Remember last September when the House Republicans passed full funding for the government with the condition that the individual mandate of Obamacare would be put off for a year and Congress and the White House staff would have to get their insurance through the healthcare exchanges? President Obama called them terrorists; Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats called them extortionists, hostage takers and other, similar names. The Democrat response was a resounding "NO!!!" That background is what makes the latest Obamacare news so unbearable for Obama and his party. Obama, you see, has now put off the individual mandate for one year for a big chunk of the people affected by it.
Let me explain: the White House announced last night that people whose insurance was cancelled due to Obamacare and who do not have replacement insurance will be exempted from the individual mandate for a year. The White House estimate is that this category covers half a million affected policies, so it affects about a million people. These are the people who used to have insurance but who won't have it after January 1 due strictly to Obamacare. If this estimate is like most White House numbers, it is slanted to favor the Obama position, so the real number is probably double. Even ignoring that adjustment, however, we are still talking about half a million policies.
Remember that the White House target for policies sold on the exchanges is just 7 million by the end of March of 2014. Even using the White House number, the new exemptions cover nearly ten percent of the total goal. That may not sound like much, but consider just who will be in that ten percent. The people with illnesses who visit doctors frequently will find a way to get coverage. It is the young healthy folks who think that they don't need insurance who will opt to go without for the most part. The half million people to be exempted from the mandate are probably about 25-35% of the young, healthy group. The White House has now stepped into the so-called "death spiral" of insurance in order to solve a short term political problem.
Another "fix" announced by the White House last night is that these same people will now be able to buy catastrophic insurance rather than the bronze, silver, gold and platinum plans required by the law. There is no way, of course, to determine on the website just who had his or her insurance cancelled. The website could be updated to cover this issue, but given the White House track record on the on line exchange, such a change could take until 2020. What this means then is that anyone will now be able to buy catastrophic insurance only. President Obama does not have the power to make this change. Only Congress can do that. Nevertheless, Obama is illegally allowing people across America to buy insurance that he and his people have called "substandard" until just yesterday. It was only available to the very youngest insurance buyers. Indeed, the truth is that nearly every one of the people whose insurance was cancelled had BETTER policies than the catastrophic insurance that they can now buy. Obamacare is forcing them to get WORSE insurance and to pay more for it.
No one should ever forget just how ridiculous and inept Obama and his people are. Their law which was supposed to increase the number of insured has instead decreased that number. Their law which was supposed to cut premiums by $2500 per family instead has raised them by more than that amount. Their law which was supposed to lower the federal deficit instead will increase that deficit by over a trillion dollars during the next decade. Even worse, Obama and the Obamacrats lied repeatedly to get this mess passed.
Let me explain: the White House announced last night that people whose insurance was cancelled due to Obamacare and who do not have replacement insurance will be exempted from the individual mandate for a year. The White House estimate is that this category covers half a million affected policies, so it affects about a million people. These are the people who used to have insurance but who won't have it after January 1 due strictly to Obamacare. If this estimate is like most White House numbers, it is slanted to favor the Obama position, so the real number is probably double. Even ignoring that adjustment, however, we are still talking about half a million policies.
Remember that the White House target for policies sold on the exchanges is just 7 million by the end of March of 2014. Even using the White House number, the new exemptions cover nearly ten percent of the total goal. That may not sound like much, but consider just who will be in that ten percent. The people with illnesses who visit doctors frequently will find a way to get coverage. It is the young healthy folks who think that they don't need insurance who will opt to go without for the most part. The half million people to be exempted from the mandate are probably about 25-35% of the young, healthy group. The White House has now stepped into the so-called "death spiral" of insurance in order to solve a short term political problem.
Another "fix" announced by the White House last night is that these same people will now be able to buy catastrophic insurance rather than the bronze, silver, gold and platinum plans required by the law. There is no way, of course, to determine on the website just who had his or her insurance cancelled. The website could be updated to cover this issue, but given the White House track record on the on line exchange, such a change could take until 2020. What this means then is that anyone will now be able to buy catastrophic insurance only. President Obama does not have the power to make this change. Only Congress can do that. Nevertheless, Obama is illegally allowing people across America to buy insurance that he and his people have called "substandard" until just yesterday. It was only available to the very youngest insurance buyers. Indeed, the truth is that nearly every one of the people whose insurance was cancelled had BETTER policies than the catastrophic insurance that they can now buy. Obamacare is forcing them to get WORSE insurance and to pay more for it.
No one should ever forget just how ridiculous and inept Obama and his people are. Their law which was supposed to increase the number of insured has instead decreased that number. Their law which was supposed to cut premiums by $2500 per family instead has raised them by more than that amount. Their law which was supposed to lower the federal deficit instead will increase that deficit by over a trillion dollars during the next decade. Even worse, Obama and the Obamacrats lied repeatedly to get this mess passed.
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