Of Course: Obama Postpones Forced Dropping of Insurance Policies Until October 2016

And if you think he's not going to figure out that, hey, October 2016 is just before an important election and then delay it until May 2017, then let Rob Halford disabuse you of that mistaken belief.

Now, not only is Obama saying that these legacy plans can remain, but he’s saying they can stay alive for three years longer than intended. If they can be extended for three years, the new rules may never fully go into effect (unless Obama will allow a wave of cancellations in October 2016, just before the presidential election). And maintaining these plans will further drive up the cost of insurance on the exchanges.

Remember, Obama deliberately canceled these policies in order to force them to subsidize sicker people in the exchanges. To the extent these people aren't in the exchanges, the cost for insurance on the exchanges goes up -- or, of course, Obama pays off the insurance companies through the "risk corridor" mechanism to induce insurers to set their prices artificially low.

Allah concludes:

Quite simply, Obama was forced to choose between doing something that would help his party at the ballot box but hurt his signature health-care law and doing something that would help stabilize the law financially at the risk of generating a nasty backlash to his party from consumers with cancellations. He made the political choice. Which is exactly what O’s critics feared would happen as government insinuated itself further into the health-care industry via O-Care. Decisions on health-care policy are now a species of politics. You’re welcome, America.

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Okay, I'm under the weather and never quite woke up today. I'm doing the podcast soon. So, Open Thread.

Sorry I suck so bad this week.

posted by Ace at 06:58 PM

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