You might want to read an article from the latest Bloomberg Businessweek, which describes the ?health-care industry? as ?running to Obamacare?s rescue.?
The individual mandate is now under attack in the courts and on Capitol Hill by Republicans, libertarians, and Tea Party enthusiasts who call it an affront to personal liberty. The industry, however, views it as the bedrock supporting the entire health reform law and is lobbying to keep it. The prospect of a vastly bigger market has helped spark a 7.4 percent rise since Jan. 1 in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Managed Health Care Index of publicly traded health-care companies.
For insurers, eliminating millions of potential customers while keeping other aspects of the overhaul would be a “nuclear nightmare,” says Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consulting firm that works with insurers. It would leave insurers without the extra revenue to cover higher costs from the law’s ban on the denial of coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging sicker patients higher premiums. “It’s the No. 1 lobby issue in the insurance industry right now,” says Laszewski.
The article goes on to explain that the insurance mandate ?is more than just a policy issue for some Republicans. It?s an assault on the Constitution.?
For another take on the constitutionality of ObamaCare, follow the link for details of Daren Bakst?s recent presentation on the topic.
