socialist medicine/health insurance

[kyotousa]

I didn't read the changes...Are we enforcing a flat premium base on ages? Why wouldn't they need more actuary when more people are getting insurance?

I would have thought obamacare would smoothen the variance and it's a benefit to insurance companies

[campbell]

Originally Posted by kyotousa

I didn't read the changes...Are we enforcing a flat premium base on ages? Why wouldn't they need more actuary when more people are getting insurance?

I would have thought obamacare would smoothen the variance and it's a benefit to insurance companies

I guess you didn't hear. It needs to be implemented so you know what's in it.

[kyotousa]

Originally Posted by campbell

I guess you didn't hear. It needs to be implemented so you know what's in it.

oh so the detail is not set yet? ic

[FormLetter]

Some details are known. Others are not. This is to be expected with a 2000 page law.

[FormLetter]

Originally Posted by captain_epsilon

Well I don't know what to expect so that's the reason why I created this thread, but what you wrote makes sense to me because these co-ops will probably be funded by the Government to create artificially low premiums that private insurance can't compete with until the Government just outright create a public option and eliminate private health insurance all together.

Still, however, political news articles have indicated that insurance companies lobbied for obamacare because, per those news sources, the individual mandate forces everybody to buy insurance so if insurance companies did in fact lobby then somebody has to be getting paid somewhere in the insurance industry. Did they lobby because of limited vision and failure to recognize the Government would eventually squeeze private insurance out of existence?

If you are actually referring to the CO-OPs in PPACA (and I suspect you aren't given what you have posted thus far as it reflects your understanding of contents of the law), then you are generally misunderstanding the CO-OPs. Refer to the law and the related HHS regulations.

[captain_epsilon]

Originally Posted by FormLetter

If you are actually referring to the CO-OPs in PPACA (and I suspect you aren't given what you have posted thus far as it reflects your understanding of contents of the law), then you are generally misunderstanding the CO-OPs. Refer to the law and the related HHS regulations.

I'm not reading this massive monstrosity of a 2000+ page bill but I did find some relevant portions starting on page 168 >> http://democrats.senate.gov/pdfs/ref...e-care-act.pdf

On page 178, there is a limitation imposed on the secretary which, apparently, assuming my interpretation of this is correct, denies him or her from imposing a price structure on a state CO-OP as follows:

"(B) establish or maintain a price structure for reimbursement of any health benefits covered by such issuers."

However it also sets up an advisory board which selects which groups to approve in each of the states to issue the health insurance program and because anyone can apply, statist liberal special interest groups could be the only ones meeting the advisory board's approval. Also, all of the state run co-op programs are exempt from taxes so that they will be given an unfair advantage over taxed private insurance companies.

[Brad Gile]

Originally Posted by captain_epsilon

i would guess they won't last long relative to the span of an entire career. none of this will impact life insurance, will it?

Life should be safe.
But I am not saying the bad stuff in health will happen, because I strongly believe that there is a reasonable chance that Romney will be President and Republicans can get the majority in the Senate. If that happens, Obamacare will die, and a reasonable alternative can be developed. If that does happen, my bleak predictions also die.

[Brad Gile]

Originally Posted by FormLetter

Some details are known. Others are not. This is to be expected with a 2000 page law.

But 2,000 page laws are (1) rare and (2) when they exist usually are that way to hide nifty gems and gotchas designed to make "the right folks" rich, including labor unions.

HillaryCare was big, but way less than 2,000 pages. Yes, I read the whole damn thing some 20 years ago - I was the "lucky" guy to deal with it in my company. I can't imagine handling ObamaCare.

[captain_epsilon]

Originally Posted by Brad Gile

Life should be safe.
But I am not saying the bad stuff in health will happen, because I strongly believe that there is a reasonable chance that Romney will be President and Republicans can get the majority in the Senate. If that happens, Obamacare will die, and a reasonable alternative can be developed. If that does happen, my bleak predictions also die.

man i hope you're right because really who are we kidding? the dollar's gonna collapse in the next presidential term if obama gets another 4 and all of these new taxes remain intact. doctors are gonna quit, small businesses are gonna go under, and the middle class will be forced to spend their meager excess on premiums so that all of the crack addict knuckle-draggers lumbering through the streets of the ghettos can go to the doctor and return to contributing nothing to the economy again. these are going to be dark days ahead.

[Wigmeister General]

Here's the end-game:

- Large health insurers will transform themselves into TPAs for the government.
- Small health insurers will barely exist, and only to serve niche markets that might arise.