Posted on 03/25/2013 11:28:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Obamacare is falling apart before our eyes. The long-term care insurance program known as the CLASS ACT was deemed financially unworkable and shut down by the administration's own actuaries. Taxpayer-funded health care cooperatives never got off the ground and were shut down in the fiscal cliff deal. Last month the federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan stopped accepting enrollment applications. This week 79 U.S. senators, including 34 Democrats, voted to repeal the law's medical device tax. Premiums in the individual and small group markets could spike as much as 116 percent next year. The wheels are already wobbling and the worst is yet to come.
The exchanges at the heart of the new Obamacare entitlement are slated to be up and running for open enrollment beginning October 1. Millions of Americans will be dumped into these exchanges by employers dropping coverage and millions more will be forced to enter the exchanges by the individual mandate. But will there actually be functioning exchanges for them to go to? Maybe not.
The Obamacare law was written to incentivize states to do the heavy lifting of setting up and running the exchanges, which are administratively and technologically complex. But more than half the states said no thanks, looking at the proposed regulations and long-term operating costs and choosing to let the feds try to administer their own mess. And the states that did choose to play ball weren't able to make much progress because the Obama administration stalled key regulations until after the election.
Now the feds are rushing to get the exchanges ready.
"We are under 200 days from open enrollment, and I'm pretty nervous,'' confessed Henry Chao, the deputy chief information officer on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - which is setting up the federal exchanges. "The time for debating about the size of text on the screen or the color or is it a world-class user experience, that's what we used to talk about two years ago," Chao said. "Let's just make sure it's not a third-world experience."
So don't be surprised if open enrollment doesn't start October 1 as planned. And when the exchanges are up and running, what plans will be available to purchase through them? One effect of stalling the regulations past the election is that the choices offered in most states will be meager simply because there isn't much time to develop plans and make sure they are compliant.
The plans that are offered are going to be expensive because of the law's mandates and regulations. Every major insurer is now warning of a huge spike in premiums, especially for younger, healthier people who can no longer be offered significantly lower rates than older people who use more health care. Some people may get subsidies to help pay - after filling out a 21-page form - but others will find their families ineligible for subsidies unless they stop working full-time or, believe it or not, get divorced.
Democrats want to believe that the future of Obamacare was secured by President Obama's reelection. But if implementation ends up being the disaster that looks increasingly likely, the American people will have the final word.
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Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment, a columnist on Fox News Opinion, chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition, and author of the 2011 book Democracy Denied.
American Commitment is dedicated to restoring and protecting America’s core commitment to free markets, economic growth, Constitutionally-limited government, property rights, and individual freedom.
Helen Keller cudda seen this coming.
And then the cry will be: WE NEED A SINGLE PAYER PLAN, WE NEED A SINGLE PAYER PLAN!!
The question is will the Dems dump it before 2014 and will the GOPers bail them out?
And the sad thing is....Boehner will give it to them
We hear Puerto Penasco is a good place for that...just 1.5 hrs. south of the border.
If we find a good experience there, we will consider more medical tourism in future.
the GOP is an arm of the Dem party so of course they will.
The MSM will spin Obamacare disaster as “unintended consequences”. But this isn’t true, any responsible person could have seen this coming a mile away. In fact Obama knew, that is why the law was delayed until after 2012 and waivers before 2012 were often granted. So if anyone says they could not have foreseen the problems with ObamaCare they are either a liar or an idiot.
Seems 0bama is trying to remove the 'free market' portion of this equation. This is why 0bamacare is unconstitutional and so is John Roberts.
“The question is will the Dems dump it before 2014 and will the GOPers bail them out?”
Depends on what GOPers we’re talking about. If conservatives are willing to punt again in 2016 and vote for a RINO you can bet Obamacare is here to stay.
The 2014 congressional election should be a slam-dunk running on just one issue, but professional RINOs will F’ that up royally.
If these consequences were “unintended”,
then the “elite” who designed this system
are a bunch of dummasses that shouldn’t be anywhere near
the levers of power.
One good thing Boehner did was uniting the GOP 100% in voting against Obamacare. Let's allow some credit where some credit is due please.
Execute the death squads. Er, I mean, execute the administrative means to stop the work and actions of the
health resources allocation panels.
The question is will the Dems dump it before 2014 and will the GOPers bail them out?
No way in Hell the Democrats back off on this. They got what they want , now they just have load the system with enough illegal aliens and freeloaders who see a perceived benefit to themselves to develop an unbeatable electoral constituency for Obamcare that can not be overturned.
I agree, there is no proof that Nancy Pelosi is a liar.
You should get a SENTRI pass in order to cross back into the USA easily. Without a SENTRI pass it takes hours cross the border.
Do you have one?
yes - 3 years ago. I would say that was his peak.
No, it is doing just fine. You just aren’t paying enough taxes yet to make it work BETTER.
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