Posted on 11/12/2013 7:01:51 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Amazing stuff via Mediaite. The “Keep Your Plan Act” is Fred Upton’s bill, which Jay Carney spent a few minutes attacking at today’s press briefing because it would make canceled plans available to all consumers, not just the ones who’d been enrolled in those plans before. That would be a disaster for the insurance industry. Healthy people would flee the new, more expensive plans for the resurrected cheaper ones, leaving no one in the new risk pool except sick people with very expensive treatments. That means either heavy losses for insurers, steep premium hikes next year to make up the difference, or some sort of federal bailout (congrats, red-state Democrats!) — or maybe a little of all three. You’ll have the same problem, though, albeit to a lesser extent, even if Upton’s bill is amended so that it applies only to people who’d been enrolled in a particular plan before it was cancelled. You can’t run a two-tiered healthy/sick insurance system. If the risk pools aren’t merged, replete with higher rates for the former, you can’t pay for the latter.
I understand why the GOP would back Upton’s bill. It’s a slam dunk politically, grinding Obama’s face in the consequences of his lie. This is the Democrats’ mess; Reid and the Senate can/will kill the bill if they like. I can’t understand why House Democrats, aware of the adverse selection problem that’s lurking here — and the political humiliation for the White House — would sign on, unless they’ve already reached a point of such pure terror over the “if you like your plan” backlash that they’re willing to kneecap ObamaCare six weeks out of the gate. Did they … not understand that millions of people were going to face cancellations and higher premiums under the law’s redistributive scheme? Of course they did. Steny Hoyer, number two in the Democratic caucus admitted it on October 29th. Fast forward two weeks and here’s where Hoyer is now:
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do on the Upton bill,” the Maryland Democrat said at a Tuesday briefing with reporters when discussing legislation sponsored by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Hoyer noted that he was “inclined not to be for the Upton bill at this time,” but he emphasized that he was “not closed to the option,” and would “reserve judgment” until he had seen the legislative text, which is reportedly undergoing some tweaks.
“I agree that people who purchased their policies prior to [the law's enactment date] ought to be able to keep their policies,” he said.
If he agrees that they should be able to keep their policies, why did he vote for ObamaCare? The whole point of the law is that healthy middle-class people shouldn’t be allowed to keep policies that have relatively low premiums. We need to gouge those suckers with higher premiums for new “comprehensive” plans so that we can pay for the preexisting conditions of the sick. It’s like voting for immigration reform and then feigning surprise in five years when the newly “secure” border hasn’t halted illegal immigration. It’s not supposed to do that. That’s something you tell the hoi polloi in order to give Congress enough cover to vote for it.
The vote on Upton’s bill is set for Friday, which, per CNN’s source on the Hill, means the White House has 48 hours or so to come up with its own proposal for letting people keep their plans — adverse selection problem or not — before Democrats head for the lifeboats. Greg Sargent claims that the Democratic leadership is now warning the rank and file that rich liberal donors won’t look kindly at them if they abandon The One on his big “accomplishment.” I’ll leave you with this, just to show that the fear isn’t limited to Dems in red states. After a million cancellations, even DiFi’s nervous:
Feinstein: "I have decided to cosponsor Senator Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) legislation: Keeping the Affordable Care Act Promise Act."
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO
Nanna Pelousy can blow that health bill out her a$$.....with all those hemorrhoids blocking the exit hole, it could blow her entire butt off.
I hope her minions excommunicate her just like the pope did.
It’s all political theater. IF it passed, who cares what O does? It finally shows that, not unlike the Catastrophic Health Act in the 80’s, the lies have been exposed.
What people do with it is up to them. If they can “keep it if they like it” then the whole thing is moot.
Thus the next logical step by the GOP House (don’t hold your breath) is a simple one paragragh bill that simply says whatever law number this was passed under is 100% repealed with no exceptions.
Let the Dems eat that one too. But even though Xmas is coming I won’t hold out for that gift.
But I’m sure the moderate RINO’s will start back with their useless repeal “And Replace” crap.
Call it the Senator Ted Cruz Was Right Act.
This is funny!
I agree in the sense that they will find money to bail out the insurance companies.
But I assume that passing legislation that allows people to keep their cancelled plans, has to nullify that section of the Obamacare bill which forces people off their plans.
It has to be one or the other.
In 1952 the average car cost $1800 .Amputations are still cheap. Keeping the leg and treating the cancer so the patient can live, not so much. You do realize we don’t practice medicine with 1950’s techniques and technology right?
Obama won’t sign such bill, because if he does, the entire ZeroCare pyramid scheme will come unglued.
And as Rand Paul has suggested, it should be sold like life insurance. Buy an affordable, 40-year policy at age 21, to take you to retirement/Medicare.
Put enough *poison pills* in it to effectively kill it.
Let Israel do her work.
They voted for it. I see no reason for their current actions.
What? they had to pass it to see what was in it?
Well damn, take sharp objects away from them and give them a helmet since they are that stupid..
Do we have enough padded rooms?
They voted for it “to find out whats in it” and now that they know, VOTE TO RECIND IT!!!
How does passing this bill get my insurance company to reconsider dropping all group health insurance plans at the end of this year?
Such the same you're a white employed white guy with family pondering this. You may want to change your pigmentation, lose the chick and your breedlings, then check back, you might have some subsidies coming your way.
It will be given life, all right, as the destoyer of the Democratic Party. The result of this debacle is that the U.S. government will be liable to the insurance companies for hundreds of billions extra when the only people who sign up are the "takers". The only subscribers will be those whose ACA tax credit covers all, or virtually all, of their premium. In the end it will just be a Medicare/Medicade expansion to those who earn less than $45,000 single, $60,000 couple, etc. Instead of being "revenue neutral", as advertised when enacted in 2010, the ACA will increase the deficit by (my estimate) around $300 billion per year. Everyone over $45,000-$60,000 etc. will go uninsured, since their old policies are now illegal. They will either pay the $700 per year fine or avoid it, since it can only be collected from tax refunds.
What a glorious mess! This, of course, cannot be allowed to happen. Therefore, the Republicans need to either repeal O'care or delay its implementation for a couple of years while all this is straightened out. This will override Obama's veto, since any Democrat that doesn't help resolve this is going to get voted out in 2014.
This is tailor-made for Senator Cruz to bring this legislation forward in December.
Who would have thought this would happen a month ago! Remember the derision at Cruz's position in October? Now everyone is becoming a believer, while still throwing brickbats at Cruz.
Interesting, he wasn't too interested in actually reading the bill when he originally voted for it...:^)
They will be held accountable for voting for it and not reading it.
And this is why the “far right” was all right when we said this law would cost far more than was being estimated by the CBO or anyone else.
The only fiscal result from the “you can keep your plan” act is that the policies for people who were not covered before will have to be supremely expensive. Which means the only way Obamacare can cover more people at that point is by the government subsidizing the plans. Essentially this “new” version of Obamacare will become a federal bail-out of everybody who had neglected to buy health insurance prior to now. So this will basically expand the Medicaid expansion, putting more people onto an expensive entitlement, free health care. The difference now is that it will be funded by general tax dollars instead of health insurance premiums.
The “you can keep your health care” act is the next step towards single payer. This was probably planned all along.
I do not believe the Demonrats will EVER vote for that bill.
Even if the bill passes, and the Clown SIGNS it, there is every reason to believe the Clown will NOT enforce the law.
The Clown does NOT enforce existing law—by design. He has proven that over and over again.
Because he is just another lying Marxist trying to pretend that he is doing his best for the voters leading up to an election.
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