Posted on 01/10/2014 7:02:57 PM PST by lowbridge
You remember the “risk corridor” provisions, right? If a new ObamaCare plan comes in under budget, the insurer pays the difference between the actual cost and projected cost to HHS. If it comes in over budget, HHS pays the difference to the insurance. It’s a way for insurers to spread risk among the industry with HHS as middleman. (The bit in the excerpt about the White House modifying the rules for its new “transitional policy” is a reference to this.) Problem is, there’s no cap on how much HHS might need to pay out if lots and lots of plans come in over budget — a plausible scenario given the whispers from Humana about what it’s seeing among the demographic mix of ObamaCare enrollees so far. If too many plans have lopsided numbers of sick enrollees who need expensive treatments and few healthy ones to supply the revenue needed to offset that expense, HHS could be on the hook for the shortfall via a de facto bailout — unless Congress repeals the risk corridor provisions, in which case the insurers will be stuck with the bill. How many of them will be able to cover it and how many will go belly up? Of the ones who stay in business, how many will have to charge exorbitant premiums next year to make up for their losses? And if premiums soar, some portion of their consumers are bound to cancel their plans, which means even less revenue for the insurers and the need for even higher premiums, etc. That’s the “death spiral,” and in theory that’s where single-payer comes in. If the insurance industry melts down because Congress cut its financial lifeline, what replaces it?
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Bama has screwed up our insurance and medical system so bad, I doubt it will ever recover. And I think that was the object. His thought from the beginning was a socialist one payer system, after all it has worked so well everywhere it has been tried (tongue in cheek).
Tip of the iceberg.
I doubt that a bail-out of the insurance industry would even work.
This whole thing was designed to create government medicine
By design
If there is a government bailout, it will just be a payoff to the heads of the various major insurance companies. IMHO
Believe it.
obumbler himself has determined that portions of the law are unworkable, as witnessed by his various executive actions and directives to his troops.
So then why is not someone going to court to settle the question of severability?
What the hell BCBS think was gonna happen? They have known since the beginning that people did not want Obamacare. They should have never entered into this fascist scheme.
The insurance companies decided to commit suicide by getting into bed with Obama. Good riddance.
Sadly, the Republican party seems to be following them by getting into bed with Obama on amnesty.
“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” — Barack Obama, October 30, 2008
Not one of them will go belly-up. Don’t be silly.
I *do* think that insurance company bailouts just might be the thing that will bring out the pitchforks. People are going to go absolutely nuclear. But I have underestimated public complacency over these issues in the past.
And yes, it will lead to single payer. Because at some point, the insurance companies may very well just wash their hands of the whole thing. I cannot predict the future.
But with single payer, a reverse Cloward Piven strategy might be employed. People are just going to have to get to the point where they will act in general strikes.
Lack of intestinal fortitude? Who wants to garner the wrath of a dictator. After all, with a single executive order, he can cause untold misery to any true objector.
Even without an executive order bad things can happen to anyone who doesn’t agree with him (IRS).
Considering that the DOJ is in his pocket (if Obama had a son his name would be Holder) and it seems that any dissenter in the SCOTUS is afraid of him ... who is left to complain?
Because...
"There is no distinctly American criminal class - with the possible exception of Congress." Mark Twain.
If they’re going to make threats it might be time for them to face extinction. Medical insurance wasn’t in widespread use till the late 60s to mid 70s.
In 1964 my dad paid cash for my hospital birth and it was only about $85. About a week and a half pay out of his garbage man’s salary.
The issue is resolved (depending on whether you care about the rule of law or just about precedent).
(1) There is no severability clause in the "Affordable" Care Act, so if we have the rule of law, ObamaCare is not severable. If any portion is unconstitutional, the whole thing must be invalidated.
(2) When Chief Justice Roberts rewrote the bill to legislate from the bench, he pretended that ObamaCare was severable. Roberts already rewrote some portions and deleted others; the precedent has been set.
Bailout won’t work. If obamacare is repealed, the market will fill the gaps.
Krauthammer got it right.
Force the Dems to vote against repealing the bailout.
The argument that we must bail out the health insurance companies is like the arguments for TARP and worse bailing out GM.
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