Who would have guessed? The Obama administration, Democrats and Republicans agree that the individual mandate should be delayed. But before you start in with the Kumbaya, rest assured there is the small matter of differences in how long it should be delayed.
The Obama administration, after a sober meeting yesterday afternoon with 12 of the largest health insurers, concluded six weeks. The Forbes article referenced a consultant to the insurers in an interview with Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) the editor of The Washington Post’s Wonkblog:
“The White House is meeting with insurance industry executives,” a consultant to insurers told Ezra Klein, “and I can tell you what they’re talking about. [They’re saying] you need to get this fixed, because you’re setting us up for a real fall with our customers. [Patients are] not going to blame Kathleen Sebelius if they walk into their doctor’s office and the doctor doesn’t know who they are. They’ll blame the insurance company. And I’m sure what the insurers are telling the White House today is we will not let you put us in that position.”
Essentially the delay means that people without insurance would have until the end of March to register, although it would still take some time before they were covered.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-West Virginia) told Fox News he would submit a bill calling for a one year delay in Obamacare. That news gained support from other politicians nervous about upcoming elections in 2014. They want to put some distance between their races and problems suffered by the portal for the federal health insurance exchange, healthcare.gov. About 16 Senate Democrats are up for re-election next year, according to Business Insider.
new: senior dem source tells me to expect every sen dem running in 2014 to back @JeanneShaheen proposal to delay #ACA enrollment deadline
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) October 23, 2013
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
U.S. News and World Report noted that it reflects something of a backlash after assurances that the website would not have problems when it went live with the start of open enrollment October 1.
Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., both of whom are also on the ballot in 2014, think the White House should push back the open enrollment deadline. “Given the technical issues, it makes sense to extend the time for people to sign up,” Pryor said in a released statement.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also is putting forward a bill that would delay the individual mandate penalty for six months after the Government Accountabilty Office gives greenlight for the healthcare.gov.
Why is the GAO’s opinion significant here? The GAO delivered an assessment of healthcare.gov in July that was critical of the progress developing healthcare.gov debut. It expressed concern about missed deadlines causing problems in its implementation by October 1.
[Photo Credit: Juggling Time from Big Stock Photos]
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