since they are under 26, or sign up.
By the way, staying on the parent’s plan is extremely expensive for the parents, because it takes their plan from couples rates to full family rates.
It’s funny to me that liberals, who rebelled against the old authority regime, have instituted all of these totally authority-centered structures and rules. So funny, that I’m laughing ‘til it hurts.
Progress. /S
Lots of people who work in the insurance field must be getting laid off. And agents on commission will be getting a percentage of SQUAT. Does anyone know if these people are signing up for unemployment?
That helps explain the sudden push to “auto-enroll” so many w/o their knowledge or payment, then cooking the numbers to get past the “magic” 7 million mark.
It's because of the pre-existing condition clause in Zero-care. If people can sign up for insurance at any time during the year, and if the companies cannot refuse them because of pre-existing conditions, then an intelligent consumer would wait until insurance is needed, sign up for the policy, get the treatment, then cancel the policy.
By establishing an open enrollment period, people are forced to choose insurance months in advance and must hold that insurance through at least 9 months.
In other words, it’s a shell-game alternative to the pre-existing condition issue.
Under the ACA, insurance companies must take you even if you have a pre-existing condition, but you don’t know if you’ll have one, so you are co-erced into signing up during the allowed intervals to prevent your being caught without insurance.
It’s not really different, it just sounds different!
Truth be known, it’s even worse than that. Under the old law, you had to have the insurance before the condition, so you could sign up at any time. Under the new law, you have to sign up during the enrollment period. Except that, even though they “cover” the condition, they just don’t have the doctor that treats your condition as part of your “affordable” plan. Nor do they cover your medications. Or the hospital with the correct equipment. Plus, your deductible has gone through the roof.
All in the name of covering 40 million without insurance, most of whom chose to not purchase insurance. And continue to choose to not purchase insurance.
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