Obama The Great To Wave His Magic Wand And Make Parts Of ObamaCare Disappear

The official announcement is coming around 11:35 (or whenever his Majesty deigns to reveal Himself to the public) but it looks like he's going to pretend to have the power to ignore parts of the law. Again.

The plan, which the official said could be implemented without passing legislation, would allow insurance companies to extend "substandard'' plans in 2014 only if they are already in existence. Unlike the House bill, the administration plan wouldn't allow insurance companies to offer such plans to new customers.

The policy also would require insurance companies, if they extend such policies, to notify customers that alternative policies might be available under the government exchange and to tell them what benefits they wouldn't be getting if they remained with their current plans.

The Democratic official said he believed the proposal would satisfy many Democrats who have been considering voting for the House bill.

Basically, this looks like a hybrid of proposals by Representative Fred Upton of Michigan and Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana was floating. Letting the Landrieu plan actually get a vote in the Senate would mean that there was a co-equal branch of government who had some say in the law making process and his Majesty can not abide that notion taking hold.

As always, the Devil will be in the details. Can insurance companies keep these policies going when they've already made the logistical switch to the ObamaCare policies? What about companies that have pulled out of states entirely?

This will be an effort to deflect blame to the insurance companies, "hey we let them, it's not our fault that they won't sell them to you or that they now cost a ton more".

I doubt it will work. Obama's brand it too damaged and ultimately he made the promise, not insurance companies.

On the upside, if enough people can take advantage of this it shoots a hole in the middle of the central pillar of ObamaCare...creating a large and balanced risk pool for all the previous uninsuables now being covered. So...death spiral here we come!

This is basically a punt not a fix. It can't be a fix because what was happening (people being forced into the exchanges) was and is a necessary element to make it work. This is a political ploy that creates a HUGE policy problem and it's not likely to solve the political problem either.

posted by DrewM. at 10:47 AM

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