July 16, 2009
So, this is why they don’t want the public to read the bills!

Posted at 11:41 am, in: Health Care
Tags: America's Affordable Health Choices Act 2009, Instapundit

According to an article on IBDEditorials.com the health care bill outlaws private insurance:

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of “Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage,” the “Limitation On New Enrollment” section of the bill clearly states:

“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day” of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won’t be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

But, as Instapundit reports:

UPDATE: Reader Patrick Ying disagrees:

Investor’s Business Daily did not continue to read the bill to page 19. “Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan. ” It does not outlaw individual private coverage – you can still buy the plan on the Exchange where they will compete with the public option, not be replaced by it. The advantage of the Exchange, is that the coverage no longer has one of the problems of individual coverage – skyrocketing premiums should you become ill.

Hmm. We should have more time for all this stuff to be sorted out. Instead they’re ramming it through as quickly as possible. That makes me suspicious.

Now, I don’t know what the reality is here, but I’m going with this bill is too large for them to pass it before it is fully read and every paragraph scrutinized for it’s real meaning. I mean, we’re only into the first 20 pages here and there’s already a problem.

We all understand the urgency, don’t we? They have to pass this bill before anyone realizes what is in it or it won’t get passed at all. They know it and we know it.

And, note that the name of this bill is “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act 2009.” Are they laughing when they write this stuff? From what we have seen so far, this bill will result in our choices in health care being taken away. The joke is on us if we allow them to get away with this!

For more on this: theblogprof, QandO, Maggie’s Farm, and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS.

(H/T: Memeorandum)