My must read of the day is "A troubling ‘fix’ for Obamacare," in the Washington Post:
That will require fixing the Web site. HealthCare.gov was supposed to be the public’s primary interface with a reorganized insurance industry, where millions would shop for coverage, view bottom-line prices and enroll in plans easily. Phone and mail-in enrollment options can augment but cannot substitute. Reform depends on healthy people signing up and paying into the system. As the president signaled, the administration must get the site right.
Mr. Obama’s big announcement Thursday, though, was a "fix" to the Affordable Care Act meant to redeem his promise that "if you like your health-care plan, you can keep it." Unfortunately, it was his promise that was wrong, not the design of the law. At best, his proposed fix will have little impact except to let him shift the blame; at worst, it will undermine reform.
The president offered relief to the sliver of Americans whose policies were canceled in recent weeks. Though their plans did not comply with the quality standards properly set by the law, and though many of them will be due generous subsidies to buy better plans next year, some of the affected people were going to have to pay more in the new system. Anger and confusion over these cancellations became a problem for the Democrats. So Mr. Obama said the government will allow insurance companies to offer non-compliant plans to current customers for another year.
That doesn’t mean everyone affected will be able to keep his policy. Some state governments will say no. Some insurance companies will be unable or unwilling to execute a U-turn at this late date, even if state regulators let them try. The president’s fix, then, would merely ease the pressure Democrats are feeling and shift blame onto state and insurance-company officials.
The rationales provided for why it doesn’t matter that plans were canceled is the problem with this entire debate. Supporters of Obamacare don't understand, or care, what people are upset about.
There's an amazing disconnect between many Democrats and their constituents. The frustration isn't over wanting a crappy plan. It's about the lie. It's about someone telling you they know what’s best for you—without asking your consent.
At the end of the day, health care is more than just a policy. A lot of factors go into why someone chooses a specific plan. The inability of so many on the left to recognize that is astounding. But the Post is right about one thing: The president’s latest proposal isn’t a fix—and it could undermine the law.
First, his proposal is by and large political fluff (and the same can and should be said for the Democratic and Republican proposals).
Many of the lost plans no longer exist. Some insurance companies have left states. How are they going to reinstate plans when they aren’t even operating in a given location? Moreover, there is nothing to require insurers to bring back those plans or keep offering the ones that are about to be cancelled. What’s the incentive for companies to comply? It would be more costly and more of a hassle to bring these plans back. No competent business is going to do that.
There are only so many uninsured individuals. Within that group the law needs all the healthy people it can get in order to pay for the sick. If you had cheap plan in the individual market, odds are you are relatively healthy. Obamacare needed you, and it still does. And if you don’t head to the exchanges, Obamacare’s problems are just beginning.