Section 1342 of the PPACA. The Affordable Care Act Section 1342 provides “ESTABLISHMENT OF RISK CORRIDORS FOR PLANS IN INDIVIDUAL AND SMALL GROUP MARKETS…The Secretary shall establish and administer a program of risk corridors for calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016,” to limit overall LOSSES AND GAINS that an insurance company has and certain LOSSES are paid by the government, HHS (CMS).
Delayed Payments to Insurance Companies: Like so many other provisions of the sloppy law, the timing of the payments is NOT provided for in the Act and CMS has delayed full payment of what insurers thought they were getting under the RISK CORRIDOR provisions [though] they’ll get paid, eventually, according to the feds.
Insurance Companies Angling for Priority in Getting Paid and-or Extension of Federal risk corridor payments: On 12/6/2015, I suggested that Obamacare might have self-sabotaged as evidenced by UnitedHealth’s THREAT to pull out of exchanges after 2016 perhaps angling for both an extension of continued federal government risk corridor payments and priority in getting their money from the HHS/CMS budget, HOW OBAMACARE SHOT ITSELF IN THE FOOT: UNITEDHEALTH’S THREAT TO PULL OUT OF EXCHANGES, conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com.
The Democratic Pretense: But, unable to resist blaming Republicans for this potential insurance company pull-out from exchanges, on December 9, 2015 Robert Pear for THE NEW YORK TIMES wrote an article titled, “Marco Rubio Quietly Undermines Affordable Care Act.”
It’s a cheap ploy to pretend once again that the LAW AS WRITTEN was good law and invites the federal government to make up some new “TYPO” claims that the payment timing was included in the law.
NO TYPO: The law provides for a three-year payout to insurers by the government for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016. Any changes would be just that another CHANGE to the law in order to preserve Obamacare.
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: It’s a little funny that Mr. Pear focuses on Mr. Rubio’s attempt to make sure the LAW stands on its own two feet by requiring that they only used the money they were supposed to in order to pay insurance companies Risk Corridor payments as he whines, “his [Rubio’s] measure prevented the government from using other sources of money for the risk corridor payments.” Mr. Pear bemoans the fact that Robbing Peter to Pay Paul was prohibited just to keep Obamacare going.
Mr. Pear conveniently omits that MOST of Obamacare is based on ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL…Most of Obamacare is based on taking money from taxpayers to pay for Obamacare, whether it’s the taxpayers who relied on the federal government to pay into Medicare and have seen that money vanish, or it’s the taxpayers who relied on the President’s promise that if you like your plan you can keep it, or it’s the taxpayers who purchase insurance off the exchanges which is most of us who saw dramatic increases in what we pay as our “skin in the game” became a skinning. All to save Obamacare.
Sure, not getting what you thought you would under Obamacare sucks for all of us. As I’ve mentioned before…the best way to address the law’s failures is to let it go as it was written.
Mr. Pear is obviously angry because Obamacare is failing and is desperately trying to pin it on Republicans. Mostly he’s mad that without lying Obamacare fans can’t excuse that failure.
But it’s no TYPO, the risk corridor provisions were designed to get insurance company buy-in and then were designed to disappear, that’s what 2014, 2015, and 2016 means NOT in perpetuity. The fact that the amount of money needed was grossly underestimated is NOT a Republican problem, it’s an Obamacare problem.
