The AP is reporting that Sen. Joe Donnelly told his Senate Democratic colleagues during a closed-door meeting that his son had received a notice from his health insurer that his policy was being cancelled. Donnelly refused a request to comment when asked about it by the AP. "The officials who described the incident did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss a private meeting," the AP report said. Donnelly voted for passage of the Affordable Care Act as a member of the House of Representatives.
UPDATE: The Journal-Gazette's Brian Francisco was successful in getting the following statement from Donnelly confirming the AP account. “I shared a personal story about my son, Joe, Jr. He received notice last month that his current health insurance plan will be canceled as of January 1, 2014. He is now shopping for a new plan on the New York State Health Plan Marketplace.” The only other comment Donnelly made was that his son is currently employed.
8 comments:
And, this is news why?
If his son has one of those substandard individual policies, of course it's gonna be cancelled.
It's newsworthy, Ellen, because Donnelly as a lawmaker who voted for the legislation acknowledges there are problems with the law and supports making changes to it. If he didn't think it was relevant, why would he recount the story in a discussion with his colleagues?
The fact that his son needs a new insurance policy does not mean that there are problems with Obamacare.
It means that the insurance company (offered by his employer???) had a substandard policy they needed to withdraw from the market.
Insurance companies withdraw from the market all the time (the one used at my husband's company decided to pull out of the health insurance field a few years ago -- nothing to do with Obamacare).
The problem is Ellen, that it is VERY likely that the new insurance will premiums and deductibles significantly higher than the previous one. And if he(Donnelly's son) was satisfied with his previous coverage, he now has to buy coverage he doesn't want or need at a price he can't afford. For every winner in the ACA, there are more losers. The previously uninsurable diabetic gets coverage and 10 Americans foot the bill for it. We throw around the subsidies like it means nothing, when in fact, that's taxpayer money and we all know there is none of that left. When the Physicians and Health Networks scream foul and get ignored, we can no longer pretend everything is roses and rainbows with the ACA.
That's the dirty little secret about the ACA. The insurance companies will make off like bandits at the expense of average Americans. The ACA will confiscate a significant percentage of wealth from Americans and shift it to the insurance companies. There will continue to be big gaps of uncovered medical expenses and providers have already figured out that many people will just stiff them for the uninsured costs.
Methinks you guys need to listen to more than Fox News!
Tell which part is wrong Ellen. The fact that millions of Americans will see dramatic increases in the costs of their health care or that the "subsidies" aren't our tax dollars? The ACA does nothing to break down state line barriers, creates no competition, and forces people onto exchanges that, in some cases, offer little or no choice based on the state you live in. I'm one of the lucky ones to have employer provided insurance, but I can guarantee should that ever change, I could NEVER afford the plan I'd be required to purchase under the ACA based on the averages I've seen so far. $900 a month premium with a $7500 deductible? That isn't insurance, it's the modern day robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Me thinks Ellen regularly partakes of the Obama Kool-Aid.
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