Sunday, December 29, 2013

Feel bad for the insurance companies

If the insurance companies had a spine, they probably wouldn't ask to keep it.
The continuing rollout troubles of Obamacare make you wonder if they are the villians of health insurance or rubes that the politicians play with.
The naivety I had witnessed during the Clinton Wars was still in force. Many of us tried to warn the industry that they would regret this arrangement. Yes, they might be assured of modest profits, but the cost of sacrificing their autonomy would be far too high. They would become little more than public utilities. They would lose all control over benefit design, marketing practices, and rate setting. They would have no idea of the risks they were enrolling and would have to set premiums blindly.
It has become much, much worse than I ever imagined. Obamacare is not even fully in effect yet and already we are seeing the President playing with the carriers like a toddler plays with toy trucks.

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