Post by rmarks1 on Oct 28, 2013 11:46:35 GMT -5
What a difference a few weeks makes. Remember when Democrats voted to keep the government shut down rather than accept a delay in the individual mandate? Now that the Obamacare implosion is dominating the news, they are falling over each to see who gets credit for a delay.
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) is pushing legislation to delay the mandate for one year. And last week, 10 Senate Democrats — Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Mark Udall (Colo.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) — wrote to the Obama administration declaring that individuals “should not be penalized for lack of coverage” if they are unable to purchase health insurance because of technical problems.
With more Democrats joining the mandate-delay caucus, President Obama may have no choice but to go along. But such a delay would do nothing to right the Obamacare train wreck. That’s because hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting letters from their insurers informing them that their policies are being canceled because of Obamacare — and the numbers could soon be in the millions. If you are one of those Americans losing your health insurance on Jan. 1, the last thing you are worried about is some $95 fine. You are furious that you and your family no longer have health insurance because of Obamacare.
In Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross has begun informing customers that “As a result of the health care law, your current health plan will be discontinued effective December 31, 2013.” In California, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California sent cancellation letters to 279,000 people, while Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is terminating 300,000 policies — about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Experts say that as many as 16 million people could have their health plans canceled because they don’t meet the new requirements of Obamacare.
But because of the Web site fiasco, Americans losing their current insurance because of Obamacare can’t sign up for new insurance under Obamacare. That leaves them with two choices: Pay the skyrocketing rates now being demanded by insurers to keep comparable coverage on the individual market (because Obamacare mandates and regulations have driven prices through the roof), or go without coverage. Many can’t afford the exorbitant replacement plans. So unless Obamacare starts working as advertised, massive numbers of currently insured Americans could find themselves without insurance on Jan. 1.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-delaying-the-individual-mandate-wont-fix-obamacare/2013/10/28/fe4328da-3fd2-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) is pushing legislation to delay the mandate for one year. And last week, 10 Senate Democrats — Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Mark Udall (Colo.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) — wrote to the Obama administration declaring that individuals “should not be penalized for lack of coverage” if they are unable to purchase health insurance because of technical problems.
With more Democrats joining the mandate-delay caucus, President Obama may have no choice but to go along. But such a delay would do nothing to right the Obamacare train wreck. That’s because hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting letters from their insurers informing them that their policies are being canceled because of Obamacare — and the numbers could soon be in the millions. If you are one of those Americans losing your health insurance on Jan. 1, the last thing you are worried about is some $95 fine. You are furious that you and your family no longer have health insurance because of Obamacare.
In Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross has begun informing customers that “As a result of the health care law, your current health plan will be discontinued effective December 31, 2013.” In California, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California sent cancellation letters to 279,000 people, while Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is terminating 300,000 policies — about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Experts say that as many as 16 million people could have their health plans canceled because they don’t meet the new requirements of Obamacare.
But because of the Web site fiasco, Americans losing their current insurance because of Obamacare can’t sign up for new insurance under Obamacare. That leaves them with two choices: Pay the skyrocketing rates now being demanded by insurers to keep comparable coverage on the individual market (because Obamacare mandates and regulations have driven prices through the roof), or go without coverage. Many can’t afford the exorbitant replacement plans. So unless Obamacare starts working as advertised, massive numbers of currently insured Americans could find themselves without insurance on Jan. 1.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-delaying-the-individual-mandate-wont-fix-obamacare/2013/10/28/fe4328da-3fd2-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html
Bob Marks