WTF! (Or, without the irony, wtf?) CNS:
A proposed federal health insurance regulation set to take effect next year requires insurers to provide consumers with explanatory summaries of their plans, but the insurance industry contends this could be costly to enrollees, and offer little benefit.
The new rule – part of the $1 trillion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare – was announced Wednesday by Donald Berwick, President Obama’s recess appointee to be director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Berwick has never been confirmed or subjected to a confirmation hearing by a Democrat-controlled Senate.
Specifically, the proposed regulations would ensure that consumers have access to two forms to help them understand and evaluate their health insurance choices.
One of the forms would be a four-page “easy to understand” summary of benefits and coverage made available to anyone purchasing or currently holding a health insurance policy. The other would include a “uniform glossary of terms” commonly used in health insurance coverage, such as “deductible” and “co-pay.”
The proposed rule, drafted with the help of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, is open for public comment until Oct. 21. The regulations are set to take effect on March 23, 2012.
“This is all grounded in the idea that the more informed a patient is, the better decision he or she can make,” said Donald Berwick.
[…]
But Robert Zirkelbach, press secretary for the industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans, argued that the proposed regulation could subject insurers and consumers to greater cost burden, with little benefit.
“The benefits of providing a new summary of coverage document must be balanced against the increased administrative burden and higher costs to consumers and employers,” Zirkelbach said in a statement.
“For example, since most large employers customize the benefit packages they provide to their employees, some health plans could be required to create tens of thousands of different versions of this new document – which would add administrative costs without meaningfully helping employees.”
Meh. We in the bureaucratic state just come up with what you should do. You worry about how to git-er-done.
Progress!
I heard Romneycare requires an eight-page disclosure
Hmmm. 54.5 miles per gallon sounds about right. But how do we get there safely? Here’s how: Do it! The power of the State commands you!
Now that’s engineering.
Damn, what do you call that booklet that my insurance company already provides me that includes a summary of benefits and a glossary of terms? Office of redundancy department bullshit is what this reg is. Tweaking is what the government is good at – you just don’t get the accompanying high.
Why, between the capped fees and reimbursements, and the reams of new regulatory hoops to jump through, it’s enough to make one suspect the FedGov is trying to drive private insurers out of business!
Of course, Obama, Pelosi & Reid promised that they’d never do such a thing, so one must be mistaken.
Once the private insurers are driven out of the health insurance market and we are all on the government plan this will be all moot as you can be sure the way Obamacare will work is you will never know what will be covered and treated till you show up with the condition. And that will change from day to day as decisions by IPAB and other panels, to be formed, change. As the progressives have repeatably shown the language and meanings will also be bent for reasons such as cost savings.
I still think sailing wealthy sick people to the boutique clinics in Havana, Freeport, Nassau, and Tampico will be a really nice way to make a living. You think medical tourism is big now? Just wait!
Bringing good cigars and rum back to the mainland will be even more lucrative, even after paying bribes.
Why, between the capped fees and reimbursements, and the reams of new regulatory hoops to jump through, it’s enough to make one suspect the FedGov is trying to drive private insurers out of business!
I’m sure they’d be, like, totally aghast! ‘n all if the SC eventually finds the must-buy mandate in O-care to be unconstitutional, but (emanations! penumbras!) severable. Why, that would put the insurance companies out of business with a quickness, and that’s so not exactly what they wanted in the first place.
I’m-a just gonna go with what Al Franken usta do AA and say “Oy” to everything that comes out until like November, at least.
Oy.
Assuming Anthony Kennedy is of sound mind, they’re gonna get their chance quite a bit sooner. Without the mandate, they either repeal Obamacare or they crash the system. Unless they decide to twist every state’s nuts with waivers.
We live in very interesting times.
Post Office bailout?
Wasn’t this thing ruled unconstitutional again? What are they going to do, keep ignoring it until it goes to the SC? Maybe keep ignoring it after that too?
What are they going to do, keep ignoring it until it goes to the SC? Maybe keep ignoring it after that too?
One can only imagine the look on their faces when we learn from their example and start ignoring the laws we don’t like.
Fair’s fair, bitches!
Regardless of how you feel about Ryan entering the race, here’s a disingenuous little piece of Establishment spin from Byron York. Here’s some nice balanced poll questions he cites:
Are Republican strategists making campaign decisions on the basis of responses to questions like those? Question 1 gets the answer you want using the herd effect, and question 2 gets the answer you want by offering a ridiculously false choice.
It’s like asking buyers of Squid Brand Pitchforks whether they are intended to be used against the TEA Party, or all politicians? Which the Establishment would then report as “while a sizable minority despise just the TEA Party, the rest of America hates all politicians”.
Republican strategists? The same geniuses who brought us “compassionate conservatism” and “No Child Left Behind” and McCain? Those strategists?
To the second question the answer is, “That’s so Obama.”
Yes those. The ones who right now are deciding who’s electable.
Intentions? Ha! Oh hells no, we’d answer! We’re just pitching some hay ’round the barn! (di’ja’ever notice how sharp those suckers get with a bit of ordinary use?)
“Never-Confirmed Medicare Director Announces New Obamacare Paperwork Requirement”
cue: Robert DeNiro in “Brazil” as he dies from the paperwork finally catching up with him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_00bbE9oxQ&feature=related