Posted on 12/04/2012 8:49:01 AM PST by MichCapCon
A vote to report a state Obamacare exchange bill out of the Michigan House Health Policy Committee came up short yesterday, with only two Republicans supporting it (Committee Chair Rep. Gail Haines of Waterford and Rep. Mike Callton of Nashville).
Following the vote, House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, declared the state-run exchange dead, saying:
“…After due diligence, however, it is clear that there were too many unanswered questions for the committee to feel comfortable with a state-run exchange and we will not have one in Michigan… The committee apparently was not able to get the answers to key questions or receive assurances about major concerns regarding costs for Michigan taxpayers, the ability to adopt a model the federal government wouldn’t ultimately control or the ability to protect religious freedom for Michigan citizens.”
This vote clears the way for Gov. Rick Snyder to proceed on negotiations with the feds over so-called “partnership” exchange, which essentially would leave the federal government in charge of administering Obamacare’s massive subsidy regime, while possibly giving the state control over some ancillary functions.
As described here previously, this is not as bad as a state exchange and may reduce some of the risks of a un-mediated federal exchange.
House members have been influenced by a string of similar decisions in recent weeks by other state leaders around the country who have refused to become “fall guys” for Obamacare’s coming disappointments. The most recent came from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday, who accompanied her "just say no" letter to the feds with the following statement:
Today, I notified the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the State of Arizona will not create a state-based Health Exchange. This decision comes following an extensive research and outreach process during which my team of health advisors conducted public hearings and met with HHS, patient advocates and representatives of Arizona hospitals, health providers, insurers, tribal groups and other members of the health care community.
This has been one of the more difficult decisions of my career in public service. My opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unwavering, as is my belief that it should be repealed and replaced with legislation that achieves its stated goals: to improve access to quality, affordable health care in this country. But I am also aware that the ACA remains the law of the land. Likewise, though I am a steady advocate of local control, I have come to the conclusion that the State of Arizona would wield little actual authority over its ‘state’ Exchange. The federal government would maintain oversight and control over virtually every aspect of our Exchange, limiting our ability to meet the unique needs of Arizonans and the Arizona insurance market.
A state Exchange would be costly. Though the federal government has pledged to pay nearly all startup costs, states that form their own health exchanges are on the hook for operational expenses beginning in 2015. Those costs could total $27 million to $40 million annually for the State of Arizona, according to a recent study conducted by Mercer. Of course, these expenses would be passed along in the form of fees resulting in higher health premiums for Arizona families and small businesses. This would be an additional financial burden at a time when so many Arizonans are still struggling.
Lastly, there simply remains too much we don’t know about how a State-based Exchange would function and its ultimate cost to taxpayers. Without clear federal guidance and instruction, I cannot in good conscience commit the taxpayers of my state to this costly endeavor.”
Thank God we have some real republicans in the states.
THe Michigan shoe drops..........on Obamacare “exchanges”.
The Concept of an “Exchange” and a Government run enterprise has no precedent, no previous example of actually working and staying within a Government Budget.
I wouldn’t count Jase Bolger among them. Just the day before this he said it was clear that the people and courts had spoken and Obamacare would be the law of the land.
While this seems like good news in that it is an impediment to o-care implementation, one has to be concerned that the admin’s answer to this will be Federally-run exchanges. I am concerned about this, at least.
There’s no question in my mind that this pig, if it ever dies, will morph at least half a dozen times into worse and worse forms as time goes by.
When a Federal law is so Fudged up that States cannot read it or understand it, or it is so bad they want to opt out of it, then that law needs changing.
Americans: We have had a corrupt administration shove this boondoggle up our butts.
Now we have no one fighting to help us. The Democrats are the corrupting agents and the Republicans are now accessories to the crime since Boehner and the House have given up on changing it.
Well I guess I have a note to write to my Representative, Gail Haines.
“There will be Federal exchanges” ?
READ THE BILL, there is no funding for Federal exchanges.
Thanks, I feel better now.
It's very strange how the doctor and patient are both left out of the equation.
Just last week HHS codified this in regulations published in the Federal Register on the creation of the federal exchanges.
The worst part of about ObamaCare is how much power congress delegated to HHS. They don't even need congress to fund the subsidies as those are treated as a refundable tax credit and not a spending allocation.
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