Pundits once said Obama was a master of three-dimensional chess. However, the Obamacare roll-out looks more like a three dimensional train wreck.
Sue says Obamacare is trying to grab socialized medicine from the jaws of capitalism. We both support affordable healthcare for all. But can it be done under the current kludge of a system?
How many problems does Obamacare have? Let us count the ways.
1) Deductibles and co-pays are generally for Obamacare plans than for employer-provided insurance. Some may pay less for Obamacare insurance plans will end up paying more out of pocket. People will be pissed when they start getting their bills next year.
2) Healthcare.gov is borked. The website was launched way too early with virtually no testing. And, after fixing a bug, several more then pop to the surface, no doubt because the first bug was preventing the others from happening. The reaction from all corners of the software development world is unanimous. WTF? Could could anyone releases a pile of crap like that.
3) Insurers cancelled existing policies because they didn’t meet the stricter requirements of Obamacare, like no caps. Clearly the Obama Administration knew this would happen, is pretending to be shocked, just shocked, and has proposed a limp ‘solution.” Insurers can re-institute the cancelled policies, if they want. However several states have said this is no longer possible. Insurers say this will make Obamacare rates go up because fewer will be enrolling.
4) Asking insurance comapnies to reinstate cancelled policies is simply kicking the can down the raod. It is not a fix. When it expires people will be cancelled again, and may be faced with higher Obamacare rates.
5) Most states are balking at having their own exchanges, meaning the federal government does it for them. Thus there is major resistance from states they really need buy-in from. Ditto for insurance companies who by now are getting annoyed at having the rules constantly changed.
NPR reported that the nonconforming policies did not have to be cancelled until 12/31/14. In other words, the insurers voluntarily cancelled the policies a year early, not because they were required to.