D.C. Outlawed Private Health Insurance Sales

Kaiser Family Foundation ^ | 10/01/2013 | Kaiser

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

This should apply to Congress and the White House, shouldn’t it?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

In government their is an incentive to perform dismally. You can then only celebrate improvements. If you leave the gate at a full run and performing well, you can't get your budget increased or have any need to build the bureaucracy.

Additionally, for accrediting agencies, there is no incentive for approvals. The outcome of an approval can be bad. But there is no disincentive for delay.

[CodeToad]

My two favorite liberals who work for county gov just got told they will be moving to DeathCare soon. They were also told the prices would double, the deductible will quadruple, and care will be limited to certain facilities. We told them this would happen and they were adamant that Obama wouldn’t let that happen. We also told them that at 50+ they are subject to death panel review of any major care. NOW they are finally worried.

[Gritty]

I thought everybody in D.C. was either on Medicare, Medicaid, in the Federal Employees Heath Benefit Plan, or simply showing up in the Emergency Rooms with their coughs or bullet holes whenever they needed "free" treatment?

How is making "private insurance" illegal going to affect anybody in the Federal Hell Hole?

[EVO X]

Seems to me that the well to do (no subsidy) healthy folks will opt for an off exchange policy. This would seem to be a conflict of interest for insurers who sell individual products on and off of the exchange. DC is attempting to avoid any competition.

I think states still have a great deal of leeway to regulate competition and DC may be doing just that. It would seem to me bronze and silver plans are the same thing whether they are sold from the exchange portal or directly by the insurer.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Yet he still supports the monopoly over the free market because it’s the Democrats who did it.

Proving that liberalism is a religion, and a very dogmatic one, in the worst sense.

It's more than a little bit ironic that self-described "free-thinkers" are more dogmatic than any Christian.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

We also told them that at 50+ they are subject to death panel review of any major care. NOW they are finally worried.

Good.

I can't see how the Democraps escape destruction in '14.

[Mike Darancette]

It should.

[Mike Darancette]

This is happening all over the country.

[Mike Darancette]

It would seem to me bronze and silver plans are the same thing whether they are sold from the exchange portal or directly by the insurer.

At the very least only state exchange plans have the subsidy. In CA, exchange plans for at least one carrier (Anthem) have a limited provider list as compared to their private plan.

[Mike Darancette]

I can't see how the Democraps escape destruction in '14.

I think Obama backs off on individual mandate for a year, otherwise the GOP runs on that in 2014.

[EVO X]

In CA, exchange plans for at least one carrier (Anthem) have a limited provider list as compared to their private plan.

In that case it is not the same plan. If I go to ehealthinsurance.com for my zip it returns plans that conform to ACA. I suspect that those plans would be available via the healthcare.gov web site.

As I mentioned before, each state can have there own set of rules so what may be valid in one state may not be in another.

[Political Junkie Too]

Have other states done this --- Can They?

Is that legal?

My sense is this.

DC is not a state. It is an administrative district for the purpose of running the seat of federal government. It is overseen by Congress according to Article I Section 8.

So, 1) no, other states cannot do this, and 2) it's probably legal in DC only, if Congress approves it.

-PJ

[Mike Darancette]

What they have done in CA:

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/14/business/la-fi-insure-doctor-networks-20130915

Elsewhere:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/statenewengland/1015062-469/anthem-limits-number-hospitals-in-nh-from.html

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323446404579010800462478682

[EVO X]

Good links. I was just commenting on the purchasing of health insurance and not the actual delivery of health care. Trying to find a doctor is a hassle even if you have a better plan. I switched work plans a few years ago and gave up on looking for a doctor on the provider list. I repeatedly got the message that the doctor wasn’t taking new patients. The insurance provider came back about a month later and just assigned me someone.