And the mob was pleased.
But the clowns that wrote the law, which they never read until after it was passed, left the insurance companies an out.
Essentially the way Obamacrap was written, IF a health insurance company issued a policy on a child under the age of 19 they would be required to cover any pre-existing medical conditions.
That was a big "if".
If a condition was overly expensive to treat, creating a situation where the carrier would lose money by issuing a policy, Obamacrap allowed them to just say no.
Enter the chief clown to the rescue.
HHS Secretary Shebullshits issued a decree which applied to all carriers throughout the land. Henceforth, by command of Shebullshits, health insurance companies could not refuse to issue a policy on a child.
In essence, she created a provision by fiat that did not exist in the law.
Carriers again reacted by agreeing to issue policies on children, but only if applied as a dependent of a healthy adult.
Again the mob complained that this was not fair. To deny coverage for sick children was bad, but to require parents as part of the package wasn't right.
Enter the California goon squad to save the day. California declared it was unlawful for carriers to require parents to buy health insurance if they wanted coverage on their children.
Think about the irony for a moment.
A key provision of Obamacrap, and one that has generated the loudest protest, is the individual mandate. Once fully implemented, all citizens of this formerly free nation, will be required to buy health insurance or else pay a tax unto Caesar.
But when an insurance company seeks to apply a mandate that adults purchase health insurance in order to also cover their children, this is also considered unfair.
California officials listened to the mob and henceforth declared a mandate for adults of minor children is unjust and passed a law making the parental mandate illegal.
Just like that, the parental mandate is illegal in CA but the Obamacrap mandate is legal . . . at least for now.
But the fire sale on children's health insurance in California is about to end. When the lefty state declared that carriers MUST cover children they conceded there MIGHT be adverse selection unless a window of opportunity was created.
And that window is about to close.
The LATimes reports Cali lawmakers are urging parents to act responsibly and secure coverage for their sick children, creating, in effect, a new kind of gold rush.
The law, which took effect Jan. 1, allows parents to apply for the coverage during an open enrollment period that runs until March 1, or in the month after their children's birthdays.
"The law is only effective if parents take advantage of it
Well, duh!
So parents of sick children, apply now before it is too late.
The carriers have agreed to comply with this mandate, as if they had a choice, but have come back with their own response.
Blue Shield of California has asked for a 59% rate increase on health insurance plans.
Somehow I doubt they will be the last to ask for a significant rate increase. There is also speculation that Blue Shield will bow out of the individual health insurance market.
And so it goes . . .
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