The dirty little secret is that NO ONE has an alternative to Obamacare because it’s too late. You cannot simply return to “Go.” Too many people have lost policies and too many companies have gone out of business. If the government mandates (uh oh) that companies pick up where they left off, well, it’s six years since those people had policies. How many of them are sicker? How many have terminal illnesses?
You see? there is no “reset” button, for Cruz or Trump. To be fair, both have (wrongly) claimed that you can have “portability.” Impossible, unless it’s the same company. But you can’t leave company A and its insured pool, take a job with company B and a much different insured pool, and expect the same benefits.
Obama and the Dems knew this when the freakn’ program lasted more than a year. That’s why all these tricks like Rubio’s “rick corridors” are meaningless. It’s here to stay in some form or another.
You nailed it. I got into a big argument with Cruz supporters on this and they were calling me a socialist.
The problem is the Dems broke it and now how do you fix it without leaving the uninsurable w/o policies. They can no longer qualify so what then?
There is only one solution and nobody is going to go there.
I’m confident Trump has thought it through. If insurance companies can be nationwide then portability is not an issue.
Yes they do, and no it isn't. See Tom Price.
You cannot simply return to "Go." Too many people have lost policies and too many companies have gone out of business.
Of course you can. It happened in Canada, and in states here that repealed RAT legislation to fix their markets. There are plenty of companies out there ready to spring back up, or go into the industry. Existing companies will be all over writing millions of new cheaper and sensible policies.
If the government mandates (uh oh) that companies pick up where they left off, well, it's six years since those people had policies.
That's not how they do it, they would kill the statutes that create an adverse market environment and let the carriers write actual insurance...not a whacked-out bill paying service.
How many of them are sicker? How many have terminal illnesses?
Some of them are dead, some are in MediCare. Those needing to go into high risk pools will likely still be paying less than they would be now.
both have (wrongly) claimed that you can have "portability." Impossible, unless it's the same company. But you can't leave company A and its insured pool, take a job with company B and a much different insured pool, and expect the same benefits.
That's because "portability" does not apply to groups, but rather individual policies, just like HRPs. Generally if you move from one state to another in the same company, your coverage goes with you. If you change companies, they generally assume that if you are well enough to work, you are well enough to insure. The also tend to accept each other's pre-x history.
However, if you are self-employed and have an individual policy with a given carrier in one state, and move to another state, that same carrier may well treat you as a brand new applicant, and if they aren't doing business in that state, you're on your own, or SOL.
That's where "portability" applies, and buying across state lines.