By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--March 12, 2014
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In 2013, HHS decided that ObamaCare's wave of policy terminations qualified as a "hardship" that entitled people to a special type of coverage designed for people under age 30 or a mandate exemption. HHS originally defined and reserved hardship exemptions for the truly down and out such as battered women, the evicted and bankrupts. But amid the post-rollout political backlash, last week the agency created a new category: Now all you need to do is fill out a form attesting that your plan was cancelled and that you "believe that the plan options available in the [ObamaCare] Marketplace in your area are more expensive than your cancelled health insurance policy" or "you consider other available policies unaffordable." This lax standard—no formula or hard test beyond a person's belief—at least ostensibly requires proof such as an insurer termination notice. But people can also qualify for hardships for the unspecified nonreason that "you experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance," which only requires "documentation if possible." And yet another waiver is available to those who say they are merely unable to afford coverage, regardless of their prior insurance. In a word, these shifting legal benchmarks offer an exemption to everyone who conceivably wants one.For the White House, this may be the ultimate example of flying by the seat of their pants in the implementation of this fatally flawed law. The individual mandate is widely reviled - an egregious imposition on people's right to choose their own health care arrangements. But you can't socialize health care unless you impose an everybody-in-nobody-out mandate that is inherent to command-and-control systems. So Obama tries to split the difference. Everybody in, unless we let you out, which we will if you push us hard enough, but shhhhhhh! Don't say anything about it, or everyone will want to do it! And this is supposed to be better than the health care system - for all its flaws - we had before?
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