Should Health Insurance Companies be bailed out?

It has been discovered that hidden in Obamacare is a provision, actually two, that provide for a bailout of the health insurance companies when as is expected now the younger people do not sign up in numbers that will provide the premiums needed to cover all the people who do not pay the higher premiums and the payouts from all the new enrollees put them in default. Approx. 3/4 of their losses will be paid for with a taxpayer bailout.

Do you support this corporate bailout Obama built into his health plan? There is legislation being introduced to repeal the two provisions that fund this corporate bailout, do you support that legislation?

Let's see if the Obama supports will chime in here.

 

I don't support bailing out health insurance companies; I know we must have prepaid universal single payer health care.

 

No one actually expects that to happen, who bases their opinions on reality.
In Massachusetts, young people waited until the end to sign up, but they did.
They still have til March, when they'll sign up in huge numbers, as expected.

 

I would characterize this as wishful thinking.

To imagine that young, healthy individuals will sign up in massive numbers over the next two-and-a-half months (when they could instead spend their limited resources upon something more entertaining)--and that they will, moreover, enter largely into commercial insurance companies' plans (as opposed to Medicaid)--is simply not realistic, in my opinion.

But let us just wait and see...

 

It can't really be helped. What are we going to do, let Obama and Obamacare deliberately destroy the nation's private health industry?

 

So it's not realistic to expect what happened in Massachusetts to happen in the other states?
Why?
I understand that's your opinion, but the health actuaries have a different opinion, and it's their business to know...

 

CBS reporting this morning only 24% of sign ups in the target range which needs to be over 40%. And those just sign up not paid. Obama is still refusing to release numbers on how many paid and how many didn't have insurance before. Oh and remember first it was Dec. first and they'd come running and then Dec. 31and they'd come running and they didn't come running. So your hope base little substance to it.

 

Good to see, for once, Obama is thinking of the people he is messing with.

Expecting a possible failure, and preparing for it.

 

The subsidy to the private insurance cartel, if needed, would still be far less than the $250 billion annual taxpayer subsidy that now sustains everyone covered through employer-administered plans.

Obviously, reducing the intrusion of the superfluous middle-man privateers and eliminating their sizable cut as much as possible whilst achieving universal coverage is the most economically sensible approach - as is being amply demonstrated by advanced, first-world nations many times over. The larger the risk pool, the greater the distribution of risk, and the more uniformity in administration, the lesser the overhead: sound actuarial and accountancy principles.

Of course, Americans should be free to foot the bill for private de luxe coverage as well if that is their wont and they have the wherewithal - with no taxpayer subsidies, of course.

Pragmatism is demanded, not an ideological credo.

 

true, some will be early adopters, but the majority will wait for the early adopters to get the bugs worked out

 

Like most people, they will wait until the last minute, upon realizing they really do have no choice, and will actually pay fines... or taxes.

Whatever him and the SCOTUS have decided to call it these days.

 

In order to provide high quality health care for America's 40 million, morbidly obese poor people, President Obama will have no choice but to generously subsidize health insurance companies.

Why are poor people so fat?

 

Because Food Stamps allow them to buy more chips, meatloafs and half-sheet cakes than ever before.
They should be rewarded for making healthy choices for themselves and their children... but they aren't.




People were thinner when they had to actually stand in line for their welfare checks.

 

cause sadly healthy food costs more....

 

What subsidy? Employers don't get a subsidy for health insurance premiums.

And the intrusion of superfluous government workers is working out how so far?

And replacing it with $600,000 million dollar tabs for a website and overpaid government workers is better because......

Oh like Canada which is moving more and more away from the unaffordable and unworkable government health care towards more private health care.

As long as those in the risk pool are paying for their coverage. When they don't the death spiral.

- - - Updated - - -

Not necessarily, preprocessed packaged food and junk foods cost more.

 

So to all who have voted not to support the repeal of these provisions. How do you expect to pay for it? And across the board income tax increase? Even higher premiums on existing policies? A special withholding on all paychecks like Medicare?

 

... and tastes like cuacha!

When asked by a reporter in Peru why they wanted to come to America, the peasants chorused "I want to live in a country where everyone is fat."

 

Massachusetts is a blue state and the law was not really a contentious political issue there, since it was brought by a Republican governor. Young people in red states will never sign up for Obamacare the way that people from Massachusetts signed up for Romneycare.

Even if they did, the one graph that I've seen never showed that young enrollees in Massachusetts actually reached 40% at any point.

 

I have already noted why, in post #4 in this thread (which you have quoted).

But if you truly believe that young, healthy Americans will sign up in massive numbers at the last moment--and not for Medicaid either, but for private healthcare-insurance plans under ObamaCare--you may keep believing it, if you wish. We should know for certain within about two-and-a-half more months...

 

I'm juswt saying that an American state implemented the individual mandate 6 years ago, and young people waited till the end of the signup period, but then most of them signed up.
Why wouldn't that happen in 47 other states?
Hawaii already has an employer mandate and Vermont is going single payer.

 

I cannot speak to Massachusetts' experience; I can only suggest that there is very little reason to suppose that very many young, healthy Americans--most of whom are not wealthy--would prefer to spend their limited resources upon healthcare insurance than upon something more pleasurable.

If I turn out to be mistaken, you can do your nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah thing at the end of March.

If you turn out to be mistaken, I would hope that you will admit it, rather than attempting to blame Those Evil Republicans for the failure...

 

I'm just saying that there is data, this isn't the first time ever, and it's always worked before.

 

How can I put this simply...? NO company deserves to be "bailed out"!

Idiot Bush and Idiot Obama both bailed out and rescued lots of them, and it never should have happened! You can search the Constitution of the United States from from the first word to the last word and you will not find any justification whatsoever for the Federal Government to interfere with and deliberately manipulate a free-market economy -- PERIOD!

 

It was a phased in signup not like Obamacare, apples and oranges. They have already had to delay the end of enrollment period because they can't get enough to sign up and they are lying when they say they cannot tell how many have signed up and how many have actually paid for a policy.

 

They are exactly the same, and exactly the same thing is going to happen...you're going to be wrong again...