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Omaha Steve

(99,660 posts) Wed Mar 5, 2014, 01:54 PM Mar 2014

2-year extension seen for canceled health plans

Source: AP-EXCITE

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration will allow a two-year extension for people whose individual health insurance policies don't comply with requirements of the new health care law, helping to defuse a politically difficult election-year issue for Democrats.

A government official familiar with the policy said Wednesday that the administration has decided to extend for another two years a transition plan that the White House announced last fall. The extension would be valid for policies issued up to Oct. 1, 2016. The official was not authorized to discuss the change on the record and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The cancellation of at least 4.7 million individual policies was one of the most politically damaging issues in the transition to a new insurance system under President Barack Obama's health care law. A wave of cancellations hit last fall, around the time that the new HealthCare.gov website was overwhelmed with technical problems that kept many consumers for signing up for coverage.

It's not clear how many people would actually be affected by the latest change. About half the states have allowed insurance companies to extend cancelled policies for a year under the original White House transition plan. The policies usually provided less financial protection and narrower benefits than the coverage required under the law. Nonetheless, the skimpier insurance was acceptable to many consumers because it generally cost less.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140305/DACBLK700.html

6 replies

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Highlight:

2-year extension seen for canceled health plans (Original Post) Omaha Steve Mar 2014 OP

Obama is a dictator!!!! Swede Atlanta Mar 2014 #1

Junk insurance policies live another day bluestateguy Mar 2014 #2

Kick n/t Tx4obama Mar 2014 #3

k&r nt steve2470 Mar 2014 #4

this is getting tiresome...nt quadrature Mar 2014 #5

I think that if you like your health insurance, you should be able to keep it. Pterodactyl Mar 2014 #6

Swede Atlanta

(3,596 posts)

1. Obama is a dictator!!!!

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Wed Mar 5, 2014, 01:59 PM

Mar 2014

That will be the response from the right.

The ACA is completely wrong and must be repealed immediately! Obama is a dictator - changing laws by executive fiat! How can he make all these changes without getting Congress' permission?

Actually the enabling legislation in the ACA gives the Executive fairly broad powers to tweak certain aspects of the law. I haven't look closely but this must include as well modifying compliance dates, etc.

But this is exactly what I would have expected with any legislation of this magnitude. Congress could not have foreseen every possible scenario. Flexibility in implementation is key to achieving the legislation's objectives.

bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)

2. Junk insurance policies live another day

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Wed Mar 5, 2014, 02:43 PM

Mar 2014

That better be the last extension.

When these people with junk insurance have major medical costs, and 80%-90% of their bills go unpaid, it affects everybody else.

Some of these junk insurance plans are held by folks who can afford nothing else, but subsidies and tax credits are available to usually make a Bronze Obamacare policy a better deal for them all around.

And some junk insurance policies are held by folks who just philosophically don't like Obama and would actually rather get sick and die uninsured rather than get his filthy Obamacare.

And some of these folks are arrogant young people who think they will never get sick, or they are misinformed and think that their insurance will cover most of their expenses.