Former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean questioned whether President Obama has the "legal authority" to carry out the Obamacare fix the White House outlined today:
Yes, because telling people they can't have their old policies back and getting into another political fight with Obama is a winning strategy for Republicans.
The insurance companies are not going to reset everything for this. And we cannot let this stand that President can legislate from the oval office. It needs to be addressed.
You're just not getting it, ITL. It isn't Republicans or Democrats who are "telling people they can't have their old policies." It is a fact of life. Those policies no longer exist, and while the insurers and the providers can negotiate policies that are similar in coverage and cost, unless the ACA is repealed, eventually the new policies will go away, too. The problem isn't the politics. The problem is the reality of the way insurers and providers do business with one another. They can't possibly restore the old policies, and it will take a miracle to create new ones int he short time they have unless the ACA is somehow suspended, repealed, gutted or scrapped -- though, I suppose, the Great Pretender could do that last one with yet another illegal executive order. I don't think anyone would object to that one, though.
You are correct on both counts. But I'm saying if the Republicans pursue this it's a losing strategy. They will appear to be in favor of denying people their old coverage.
No, I totally get it. Obama should not be able to offer up for insurance companies a business plan they don't want and insurance companies are right to resist. In the end it will be insurance companies that will tell people they can't have their old policies. The question is whether or not Republicans will side with the insurance companies or with the idea that people should get their old policies back. If they side with the insurance companies (which they usually do) there will be negative fallout. If they side with Obama they are in an awkward position.
Look, the insurers would have loved to have kept those policies. They were making money on them, because they understand the insurance business and they knew how much they could pay out, and how much it would cost versus how much they would take in. It wasn't the insurers who abandoned that business plan. That abandonment was forced on them by the unrealistic demands of a law written by incompetents who don't understand the business, and why certain exclusions and exceptions must be part of any insurance policy.
I think you're overlooking a third option. They are telling the truth. Most are saying today it is too late to get the old policies back online. Boehner said as much today in his news conference that preceded the Great Pretender's. The GOP is doing the right thing in lowering expectations. That sets the stage for the blame to fall right where it belongs -- at the feet of a commerce-ignorant socialist party known as the Democrats who didn't understand a thing about the industry they wanted to take over.
No that is wrong. In fact it could not be more wrong. It will not be the insurance companies telling people they cannot have their old policies back. What it will be is the fact that they cannot just choose to roll them back at a moments notice. There is a big long process. They have been working on changing over to Obamacare since it was passed. You cannot just choose to switch things back and forth like this.
What the Republicans will need to do is get that message out. But like usual they will not even try. The old guard establishment Republicans are the do nothing party and they need to go.
Exactly. The insurance companies were FORCED to cancel these policies, they were not allowed to issue polices with such limited coverage.
ITL is correct, the politicians will blame the insurance companies, and most folks will fall for it, even though it is a complete falsehood.
The insurance companies would be foolish to reissue these old policies, it is too much work for too little return. Next year they will be forced to cancel these policies again. It makes more sense to bite the bullet NOW.
The easiest fix would be to issue these folks new policies with the new coverages and subsidize the extra premiums. This will cost billions, but it is the easy fix.
Apparently it is not just Republicans that are unhappy with this fix. Dems are bashing it well. This may become a bi-partisan issue as people are afraid of getting re-elected.
Dems are in panic mode. It is too late for obama to stop it.