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Vermont Regulator Who Killed Obamacare Co-Op Has No Regrets
The Daily Caller ^ | November 13, 2015 | Richard Pollock

Posted on 11/12/2015 11:39:46 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

.....Susan L. Donegan was commissioner for Vermont's Division of Insurance in 2013 when she refused to issue a license to the proposed Vermont Health CO-OP...

..Today, she looks like a prescient state official who likely saved thousands of Vermonters from buying their health insurance from a doomed insurer.

That's because 13 of the 24 co-ops set up under Obamacare have collapsed,costing the federal treasury $1.3 billion. More than 800,000 co-op customers now find themselves without health insurance coverage and are scrambling to find new policies...

Turns out that some of the biggest problems she identified two years ago in her state also doomed co-ops across the country. In an exclusive interview,Donegan talked with the Daily Caller News Foundation for nearly an hour to recount her decision,its aftermath and the lessons she learned about the federal co-op program.

[snip]

Donegan sensed trouble as soon as she read the co-op's application. There were optimistic and questionable forecasts, a board filled with friends, sweetheart deals,high salaries,deep conflicts of interest and a staff with little business expertise.

[snip]

..she and her staff "really had to scrub numbers many times,work with actuaries,make sure what we were seeing was going to be a company to be able to sustain itself. And every time we kept doing that,we just kept coming up short,saying 'you know there are a lot of things that aren't just working.' It really gave us pause. The numbers weren't there."

Among the first deficiencies Donegan discovered was that as a federally designed model,the co-op immediately would be burdened with $33 million liability in federal loans despite having no cash flow,no customers and no tangible assets.

Solid capitalization is essential in the insurance business where money is its lifeblood. However, when the federal co-ops were established, CMS instructed state regulators to treat the liabilities as "assets," which didn't sit well with Donegan.

[SNIP]

(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Vermont
KEYWORDS: aca; healthcare; obamacare; vermont
Take a few minutes to read the full piece, as she describes in some detail what went on, and names names.
1 posted on 11/12/2015 11:39:47 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

A name to remember ....


2 posted on 11/13/2015 12:02:56 AM PST by Squantos ( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Good business practices are not what Obama and company strive for.

Payouts and a general looting of the taxpayer is more to his business style.

3 posted on 11/13/2015 12:11:54 AM PST by urbanpovertylawcenter (the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

It’d be interesting to know just how much “funding in their startup funds” didn’t get returned. Seven figures wouldn’t surprise me.


4 posted on 11/13/2015 12:14:05 AM PST by ArmstedFragg (Hoaxey Dopey Changey)
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To: urbanpovertylawcenter

Then his administration blocks prosecution for outright criminal activity and, in many cases, promotes the offender up the government career ladder.


5 posted on 11/13/2015 12:15:16 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: ArmstedFragg

Probably some was the “salary” paid out to Fleischer-Jacob.


6 posted on 11/13/2015 12:17:30 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: ArmstedFragg

Most likely the state billed for their time spent reviewing the proposal.


7 posted on 11/13/2015 12:18:59 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Did read the article but found it difficult to comprehend. There are explanation gaps that make it puzzling.
After going on at length about Susan's reasons for refusing the co-op license, the article ends with:

Donegan said she also understood that there were creditors who did not get paid when the co-op closed down.

How was something "closed down" that didn't start up in the first place? If the case is that Obama forced it through against the will of the state, then the thrust of the article should have been about the tyranny of the Federal Government.

8 posted on 11/13/2015 1:30:45 AM PST by stormhill
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To: stormhill

99% of the article is a clear-eyed description of yet another aspect of the Obamacare scam.


9 posted on 11/13/2015 2:25:29 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: stormhill

Sounds like the co-op had to get all set so as be able to make the proposal for the license, i.e., who’s on the board, who’s the president, where will the offices be located, etc.


10 posted on 11/13/2015 2:41:56 AM PST by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Wow! A principled Democrat who actually did her job on behalf of her state and averted another Obamacare disaster. A rare oddity indeed!


11 posted on 11/13/2015 2:50:07 AM PST by Timber Rattler ("To hold a pen is to be at war." --Voltaire)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Bump for later...


12 posted on 11/13/2015 3:55:37 AM PST by SunTzuWu
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To: RKBA Democrat

Pflr


13 posted on 11/13/2015 4:20:47 AM PST by RKBA Democrat (Voting is self-abuse - without the pleasure.)
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