Will Obamacare succeed where term limits failed?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Unlike many fellow conservatives, I've long applied Hanlon's Razor to my view of the insurance death spiral. But eventually, you do begin to wonder...

EDIT: Is Obama's new plan even feasible? Insurance companies purged those plans and created new ones that are Obamacare complaint. I imagine there was no small amount of administrative work in that transition. What's involved in bringing those plans back from the trash heap before year-end? Also, there are some pretty big financial dis-incentives for insurance companies to even do so.

Obama has set them up to fail whether or not they try to renew the cancelled plans. If the manage to renew them, they invite financial ruin. If they don't, they become scapegoats.

Most of the policies have not been cancelled, they usually cycle with the calendar year as an automatic renewal and the companies are simply not renewing. Should be pretty seamless IF the appropriate legislation or executive order (not sure if such could be done Constitutionally, not that the current government always observes that old rag anyway) is promulgated before Christmas then the companies will not have dumped the policies -- but every day longer makes the process more annoying to the consumer because January payments often fall due in December.

[Xiahou]

Most of the policies have not been cancelled, they usually cycle with the calendar year as an automatic renewal and the companies are simply not renewing. Should be pretty seamless IF the appropriate legislation or executive order (not sure if such could be done Constitutionally, not that the current government always observes that old rag anyway) is promulgated before Christmas then the companies will not have dumped the policies -- but every day longer makes the process more annoying to the consumer because January payments often fall due in December.

From the WaPo...

The White House’s Obamacare fix is about to create a big mess

Here's how Robert Laszewksi, an insurance consultant, put it in a note to clients earlier this morning:

This means that the insurance companies have 32 days to reprogram their computer systems for policies, rates, and eligibility, send notices to the policyholders via US Mail, send a very complex letter that describes just what the differences are between specific policies and Obamacare compliant plans, ask the consumer for their decision — and give them a reasonable time to make that decision — and then enter those decisions back into their systems without creating massive billing, claim payment, and provider eligibility list mistakes.


All by January 1.

I don't think it's going to be seamless at all.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

From the WaPo...

The White House’s Obamacare fix is about to create a big mess


I don't think it's going to be seamless at all.

You will note that I did capitalize the "if."

Just listening to the Reems show on NPR. Heard my first dem political/policy wonk analyst acknowledge the possibility of the word "implosion" being an outcome for the ACA.

[Xiahou]

Just listening to the Reems show on NPR. Heard my first dem political/policy wonk analyst acknowledge the possibility of the word "implosion" being an outcome for the ACA.

I've got to admit that even I'm surprised with how catastrophically the law is failing so far. I knew it was going to be bad.... but man.

Did anyone catch any of Obama's apology speech yesterday? This bit left me practically dumbfounded...

One thing that we’ve discovered, though, that I think is — is worth noting, a lot of focus has been on the website and the technology, and that’s partly because that’s how we initially identified it; you know, these are glitches. What we’re discovering is that part of the problem has been technology, hardware and software, and that’s being upgraded. But even if we get the — the hardware and software working exactly the way it’s supposed to with relatively minor glitches, what we’re also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy. And another mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of costs and lot of different benefits and plans and — and somehow expecting that that would be very smooth, and then they’ve also got to try to apply for tax credits on the website.

He just figured that out? Seriously? These are the people that wrote the law and oversaw the creation of the website and exchanges..... and they've just now discovered that insurance is complicated????
Inexcusable. Resign. Now.

[Husar]

Thanks Xiahou, for not losing your humor in all this.

[Greyblades]

Inexcusable. Resign. Now.

Oh give it a rest, if a president doesn't have to resign over getting tens of thousands of people killed pursuing the agendas of oil companies the next one isn't going to resign over an insurance website's teething troubles.

Seriously, you kicked out a guy for getting a blowjob despite being the best peace time president in the last 30 years yet you don't so much as blink when the next guy bankrupt's the country and plunges you into hellish wars, what the hell?

[Xiahou]

Seriously, you kicked out a guy for getting a blowjob despite being the best peace time president in the last 30 years yet you don't so much as blink when the next guy bankrupt's the country and plunges you into hellish wars, what the hell?

No, we didn't- but continue your uninformed ranting.
Yes, "teething problems"- that's the only problem with the law. I see you've taken my "Why follow the news?" thread to heart.