So, how’s that whole “the insurance industry has a seat at the table” thing working for Sir Change-A-Lot and his oversold lemon of a health care reform?
Just days away from the implementation of new rules that will prevent insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, numerous major insurers have opted to end the sale of child-only policies.
No, say it ain’t so… You mean, first we gave them everything they wanted and let them write large parts of the legislation, then we gave them ample time to get their policy revisions all lined up to dump the people who were supposed to benefit from the new rules… and now they turn around and do this? Who would have thunk? Goodness, you just can’t trust anybody these days… why, next you’ll tell us we shouldn’t let BP and friends monitor their own compliance with oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico — what’s a dumb sucker with a big smile to do?
Seriously. How in the hell does Obama hope to campaign on this monument to bad negotiating skills? It’s pretty much the only thing he’s got to show for his first couple of years behind the wheel of the bus, and now it’s rapidly collapsing to the point where he’ll probably be better off disowning the whole thing (well, actually, knowing Obama he’ll quickly blame it on those damn pesky progressives, who “made him” do it). Nancy Pelosi (D – Powerless) seems to get it, though she didn’t do a whole lot about it when she had the chance to do so:
“Earlier this year, the companies pledged to cover children with pre-existing conditions – in keeping with the spirit of reform that requires they no longer drop coverage for these children. Now, some companies are backtracking on writing new policies, potentially leaving many children without the health insurance they desperately need.”“[Time] after time,” she concluded, “insurance companies will place profits over patients.”
Yes, Mrs. Pelosi, they will. That’s why we wanted your boss to come up with something a little more visionary when he drew up his plan for health care reform, something like single payer health, that would have taken the insurance bandits out of the equation. As it is now, they can laugh all the way to the bank: they can ditch all the dead weight, rejigger their policies exhorbitantly, and blame it all on the reform. Meanwhile, the government has now committed itself to force all the sheep to sign up for whatever lame policy their local extortionist can cook up. Helluva job, Barack. You’re one tough negotiator — I can see why this took a whole year to pull off.
