President Obama is on record saying that with his proposed “public option” healthcare that was just discussed (or passed?) in the House of Representatives, if we the people were happy with our current health insurance, we would be able keep it. He must’ve had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said that, because the legislation would outlaw individual private coverage.
The folks at Investor’s Business Daily went through the arduous task of actually reading the monstrous 1,018-page document — something most of our illustrious elected Representatives apparently didn’t have time for — and shared their findings:
… we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.
It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of “Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage,” the “Limitation On New Enrollment” section of the bill clearly states:
“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day” of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won’t be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.
If you like your current coverage, you’re fine. But if you change jobs, if you lose your job, if your employer decides to discontinue coverage… You’re out of luck.
Can I be the first to say, “Shame on you, Mr. President”? I won’t hold my breath waiting to hear news of this from ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, et al.