The Glade 4.0

Democrats think they know how to run the insurance industry better than the insurance industry, and they're getting the chance to prove it under ObamaCare. Consider the early returns on its plan to insure Americans denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

To judge by President Obama's rhetoric, the insurance industry's victims have been wandering the country like Okies in "The Grapes of Wrath." Thus ObamaCare gave the Health and Human Services Department the power to design and sell its own insurance policies. The $5 billion program started in July and runs through 2014, when ObamaCare's broader regulations kick in.

Mr. Obama declared at the time that "uninsured Americans who've been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they'll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care—some for the very first time in their lives."

So far that statement accurately describes a single person in North Dakota. Literally, one person has signed up out of 647,000 state residents. Four people have enrolled in West Virginia. Things are better in Minnesota, where Mr. Obama has rescued 15 out of 5.2 million, and also in Indiana—63 people there. HHS did best among the 24.7 million Texans. Thanks to ObamaCare, 393 of them are now insured.

States had the option of designing their own pre-existing condition insurance with federal dollars in lieu of the HHS plan, and 27 chose to do so. But they haven't had much more success. Combined federal-state enrollment is merely 8,011 nationwide as of November 1, according to HHS.

This isn't what HHS promised in July, when it estimated it would be insuring 375,000 people by now, and as many as 400,000 more every year. HHS even warned that it would bill private carriers for any claims if HHS decided that they had cancelled coverage to dump costs on the government. That outcome would certainly be in keeping with Mr. Obama's caricature of rampant discrimination against the sick.

Yet that hasn't happened. The HHS plan has flopped despite generous benefits and taxpayer subsidies that offset at least 65% of the total cost, sometimes more. Coverage is issued to anyone who has been turned away by even one insurance company or has been uninsured for longer than six months, and premiums vary only by age, not health status. In essence, HHS created a program that is designed to operate at a loss and still can't lure the customers it thought would come streaming its way.

That so few have grabbed this lifeline suggests that the reality of pre-existing conditions isn't nearly as grim as the President continues to claim. A shelf of academic research says the same thing, by the way.

But HHS won't take this for an answer, so this week it said it will cut premiums by 20% and expand benefits for this program in 2011 to encourage more people to enroll. In other words, HHS plans to make its cut-rate insurance even cheaper (and thus more expensive for taxpayers) so it can avoid having to admit that the President's claims about a nation of the indigent sick denied insurance were false. This wouldn't be the first time that one government failure begat another.

Pre-existing conditions sometimes do lead to genuine hardships, and polls show that voters are worried about the relatively rare horror stories. More modest fixes could bring more stability to the individual market, while Republicans support a boost in funding for the high-risk pools that 35 states offer as a safety net. The government didn't need to annex a sixth of the economy and create a multitrillion-dollar entitlement to help 8,011 people.

I'm sure you are aware that the post has some serious bias and misleading information.

Such as?

In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin

Such as?

/sigh. No problem, I can provide examples, give me a few. But first, can I assume, then, that you find the post above to be free of bias and, to the best of your knowledge, perfectly accurate?

Democrats think they know how to run the insurance industry better than the insurance industry

ObamaCare

To judge by President Obama's rhetoric, the insurance industry's victims have been wandering the country like Okies in "The Grapes of Wrath."

ObamaCare

ObamaCare's

ObamaCare

A shelf of academic research says the same thing, by the way.

President's claims about a nation of the indigent sick denied insurance

This wouldn't be the first time that one government failure begat another.

annex a sixth of the economy

The government didn't need to annex a sixth of the economy and create a multitrillion-dollar entitlement to help 8,011 people.

Edit: I do have to say I find it surprising you have to dig though, as the nature of your post seemed to indicate that these biases and misleading pieces of information were self-evident, given your prompt response.

The opportunity to acquire health care is not available, but there isn't any mention of the cost.

Going from "not available" to "prohibitively expensive" won't increase the rolls. 65% = what?

Here's a no-brainer: Charge lower rates for health insurance and more people will buy it.

That's one of the lessons gleaned from early enrollment figures in the new federally subsidized program for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions. These high-risk pools, established under the health law, began signing up enrollees in August and September.

As of Nov. 1, Pennsylvania has enrolled 1,657 people — 1,000 more than any other state, according to figures released Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Keystone state charges a $283 monthly premium — one of the lowest rates in the country. Pennsylvania is also the only state to charge the same rate regardless of age. Other states have higher rates for older people.


"Making it a little more affordable was in the thought process for us," said Melissa Fox, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.

Premiums vary in the program nationally to reflect partially differences in medical costs nationwide. Missouri, for example, has one of the highest monthly premiums – ranging from $423 to $972 a month. Only 101 Missouri residents have enrolled.

Many states were worried about not being able to meet the demand for coverage with limited federal funding. So 23 states and the District of Columbia opted to have HHS run the plan for them. HHS officials announced today that they will lower premiums by about 20 percent in 2011 and offer different cost/benefit options. HHS asked the other states to consider lowering their rates as well.

“We expect enrollment to grow and escalate,” said Richard Popper, director for the Office of Insurance Programs in HHS’ Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

“There’s no question that lower prices make some difference,” said Michael Keough, executive director of the North Carolina Health Insurance Risk Pool. North Carolina, where rates start at $183 a month, has enrolled 513 people, tied with California for fourth highest in the nation.

Overall, the new federal Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan has attracted far fewer uninsured people than anyone expected. About 8,000 people have enrolled nationally even though the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that as many as 4 million uninsured Americans would be eligible and that 200,000 would be enrolled by 2013.

To be eligible for the new program, you must have been uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing condition. Most states require applicants to show proof that they've been rejected for coverage by a private insurer within the past six months or been denied coverage for certain benefits.

The federal government is subsidizing the program with $5 billion until 2014 when the program ends. At that time insurers will no longer be able to discriminate based on a person's health status.

the people that have been denied coverage are obviously very sick

No.

You can also be denied coverage for relatively minor complications that don't develop into more serious issues.

For example, the degree of issues with something such as spina bifida can range from severe to almost nothing. Yet, that simple diagnosis on the medical charts is sufficient to qualify for pre-existing conditions and impact ability to obtain life insurance and health insurance.

So, there is nothing "obvious" about it, nor does being denied coverage mean that someone is "very sick".

Misleading/inaccurate statement. They've said no such thing. Attempt to bias the reader.



Bias. That is not the name of the bill. Misleading/inaccurate statement.



Bias.



Bias. That is not the name of the bill. Misleading/inaccurate statement.



Bias. That is not the name of the bill. Misleading/inaccurate statement.



Bias. That is not the name of the bill. Misleading/inaccurate statement.



Neither obviously inaccurate nor biased, but unsubstantiated and unreferenced. Suspect.



Bias, and if I may say so, laying it on a little thick.



Bias. If he were reporting facts, rather than trying to convey an opinion, this statement would have no place.





Misleading and inaccurate. This is not the goal of the entire bill. It is a component of it. In fact, according to whomever wrote this article, this portion of the bill is worth $5 billion. This is not 1/6 of the economy.

Obamacare is accepted verbiage for this bill

Facism is not a school of thought, it is a racial slur.

NPR calls it Obamacare all the time.

Obamacare is accepted verbiage for this bill, the initial statement is a clear inference from the stated intentions of the bill, and "suspect" items being discounted is itself suspect without evidence.