The first of many, I’m sure
Today Sarah Kliff at Politico reports that a small Virginia-based health insurer will be closing its doors, effective December 31. The reason nHealth is shutting down?
“The uncertainties in the regulatory climate coupled with new demands imposed by national health care reforms have made it challenging to sustain the level of sales required to remain viable over the long run,” according to a letter given to company employees.
Cynics and critics of Obamacare pointed out the regulations would indeed drive private insurance companies out of business and it appears that the Richmond-based company will be the first.
What’s most sad about this particular closing is that the company, “specializes in high-deductible insurance plans, meant to cover larger medical emergencies, that are paired with health savings accounts, the tax-deductible accounts used to pay for medical expenses” – exactly the sort of plan which would be most beneficial to the large percentage of the uninsured who are relatively young and healthy.
Part of the problem with the future outlook of companies which specialize in HSAs is that the regulations (which haven’t been written yet) may leave insurers in limbo.
According to Heritage Foundation blogger Kathryn Nix,
“the worst news for those using HSAs is the provision requiring all policies to cover at least 60 percent of the actuarial value of the benefits offered. What’s the actual value? No one really knows—not until the Health and Human Services Department issues regulations on how to calculate it.”
Obviously if the saved portion is counted toward the value those who are just starting out or have little in their HSA wouldn’t qualify. It will be up to career bureaucrats and lobbyists to make this decision and chances are good Fedzilla will want to exert maximum control over consumers.
It’s areas like this where defunding may not have the desired effect and all-out repeal of Obamacare is the only solution.
The final march for ruination
I have so much fun with the e-mails from Organizing For Against America. Now they’ve undertaken a week-long “Final March for Reform” with steps their minions are supposed to take in order to achieved their desired result of Obamacare.
Step 1 was yesterday, where participants were supposed to “get the facts out.” So here are some of their so-called “facts”:
As the President has made clear, Americans deserve a final up-or-down vote on health reform. And the House is now expected to hold its final vote as soon as one week from today.
Yet House Democrats are scheming to avoid this. From CongressDaily yesterday:
House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.
Slaughter is weighing preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill passed once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes to the Senate version.
Undaunted, Obama’s flunkie David Plouffe pressed on:
As we speak, insurance-industry lobbyists are gathering at the D.C. Ritz-Carlton to stage a last-minute blitz to block reform — even as they jack up premiums by as much as 60% for small businesses and families across the country.
You know, I doubt you can get the Ritz-Carlton or any other major venue at a moment’s notice. This meeting was set up months in advance and besides, I thought we were supposed to have this last summer anyway.
Plouffe wraps up on this class-envy, “us-versus-them” note:
We’ve put together a simple summary of the President’s proposal, a fact sheet to show friends and co-workers how the plan will specifically help them, posters to display, Facebook notes to post, and much more.
(snip)
Today, it’s time to show the insurance lobbyists that no smear campaign cooked up at a posh hotel can match the power of millions of regular citizens who are ready for change and committed to the truth.
Yep, that’s grassroots all right. You have your talking points, we have this: Nancy Pelosi wants the bill to pass so we can find out what’s in it. Seems like it’s too late then, unless they want things to be hidden.
Here’s the real truth. This bill was of the special interests, by the special interests, and for the special interests. They don’t have the votes and they know it – hence the “Slaughter solution.” OAA has presented its case and lost in the court of public opinion.
By the way, here’s the Day 2 instruction, with OAA’s Mitch Stewart the flunkie of the day:
President Obama has called for the House to vote to move health reform forward as early as next week. Your representative, Rep. Frank Kratovil, stood with the President to create as many as 3.9 million jobs with the Recovery Act, and deserves our thanks. Now, it’s important to make it clear that the voters back home stand with President Obama and want health reform.
Yes, he pointed out Kratovil’s most glaring failure to date, voting for the porkulus bill, If Frank doesn’t hew to his word and vote against Obamacare, he may as well pack now. Kratovil can run to the right all he wants with his budget proposals and crackdown on illegal immigration, but a vote for Obamacare is his political funeral. And I’m sure he knows that.
So the battle lines have been drawn, activist vs. activist. I suspect there’s more of us than there are of them, and right is on our side. If they need to resort to trickery and deceit to pass their bill, well, there may not be much we can do about that now but certainly we can defeat this in other venues too. Just ask the commonwealth of Virginia.
Placing your views on your bumper
If you drive down America’s highways, sooner or later you’ll see a license plate bearing the message “Choose Life.” Even Maryland, home of some of America’s most fervent liberals, makes such a plate available. (Delaware is in the process of making their own version available, probably later this year.)
The commonwealth of Virginia has had Choose Life plates available for some time, but, according to an AP story by Dena Potter in today’s Washington Times, their legislature now faces the question of making a similar pro-choice (read: pro-abortion) plate available. The revenue from these proposed plates, which bear the message, “Trust Women…Respect Choice” would benefit Planned Parenthood.
For their part, Planned Parenthood claims the revenue ($15 per plate after the first 1,000 are sold) wouldn’t go to pay for abortions but to cover their other services.
But the argument is disingenuous because money is a fungible asset – adding money to pay for cancer screenings frees up Planned Parenthood to funnel money into paying the doctors who perform the abortions. This logic is what places newly elected Governor Bob McDonnell on the anti-plate side despite the threat of legal action.
On the other hand, funds raised by “Choose Life” plates go to crisis pregnancy centers and adoption services.
There’s no question that people are willing to pay a little extra for their license plates to promote a message or point of view, and generally part of the fees collected go to support the entity sponsoring the plate. In most states, the biggest benefactors of these specialty plates are colleges and universities where plates bear their logo or are designed to reflect school colors. (Maryland is an exception; our largest sellers are Chesapeake Bay-related tags.) Aside from a rivalry aspect these collegiate plates are fairly non-controversial.
But when the subject is as controversial as abortion, perhaps it’s time to step back and question the wisdom of having a plate which benefits a particular entity like Planned Parenthood. Perhaps a better alternative might be to have this benefit other womens’ health initiatives like prenatal services for high-risk pregnant women. After all, one choice would be to carry through with pregnancy and that choice seems to one least respected by those the plates would be marketed to.
Needless to say, should the pro-choice plate legislation be defeated the venue will certainly become that of the courts, as supporters peg the question as a First Amendment issue. Yet the question isn’t one of making the plate available, the question is about who benefits. Resolve that question in a way which both sides can agree to and without benefitting an abortion provider, and I’d have no problem with the plate being made available. Just don’t count on a lot of people buying them.
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