The people behind Obamacare are not stupid. They have wanted this day for a hundred years. Loading up Anerican business (or indirectly through government taxes and subsidies) will greatly reduce American competitive advantage compared with countries that have universal health coverage.<\/p>\n
Moving to Illinois with a job that doesn’t include group health insurance was a risk, but one I was willing to take. Despite having no chronic health care problems, on no medications and zero health care expenses in two years, Humana turned me down cold without even offering a rated individual policy. Instead, I wound up using the Illinois run HIPAA plan that I was able to transfer from CT (I’m paying about $600 a month for Blue Cross\/Shield with a HSA with a $2500 deductible) – I’ve been continuously insured since 1986 – I’m not a “freeloader” expecting to only buy insurance after I get sick.<\/p>\n
Today, Illinois CHIP emailed me the official notice that the state run plan, which currently has 51,000 subscribers will be ending because of Obamacare. The details are now becoming clearer in line with the law and the release of regulations this week<\/p>\n
The national web site<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.healthcare.gov\/marketplace<\/p>\n
The Illinois site<\/p>\n
http:\/\/becoveredillinois.org\/<\/p>\n
It’s the middle of June – entities that wish to remain in the insurance business must join the health exchanges – offering guaranteed issue policies (they can’t turn you down for health reasons), with rates that do not include existing health conditions – and also are gender blind – women and men will pay the same rate. Premium subsidies from the Federal government are an important part of this, as well as expansion of Medicaid eligibility to remove limits on asset tests.<\/p>\n
In October, the doors of the health exchange swing open – either a state run exchange or the Federal one if states choose to not partcipate and relinquish control of their states to the Feds. With open enrollment starting in October, every American not covered now by employer insurance or Medicaid\/Medicare will be rushing to sign up to pay premiums, especially the dope smoking 25 year olds still living at home.<\/p>\n
Employers will have the option to drop their own plans and dump their employees into the health exchanges, but they’ll still have to pay some portion of the costs to the health exchange to create that premium subsidy. Employers who don’t currently offer coverage (like mine) will be forced to pay into exchange pool or shrink to have fewer than 25 employees – or they can arrange for group coverage – even if a large portion of the cost is paid by the employee.<\/p>\n
Obamacare is not going away. It’s here and it’s real. It probably will fail, and that’s on purpose. Once private insurance companies go bankrupt or voluntarily close, government run single payer health care is the “end game”<\/p>\n
Republicans lost big in 2012. Conservatives can stomp their feet, hold their breath until they turn blue and make up theories on what the Founding Fathers would have had God whisper in their ears, but none of that matters. Our laws are made by the people we elect. The Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare is legal. Conservatives don’t want courts “legislating from the bench” and overriding laws passed by Congress. John Roberts gave them what they wanted.<\/p>\n
The circle is complete. While I strongly disagree with almost every aspect of Obamacare, it is pulling away my existing coverage at the end of the year. Republicans fighting this now are just introducing uncertainty in the future. Rapidly, opponents of Obamacare become my adversary – and that was the plan all along. If you want to repeal Obamacare, you need a better alternative and the ability to put it into law by the end of the year over the veto of the President – no plan is not a plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The people behind Obamacare are not stupid. They have wanted this day for a hundred years. Loading up Anerican business (or indirectly through government taxes and subsidies) will greatly reduce American competitive advantage compared with countries that have universal health … Continue reading