‘What the administration is really doing, though, is attempting to shift the blame. Insurers have spent months if not years preparing for the changes and requirements enacted under Obamacare. They will have a difficult time turning on a dime and extending cancelled policies. They may not be able to in some or many cases. And state insurance regulators will have to sign off on reinstatements, creating an additional layer of insulation between plan upsets and the administration. ‘
Can’t go forwards, can’t go backwards either. So, it’s time to maximize political advantage and minimize damage:
‘In other words, the law can’t work if it does live up to its presidential promises. But it can’t maintain political support if it doesn’t. The two are incompatible.’
Addition: His wife, Megan McArdle:
‘I think it means the White House is giving up on November 30 as a date when things will change and settling in for a war of attrition that they will try to win news cycle by news cycle while hoping people get used to what’s going on and change the subject so something can take effect next year and then they can see what to do next,” Levin wrote. “Obamacare as they have known and envisioned it is just not going to happen.”
Of course, many on the Left will keep pushing for one of the goals all along, now that some changes are irreversible: Single-payer.
Suderman asks 5 follow-up questions.
Related On This Site: Still Looking For Alternatives-Charlie Martin At PJ Media: ‘Obamacare vs. Arithmetic’
Avik Roy At Forbes: ‘Democrats’ New Argument: It’s A Good Thing That Obamacare Doubles Individual Health Insurance Premiums’…Megan McArdle At Bloomberg: ‘Health-Care Costs Are Driven By Technology, Not Presidents’
Richard Epstein At The Hoover Institution: ‘The Obamacare Quaqmire’
Richard Epstein At The Hoover Institution: ‘Watching Obamacare Unravel’
From The New England Journal Of Medicine Via CATO: ‘The Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate’From If-Then Knots: Health Care Is Not A Right…But Then Neither Is Property?… From The New Yorker: Atul Gawande On Health Care-”The Cost Conundrum”…Sally Pipes At Forbes: ‘A Plan That Leads Health Care To Nowhere’…
What really gets me hot is how Obama is attempting to rewrite a bad law line by line so at least the worst of the pain will be delayed until after the mid term elections. If he allows an extension of existing policies some insurance company is bound to sue over that.
Ron,
No kidding. His presidency has been one of a LOT of executive action b/c his political coalition is relatively small. He’s expanding an already executive heavy trend in Washington. He tends to work by majoritarian, divide and conquer political strategy most of the time, too, I suspect, because the logic compels him to do so with less of the public behind him.
Now that he must publicly face the music, he’s deflecting as many consequences as possible, and the 2014 elections are a clear target with Obamacare. They’ve got it this far, and they’re going to keep pushing and any best message will do.
To be fair, any fix to health-care as is would cause winners and losers, but this law is atrociously bad and doomed to fail as is. It puts so many carts before the horse.
It’s the primary focus of debate right now, and I clearly believe it’s better to repeal and/or replace.
A broader question remains for all of us: How to meet and/or address the existing moral obligations our government has made to its citizens with Medicaid, Social Security etc….
We’ve got aging citizens and old, dysfunctional programs which will last for a while, but run out eventually.