Posted on 07/15/2009 5:48:04 PM PDT by Kaslin
Congress: It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.
It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.
From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
There will be no barrier to dropping the existing private insurance, just every incentive to do so, and a no-going-back clause. All private health insurance will be a thing of the past within a generation.
Thanks for posting this, Kaslin. I almost dropped my coffee cup when I came across this poison pill in today’s IBD. We’re not talking about 20-30 million people losing their insurance in the first year, it would be 120 million!
I agree with Anniegetyourgun. This is the biggest disaster Obama’s suggested so far, and that’s saying a lot. This is a law to make *all* private health insurance illegal within a generation! This needs to be in BREAKING with flags and whistles....
When are conservatives going to wake up....I’ve been SHOUTING and trying (purposely) to piss people off for 8 months now....sigh.
No, it means if you get that job next spring, the government option will be your only choice. No private option for you, even if you are willing to pay for it yourself. It’s that scary.
If you did get the job this spring, with a private policy, you can keep it, but you can’t change it one jot or diddle. That means if you want to change it to, say, reduce your deductible, you won’t be able to.
There was no way to get any traction before the Dems released the draft, and that was yesterday. Until that happened, the Dems could simply lie their way out of what’s in the bill, and we’d just look foolish. Don’t blame yourself.
I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness and nobody is hearing me.
But the bill says, the first day of the year the legislation becomes law. If it becomes law this year, then wouldn’t any new private health care coverage that started this year be gone? That’s the way I read it.
Also, if a person changes jobs, they’re out of the private health care market, right? Think about all the people out of work right now. If it’s close to 10%, that’s 10% who will never be eligible for private health care again. This is insane.
We lost the election because we put up McCain. Having lost it, there isn’t a heck of a lot we can do besides the demonstrations you mention.
It sucks, but it’s the way it is.
Not to mention the ultimate effect of unemployment for an estimated 2 million individuals who work in the health insurance industry?
From the article:
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.
I see your point, but it's not likely to become law until 01 Jan 2010. That means no new enrollments next year, it's silent on existing policies started this year. I acknowledge it could be rammed through before the end of the year, and in that case I agree with you.
As a practical matter, I should point out that the government plan will undercut your private plan by as much as 40% because it's subsidized, so your employer is about 100% guaranteed to throw out your private policy in favor of the government policy, and you are SOL if you decide you want to have private insurance by paying for it yourself because that would require enrolling in a new policy, which would be prohibited. Which year you got started would be irrelevant in that case.
Also, if a person changes jobs, they’re out of the private health care market, right? Think about all the people out of work right now. If it’s close to 10%, that’s 10% who will never be eligible for private health care again. This is insane.
That is exactly correct. It is insane, and I can't believe this article is then only place it's been mentioned anywhere.
Why do you think Obama demonizes the people to which you refer every time he speaks on the subject?
Greasing the skids. I know, because I am one of those who are demonized by the parasite Obama.
And, “parasite” is the proper term to use in reference to Barack Obama, given that he has lived off the public trough most of his life and now is seeking the demise of the economic underpinnings of the USA.
Yep - and I’m ready. Building a list of new tactics....but, sigh....there seems to be no readiness. By the time people are ready to do more than write/call their senator/rep - it may be too late.
If Obama is successful in framing the message, nobody’s going to give a rat’s patootie what happens to you because you are evil.
(For the record, I care regardless of what that A-hole says about you. I’ve had too many good friends walked out the door in layoffs)
Take heart: It was exactly this kind of overreach by Hillary Clinton in ‘93 that lead to the crushing defeat of the ‘94 off-year elections. Folks didn’t much care then, either, and they did wake up in time.
It sure does, Annie, but I really had to do some searching to find this important thread. Rush read this on air today and sure sounded alarmed. I'll ping my biggest list here...
Congress: It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal. When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.
It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers...
God help us...
Thanks for getting this into BN Sidebar....
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