Posted on 02/10/2017 2:33:24 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Moda Health, a small Oregon health insurer, just won a $214-million judgment against the federal government. Normally that wouldn’t be worth reporting, except that in awarding Moda the money, the federal judge in the case dismantled the most cynical attack on the Affordable Care Act that congressional Republicans had devised.
The issue was the Affordable Care Act’s risk corridor program, which was devised to shelter insurers from unexpected losses in covering Affordable Care Act customers from 2014 through 2016. To encourage insurers to enter an entirely novel market, the program aimed to balance risks by taking funds from insurers that turned out to be unexpectedly profitable and use the money to cushion others’ losses.
Because it’s hamstrung to pay the full claims, Health and Human Services has paid out only 12.6% of all claims for 2014, and nothing so far for 2015 or 2016. Moda’s lawsuit claimed that it’s due $214 million. It argued that the government essentially promised that the money would be paid, and that promise can’t be nullified just because Congress decided to tamper with where the money came from.
Judge Thomas C. Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed with Moda on every point. “There is no genuine dispute that the Government is liable to Moda,” he ruled in a decision issued Thursday. “The Government made a promise in the risk corridor program that it has yet to fulfill.” He directed the government “to fulfill that promise. After all, to say to [Moda], 'The joke is on you. You shouldn't have trusted us,' is hardly worthy of our great Government.”
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
You Are Right!
When do we get the pitchforks out? I have been waiting for the call for over EIGHT years.
The highly political judiciary is making sure that Obama’s crony-capitalists get their pound of flesh from the taxpayer in his supremely corrupt “Affordable Care Act.”
You can’t get more ridiculous and hypocritical than that.
Every true conservative citizen who appreciates the Constitution MUST get prepared for the civil war that almost can not be prevented.
“We have a runaway judiciary.”
Although I hate to see the money being paid, it looks to me that this is just more of the “cleanup” (that will cost us dearly) that comes out of Obolacare and the Obola Admin’s “administration” of it. All the judge did was enforce the contract that had been made with this company.
The 9th Circus will be overturned, just as it usually is.
And, the Lost Angeles Times will go the way of the dodo, just as lib papers usually do.
Wait a minute. This was an Obama/Democratic Congress bill (aided by some RiNO republicans) so the “corridor” clause was theirs to own, as well as the results.
But notice that the Govt took money from successful insurance companies to bail-out failing ones, just like they did to the auto industry (How did Detroit do from that fraudulent action?). However they didn’t pay the full amounts needed to cover the failing companies.
This was an OBAMA/OBAMACARE LOSS and the successful American businesses paid for it again.
The libs are waging lawfare.
That said, repeal ACA and DO IT NOW!!!!!
Unfortunately, a contract is binding. It’s a crap sandwich but seems legal to me.
Seems like all the more reason to fully repeal Obamacare all the sooner.
You bet we do.
One thing that can be done by the local and state press is to continually embarrass them on their activism and unconstitutional rulings.
I do know judges are quite sensitive to public opinion. Liberal judges may wear a black robe, but are emotionally weak people, as are liberals in all walks of life.
Who will rid us of these troublesome judges?
Rubio inserted the risk corridor language so that taxpayers would not be a piggy bank for insurance companies that fell for the Obamacare ruse and lost their butts.
Now liberals are judge shopping to get money strictly prohibited in the plain language of the legislation.
They are owed the money. That’s the way it was written.
I agree with the decision. They should be paid. They played by the rules.
One more reason to dismantle this POS legislation.
Should just impeach every judge appointed by Liberals. Make it one bill and remove them with US marshals.
See post #15
As expected, can't get all the toothpaste back in the tube. People have died, money squandered, lives ruined.
Still, best we try and get back as much as possible back into the tube.
The libs are waging lawfare.
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What we are seeing from the liberal courts is nothing less than an attempt at a judicial coup.
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