The trillions that are going to be spent on ObamaCrapCare (our term for the Affordable Care Act aka ObamaCare) are going to drown the American economy and in the end, it will fail. In the accompanying article, we read about the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan that is being closed by the Feds as they are running out of money.
If this program, a precursor to the full ObamaCrapCare (OCC), is failing. Can we expect anything different from the rest of the program? We think not. The reasons are that the government cannot run any program efficiently and the government knows nothing about insurance.
One only has to look at the Post Office which continually runs deficits and increases the price of mailing a letter annually and Amtrak which also loses money on a daily basis to see the failures of government run enterprises. Both of these services are significantly less complex than health insurance.
On top of the complexity, OCC was written by legislative aides, Obama supporters and without meaningful insurance industry input. It is a political document rather than a prescription to correct what ailed the business. To expect success is like having an average car driver design a new model. He/she knows how to drive but has no idea how it all should work. For that matter most drivers today don't know how to drive a manual transmission no less how their automatic works. To ask them to design a new model would be ludicrous.
The same goes for health insurance. We know that we want to do to the doctor or hospital and get the treatments that we need, however, to understand all the ins and outs of the system are (for most of us) beyond most of our ability (or desire) to know. However, it was the novices who designed OCC without understanding or in-depth knowledge of how the pieces work together.
One small example is noteworthy. For years, it has been the independent health insurance agent who has advised and counseled the business owner or individual on their purchase. Under OCC, there is no place for that advice. Individuals will have to go to the exchange that their state has set up or the Federal exchange and make their choice on a computer program. They will have to educate themselves on deductibles, co-pays, plan options, exclusions and then make a choice of plan. There will not be a professional to guide them through the process. Yes, they earn a commission on the sale, however, if their advice is bad or they give out false information, they will eventually go out of business.
Under OCC, if the client is totally confused they can go to a "navigator" who will be a non-licensed, non-insurance person who will get two weeks of training and then will help them make their selections. This person has no financial incentive to give good advice as they will be nameless, faceless government functionaries who will get their paycheck every two weeks regardless if they give good or bad advice. We see this at the IRS which tells its callers that they should NOT depend on the advice they receive from the people who answer the phone.
Without professional advice, we expect that many people will make mistakes which will cost them dearly. They will apply for the cheapest plan (under OCC that is bronze) which will mean that they will get inferior coverage not understanding that had they paid a few more dollars the benefits would have been considerably better.
Yes, this is one very small part of the OCC debacle, however, when you see it along with the PCIP failure, alarm bells should be sounding loud and clear in your head. This plan WILL NOT work long term and when historians look at it, they will call it one of the biggest ponzi schemes every foisted upon the American people.
Conservative Tom
The federal risk pool program is shutting its door.
If this program, a precursor to the full ObamaCrapCare (OCC), is failing. Can we expect anything different from the rest of the program? We think not. The reasons are that the government cannot run any program efficiently and the government knows nothing about insurance.
One only has to look at the Post Office which continually runs deficits and increases the price of mailing a letter annually and Amtrak which also loses money on a daily basis to see the failures of government run enterprises. Both of these services are significantly less complex than health insurance.
On top of the complexity, OCC was written by legislative aides, Obama supporters and without meaningful insurance industry input. It is a political document rather than a prescription to correct what ailed the business. To expect success is like having an average car driver design a new model. He/she knows how to drive but has no idea how it all should work. For that matter most drivers today don't know how to drive a manual transmission no less how their automatic works. To ask them to design a new model would be ludicrous.
The same goes for health insurance. We know that we want to do to the doctor or hospital and get the treatments that we need, however, to understand all the ins and outs of the system are (for most of us) beyond most of our ability (or desire) to know. However, it was the novices who designed OCC without understanding or in-depth knowledge of how the pieces work together.
One small example is noteworthy. For years, it has been the independent health insurance agent who has advised and counseled the business owner or individual on their purchase. Under OCC, there is no place for that advice. Individuals will have to go to the exchange that their state has set up or the Federal exchange and make their choice on a computer program. They will have to educate themselves on deductibles, co-pays, plan options, exclusions and then make a choice of plan. There will not be a professional to guide them through the process. Yes, they earn a commission on the sale, however, if their advice is bad or they give out false information, they will eventually go out of business.
Under OCC, if the client is totally confused they can go to a "navigator" who will be a non-licensed, non-insurance person who will get two weeks of training and then will help them make their selections. This person has no financial incentive to give good advice as they will be nameless, faceless government functionaries who will get their paycheck every two weeks regardless if they give good or bad advice. We see this at the IRS which tells its callers that they should NOT depend on the advice they receive from the people who answer the phone.
Without professional advice, we expect that many people will make mistakes which will cost them dearly. They will apply for the cheapest plan (under OCC that is bronze) which will mean that they will get inferior coverage not understanding that had they paid a few more dollars the benefits would have been considerably better.
Yes, this is one very small part of the OCC debacle, however, when you see it along with the PCIP failure, alarm bells should be sounding loud and clear in your head. This plan WILL NOT work long term and when historians look at it, they will call it one of the biggest ponzi schemes every foisted upon the American people.
Conservative Tom
Feds close PCIP in 23 states
The federal risk pool program is shutting its door.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing financial concerns, the Obama administration has started shutting down the Pre-existingCondition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program.
The administration "has been committed to monitoring PCIP enrollment and spending closely and making necessary adjustments in the program to ensure responsible management of the $5 billion provided by Congress," PCIP director Richard Popper wrote in a memo. "To this end, we are implementing a nationwide suspension of enrollment."
In a teleconference with state counterparts, administration officials said Friday that the PCIP will immediately stop taking new PCIP applications in the 23 states where the federal government administers the program.
States run the PCIP programs in the other states. In those states, consumers may have more time to apply for coverage.
In Wisconsin, for example, residents have until March 2 to apply.
"We're glad this program was here and able to help," said Amie Goldman, who oversees the program in Wisconsin. "I'm certainly disappointed we won't be able to serve everyone who has a need for this coverage."
People already in the PCIP program can keep their coverage, and PCIP enrollees who move to new states can still apply for replacement PCIP coverage, officials said.
PCIP has served more than 135,000 people, including many patients with serious medical problems such as cancer and heart failure.
Overall PCIP enrollment has been lower than expected, partly because some people could not afford the premiums. But individual cases have turned out to be costlier than originally projected.
The PCIP program had spent about $2.4 billion of its $5 billion in total federal funding on medical claims and about $180 million on administrative costs as of Dec. 31, 2012, federal officials told state officials.
Drafters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) included the PCIP program in PPACA to provide a temporary solution. When PPACA takes full effect Jan. 1, 2014, it is supposed to prohibit health insurers from considering health status when deciding whether to issue coverage. PPACA also will put tight limits on insurers' ability to use health status information in pricing coverage.
The PCIP program is open to people who have had problems getting private insurance because of a medical condition and have been uninsured for at least 6 months. Premiums are supposed to be comparable to the rates that typical healthy people in a state pay.
For middle-aged individuals, the premiums may be several hundred dollars per month.
PPACA calls for the government to provide new health insurance purchase subsidies in 2014. The new subsidies should cut premium costs for many of the people who now have PCIP coverage, officials say.
I wanted to take advantage of this program. I had only until the end of March to be elgible for the program. I would have been without insurance for 6 months. So I was really hoping that I could apply but now the program has ended. What do I do until 2014? This is not fair.
ReplyDeleteDoes the state in which you live have an "insurer of last resort" or a guaranteed issue health insurance? Some states have this.
ReplyDelete