I recently testified (here and here and here) and wrote a column on President Obama’s increasing circumvention of Congress in negating or suspending U.S. laws. Obama has repeated suspended provisions of the health care law and made unilateral changes that were previously rejected by Congress. He has also moved hundreds of millions from one part of the Act to other parts without congressional approval. Now, his administration is reportedly changing key provisions of the ACA to potentially make billions of dollars available to the insurance industry in a move that was never debated, let alone approved, by the legislative branch. Ironically, I just ran another column this month listing such incidents of executive over-reach that ideally would have included this potentially huge commitment under Obama’s claimed discretionary authority.
The new regulations have been called a “bailout” of insurance companies providing coverage under the healthcare law. The changes would allow companies to get the money if they control increases in their rates — for a couple of years. That just happens to put increases on the other side of the elections.
The Administration insists that it is hopeful that no bailout is needed but “we want to be clear that in the highly unlikely event of a shortfall, HHS will use appropriations as available to fill it.” That is all fine and good except for the fact that it puts billions to a use not approved by Congress. Even with over 8 million people registered, the ACA is not attracting the younger citizens who are needed to bear the brunt of the new costs by paying in significantly more than they will be taking out of the system. As a result, companies are moving to increase rates even further at a time when roughly half of Americans want the ACA repealed and Democrats are fearing significant losses in the next election. Moreover, as rates increases, more consumers are likely to bolt from the already unpopular program — risking a cascading failure.
The regulation states that “[i]n the unlikely event of a shortfall for the 2015 program year, HHS recognizes that the Affordable Care Act requires the secretary to make full payments to issuers. In that event, HHS will use other sources of funding for the risk corridor payments, subject to the availability of appropriations.” That suggests another shift of hundreds of millions or even billions to the new purpose.
Of course, insurance companies and lobbyists applauded the move but it is not the purpose but the means that remains problematic. I view this as another end-run around Congress in violation of the Separation of Powers. As I said many months ago, we are seeing the emergence of an uber-presidency that is fundamentally changing our system of government. Liberals and Democrats will rue the day that they supported such a destabilizing and dangerous aggregation of power in the Executive Branch. With polls showing Democrats more unpopular than their opponents, we could be looking at a Republican presidency. That individual may use the same unilateral powers to suspend environmental or discrimination laws. The Administration, and its allies, are once again discarding key principles for short-term gains. What is missing is an element of adult supervision to remind everyone that this is not our last president and these powers will remain long after Obama has joined his predecessors on the speaking circuit.
It is not enough to argue that Congress will not act the way you want it to act. We are a divided nation and Congress is divided. That is no license for unilateralism in a tripartite system of government. There is no room for “going it alone” in this system. What President Obama is suggesting is precisely the type of imperial presidency model once advocated by the likes of Richard Nixon. The fact that some may agree with this policy should not blind us to the fact that this type of unilateralism is creating a dominant and destabilizing branch in our system.
Source: LA Times
It has always been obvious that the ACA was simply an Insurance bailout. Insurance is the very industry which caused the increase in medical care costs in the first place. The Democrat leaders claimed they could lower medical care costs for everyone, with the average family saving $2500 a year, all without raising taxes a single penny. The wise Republicans warned that it was all a con and would not work. Nobody listened to the little boy who said the emperor has no clothes.
I’m not a big fan of ACA, but I think it has some great advances; you can’t be turned down for preexisting conditions, you can’t be dropped if you get sick, children can tag along on their parents healthcare for some extra time, it increases competition for services, medical bankruptcies will be greatly reduced, it shines some light on one of the most profitable, yet administratively burdensome corporate cartels, and it puts a cap on corporate healthcare cartel waste. I asked my doctor to give it a grade and he said ‘C’ and gave it kudos for the pre existing conditions part of it.
What many people fail to understand is that under the pre ACA, ‘free market’ method of healthcare, cost rose more by percentage than they are rising now.
Healthcare facts: healthcare costs for a family increased from $6438 to $12,106, or 47%, under the conservative GOP from 2001-2007, but since 2007 the increase has been from 12,106 to %16,351, or 26%. http://kff.org/interactive/premiums-and-worker-contributions/
Healthcare costs in US are astronomical compared to other western nations and the outcomes are poorer. Joe Lieberman stopped the Medicaid expansion during the ACA debate. If that fool had not been so stubborn, the expansion would have been law and that would have been beneficial.
While I don’t approve of Obama doing his own thing (I never voted for him), I don’t see how anything can change without executive overreach, since GOP congress won’t and can’t do anything. GWB used all his powers to push through a budget busting Medicare Part D for the pharma cartel and now that program is considered a relative success (except for the part that less expensive drugs can’t imported to make sure pharma makes huge profits).
And wasn’t it the GOP who ignored GWBs unitary executive decisions? Now that Obama plays the same cards it’s overreach?
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/remember-that-thing-called-unitary.html
He is the most powerful president in history. The next few will be too (The Elections of Pontius Pilots).
ARREST THE SATANIST, MASS MURDERER OBAMA
ARREST ALL HIS TREASONOUS CO-CONSPIRATORS
IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENTS, AGENCIES, CONGRESS, COURTS, WALL STREET, BANKS, CORPORATIONS, MEDIA, MILITARY, SUPREME COURT, BOARDS OF ELECTIONS, ET AL
DOMESTIC ENEMIES HAVE TAKEN OVER OUR GOVERNMENTS
Restore the Constitution of The United States of America
BUENA VISTA MALL DECLARES:
OBAMA IS NOT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
HE NEVER WAS
All the leaders of the U.S. and world not voicing this Truth are stupid and corrupt. The U.S. Government is an Empire of Lies.
Any politician or news commentator who has not exposed Obama’s forged ID’s and his usurpation of the presidency cannot be trusted
Obama was Ineligible Constitutionally in many ways for the Office of President
Obama’s birth certificates and draft registration are forgeries. Also he is using a stolen Social Security number.
Everything Obama and his criminal administration have done / signed is ILLEGAL, NULL and VOID.
OBAMA IS ONE of the BIGGEST CRIMINALS in WORLD HISTORY!
He should have been arrested years ago! Obama is guilty of massive criminality.
The U.S. Governments, Courts, Media and Boards of Elections are Corrupt
We have spent about 5 years looking for ONE HONEST JUDGE!
All the U.S. Invasions are Illegal as were the Nazi Invasions
Washington, DC = Nazi Berlin
Obama, Bush, Zionist Jews, Congress, U.S. Gov’t / Military / Media, et al are Guilty of Mass Murder
Americans have been made into hated torturous War Criminals to the world
OBAMA is a black Hitler, Mass Murderer / Maimer, Torturer, Baby Killer, Warmonger, Supreme War Criminal, Forger, Fraud, Thief, Pathological Liar, Psychopath, Wall Street Stooge, Zionist Lickspittle, Fascist, Nazi.
Obama and Hitler are becoming known as “The Evil Queers.”
Both Homosexuals and Mass Murderers
http://www.BuenaVistaMall.com/PressRelease.htm
Samantha, Yes, Obama is in bed with with big Ag, too. And to our detriment and that of the environment, as well, ie not just the human animal.
and re oue tolerating our evil government policies the way farm animals tolerate captivity…well, no. Those animals that live lives nasty, brutish, and short on factory farms have no choice. period.
We could make the choice to throw all the b—stards out we woke up and became educated about what is happening, but the circuses (cheap stuff! gadgets! TV!), our essentially useless press and incessant corporate/govt propoganda, and, for many, difficult and busy lives prevents that happening.
Isaac:
An interim step on the way to single payer.
You may like that, and the way it is being gamed into law.
But it is not the way ACA was sold to the American public.
Much like medical marijuana was a step to total legalization.
(BTW I am for total legalization)
Circumvention of Congress?
How about OBAMA “asking” You Tube to take down the Anti-Muslim video BEFORE the “CIA told” OBAMA about it? How do you tell them to take it down before you know about it?
“That dudn’t make any sense!”
If congress was functional, he probably wouldn’t need to make unilateral changes to the law. And if congress was functional, they would probably impeach him for breaking laws. I’m not sure who I should blame here.
If any of you think Wall Street is going to allow an insurance company to go broke, you’re kidding yourself. Too many billions to lose.
Long live King Obama!
Obama is in bed with the food giants, too. That is why you have no choice but to eat GMO fare in restaurants, laced with hormone disruptors (and you wonder why you need low-desire drugs and Viagra?), glyphosate (active ingredient in Roundup, which is now found in 99 percent of mothers milk), which poison has caused an epidemic of digestive, auto immune, and inflammatory disease, and trans fat, responsible four heart disease, strokes, blood clots, and other serious circulatory issues, not even mentioning a host of other contaminants that improve the bottom lines of corporations. Even though we may be aware of all of these issues, we tolerate our evil government policies in the way farm animals tolerate captivity.
The house of cards is crumbling, and the most draconian aspect of this disaster, the employer mandate, has been illegally postponed.
Part of selling this whole thing to the insurance companies was that Obama agreed to hold them financially harmless. He guaranteed they would not lose money. Some, like UnitedHealthcare, decided to stay out of the fray, at least in the first round, to see how things shook out.
Anyone who says I didn’t see this coming was blinded. After the ACA passed insurance companies were gobbling up other insurance companies. Now the pay off. This is why I can’t understand why the GOP was against the ACA because the second biggest lobbiest in DC are insurance related.
“not the purpose but the means that remains problematic.”
Actually the purpose, too.
Many of us oppose Obamacare because it’s not really about providing health care to all citizens, it’s about providing massive profit- health for the insurance industry. This kind of redistribution upward of billions of dollars would not occur under a single-payer system. There is no good reason for this corporate middle man except huge profits for that corporate middle-man.
From this to power grabs to his catering to the banks, the oil companies, and other corporations, to his continuation of the wars and frightening expansion of the security state, to his attacks on whistleblowers…scary. He should go down as one of the worst presidents ever.
And to think I worked on his 2008 campaign. Hope and change- what a con.
Certainly the most serious threat our nation is falling victim to. Insurance for profit need not be bailed out, simply thrown out, and replaced by a federal, not for profit single payer system.
This replaying, “end run around a duped and worthless Congress”, has been forced and enabled by the simple minded Republican’ts selfishness that would love to see our President fail and if America goes bankrupt?? = “so what”?
For my money, Republican’ts are Traitors and deserve to be hanged!
There is the law and there is what is done with it. Obama couldn’t do anything otherwise. If he went to congress the republicans would sink any ship presented out of pure spite. All that is happening is an unfortunate but necessary step on the way to single payer or universal or medicare or whatever you want to call it. He is placating the private insurance industry which is on its way to being a broker for the government. This is as it should be. Obama and the democrats might be accused of this or that but the alternative past-the three stooges, and future-eletists like Romney and the Koch brothers is simply scary. We would do well to remember what happened under the last republican regime. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghanis slaughtered because of right wing macho stupidity. Shock and awe was their slogan. Yet Americans refused to be shocked at the awesome disasters the US visited on the world as well as their selves.
Mayo Clinic no longer accepts private Medicare because insurance companies are slow to pay if they pay at all. There is a finite number of dollars for healthcare in this country, and it makes no sense for the government to divert a huge percentage of those funds to the insurance industry. That is why costs are rising.
I also believe that the fiasco over the Veterans Administration will turn out to have been a smoke screen, diverting attention from the larger picture of privatizing the VA. In other words, the insurance industry must have a share of the VA pie, too.
Another serious blow to the Rule of Law, which this president is doing his best to kill.
He’s trying to drive a Rear Wheel Drive Car on Ice, when Single Payer Medicare for all would have been All Wheel Drive..on a Country Road..!