I can only conclude that
Bill Clinton is very much a flip flopper, much like Mitt Romney, more
interested in pandering to a political base.
I am very disappointed
in Mr. Clinton – I thought he was above such political hi jinks, but apparently
I was wrong.
Yes, Barack Obama broke
one of the main tenets of political life. When he made that famous promise: “If
you like your current plan, you can keep it,” he spoke in absolutes – a definite
political gaffe. And now it has come back to bite him big time.
He should have said, “If
you like your current plan and it meets the minimum standards of the new law,
you can keep it.”
I can’t get into the
head of Barack Obama, but my guess is that he didn't lie as much as he did not
understand consequences of what would happen when the law changed and
substandard policies could not survive the law. He and the people around him
should have known better.
But, for now, let's put
that aside and discuss why the President cannot afford to keep his promise.
The short answer: if millions of substandard
plans are allowed to remain in effect, you might as well repeal the Affordable
Health. PERIOD.
The premise behind
health care for all involves spreading around the risk among the healthy, not
so healthy, severely ill, young, middle aged, elderly. That way, the sickest
people are not the only people enrolled in health care plans, thus spreading
around costs for all plan participants.
Social Security and
Medicare are good examples of this premise; U.S. workers (and even foreigners
who work in this country for at least 40 quarters or 10 years) are required to pay into these programs. It doesn't matter that young
people can't collect or even that some people die before they become of age to
collect. These programs were set up so that senior citizens would enjoy at
least a small old-age pension to adjunct their regular pension or 401K through
work. Before Social Security and Medicare, the elderly were pretty much on
their own or became burdens to their children and society.
It would have been much
simpler had Medicare been extended to all and taxed accordingly, but the
insurance lobbies would not have stood for that, and the GOP and some
conservative Dems were more than happy to pander to them.
So we ended up with this
imperfect compromise.
Still, Barack Obama
should hang tough, defend his plan, and sees how it unfolds.
However, if he does
cave, here is a clause that should be placed in every substandard insurance
policy (one that does not meet the letter of the law):
I, the under insured, promise that, if my plan
does not cover fully my medical and hospital bills, I will be responsible for
all such bills not covered by my insurance. I promise to offer my luxury items,
my home, and car as collateral, to be confiscated in the event that I do not
meet my medical financial obligations. Furthermore, I am aware and accept that
such debt cannot be discharged through bankruptcy [similar to government-backed
student loans].
I accept these terms in return for choosing to
keep my substandard plan.
I wonder how many young “invincibles” would accept such draconian terms?
Of course, this kind of
clause will not likely be placed in insurance policies, but it does show
that young uninsured or under-insured “invincibles” occasionally
become ill or suffer catastrophic injuries, and when they do, they often skip
out on their medical bills and become moochers on society.
Currently, for the
uninsured, the tax penalties are small (for 2014, $95 per adult)
but are due to increase significantly by 2016 ($695 or 2.5% of income per person).
I would like to see this amount raised with fees going into an uninsured fund.
I would like to see the
problems solved – and soon. We need the Affordable Health Care Act.
Let's give the President
the benefit of the doubt and work toward implementing this law so that all can
have reasonably priced health care.
November 14, 2013 UPDATE: President Obama announced today that insurance
companies, under the “grandfathering” provision, would be able to extend for
one year their existing substandard policies to their healthcare customers.
However, no new substandard plans would be allowed to
be offered; this would “undermine” the premise behind Obamneycare.
It is not clear if insurance companies would be required to reinstate these policies, so
it is quite possible that existing customers really do not have a choice
anyway, that reinstatement would be at the pleasure of the insurance companies.
This poor decision is yet another chip out of
Obamneycare, and its ultimate failure is quite likely.
Feel free to comment.
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