

ObamaCare's Economic Dominoes - jonallanharper
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/obamacares_economic_dominoes.html

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fr0man
Wow, is this ever a load of partisan tripe. Anyone expecting private insurance
companies to go out of business in America anytime soon is delusional. They
wield too much influence. Not to mention despite his 'poor insurance companies
only have a 4% margin', they make a crapton of money as is. Without a public
option, that profit is here to stay.

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hga
A look at the history of insurance in general and medical insurance recently
in Massachusetts will disabuse you of the notion that the government can not
force insurance companies out of business.

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fr0man
Well, first of all, I think providing medical care to the poor outweighs
keeping super profitable insurance companies in business. This country would
be a LOT better off if we DID drive every insurance company out of business
while providing higher quality healthcare to all of our citizens. We're the
richest country in the world and our healthcare quality isn't even in the top
25. It's disgusting. Secondly, MA has a public option, which radically alters
the landscape for for-profit insurance providers, of which there are very few
in MA. Most are non-profit. This is really a good thing, IMHO, but also means
the MA model provides no evidence for Obamacare driving for-profit insurance
providers out of business. Thirdly, while the insurance companies wanted a
better deal than the ACA gave them, overall it's going to be a net positive
for them. We did just pass legislation requiring >30 million people purchase
private insurance. Yes, the pre-existing condition requirement hurts them
financially, as well as the rest of the regulations included, but, again,
that's a good thing for us, even if it's bad for their bottom line. Geez, I'm
not even sure why I wasted my time attacking an article from American Thinker
anyway.

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hga
I'm not sure either, given that you're not willing to defend the main point of
your reply.

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fr0man
I'm not sure which part of my response you consider not defending.

Throwing MA out there as 'proof' that the government can drive insurance
companies out of business when the MA legislation has done no such thing, and
even if it had driven companies out of business, the model and environment for
the MA legislation is so different from the ACA legislation is hardly support
for your argument.

If you want more specific points on how ACA is a net-win for the insurance
companies, here: [http://industry.bnet.com/healthcare/10002208/insurance-
compa...](http://industry.bnet.com/healthcare/10002208/insurance-companies-
stand-to-benefit-from-reform-in-long-run/)

