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Obamacare co-ops losing money

Finding out what’s in it: 22 of the 23 nonprofit co-ops created under Obamacare to replace for-profit insurance companies lost money, with the majority failing badly to sign up customers.

Under President Barack Obama’s overhaul, taxpayers provided $2.4 billion in loans to get the co-ops going, but only one out of 23 — the one in Maine — made money last year, said the report out Thursday. Another one, the Iowa/Nebraska co-op, was shut down by regulators over financial concerns. The audit by the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office also found that 13 of the 23 lagged far behind their 2014 enrollment projections.

The probe raised concerns about whether federal loans will be repaid, and recommended closer supervision by the administration as well as clear standards for recalling loans if a co-op is no longer viable. Just last week, the Louisiana Health Cooperative announced it would cease offering coverage next year, saying it’s “not growing enough to maintain a healthy future.” About 16,000 people are covered by that co-op.

In other words, the $2.4 billion was really a pay-off to friends of the Democratic Party, taken from the taxpayers and handed over to that party’s supporters. The Obama administration will never demand that money back, nor do I expect it to increase its oversight of these co-ops.

Read the whole article. It illustrates once again how terrible a law Obamacare is, and how it must be repealed — in full — if the American economy is ever going to have a hope of recovering from the slump it has been in since 2007.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • Cotour

    Unrelated but related:

    A lady friend of mine just told me what I assume is an all too typical story about seeing her doctor. She just had surgery and is recovering nicely so she goes to her GP for a general check which included finding what her cholesterol count is. She has joined a gym, is eating properly and is focused on getting healthy. She looks great, has great attitude and you can see that she is on the right road.

    So she has her check up and her doctor listens to her explaining her personal health focus and goals which is to loose some more weight and he says to her, forget about all that, you do not have to do any of that, I can write you a prescription for Adipex, (which is a STIMULANT), I have HUNDREDS of women on it. Translation: I receive cash flow for each prescription that I write and that cash flow is much more important to me and my profession and the drug industry than the interests of my patients and their health.

    http://www.drugs.com/adipex.html

    Now this doctor is a male, about 45ish? Is about 6’1″ and runs at about 325lbs or so, he’s a fat bastard in other words (not that there is anything wrong with being a fat bastard).

    Now this as you have already figured out is not about a doctor and his concern for his patients health and what is best for her, its about numbers and cash flow first and then two or three items down the line maybe he is concerned about his patient. And to top it all off when asked if he was taking this wonderful miracle drug that allows people to loose weight, what was his response? His eyes got big and he just shook his head indicating “NO”. Translation: What are you nuts! Im not going to be part of this particular experiment on humanity.

    Now I can understand paying attention to cash flow but this true example which is an example of what is actually going on in healthcare today is what is one of the many things that is wrong with our healthcare system. I was outraged when she told me the story but I was not in the least surprised.

  • My immediate question to your friend is this: Has she found a new GP? This guy is very clearly not one I would recommend, and there are many other GPs out there whose focus is on proper treatment for their patients, not cash flow.

  • Cotour

    I agree, I suggested that she find a competent Homeopath or another GP doctor.

    The way that the system is set up you have this GP, whom ever they are, and they become the gate keeper to any specialists that you may need to actually receive some sort of life promoting or saving healthcare. So these GPs may be chosen not so much for the quality of healthcare they provide but in many instances convenience. The guys office is right down the street from her house.

    The take away is that the individual must be there own aggressive advocate for their healthcare, the problem with that is that we the people are immersed in our everyday survival and we are always behind the learning curve in dealing with most healthcare matters and making competent decisions. We depend on these schooled and trained people to First have our best interest in mind and this is an example that in the massive machine that is the healthcare system that is not an easy thing to confidently do. So there comes a point at which you must surrender to your ignorance on the subject and must rely on another to make the best decisions for you.

    I also had to choose a doctor as a requirement for my health plan, guess who I chose? The funny thing is?Its all true.

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