PelosiCare: You May Not Keep Current Insurance

In scores of speeches and TV appearances President Obama promised Americans they could keep their current health insurance.

But on page 91 of PelosiCare that passed the House on Saturday, the heading “Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage,” deliberately lies about the language under it!  That language ensures that all current coverage will cease to exist.

Individual coverage in force before first day of year one of the new health care regime can continue as long as:

• the company does not enroll any new customers
• the company makes no changes any terms or conditions of the policy

As anyone who buys health insurance knows companies all make minor changes annually, on the anniversary of the policy.  If the company can make no changes to keep the policy current with technology and new medical treatments and services, it will have no option but to stop selling that policy.  If the company can’t market the policy to new customers it is likely to abandon it.  Expect all individual policies to disappear within three years.

The legislation slaps a hard, five year time limit on existing employment based plans.  Thereafter Those employer plans:

…must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan under section 201, including the esential benefit package requirement under section 221.”

Section 221 is where the new “Health Choices Commissioner” is empowered to dictate the terms and coverages of every health plan in America.  Thus, employees will be forced out of existing plans, and into the new plans that will be written by the government bureaucracy.  In all probability those plans will cost more than existing plans because the government will mandate more coverages and lower co-pays than are in existing plans.