Administration said to ponder insurance extension

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By TOM MURPHY

The Obama administration is considering an extension of the president's decision to let people keep their individual insurance policies even if they are not compliant with the health care overhaul, industry and government officials said Thursday.

Avalere Health CEO Dan Mendelson said Thursday that the administration may let policyholders keep that coverage for as long as an additional three years, stressing that no decision has been made. Policymakers are waiting to see what rate hikes health insurers plan for the insurance exchanges that are key to the overhaul's coverage expansions.

"The administration is entertaining a range of options to ensure that this individual market has stability to it, and that would be one thing that they could do," he said.

Avalere Health is a consulting firm, but Mendelson said his company was not advising the administration on exchange policy. He said he has had informal discussions with administration officials about the extension, but he didn't identify them.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140207/DABQ24UG0.html

[Bill USA]

1. No Government support to pay hospital bills for these people their insurers won't pay for!

I don't want to pay taxes to pay for their bills their insurers won't pay for.

[PSPS]

2. Yes, Obama really blew it as far as the individual market goes.

Everyone I know who is in the individual market like I am is very unhappy. My "new policy" provides less coverage of what I ever use or will use, yet the premiums are double.

[DebJ]

3. But won't this delay just keep premiums higher?

"Now the administration is considering adding more time to the extension to avoid another wave of problems if rates on the exchanges climb too high and people are left without affordable coverage. "

And they aren't getting coverage from these crap policies. The medical providers gain from them because
through the insurance they can recap what otherwise would be complete loss in a catastrophic situation,
but those with these policies can't use the health care unless forced into a catastrophic situation because
the health insurance doesn't have the preventive coverage etc.

[Lamonte]

4. Affordable care problems

The biggest mistake is not making this mandatory as our Social Security taxes are. If I were a young person I would never join while young and healthy. If it was mandatory and no need for the private sector it would be better and quite possibly cheaper because we would not be wasting money paying the private sector companies. Conservatives want the private sector getting a portion of the money. Health care should not be a service that allows profits to be made off the sick.