“President Obama lied, has been dishonest, is intentionally misleading the American people.”
These are the personal attacks Republicans are now throwing at the President over Obamacare. It’s nothing new, of course, but it is no less disgusting.
It is also why some of us who support Obamacare are reluctant to talk about problems with it that need fixing. Not just the website, but the program itself. We don’t want to say anything Republicans can use to undermine it.
But problems do exist, especially one I discussed in my last Blog that has gotten a lot of news coverage this past week. It has to do with people whose old policies are being cancelled because they don’t meet Obamacare guidelines. As I said last time, new policies taking the place of old ones are offering people better coverage at cheaper rates or at least rates comparable to what they were paying.
But, as I have learned, not everyone. There are in fact some people who face paying huge increases in premiums for a policy similar to the one they had. Because they do not qualify for subsidies, if they cannot afford the high cost of a new policy they must risk going without insurance and pay the penalty.
A close friend who supports Obamacare is in this very situation. After my last Blog she wrote to tell me that she is facing a $350 monthly premium increase.
That’s a high price to pay for a program that benefits other people. Too high, in fact. But it can be fixed. I’m no expert on this, and I understand that there are multiple factors creating this problem, but here is why I believe it is a fixable problem.
When the Department of Health and Human Services wrote the regulations for implementing Obamacare, they disqualified existing policies from being grandfathered in if the slightest change was made in them, such as a rate increase or change in benefits. As a result companies are cancelling them. This is not the only reason policies are being cancelled, but it is one of them.
What if Health and Human Services relaxed some of the new regulations regarding grandfathered policies? What if changes could be made in them without being disqualified and, thus, still available to people who wanted to keep them?
Let’s say what I am suggesting isn’t the solution. Then let’s find one that is. Maybe you have an idea. If so, let me know what it is. I refuse to believe there is nothing that can be done about this problem. In fact, I predict something will be done once political pressure reaches fever pitch level.
But we can do better than that. Finding a solution is something the Obama administration ought to do right now. They can start by admitting the problem exists. The President telling people to be patient and just shop around is not enough.
This is not a small problem simply because it only affects a small percentage of Americans, for this reason: When it comes to affordable healthcare, no one is expendable, no one.
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Your suggestion sounds like a good one, and in a normal environment, rational people would probably implement it. Unfortunately, I think that in the current Hate Obama, Hate ACA, environment, any kind of positive fix or change is going to be hard to come by unless it can be done by administrative, NOT Congressional, action.
Maybe some sunshine will begin to appear as a result of the elections this Tuesday. Maybe this hatred will get dealt at least a few small blows. I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic.