D.C. Circuit guts ObamaCare

[JollyRoger]

The best way for Cruz to reach the high ground.

 

[onejayhawk]

The best way for Cruz to reach the high ground.

I doubt he gets the nomination. He was always going to have Rubio as a hurdle. So far, Rubio is running better than expected.

Don't worry. I still think Cruz might become a Justice at some point. That will keep him around for you to swear at.

J

 

[JollyRoger]

There might be a window if the GOP gets the Presidency in 2024 (after Hillary's 2 terms), but it will be a closing window as he will already be 54.

 

[onejayhawk]

There might be a window if the GOP gets the Presidency in 2024 (after Hillary's 2 terms), but it will be a closing window as he will already be 54.

No need. The new President can appoint him to a Circuit Court in 2017, then SCOTUS about 2021. This presumes Cruz will not be President, but I'll go on a limb and assume you are good with that.

J

 

[JollyRoger]

Why would Hillary appoint Cruz though?

 

[onejayhawk]

Why would Hillary appoint Cruz though?

She wouldn't. What has Mrs. Clinton to do with the next President? Most likely she will retire to write overpriced books.

J

 

[Formaldehyde]

She's going to make a career of appearing before congressional witch hunts for the next 20 years.

 

[onejayhawk]

She's going to make a career of appearing before congressional witch hunts for the next 20 years.

Don't be silly. She won't live 20 years.

Spoiler :

I give you the witch part. Just remember, you said it.

J

 

[Formaldehyde]

The best way for Cruz to reach the high ground.

Wouldn't that be with an ark instead?

 

[Arakhor]

What has Mrs. Clinton to do with the next President?

You already know this, but there's a not insignificant chance that they'll be one and the same.

Most likely she will retire to write overpriced books.

Along with a dozen Republican hopefuls, no doubt.

 

[onejayhawk]

You already know this, but there's a not insignificant chance that they'll be one and the same.

Ido know. It's why I mentioned having time to write.

Along with a dozen Republican hopefuls, no doubt.

All but one, unless you count the ones appointed to cabinet positions. Then it will be fewer.

J

 

[Kaitzilla]

Last year, nationwide health premiums went up 2%; mine did not rise. This years price increases have not been gathered, but I've just received notice from my insurer that it is raises its premiums an average of 7.5%. I'm not happy about this, but it's a big improvement over the double-digit increases I saw before Obamacare.

civver, what was your original coverage? Was it one of those catastrophe-only policies? Have you search on your state's exchange to see if the free market can offer you a better plan at less cost?

Health premiums went up 2% on average in 2014?
That's great!

2016 might not be so rosy though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/u...es-seek-big-rate-increases-for-2016.html?_r=3

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans — market leaders in many states — are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

The Oregon insurance commissioner, Laura N. Cali, has just approved 2016 rate increases for companies that cover more than 220,000 people. Moda Health Plan, which has the largest enrollment in the state, received a 25 percent increase, and the second-largest plan, LifeWise, received a 33 percent increase.

Jesse Ellis O’Brien, a health advocate at the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, said: “Rate increases will be bigger in 2016 than they have been for years and years and will have a profound effect on consumers here. Some may start wondering if insurance is affordable or if it’s worth the money.”

Someone tell me this NYT story is crap.

 

[onejayhawk]

Rumors of both the demise and success of ACA are greatly exaggerated. No surprise on either point.

J

 

[El_Machinae]

It was, what, 8% annualized before? Yowza.

Will this affect inflation numbers?

 

[onejayhawk]

How long will the Federal pools have money for subsidies? That will take another act of Congress after this year IIRC.

J

 

[JollyRoger]

Congress doesn't have the appetite to take away subsidies - the insurance and healthcare lobbyists won't let them.

 

[Farm Boy]

If Congress gets tired of printing money for their rich buddies in insurance, they'll just give them crony jobs in the single payer system, silly.

 

[onejayhawk]

Congress doesn't have the appetite to take away subsidies - the insurance and healthcare lobbyists won't let them.

You have a point. Repeal the whole thing and start over.

If Congress gets tired of printing money for their rich buddies in insurance, they'll just give them crony jobs in the single payer system, silly.

When did the Democrats get to be the ones in bed with big business? That part is strange, but there it is.

J

 

[Antilogic]

...both Houses of the Congress are currently controlled by Republicans...

 

[Timsup2nothin]

...both Houses of the Congress are currently controlled by Republicans...

I think that's the plan. It will be an election year. Republicans in congress who have been spouting for almost a decade that they would "repeal Obamacare" will confront that with a single vote this is their chance to leave America with no functioning healthcare system, and face the reality that they would then be held accountable for the fact that over all these years of spouting they have produced absolutely nothing to even propose as an alternative.

It's damned if you do and damned if you don't. Would you rather go into the election as the guy who voted to destroy one of the largest industries in the economy and threw the country into an epic tailspin, or as the guy who was presented the opportunity to fulfill on a decade of campaign rhetoric and proved it was all just hot air?