Hey, Insurance Companies. Guess what? You lie down with dogs, you get fleas.
Posted on 11/04/2013 5:29:11 AM PST by Kaslin
President Obama has come under fire recently for promises about the Affordable Care Act. The President repeatedly assured doubters that under the Affordable Care Act, Americans would be able to keep their existing health insurance. As a growing number of Americans receive cancellation notices from their insurance companies, many are describing this promise as misleading, if not an outright lie. These cancellation notices are particularly infuriating to young people, who are now forced to subsidize the health care of older, more affluent Americans.
In a speech defending the law on Wednesday, the President attempted to shift the blame for these cancellations on “bad apple insurers.” This claim ignores the fact that these cancellation notices are the result of insurance companies simply complying with the Affordable Care Act. The Obama administration is depending on “young invincibles” to enroll in health insurance plans to make the law a success, but young people would be wise to consider the misleading nature of the administration’s claims.
During Congress’ debate of the Affordable Care Act and the resulting political aftermath, one of President Obama’s most persistent claims was that people who were happy with their health insurance would be able to keep it. In an address to the American Medical Association on June 15, 2009, the President stated, “If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.” The President planted this straightforward stake in the ground, with no caveats.
As the law has gradually taken effect, this has proven untrue. According to CBS News, more than 2 million Americans are losing their health insurance plans because of the Affordable Care Act.
While the Obama administration has admitted these insurance cancellations are taking place, the administration has attempted to shift the blame away from the Affordable Care Act. In a press conference on Tuesday, Press Secretary Jay Carney stated to those receiving health insurance cancellation notices, “Your insurer basically threw you off that plan.” On Wednesday, the President himself attributed these changes to “bad apple insurers” who are attempting to “downgrade or cancel these substandard plans.”
In reality, these insurance cancellations are the result of insurance companies simply complying with the regulations put in place by the Affordable Care Act. According to Peter Suderman, Senior Editor of Reason Magazine, the Affordable Care Act “institute[s] a slew of new requirements that [are] certain to result in health insurers dropping current plans for millions of people.” Many existing plans in the individual market, which were targeted to meet consumer demand, did not fit these mandates. Health insurance companies have had to cancel many of their existing plans to create new, more costly plans which do comply with these new mandates.
While this may be news to those who followed President Obama’s rhetoric over the past few years, the large number of health insurance cancellations were actually expected by the Obama administration. NBC News recently took a look at regulations issued in July 2010, finding that the Obama Administration “knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.”
The success of the Affordable Care Act rests upon a large number of so-called “young invincibles” enrolling in health care. In order to make the law work, “The White House has said it needs 2.7 million young adults to buy insurance through the government-run marketplaces,” according to Businessweek. But as Cathy Reisenwitz recently noted on Forbes, the law “hoses young, relatively poor people like [her] right when we least need high bills for services they’re not using.” In the face of mounting evidence that President Obama’s claims about the Affordable Care Act were misleading, young people are wise to remain skeptical of the law’s supposed benefits.
This can’t be right. Why, I heard Chris Matthews say this morning that it was the insurance companies’ fault because they want “out of the market”.
Hey, Insurance Companies. Guess what? You lie down with dogs, you get fleas.
Roger that. Except I NEVER hear anything christine matthews says. I read somewhere that BIG EVIL INSURANCE is working in collusion with BIG EVIL OIL because they are all tired of making money and want to go out of business. That way they would be able to lay off all their workers and shut down and force everybody to go on obiecare. Yeah, that makes sense. What are these people smokin’?
I only heard him because I was channel surfing to avoid commercials and stopped at MSNBC because Mika was basically saying Obama is a liar. But still, could only watch for about two minutes.
The articles that focus on the “young invincibles” are particularly humorous to me.
I am the mother to two of them. One is working through a temp firm, and is still under 26, so has stayed on my individual policy.
The other is in the process of buying his own business.
I see this group (those without insurance from work) separated into two parts—those whose mom bought a policy for them because she wants to sleep at night (his cost $99/month), and those who don’t.
In other words, the types that will take the time to get insurance already have, and those that won’t, won’t.
Any longer than that and you might have had to see a mental health “professional”. Whatever they mean by “professional”. Or you could just be keeping an eye on the enemy for us. LOL!
I do like to see what they are saying. I just can’t stand it for long. I can’t afford a new TV.
Only the ignorant fail to put the ACA aka Obamacare squarely at Obama’s feet. The title “Obamacare” was not meant as a compliment.
“...White House has said it needs 2.7 million young adults to buy insurance through the government-run marketplaces...”
Hmmm...
In the meantime, this SAME government has created a economy totally hostile to jobs creation.
Young people would buy insurance but CANNOT because they are unemployed and will not BE employed any time soon, with the kind of job killing policies of this administration.
Kind’a reminds me of the Stalin murder of Kulaks and the subsequent famine !!
PURE idiocy!!
Government mandates have consequences. One consequence is insurance companies having to drop policies that don’t meet the mandate criteria. The other consequence is that the government has chosen to pay for these mandates by forcing Americans to buy them. Even as fascism goes, Obamacare is an ugly piece of business, and that explains why so many leftists love it. They view average, working Americans as the enemy.
Zeke Emanual was a hoot on Chris Wallace, blaming the insurance companies. I have never seen a more annoying, obnoxious, disgustingly pathetic human being in all my 70’ years. BTW he is supposed to be a doctor. My guess a proctologist.
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