Ludicrous and Deadly

Monday, November 04, 2013

The Pandora's box that Nancy Pelosi famously urged us to open has no shortage of nasty surprises. For example, one of the more ludicrous consequences of the "Affordable" "Care" Act, according to Edie Sundby, is the following:

Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines [That was bad enough. -- ed]; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines.
Sadly for Sundby, who is fighting cancer, and potentially anyone else, this stupid law has deadly consequences. In her case, this has meant the loss of her insurance policy and, with that, access to the medical team that had been treating her so successfully:
My choice is to get coverage through the government health exchange and lose access to my cancer doctors, or pay much more for insurance outside the exchange (the quotes average 40% to 50% more) for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar insurance company and impaired benefits.
One can only hope her final paragraph moves some official or pull-peddler to save her life, but it should also serve as a warning to everyone else:
For a cancer patient, medical coverage is a matter of life and death. Take away people's ability to control their medical-coverage choices and they may die. I guess that's a highly effective way to control medical costs. Perhaps that's the point.
There are no "winners" in a set-up like this -- not when what should be a straightforward personal decision becomes a scamper through a man-made maze, punctuated by pleas for release.

Such a system cannot be reformed. It must be repealed.

-- CAV

4 comments:

Vigilis said...

More ludicrous than most ever imagined:

Wednesday May 25, 2011 Statement by Steven B. Larsen J.D., Deputy Administrator and Director
Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services on
"Expanding Health Care Options: Allowing Americans To Purchase Affordable Coverage Across State Lines"
before Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Health United States House of Representatives

Excerpt:
"The Affordable Care Act allows health care to be sold across State lines when both States agree and consumer protections are maintained."

For contrast:

"Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines: AnAssessment of State Laws and Implications for
Improving Choice and Affordability of Coverage" By Sabrina Corlette, Christine Monahan, Katie Keith and Kevin Lucia, The Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Goergetown University Health Policy Institute

"Key Findings

To date, although all states have long had the authority to do so, only six have enacted across state lines legislation."

Practical barriers and administrative obstacles also hinder success. Many state regulators are reluctant
to relinquish some or all authority to enforce state standards by taking the risk of allowing another state to establish and enforce consumer protections that affect their residents.

Conclusion (excerpt): "The proposals also underestimate the administrative hurdles necessary for full implementation. As a result, none of the across state lines laws resulted in a single insurer entering the
market or the sale of a single new insurance product."

Gus Van Horn said...

Aside from a sizeable part of the voting public wanting a free lunch, this just about says it all:

"Many ... regulators are reluctant
to relinquish some or all authority to enforce state standards by taking the risk of allowing another state to establish and enforce consumer protections that affect their residents.
"

Anonymous said...

GVH wrote;

Such a system cannot be reformed. It must be repealed.


I think we should take a leaf out of Cato the Elder's speech book, "Obamacare delenda est."

Maybe we could get Ted Cruz or Mike Lee to append that to every speech they make in the Senate.

Gus Van Horn said...

I like that!