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You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / Reinventing the wheel

Reinventing the wheel

by David Anderson|  January 31, 20149:36 am| 33 Comments

This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance, Free Markets Solve Everything, Fuck The Middle-Class, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Fucked-up-edness, Good News For Conservatives, hoocoodanode, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To

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Following up on my post this morning on the financing of the P-CARE proposal there is a significant change as the Republicans proposing this bill realize that they are proposing a massively expensive and disruptive tax hike that will impact middle class and upper middle class voters. 

Sen. Coburn’s office issued a “clarification” this morning

 Institute a modest cap on the exclusion for the most generous high-cost plans; specifically, cap it at 65 percent of the average market price for an expensive high-option plan.

Hey numbnuts, there is already a 40% excise tax scheduled to go into effect for the most expensive plans.  It is called the Cadillac tax and your fucking campaign committees have been running against it for four years now.

Why re-invent the wheel?

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33Comments

  1. 1.

    Mudge

    January 31, 2014 at 9:42 am

    Republicans are not so good on policy. They not only have no recognition of unintended consequences, but seemingly no appreciation of intended consequences, see the sequester.

  2. 2.

    Belafon

    January 31, 2014 at 9:42 am

    Because it will be their wheel, and not the blah man’s wheel.

  3. 3.

    Ash Can

    January 31, 2014 at 9:44 am

    Why re-invent the wheel?

    Because when it’s proposed by a Republican, it’s a brilliant and effective way to solve a problem, but when it’s proposed by a Democrat, it’s shariacommiefascism and needs to be nuked from orbit.

    ETA: Plus, what Belafon said.

  4. 4.

    amk

    January 31, 2014 at 9:51 am

    goopers are desperately clutching the last straws. Guess Obummercare must be really catching even on numb nutz states.

  5. 5.

    Rob in CT

    January 31, 2014 at 9:54 am

    The crazy thing is that if they had rolled this out in 2009 as suggestions for changes to the ACA, deals would have been done and they could’ve had a bunch of this stuff.

    But they don’t really want it.

  6. 6.

    eric

    January 31, 2014 at 9:56 am

    so uncivil. i have the vapors.

  7. 7.

    GregB

    January 31, 2014 at 9:58 am

    Some good news for the day.

    The NH Senate just voted down Right to Work(for less) legislation.

    A big eff you to the Koch suckers.

  8. 8.

    negative 1

    January 31, 2014 at 10:15 am

    @amk: I agree anecdotally. I think this is evident in the fact that the tone of the attacks seems to have shifted from ‘it’s a total failure’ to ‘it’s another way to give stuff to the poors and brown people’. At the very least I’m wondering if the GOP isn’t going to rethink their campaign strategy of ‘just run against Obamacare’.

  9. 9.

    negative 1

    January 31, 2014 at 10:16 am

    @GregB: This is the single most awesome news of the day. If they can’t pass right-to-work in NH that’s a big blow against trying to pass it anywhere else for a little while.

  10. 10.

    boatboy_srq

    January 31, 2014 at 10:24 am

    @Belafon: It’s a ROUND wheel (well, at least decagonal). Because Big Gubmint can’t build wheels without making them SQUARE.

    Also, too, tax code is only comprehensible when AEI Americans for Tax Reform US Chamber of Commerce Club for Growth Heritage Foundation they writes it, so the earlier 40% excise tax wasn’t clear to them when they read the legislation voted against it.

  11. 11.

    jrg

    January 31, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Because Republicans are largely a tribal people. The actual content of law and public policy has nothing to do with how a lot of these people think. Politicians know this and capitalize on it.

  12. 12.

    ...now I try to be amused

    January 31, 2014 at 10:44 am

    @Mudge:

    Republicans are not so good on policy. They not only have no recognition of unintended consequences, but seemingly no appreciation of intended consequences, see the sequester.

    To a Republican, unintended consequences are new opportunities for the few to profit at the expense of the many. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and all that.

  13. 13.

    aimai

    January 31, 2014 at 10:50 am

    I think we can see why if it weren’t for ALEC the Republican party wouldn’t have a legislative agenda at all. They literally have no idea what writing a law looks like at this point, or why the process is so complex. The actual congresspeople have been reduced to a rump of propaganda zombies, their job merely to spout invective and insults on National TV, not to actually engage with the problems the country is having and find solutions. They issued this press release on what they think they are going to do next legislative session without even bothering to check the content–because the content doesn’t matter. Promise them everything, offer them nothing, stay away from specifics. That is their method.

  14. 14.

    slippy

    January 31, 2014 at 10:54 am

    @negative 1:

    At the very least I’m wondering if the GOP isn’t going to rethink their campaign strategy of ‘just run against Obamacare’

    I love that. It is a bit late for them, no?

  15. 15.

    MomSense

    January 31, 2014 at 11:05 am

    @aimai:

    If we had a functioning press, they wouldn’t be able to get away with just spouting invective and insults.

  16. 16.

    Gene108

    January 31, 2014 at 11:05 am

    @slippy:

    No

    Very soon the GOP is going to run based on taking credit for their contributions to Obamacare like the individual mandate being derived from a Heretage Foundation proposal to the Grassley Amendment.

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 31, 2014 at 11:08 am

    @Belafon:

    DING DING DING DING DING

    The stupid (and the racism) of the GOP. it BURNS!

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 31, 2014 at 11:10 am

    @MomSense:

    And THIS is why you nuke the Village from orbit.

    Only way to be sure.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    January 31, 2014 at 11:13 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Can we move the Village to a deserted island first?

  20. 20.

    boatboy_srq

    January 31, 2014 at 11:22 am

    @aimai: I’m not quite so sure it’s that simple. I can never tell if the GOTea legislative “agenda” is the product of home-schooled legislators, or if the presentation of such is directed at home-schooled constituents.

  21. 21.

    Mike E

    January 31, 2014 at 11:24 am

    Hey numbnuts

    That’s the Juice spirit! Co-sign.

  22. 22.

    DanF

    January 31, 2014 at 11:31 am

    “Cadillac! The Cadillac of cars.”

  23. 23.

    NonyNony

    January 31, 2014 at 11:35 am

    @Gene108:

    Very soon the GOP is going to run based on taking credit for their contributions to Obamacare like the individual mandate being derived from a Heretage Foundation proposal to the Grassley Amendment.

    I have no problem saying that this will never happen. And the reason why this will never happen is because there is one thing that is consistently unpopular in the polls, and that’s the individual mandate piece. All of the other pieces – including the employer mandate – are reasonably popular to one degree or another. The individual mandate – the ONLY element that the Republicans could legitimately claim was their idea.

    You’d think this would be a problem, but it won’t be because they’ll instead claim credit for some of the popular stuff and disavow the individual mandate. Because they’re liars. Democrats will call them liars and then Politifact will rate the Dems at “mostly false” because reasons.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 31, 2014 at 11:39 am

    proposing a massively expensive and disruptive tax hike that will impact middle class and upper middle class voters.

    It never occurs to them to tax the parasites of the 1%, does it?

    Nope.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    January 31, 2014 at 11:56 am

    @MomSense:
    Preferably one that is under water from global warming and that all the people that used to live there have been moved safely to higher ground. Maybe an exchange. We give you a place to live that’s not underwater and you give us a place to get rid of our garbage.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    January 31, 2014 at 12:14 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Let’s get our beloved dictator Obama to sign an executive order doing just that.

    Make it so #1

  27. 27.

    Davo

    January 31, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    Can someone help me understand what’s going on here?

    http://chicksontheright.com/posts/item/25337-but-but-i-thought-obamacare-would-cover-everyone-and-deny-no-one-especially-sick-kids

    I dont believe for a second that Obamacare is causing children to be denied access to medicine in this manner, but its just hard to get to the bottom of what’s really going on behind the spin sometimes..

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    January 31, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    @Davo:

    It’s hard to get through all of the right-wing screamers, but it seems to have something to do with insurers on the Washington state exchanges not including Seattle Children’s Hospital in their networks and is something SCH has been complaining about since at least October. Which is — surprise! — a state problem, not a federal problem.

    ETA: IOW, it’s the Magical Free Market that made the decision, not “Obamacare.” Amazing how the biggest fluffers of the “Free Market” don’t understand how it works.

  29. 29.

    boatboy_srq

    January 31, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    @MomSense: Bikini. One additional nuke more or less won’t matter much there.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    January 31, 2014 at 1:48 pm

    ‘Bette in Spokane,’ cited in McMorris Rodgers’ speech, declined health insurance options
    David Wasson The Spokesman-Review

    The woman described only as “Bette in Spokane” during a nationally televised address by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said Wednesday she had no idea her frustrations over increasing insurance premiums would become part of the Republican attack on health care reform.

    Not that Bette Grenier, a critic of the Affordable Care Act, minds that much.

    But the “nearly $700 per month” increase in her premium that McMorris Rodgers cited in Tuesday night’s GOP response to the State of the Union address was based on one of the pricier options, a $1,200-a-month replacement plan that was pitched by Asuris Northwest to Grenier and her husband, Don.

    The carrier also offered a less expensive, $1,052-per-month option in lieu of their soon-to-be-discontinued catastrophic coverage plan. And, Grenier acknowledged the couple probably could have shaved another $100 a month off the replacement policy costs by purchasing them from the state’s online portal, the Health Plan Finder website, but they chose to avoid the government health exchanges.

    “I wouldn’t go on that Obama website at all,” said Grenier, 58, who lives in the Chattaroy area and owns a roofing company with her husband. “We liked our old plan. It worked for us, but they can’t offer it anymore.”

    http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/jan/30/bette-in-spokane-cited-in-mcmorris-rodgers-speech/

  31. 31.

    slippy

    January 31, 2014 at 1:54 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Amazing how the biggest fluffers of the “Free Market” don’t understand how it works

    Those are just words to the cons. Con-artists, as I now think of them. “Constitution” is just a word to them too. “Freedom” and so forth. Ask them to articulate facts on any of those and you might as well expect a pig to sing. Wingers are stupid. It’s self-selection at this point. They don’t get how anything works. It’s just a football game to them. Change jerseys and they’ll be cheering for the wrong team, they’re so DUMB they can’t tell the difference between what someone is doing, and what they say they’re doing.

  32. 32.

    Betsy

    January 31, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    OT: (but I think this is kind of big news) — : Richard, I just filed my income tax return at Turbotax and I see that at the end, after you file, there is a “tree” designed to prepare the filer for next year and Obamacare. First you go through a simple vetting to see if you might qualify for a subsidy and it gives you an approximate quote on a typical plan and states other prices are available. Then, it offers “Get Personalized Answers” and you can see questions others have asked, how many people also wanted to pile on and ask that question, etc. Sort of a crowd-sourced FAQ.

    Lot of questions from, e.g., a 62-yo woman who wants to retire and get insurance before she qualifies for Medicare …

    If this goes to every filer who uses TurboTax it will reach a LOT of people and probably clarify many questions and misconceptions … pretty exciting.

    I think you might be able to see it by going to the turbotax website and then adding /health-care/community to the end of the site address … try it?

  33. 33.

    boatboy_srq

    January 31, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @rikyrah:

    “We liked our old plan. It worked for us, but they can’t offer it anymore.”

    Apparently there are people who like to pay for products whose sole real-world function is to answer phone calls with “I’m sorry, but [insert medical procedure or treatment] isn’t covered by your policy…”

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