The latest battle in the War on Obamacare comes in light of the President's oft cited claim that if you like your current insurance you can keep it. As it turns out, many people who buy insurance on the individual market are finding out that this is not quite the case. What we are witnessing here is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences.
One of the Republican proposals for healthcare reform has been allowing for the purchase of insurance across state lines. The reason this would bring down insurance costs for consumers is that state laws for health insurance varied greatly. This allows companies to sell policies that offer very little coverage. States that require insurance companies to actually, you know, cover people have more expensive policies.
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Republicans proclaim that allowing across state insurance unleashes free market forces, driving down costs. It does indeed unleash the free market forces, but it doesn't lead to lower costs, it leads to lower services. Years ago, credit card services were offered on a state by state basis. Some states have stronger consumer protection laws than others. Congress passed a law allowing for cross state credit card sales. Many card service companies moved to states with lax credit card laws, I'm looking at you Delaware. Interest rates skyrocketed and consumers got screwed.
Credit Card companies than took advantage of the lack of state regulations to push the envelope. They would change the due dates on bills without informing their customers. This led to late payments which allowed the companies to charge late fees and raise interest rates. A credit card reform bill was passed to prevent this practice, among other things, guess which party didn't think this reform was a good idea.
Democrats wanted to add language to bankruptcy reform preventing banks from foreclosing on homes of reservists who were recalled to active duty. Not only did that reform not make it into the bill, but banks actually illegally foreclosed on thousands of active duty military who were deployed overseas.
The Dodd-Frank financial reform law created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Protecting consumers from financial shenanigans. It was the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren. She was going to be nominated to head it, but Republicans made it clear they would not let her serve. How'd that work out? The Republicans filibustered Richard Cordray's nomination, not because they had a problem with him, they were against the office's existence.
Gee, all these laws protect me from being fleeced! Don't the Democrats realize they are denying me my right to be fleeced? Hey! Whatever happened to freedom?