Some AARP medical plans now exempt from Obama Healthcare law

Healthcare lobbyists are rather critical of the fact that President Obama’s healthcare overhaul gave AARP preferential treatment in regulations released this week. The Department of Human and Health Services proposed a set of regulations ensure that large insurance rate increases are “thoroughly reviewed” at either the state or federal level. These new rules would exempt so-called Medigap policies — supplemental insurance plans meant to fill gaps in Medicare coverage. And AARP, which endorsed the health care overhaul, sells these policies on behalf of a private insurer.

The White House disputes the claim. Medicare expert Gail Wilensky, who ran Medicare and Medicaid under former President George H.W. Bush, says the regulation exemption is an early surprise in a complex law.

“There are just hundreds and hundreds of provisions that most people, even those who think they’re informed, don’t know about it,” she said. “You can count on every year, for the next six or seven years as this unfolds, that we are going to discover provisions that no one was aware was in that legislation.” Fox News

And Wilensky is on the board that has plans sponsored by AARP. What does all of this mean in regarding AARP? It escapes certain health care overhaul regulations — such as a restriction on insurance industry executive pay and a tax on insurance companies — but AARP is not an insurance company. Although the Medigap plans that AARP sells will avoid the new rate reviews.

With this type of system, insurers seeking increases of 10% or more would have to publicly justify them. Those plans would then be either scrutinized by the state or the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Katheen Sebelius, HHS Secretary has promised to study supplemental Medicare insurance costs, but she notes the federal government has no authority to order changes. And as usual, no one from AARP will comment.

Yet the White House is still trying to convince us that insurance companies are the bad guys, typical politics, and government telling us that they know what’s best for us.

“I think there’s genuine benefits that the law provided to Americans that they’re going to have to talk about what happens when you put insurance companies rather than families in charge of medical decisions,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Fox News

The temporary government funding bill Congress passed during the lame-duck session doesn’t include money for implementing the health reforms. At least that’s one good thing in our favor. House Speaker-designate John Boehner signaled a month ago that starving the program is part of the GOP strategy.

“Well, there’s a lot of tricks up our sleeves in terms of how we can dent this, kick it, slow it down to make sure it never happens. And trust me, I’m going to make sure this health care bill never ever, ever is implemented,” he said.

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