Health Care, Still Under Attack

You may or may not have noticed that this is the time to enroll in a health plan under the Affordable Care Act if you are eligible.

There is virtually no outreach going on for the Federal Exchange if you live in one of the states without their own exchange.

The current administration was unable to repeal it and instead is doing everything it can to destroy it by other means.

Attempts to repeal it outright are probably over, at least for the next two years if not forever, but attempts to undercut it continue.

As predicted with more experience and with a more stable outlook, premiums have generally stabilized and more providers are joining in since they see opportunities to make profits.

Current attempts to destabilize it include the introduction of low cost do little plans designed to appeal to low risk customers.  If you can get them out of the plans, it will increase costs.

However for many of those, the full coverage plans in the exchange end up being more affordable when you get the income based subsidy that's part of the act.

Now the administration is trying to allow states to apply those subsidies to non qualifying plans outside of the exchanges.

This is of doubtful legality since the coverages and the subsidies are both pretty clearly spelled out, but when you predict it will collapse and try to undermine it without success, well try harder.

Most Americans have come to, if not love, at least accept the plan and most love some of its best provisions like covering pre-existing conditions or allowing dependents to stay covered longer.

We are now going to see some attempts at expanding it even further as many progressives are pushing the concept of Medicare for All.

It will be interesting to watch.