Legal Commentary

The Camel's Nose Barely Sneaks Under The Tent In The Health Insurance Premium Assistance Bill

By Big Tent Democrat

Ezra Klein generally has the best sources on the health insurance bill and he writes:

The deal looks pretty much like it's looked for the past few days: The Office of Personnel Management will shepherd national, non-profit plans into existence. Medicare will open to folks between 55 and 64 who are eligible for the exchange. If the national non-profit plans don't materialize, then there appears to be a trigger that will call a public plan into the market, but that seems pretty unlikely. All of this, of course, is contingent on CBO giving it a good score.

The camel's nose here is the expansion of Medicare eligibility to a group beyond those 65 and over. That group is defined as persons between the age of 55 and 64 who qualify for the Exchange (stevie makes a great point in comments - if dependents can be covered in a Medicare buy-in this becomes a more meaningful provision - progressives should demand that concession.) It's a start. Lowering the eligibility age now becomes an acceptable concept. Now there needs to be a tweak to all of this imo - the individual mandate must be limited to those persons who will be eligible for the Exchange AND who qualify for the new Medicare expansion and/or the new Medicaid expansion. To wit, you are only mandated to purchase health insurance IF you are eligible for a public insurance plan (Medicaid or Medicare.) I would also support mandating coverage for persons who make $200K a year or more. I also prefer the House funding mechanism.

If the bill can end up in that final form, I would support it.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).