Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Speaking of Exchange Policies

One of ObamaCare©'s major pitfalls is the so-called Exchanges. As we've seen with RomneyCare©, these may look good on paper, but their real-life implementation leave much to be desired. We've long been proponents of state-based experimentation, of course, so if the Bay State's happy with them, fine. But that doesn't mean that turning over their basic structure to the likes of HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious portends well:

"[T]he Obama administration unveiled standards on Monday for insurance marketplaces that will allow individuals, families and small businesses in every state to shop for insurance, compare prices and benefits and buy coverage."

As Bob noted here, putting the gummint in charge of these kinds of efforts leads only to heartbreak. Of course, it's literally "your tax dollars at work," since "[t]he Congressional Budget Office predicts that by 2019, about 24 million people will have insurance through exchanges, with four-fifths of them getting federal subsidies that average $6,400 a year per person." [emphasis added]

Let's do some simple math, shall we?

Eighty percent ("four-fifths") of 24 million is about 19 million souls. At $6,400 a pop, that's over 12 billion in taxpayer subsidies. Something about "robbing Peter...?"

I'd perhaps feel better about how this will all work out if it weren't for the fact that the whole shebang was conceived, and is being implemented, by folks like this.
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