The Black Hole Of "Affordable" Care Losses -- Sneaky Adjustments To ACA Providing Taxpayer Bailouts For Insurance Companies!
Noam Levey writes in the LA Times that the Obama administration has "quietly adjusted" key bits in the healthcare law to potentially make good on ACA-related losses to insurance companies -- to the tune of billions of additional taxpayer dollars:
The move was buried in hundreds of pages of new regulations issued late last week. It comes as part of an intensive administration effort to hold down premium increases for next year, a top priority for the White House as the rates will be announced ahead of this fall's congressional elections.Administration officials for months have denied charges by opponents that they plan a "bailout" for insurance companies providing coverage under the healthcare law.
They continue to argue that most insurers shouldn't need to substantially increase premiums because safeguards in the healthcare law will protect them over the next several years.
But the change in regulations essentially provides insurers with another backup: If they keep rate increases modest over the next couple of years but lose money, the administration will tap federal funds as needed to cover shortfalls.
Amy, now you've done it. You used the term "black hole." Wiley Price is going to be on your case demanding an apology for your obvious racism.
You even posted about this years ago! How could you have forgotten that "black hole" is a racist term?
(waving arms overhead) What's wrong with you, Amy?
Patrick at May 22, 2014 3:59 AM
One of the dirty little secrets of the ACA is that insurance company profits were hard-wired in. That's why the insurance industry was so gung-ho for it; not only were they handed a captive market, but their profits were guaranteed one way or the other -- either through monopoly pricing, or, failing that, directly via bailout. And in a way it's even worse than the mortgage-industry bailout, because under the ACA as it's currently written, these bailouts will continue forever.
Cousin Dave at May 22, 2014 5:10 AM
Patrick nails it. I think that might just win the internet for today.
Also: the VA scandal you've been hearing about? remember that when these fuckwits push for single payer government owned health care, because the VA is government owned health care.
I R A Darth Aggie at May 22, 2014 6:47 AM
Let's see. You create a mandatory health insurance program, forcing the insurance companies to cover anyone with a pulse and hoping the healthy will flock to the program and pay the costs of the unhealthy.
In order to head off a revolt by the insurance companies who argue they cannot earn a profit on your program that requires them to include the sick, indigent, old, and infirm in the insurance pool with no premium adjustment, you guarantee them a profit if they get on the bandwagon.
For the insurance companies that means replacing high-priced statisticians creating actuarial tables that don't guarantee a profit with a government-guaranteed profit; a real no brainer on their part.
Then, the people revolt because their rates are going up, their coverage is going down, and their assigned doctor has barely time in the assembly line that his practice has become to let them know that he graduated from the East BFE Medical College and Taxidermy School.
As a result, the insurance companies have only the sick, indigent, old, and infirm in the insurance pool - and they don't help cover the costs, they are the costs.
So, now you have to use taxpayer funds to make good on the promises to the insurance companies that your "socially just" health insurance Ponzi scheme won't bankrupt them.
Finally, you leak to the press the fact that you're paying off the insurance companies with taxpayer money and suggest that a single-payer system that bypasses those greedy insurance companies would be better.
Conan the Grammarian at May 22, 2014 8:56 AM
Leave a comment