There is a change coming in the insurance markets, but they will still be there. Depending upon how the exchanges are ultimately set up, and work out, it may be a case that the health care providers get into the game a bit. There will be plenty of corporations interested in making 15% profit, and even more that will be interested in 15% of a market that is estimated to grow at 7% per year. It won't be what we've known, but they won't be gone.

It's a desperate last gasp to save a corrupt and vile industry. I really really really hope the supreme court throws it out with extreme prejudice! There is no justification for propping up these immoral corporate blood sucking shitheels.

...the first time they try to use it. What they want is the simple ability to see a doctor when they get sick or injured, and to receive care until they've recovered. It's bogus to suggest that this means they "want (insurance) coverage." They want access to affordable health care. Period.

The insurance companies have largely CAUSED the access problem by insisting that it be coupled to their institutional investors' profits and their executives' compensation. Insurance corporations are not the solution to the problem-- they're its cause. No solution that mandates their increased or continued profitability is sufficient, IMO. They need to be cut out of the picture entirely.

"no, what most of those people want is affordable access to health care that won't be denied..."

...most people aren't going to get that if they "get coverage through either a state or federal government-run plan or a local nonprofit company"?

The mandate doesn't kick in until the exchanges are up and running. The trend Potter is describing is already underway, and Ungar's point is key.

and quite a profitable life support with mandated subscribers and a key to the treasury to get what they can't squeeze out of poor and working folks for a generation, at least.

The cartel has been propped up and is on the most sustainable trajectory it has enjoyed in many years, the migration of the baby boomers to Medicare along with a model the increasingly priced more and more people out was a collision course with suicide but they have been thrown a super powered life preserver and long term may be able to finagle a scam that let's them capture more and more of that senior business, if they can socialize the downside by getting huge subsidies and/or leaving a shell of Medicare that takes on catastrophic costs.

this month because they went up $100 a month AGAIN. In 6 months I'll try applying for a government plan of some kind.

I just can't afford it but it's scary to not have it.

If we had all the money we socked into insurance policies in our lifetime, we would have substantial savings.

millions of new customers. In part because of the industry’s support, Potter expects the ACA to be upheld by the “very political” U.S. Supreme Court, despite challenges from conservative Republicans and business groups that have questioned its constitutionality."

Potter told a coalition of liberal-leaning advocacy groups and policy organizations on Wednesday that supporters of the Affordable Care Act must be well informed and speak with one voice in defending it against powerful groups that seek to overturn it or undo the key consumer protections it contains.

The ACA “is far from perfect but it is a strong start and already making improvements in the lives of Americans,” Potter said, speaking to the first formal meeting of a group known as the Health Care for Maine Alliance. The group met at the Maple Hill Farm conference center in Hallowell.

For example, Potter said insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover children with pre-existing medical conditions, small businesses get new tax breaks for offering coverage to their workers, young adults can stay on their parents’ policies until they turn 26, and the infamous “donut hole” coverage gap in the Medicare Part D prescription gap is closing.

In 2014, health insurance market places known as “exchanges” will help consumers choose affordable coverage that works for them, just in time to comply with the ACA’s “individual mandate” that requires most Americans to have health coverage or pay a penalty.http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/05/health/insurance-whistle-blower-potter-speaks-in-support-of-obama-health-reforms/