The private market can’t solve the nation’s health care problem.

Well, that’s a provocative headline. Is it true? It’s today fashionable to think the Supreme Court will rule that the feds can’t force a person to buy health insurance (or broccoli – and I like broccoli). There are some interesting takeaways:

Hear ye, hear ye

I’ve written about Obamacare a lot in the past, so should note that the Supreme Court is hearing arguments over its fate. If you’re really hung up about the issue, NPR (among others) is posting audio and transcripts of the arguments. I’m not lawyer enough to follow the arguments, though I will note that it’s [...]

AAA’s Supreme Court brief on Obamacare – only one goof

AAA filed a ‘friend of the court’ brief on the challenges to the individual mandate in health care reform. Only one mistake that I saw, but first: Officially, the academy had no comment on whether the individual mandate is constitutional: The Academy takes no position on the constitutionality of the individual-mandate provision, or on any [...]

Feds call health insurance rate hikes in 3 states

New York Times: The Obama administration said Thursday that rate increases sought by a health insurancecompany were unreasonable, and it ordered the insurer to rescind them or justify its refusal to do so. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, issued the finding against the carrier, Trustmark Life Insurance Company, a unit of [...]

Why health insurance subsidizes the elderly

Over at the Speaking of Actuaries blog, SOA President Brad Miller puzzles over why Obamacare has younger buyers subsidizing older ones: I discussed this with someone who works on Capitol Hill. I told him I understood the criteria for the first three but was struggling to understand the reason for the young to old age [...]

Obama pulls the plug on long-term care

With the story, The Washington Post. Back when I blogged a lot about health care reform, I pegged the CLASS Act as a stinker. Looks like the White House figured it out: An actuarial review that Health and Human Services has just released confirms [. . .] the administration could not design a long-term care [...]

Attention, sports fans: COBRA, Obamacare could aid locked-out footballers

Via Insurance Journal: Most agents are now talking frequently about COBRA coverage, which one agent estimates will cost players $800 to $900 per month to cover their families. Some are advising clients to take out additional medical policies or disability insurance. Agent Brian Mackler, who represents Jets linebacker David Harris, said most of his clients [...]

The hidden subsidy in health care reform

I want to show how Obamacare includes a hidden subsidy for the middle class. It’s a feature of any insurance system with an individual mandate and government subsidies. The government pays full freight for the poor person’s insurance, but some of that subsidy ends up lowering costs for wealthier people. Here’s an example of how [...]

Actuary of the Year: The winner is . . . .

. . . . David Axene, whose firm, well, here’s a piece of the CA DOI press release (at David Axene’s web site): Based upon a thorough review of Anthem’s calculations, Axene found numerous errors in the methodology used by Anthem to project total lifetime loss ratios. Correcting these errors resulted in lower lifetime loss [...]

Insurance and the Commerce Clause

I leave it to others to debate Monday’s federal court ruling that says the federal government can’t require a person to buy health insurance. I just find it interesting that this isn’t the first time that insurance, the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and the state of Virginia have met at a crossroads. Last time, [...]