Posted on 11/06/2013 6:03:38 AM PST by reaganaut1
Federal lawmakers and state officials are stepping up pressure on insurers to allow consumers whose coverage has been canceled in response to the health overhaul to keep their policies beyond the end of the year.
On Tuesday, one of the largest regional health plans in the nation, Blue Shield of California, said it would relax its stance on terminated policies for about 115,000 people after state regulators demanded it do so. Customers now will have until March to decide which plan to choose for 2014, a three-month extension. Because the newer plans generally cost more, the extension could save residents as much as $28.6 million on premiums, said Dave Jones, California's insurance commissioner.
"For 115,000 people, they get additional time to decide what's best for them and their families," he told reporters Tuesday. The California Department of Insurance is reviewing termination letters sent by other insurers in the state to decide whether other companies need to offer consumers similar extensions, Mr. Jones said.
The move by Mr. Jones, an elected Democrat, comes as some other Democrats are seeking ways to allow individual policyholders to keep their current health plans and to defuse the issue of canceled plans, which has become a headache for supporters of the law.
Cancellation letters are expected to be sent to as many as 10 million Americans who buy coverage directly from insurers, rather than through an employer or government program. While these individuals would have to buy new policies, regulators and lawmakers say the extensions would give them more time to shop for an affordable new plan—particularly because continuing problems with insurance exchange websites are preventing many of these consumers from finding new coverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I think Dave Jones is too stupid to realized the immense irony of his statement.
“The president gets major legislation based on the lie that “you can keep your plan if you like it”, and when insurers are forced to cancel millions of policies, governors of the same party pressure them to extend the policies. What kind of banana republic are we living in?”
We are living in a country where the big insurance companies made a deal with the federal government at the time Obamacare was being written and debated. It is another manifestation of crony capitalism. Instead of opposing government takeover of the healthcare system (as they did with Hillarycare), the insurance companies signed on believing they had negotiated protections and would benefit from the government forcing millions of new customers to buy insurance.
At this point the insurance companies are completely corrupted. Even if Congress ended Obamacare today, the health insurance market has been thoroughly politicized.
To put this in the right prospective...the wagon train has come to see the Indians in full view and approaching. The Indians agree that they will stall their attack on the wagon train, until March....just to show they are good ethical Indians. Course, then, in March...the attack will occur, as originally planned.
You are merely delaying the negative outcome by 90 days. Nothing else changes. Why would any company agree to this? They already expect to rake in huge profits for 2014, and this delay tactic lessens the amount enough...that the President won’t say bad things in spring of 2015 about them.
How foolish are the idiot consumers in this case?
Can anyone here explain what this means?
How can they extend them?
The fact that anyone here on FR is even debating “whether” the insurance companies did anything wrong in the disaster known as Obamacare........is very chilling.
Are we going to just follow the lead of the media and fall in line to blame ANYONE other than Obama?
Obama lied. Period.
I dont understand what this is saying.
How can insurers now not cancel those policies?
The same banana republic where the government encouraged a low-credit housing boom, encouraged JP Morgan and Bank America to buy Bear Stearns, Countrywide Mortgage, and Merrill Lynch when trouble hit, and then turned around and sued them for bad mortgage practices by the companies they begged them to buy!
Urged? Like the way Don Corleone or Tony Soprano urge people to do certain things?
the peasants have won a reprieve until March but note that the dates NEVER extend beyond April 15th
the democrat-IRS will not be appeased
It has always planned on collecting “fines” from people who cannot afford or will not pay for their “new” obamacare insurance benefits by April 15th. and who are forced to pay higher taxes and go uninsured to boot
No doubt the expected middle class tax-rape windfall is already spent
move to Nevada folks
Harry Reid got his entire state “exempted” from this “law of the land”
“Please keep the people in the dark about how awful Obamacare is!”
But if insurers extended their policies beyond years end would the people keeping these policies be subject to an Obamacare tax (a.k.a. fine) because their policy didn’t meet the Obamacare standards?
Even though it will be illegal for them to be sold, the Democrats promise that they won't prosecute if they make nice, continue the policies to avoid severe voter backlash and make a lot of campaign contributions to make sure those illegal sales won't be prosecuted retroactively. And if they don't, then the Obamacare website (if it ever works) might just happen to direct only the sickest customers to them and send the healthy and profitable customers to the companies which play ball.
It makes me suspicious.
Are they selling policies that dont cover pre-existing conditions?
How about mandated maternity care and those others?
Obama lied.
But the insurance companies were his willing co-conspirators. They wanted 30 million new customers at gunpoint so badly they could taste it.
Obama lied to them too about the ultimate goal being single payer.
Did you really type that?
My Blue Cross of Arkansas was extended all the way through 12/31/14. I can get a new “approved” policy as well. On 1/1/15 I will have to have an “approved” of policy. As of now. I have no idea how things will be through the new year.
What if someone became pregnant that had one of these policies that didn’t cover it? Then the gov’t will force them to cover it anyway without compensation?
Exactly, I just dont understand what the above means, nor those Senate Dem proposals to do the same.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.