#Obamacare "reform" starts to kick in tomorrow
Bend over folks, here it comes again.
No, I'm not talking about your overdue colonoscopy.... although that will be "free" to you after today.
Some of the first "reforms" of Obamacare start to kick in tomorrow. These include:
- Dependent coverage under a parent's insurance extended to a "child" until age 26. The only real restriction is that the "child" has not been offered coverage by an employer. Considering our current economic mess, that is highly unlikely - the employer part, not the offer. Not sure if the new law mandates Mom and Dad have to pay for Junior's coverage.
- Coverage for preventative services such as the afore mentioned colonoscopy and other services such as mammograms, immunizations and well-child care will not have deductibles or co-payments.
- Lifetime limits on coverage will be banned. In other words, its an open spigot for the payout by the insurance companies.
Now don't get me wrong - I want people to have access to good medical care without having to break the bank. I have been in the position of having to pay for many of these services myself due to the coverage I've had while being self-employed. The problem with these "reforms" is who is going to pay for them? Some of these are significant broadening of coverage. A colonoscopy would cost us about $1200. My wife's mammogram would be around $800. Shots for various things could run $25 to $100 depending.... And no lifetime cap on coverage makes it very difficult to actuarially determine what rates should be.
Under many group plans at good sized employers, these services and benefits are already included. But the plans carried by small businesses or by individuals that don't have coverage through their employer don't have them. So you say "good - now they do". Yes they do... but at what cost. Are these costs just going to be eaten by the insurance carriers? Contrary to what our dear leader would have you believe, insurance carriers profit margins are not so fat as to just absorb them. That means premiums will probably go up. Or maybe the insurance carrier decides that they can't be profitable writing coverage for individuals or small companies and simply pull out of the market. Less competition for the remaining carriers means less pressure on them to keep rates down.
I still say that all of this is part of the progressive's plan to move to a single payer system controlled by the government. More and more mandates on coverage provided by insurance carriers without a way of charging an adequate premium will drive more and more carriers out of the market until Obama and the rest of the progressive bunch can point to the health insurance industry and say "see, they don't work..." and they'll push in a government run healthcare system.
And then get ready to really bend over.....
