President Obama apparently intends to issue an executive allowing health insurance companies to extend coverage for up to a year. Following is from CNN:
The fix will be only for people who received expiration notices. It will call in part for insurance policies to be renewed for existing policyholders with insurance in the individual market who got cancellation notices. They would get one-year extensions.
Also, insurance companies will be required to notify policyholders of alternative coverage and what benefits they would be losing by keeping an existing plan.
This is an act of desperate and it borders on insanity. There is a strong possibility that he will turn disaster into catastrophe. It is doubtful that he even has the authority to do this. He is directing insurance companies to ignore a law passed by congress and signed by him and replacing it with unworkable guidelines. This is beyond astonishing, when a little more than 30 days ago he was willing to hold the entire government hostage to prevent such a delay. He does not have the authority under the U.S. constitution to arbritarily change the law.
Neither Congress nor the President has the authority to order insurance companies to sell insurance or anything else. The Supreme Court DID NOT UPHOLD OBAMACARE it actually ruled that the government did not have the authority to order people to buy insurance or anything else. What was upheld was the individual mandate, but only as a tax.
This is an “Al Haig” moment. Al Haig made a statement after Reagan was shot saying he was in charge. He was wrong. Under the U.S. Constitution the man in charge was George H.W. Bush and Al Haig’s statement was just plain stupid. Now Obama is arrogantly giving Congress the finger with his own arrogant “I’m in charge” speech.” They are not likely to be amused.
There is a strong possibility we are headed for a constitutional crisis. The man responsible for the worse administration of a government program is desperately clinging to the controls. There is no chance this ends well.
TDM