Why ACA Rebates Are A Big Deal

[babylonsister]

http://thepage.time.com/2012/05/11/halperins-take-why-aca-rebates-are-a-big-deal/

Halperin’s Take: Why ACA Rebates Are A Big Deal
Friday, May 11, 2012

snip//


But the rebate provision of the law — the fruits of the so-called “80/20 rule” — is about to kick in big time, as millions of Americans receive rebate checks or premium reductions from insurance companies who have failed to spend enough on patient care. This cash could be a true game changer in public attitudes about whether the law actually is beneficial and good public policy. The rebate provision of the law has been known and discussed in health care policy circles for months, but has largely flown below the radar in the political world and for voters—until now.


snip//

The size of the checks will vary, but for many working Americans, they are likely to be the most tangible, and welcome, sign of the law’s benefits.

All of this is of great interest to the Obama-Biden campaign team in Chicago. During a recent discussion with senior campaign officials about their strategy to neutralize the law’s relative unpopularity, they cited the rebate checks as a stealth weapon to push public opinion back in the White House’s favor.

Democratic strategists are delighted that the cash – and letters of notification – will come from the insurance companies and not the government. That way, the administration can minimize the accusation that the President is trying to milk the money for political gain. At the same time, the HSS language leaves no ambiguity on why the (unpopular) insurance companies are issuing the refunds. The letters state, right at the top, “This rebate is required by the Affordable Care Act — the health reform law.”

Some in the insurance industry and critics of the law argue that other provisions of the measure will actually raise premiums overall. To counter that, the Obamans plan to tout the fact that many insurance companies changed their policies after the law passed to avoid paying the rebates. So in addition to the checks, they will argue that more people also are benefiting now from lower prices or better coverage. And letters will also go out to policyholders who aren’t getting rebates and who don’t work for self-insured employers, explaining the 80/20 provision to them.

The Affordable Care Act still is an issue Republicans are likely to highlight during the fall campaign, and one Democrats will continue to downplay. And in June, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the law’s constitutionality, which will shake up utterly the political debate on the matter. But as the Obama campaign strives to make a case for the President’s first-term legacy, “the checks are in the mail” is a sweet phrase indeed.

[truedelphi]

1. How many people even know about this?

I bet if you asked 1,000 people who work two jobs a day (or one very intense job requiring overtime about this provision), only 4 out of that 1,000 would know about it.

Will people be given information letting them know?

[grantcart]

4. they will know after they get the checks

At DU we get the information about 90 days ahead of time.

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Yes. OBAMA CARE does work and single payer or universal would be even better. The truth is out there!

Intelligent design in government.Smart Democrats, unfettered, can make our country so much better.

[xtraxritical]

5. VOTE A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC BALLOT and get the neanderthals out of congress.

[truedelphi]

3. Several other things - the insurance people will lie through their teeth

About what their activities are in terms of the 80 to 20 provision.

They explained to the President how they needed some twenty billion dollars for computerizing their records. He (or Rahm,) eagerly handed that amount of money over to them. Why, for instance, did they say that? The Huge Monopolies demand 300,000 bucks for software per hospital - even though they are franchises. So each hospital monopoly only need one software set to be developed and then shared among the other ten to two hundred hospitals and clinics in their network.

Furthermore, rebate checks are often "lost" - as industry knows how to keep you waiting for months and even years for your rebate check. With Big Industries, the check is always in the mail.

All of this could have been avoided, along with the deaths last year of 50,000 uninsured people, if someone in Washington had the courage and leadership to have made the ACA about:

[h23][font color=red]

SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

[xtraxritical]

6. Yeah, well strong Democratic majorities in Congress will solve all these problems!

[truedelphi]

7. Strong sense of deja vu here:

Note how this ardent and sincere young black guy really likes the idea of Single Payer Universal HC. Don't know what ever happened to him -we sure could have used his insight back in the summer of 2009 when Rahm and the Big Insurers were holed up down the street from the WH creating the ACA (and its 2000 plus pages of stuff most people don't understand.)

[Rosco T.]

8. When do they go out? n/m