On Sunday, we were treated to the Democrat, Harry Reid proclaiming: “Obamacare has been wonderful for America. Six million seniors get wellness checks now. One million young people now have insurance that insurers can't rip off people anymore. That's why people got millions of dollars of refunds last year. If you have a pre-existing disability, you're covered. They should just get real and understand this is a law that's important and they need to work with us to improve it.” (Meet the Press, July 14, 2013)
Yet on May 3, 2013, Harry Reid supported Max Baucus, from Montana who indicated that Affordable Care would be a train wreck, primarily for insufficient funds. In supporting more money for Affordable Care, Harry Reid indicated that “We have the menu, but we don’t have any way to get to the menu.”
Which Harry Reid is expressing an opinion? It really doesn't matter. But what does matter is using our skills to understand that like many people Harry Reid likes the idea of Obamacare but knows that we cannot currently afford its implementation. Money will be moved and shifted, and ultimately truly middle class private sector consumers will be left holding the bag if history is accurate.
In September 2012 in my post, “2012 The Past that Never Quite was to the Future that May not Be,” I discussed the wish-list quality of Obamacare based on the number of financial ‘ifs’ required for Obamacare, referring to the April 2010 letter by Chief Actuary Robert Foster.
Obamacare is law but it is far from a done deal. Our role as middle class consumers is crucial in shaping what happens next. Being led by the nose by whichever politician is angling for whatever position is not helpful.
Reading and learning so that we can discern, I believe is the least we should do. For instance, Harry Reid should have been asked to clarify his praise of Obamacare, specifically in response to his claim that “insurers can’t rip off people anymore.”
Are you kidding? Insurers are happy as clams with Obamacare. How do I know? Because in 2008, in an insurance industry produced report entitled “Health Plans Propose Guaranteed Coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions and Individual Coverage Mandate,” produced by AHIP, we find that insurers put forth many of the ideas for Obamacare.
In summary, the 2008 insurance company proposal included the suggestion that participating “health plans…would be required to offer coverage to all applicants as part of a universal participation plan in which all individuals were required to maintain health insurance.” Sounds a lot like Obamacare, individual mandate in exchange for coverage of pre-existing conditions.
The insurance companies also desired to “promote affordability by providing refundable, advanceable tax credits for moderate-income individuals and working families…” Sounds a lot like Obamacare and subsidies and tax credits designed to help individuals pay for premiums, and in some cases copayments and coinsurance costs.
The insurance companies also recommended to “ensure premium stability for those with existing coverage through a reimbursement mechanism that spreads costs for the highest-risk individuals.” Everyone pays more, which be honest, that’s been and was going to continue to be the trend whether we start throwing our sicker fellow citizens under the bus or not.
Obamacare did not rein in insurance company desires, it codified them.
