Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2 View Post
The Republican health-care bill could cut benefits in employer-backed plans, too
The Republican health care bill doesn't cut benefits in any plan. It restores the freedom to consumers, insurance companies and employers to design and choose the benefit plans they want, if they want one. No has to buy one, no one has to sell one, no one has to provide one. There are some protections for example, children can stay on parents policies until they're 26. If you're an insurance company you can charge a surcharge up to 30% for 1 year, for a lapsed policy beyond 63 days if the person has a pre-existing condition, but you can't deny that person coverage, all you can do is charge them up to 30% more for no more than 1 year. You don't have to, you aren't required to, but you can and still be compliant. So if the normal premium is $300, you lapse for some reason or never signed up, then you can buy insurance with a pre-existing condition for $400 for no more than a year, then after a year or 10 months or 6 months or whatever that carrier decides to offer, your premium would return to the normal rate of $300 a month. Your normal premium might only be $200 a month and then your surcharge would be less than $100 a month, it would be $66 a month.

And competition for your business might eliminate the surcharge altogether. Insurance companies may decide it's not worth it and just make the normal rate for everyone $325 and focus on growing their customer base instead of punishing their customers for one thing or another.

It's a much a do about nothing seems to me. What people don't seem to understand is the big picture of what this Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 fix to Obamacare is going to do is open up competition, increase efficiencies, and grow the insurance pools to historic levels. Most Americans haven't ever really experienced a competitive insurance market because for 72 years, it's been a collusion-driven, anti-competitive insurance market because of McCarran-Ferguson.

So it's all going to be okay, it's going to great for everyone, a whole new experience. Give it a shot. It surely can't be any worse than it is now and everyone is totally fed up with the whole issue, they want a change and they want a change for the better for everyone.