HHS quietly repeals the individual purchase rule for two more years.
The Wall Street Journal
3/11/2014
ObamaCare’s implementers continue to roam the battlefield and shoot their own wounded, and the latest casualty is the core of the Affordable Care Act—the individual mandate. To wit, last week the Administration quietly excused millions of people from the requirement to purchase health insurance or else pay a tax penalty.
This latest political reconstruction has received zero media notice, and the Health and Human Services Department didn’t think the details were worth discussing in a conference call, press materials or fact sheet. Instead, the mandate suspension was buried in an unrelated rule that was meant to preserve some health plans that don’t comply with ObamaCare benefit and redistribution mandates. Our sources only noticed the change this week.
That seven-page technical bulletin includes a paragraph and footnote that casually mention that a rule in a separate December 2013 bulletin would be extended for two more years, until 2016. Lo and behold, it turns out this second rule, which was supposed to last for only a year, allows Americans whose coverage was cancelled to opt out of the mandate altogether…
The article continues at TheWall Street Journal.
Related: The Obama Administration’s About-Face on Medicare
The Obama administration seems determined not to rock the boat before the midterm congressional election this fall.
It’s already delayed Obamacare mandates that could cause outrage. Now it has stopped proposed Medicare changes that weren’t even part of Obamacare—and with good reason.
The administration had proposed new rules for seniors’ prescription drug plans in Medicare Part D. This is significant because Part D is unusual for a government program…
…One of the proposed changes would have restricted the number of prescription drug plans an insurer could offer, which would decrease the choices available to seniors…
