Side Effects: Report Reveals Another Flawed Obamacare Program

Heritage ^ | 6/6/11 | Kathryn Nix

[Nachum]

Americans are well aware by now that Obamacare was sloppily written, a fact that has resulted in numerous unintended consequences that will adversely affect the nation. In light of a recent report from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the newly created Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) can be added to the list of poorly thought-out provisions of the new law.

A temporary reinsurance program to run through 2014, the ERRP is an attempt to encourage companies to continue employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Heritage analyst Brian Blase pointed out in a recent report that this program “appears to be mostly a bailout for public-sector and union health benefit programs for early retirees.” However, shifting the cost of benefits for government and other union employees onto federal taxpayers isn’t the only problem with the program.

[Nachum]

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[newheart]

I'm not a real doctor, but I am el presidente.

[tutstar]

bttt

[RicocheT]

This program is a cruel hoax on those that give up jobs hav ing good pay and benefits on the assumption that at least their health insurance would be partly government (you and me taxpayers) subsidized up to age 65 when Medicare becomes available.

The hoax is it is a total financial bust from the get go and no sensible person should retire without being certain any financial aspect necessary for living has a high degree of certainty and stability.

The moral is we citizens have to stand on our own two legs in life and stop thinking a mommy government will grab us before we fall down.

[ArmstedFragg]

This problem was primarily created by legislators making the mistake of believing their own propaganda about the “millions of early retirees who can't get insurance”. Between COBRA the “shall issue” provisions of HIPAA, and state high risk pool programs, the vast majority of this group already had access to insurance. Looking at existing programs and supplementing them, however, wouldn't have offered the opportunity to invent a whole new group of those “in need” of federal help. So we end up with a program that does pretty much the same thing and costs a lot more.

The reality is that participation in COBRA and HIPAA insurance is low because of their cost and because both the government and the insurance industry do very little to make retirees aware of the HIPAA program. So what the Dems have done is solve a problem that's primarily cost related by creating a program that costs more.

Oh well, keeps a bunch of their supporters working, I guess.