Very soon the SCOTUS will decide if the premium subsidies provided through the federally run obamacare exchanges are legal. If the Court rules against the law as it is applied, there will be serious consequences.
Not only will millions of Americans lose their subsidies, but as a result healthier people who perceive the cost of coverage a bad deal will drop their insurance thereby creating adverse selection among higher users of health care with the result of even higher premiums.
Will states scramble to set up exchanges to comply with such a ruling, will there be a quick fix, will the Court provide a grace period? Who knows?
No matter how you slice it, it will not be a win for the opponents of Obamacare or anyone else … especially Republicans‼️
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The ACA tried to force the States to form their own exchanges. It didn’t work. Now, the piper will be paid.
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Yes, but by who?
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Wrong, Jack! Teapublican Reich wing obstructionism has opposed the PPACA for nearly 7 years. Those bigots and racists care not for the welfare of the American people. They were elected by despicable bigoted racist white trash like you. Get a life.
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Do you really have to resort to name calling and insulting people? Can we just debate the facts? Believe it or not there are actually two sides to an issue and one ideology is not always right.
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Well said and well written, Mr. Quinn. I don’t think the members of the Teapublican clown car understand the real world around them. Or, perhaps they do, but their Koch (et al) puppeteers will not allow them to say it in public. It is very sad indeed when big money trumps facts, logic, humanitarianism and authentic democracy.
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Actually, I’m not “out of whack” as you put it. You are thinking about the Medicare supplemental insurance plans provided by private insurers. I was talking about what Medicare actually covers, what it will pay. The healtcare providers send their bill and medicare will pay only what it has decided is a “fair amount”. So if I have blood drawn to measure my warfrin level, the bill may be as much as fifty dollars per drawing but medicare may only pay thirty five dollars, the rest is my cost. If the healthcare provider charges more, and they have, then medicare does not increase what they will pay, I must foot the cost over run.
As for ACA, you are paying for a level of “insurance” which is to say, what the insurer will cover for any procedure. The less you pay the more your out of pocket expense. The fact is that for most people who opt for the lowest rates their coverage is almost worthless since their out of pocket expenses are excessive. They would be far better off saving what they paid for ACA and applying it to their medical bills. Ad they would be far better off negotiating that bill from the provider. My point is, when you walk into the doctors office or hospital and ask what the recommended procedure will cost, they will not tell you. If you go to the auto mechanic you will be given an estimate.
Now the funny thing about healthcare costs is this. If you need some treatment or operation you can go to a hospital in Oklahoma and the cost will be only twenty percent or less than any other hospital in the US. Why? They don accept insurance. If you do your due diligence you will find that a total body MRI only costs $200 in Japan but that same MRI will cost at least $2000 in the US. Why? No competition. My heart valve replacement cost a minimum or $75,000 in 2003, In India that same operation would have cost less than $5,000 including room and board. You get bitten by a particular spider in Florida and the anti venom costs $20,000 a unit and it takes three or more units of anti-venom. In Mexico those same shots cost only 200 apiece. Do the research. Our health care system is out of control, it is not subject to any monopolistic practice legislation. It does not have to provide you with an written estimate of any procedure. And it can and does raise rates at will. None of this is new. There have been blogs revealing the healthcare problems for the past seven years. I even took university classes in healthcare management. I know many of the issues. It won’t make a tinker’s damn what the Supreme Court decides. Healthcare has become affordable .for those who have no insurance or who have the minimum government provided insurance.
And by the way, did you know that what healthcare providers bill in McAllen Texas to Medicare is almost twice what they bill in Dallas? Where have you been? The information is out there, has been for years. Look it up. Insurance does not provide protection from high medical costs, it never has unless you are buying the most expensive insurance you can buy and even then you will pay some out of pocket expenses. You might also learn just what “insurance” really is. Sorry, but you seem misinformed. I can recommend a few textbooks on that subject.
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You are completely incorrect about Medicare. If the charge is $10,000 and Medicare allows $100 and pays $80, you are liable for $20 and no more. You are not liable for amounts above the Medicare allowable charge.
Even a non-participating doctor under Medicare can only bill 115% of 95% of the Medicare allowed charge for participating providers.
If you ever paid more, you did so unnecessarily.
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I was not referring to supplemental coverage under Medicare I was referring to Medicare Advantage plans as being a choice under Medicare.
Your analysis of insurance is misleading. Pricing should be more transparent I agree, but to think people will get estimates and negotiate or shop around is unrealistic. Taking the risk of no insurance and saving the money to pay bills may work for awhile during good health, but one serious or even not so serious illness and you are wiped out.
What you are arguing for and which Obamacare outlawed is a catastrophic policy. That should be an option for people.
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Does truth matter? Do words matter?
If the Supreme Court, as it has done in the recent past, interprets a law not by the words in the law but instead is guided by their own view of what the law should mean, then it is another blow against representative government, and another win for rule by unelected elites.
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As it stands, the ACA aka Obamacare is a no win situation for everyone. If the court rules that the section that allows the federal government to provide a subsidy is legal, then that subsidy will be paid by all tax payers. There is no free lunch. Regardless of the ruling, the ACA has allowed the continued rise in healthcare costs to the point of absurdity. Why sign up and have to pay any premium for coverage that won’t even begin to pay for all the procedures you may need in the future. \it is not health insurance, you aren’t insuring yourself against any unforeseen health calamity. You are buying medical care costs that may or may not be paid by your insurance premium. So if the coverage is very minimal and the bills are very large, why would you pay for coverage that won’t cover the cost of your care? Healthcare costs will continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation thus making your Affordable Health Care Coverage from the federal and states governments affordable as more more exclusions are put into place. I have Medicare and I have to pay for it, I have no option. And each year my healthcare costs increase because my coverage is reduced. There are more exclusions, the fees are raised beyond what Medicare will cover and \i must make up the difference. This is no different from ACA. Why do you pretend that ACA is such a great deal? It never was and never will be. Healthcare is a monopoly created by the past and present Congress and the past and present administrations. If you are serious about affordable healthcare the help break the monopoly status of hospitals, pharmaceuticals, doctors, and other providers. Repeal ACA and bring back healthcare under the Sherman Clayton Antitrust Act. Providers, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and everyone else in the industry accountable to the Wright-Pattman Deceptive Practices Act, make them post their fees and restore competition to the industry. When that happens then healthcare will become affordable without a government insurance mandate.
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I think your facts are a bit out of whack. If you have Medicare, you have several choices of levels of coverage. Medicare has not decreased coverage, but increased it in recent years. Deductibles have barely increased and the Medicare co insurance has been fixed for decades. While Medicare does not have a out-of-pocket limit, supplemental coverage takes care of that.
As far as Obamacare goes, people have dozens of choices and levels of coverage all of which are provided by insurance companies that must offer at least minimal required benefits and various deductibles and out-of-pocket limits.
It’s all insurance and all provide protection from high medical costs. It’s only a matter of when you want to pay, now via higher premiums and a lower deductible or later via lower premiums and higher deductibles. That’s why it’s called insurance, you take the risk at some point.
Personally I hope I never collect a penny for any type of insurance I carry.
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