Several Media reports (here is a link to Politico) are claiming the House is nearing a compromise over the House Health Care Plan.
The answer has been to essentially remove things that health insurance must cover. Remember: one part of the ACA was the specification of what insurance must cover.
I have long thought the way out of the mess is for the GOP to limit those requirements. This would allow for cheaper coverage since the insurance would be much worse than available under Obamacare.
The game is that no one notices. It is worth remembering that most people do not get their coverage in the insurance markets. As a result changes to the minimum benefit package would not be as visible as changes to the cost or the number covered.
This appears to be what the House is doing. And consider the list of things insurance will no longer be required to cover:
Things GOP may strip from reqd health ins benefits incl extravagances like ambulances, ER, hospitalization, RX, lab svcs, babies & ped care pic.twitter.com/Ytcip70Xek
— Dan Eggen (@DanEggenWPost) March 23, 2017
This would be a return to junk insurance. It is hard to describe how cynical the removal of the minimum benefit package is. There are two problems:
- There is a procedural issue with including this in reconciliation.
- Some Senators will likely revolt.
But in the short term, it may mean it passes the House.
Junk insurance that people are forced to buy. The Financial sector’s dream come true. I wonder if Goldman-Sachs will start to bundle policies and sell derivatives on them.
Indeed.
So back to the crap-shoot of whether something is covered or not, and the the excluded never seem to make any medical sense. No drugs? Why cover scheduled office visits but not ambulatory care or emergencies? How is this understandable except through the insurance company profit lines?
Kind of comic to return to the Medieval era of excluded mental health coverage, especially in a nation of barbarians awash in a sea of automatic weapons. Ladies, if your man owns any thing other than a hunting rifle, or owns a basement armory, be very, very worried–you (and the kids) are the most likely target of any spousal/boyfriend armed insanity that happens to crop up over time.
A return to unregulated insurance will likely cause some decline in premiums, of course, but it’s hard to believe it will be all that substantial if the prohibition on benefit caps is retained. Also, employer plans will also deteriorate over time as all plans sink to level of the cheaper cost junk plans.
The big advance for “conservative” whites here is the destruction of Medicaid for (undeserving) poors, while retaining nice fat gub’mint welfare subsidies for the “middle class” (meaning white people). So it’s a Grand Old Day in Ryan’s House of Whiteness! A glorious return to Gub’mint by Race, haha. This is precisely what the incompetent white electorate voted for so, they will be ecstatic when it is all explained to them (via “conservative” email chain).
If something passes in the House, then we can absolutely expect the senate to pass something as well, to “protect” Der Trumper’s presidency. Then on to the massive tax cuts for plutoc…er, workin’ Americans!
Don’t think McConnell OR Ryan are that interested in covering Trump’s butt. I think those pros would much rather see fellow pro Pence in that seat. They know what kind of nutcase he is — their kind!
Not so sure about the Senate. the Insurance companies are not that keen on losing the mandate. it’s not the expensive cancer patients that are going to opt out. it’s the healthy young profitable people that are going to drop out.