Finding out what's in it

Obamacare's been around for more than four years now, and I should have thought the many, many people who hate it like death would by now have discovered everything incredibly stupid that's written right into it.  But it turns out that massive new insanities are surfacing as the tens of thousands of pages of implementary regulations gradually come to light.  Here's a fabulous one:  all new plans must be Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum, defined by their actuarial valuation.  Bronze means the average plan pays 60% of bills, Silver pays 70%, Gold 80%, and Platinum 90%.  I'll bet you would have assumed that Bronze was really 60-69% and so on.  Nope!  The "safe zone" is only 2% in either direction.  If your plan turns out to pay 65% on average, it's neither Bronze nor Silver and must be cancelled at the end of the year.  No problem, you'll just sign up for a new one, right?  Sure, but it will have all new terms to learn, and there's no guarantee that you'll keep your doctor or your hospital.  Not that there was any guarantee of that anyway, since we can all expect our networks to degrade steadily.

I really have to ask myself:  what kind of moron thought it was a good idea to make all plans fit within four bands and outlaw big chunks of actuarial rating that fall between them?

8 comments:

Eric Blair said...

Just pay cash.

Grim said...

When my grandfathered plan is finally killed -- currently they're just raising the price astronomically every year -- I'll stop buying traditional medical insurance.

Ymar Sakar said...

It's like a money laundering scheme. Oh what am I saying, it isn't like one, it is one.

E Hines said...

outlaw big chunks of actuarial rating that fall between them

The actuarial rating--the insurance part of these plans--went by the boards as soon as the plan providers were required to provide certain coverages at no cost to the plan buyer.

At that moment, these things ceased to be insurance and became Federally mandated, privately funded "health" welfare programs. After that, nothing mattered except what us taxpayers would pay to subsidize everyone else--including women so helpless they can't figure out how to buy their own contraceptives, needing them, instead, to be provided to these helpless women by patriarchal economic organs.

Eric Hines

Ymar Sakar said...

They may be morons, but they rule over the US lawyers with an iron fist. So I'm not sure what people are complaining about, they are the Boss, whoever they are.

DL Sly said...

" really have to ask myself: what kind of moron thought it was a good idea to make all plans fit within four bands and outlaw big chunks of actuarial rating that fall between them?"

Oooo!
Ooo! Oooo!
Pick me!!
I know....I know....pick me!!!!

raven said...

I realized I was putting the cart first when worrying about insurance- I should have been worrying about whether there would be a Doctor.

Ymar Sakar said...

PillowC2:

You'll find out what's in the bill after you are dead.