WARNING: ObamaCare is a ticking time bomb that could go off and save millions of Americans from heartache and illness.
S
omething strange is happening all over America: Insurance companies are sending checks to their customers.
When I received mine, I was shocked. Aren’t I supposed to be paying you, Humana, more and more as I’m increasingly scared of using any service for fear of being branded with a preexisting condition? But no, it was an actual check for real cash money—enough to pay for most of month of coverage or a couple of co-pays. Nothing life-changing, of course. But a shock.
Why is this happening? Some call it the “Bomb Buried In Obamacare” because it’s one of those AMAZING Affordable Care Act benefits—like gender equity, community health centers and the end of lifetime limits—that people rarely mention.
What is this WONDERFUL bomb? Rick Ungar explains:
That would be the provision of the law, called the medical loss ratio, that requires health insurance companies to spend 80% of the consumers’ premium dollars they collect—85% for large group insurers—on actual medical care rather than overhead, marketing expenses and profit. Failure on the part of insurers to meet this requirement will result in the insurers having to send their customers a rebate check representing the amount in which they underspend on actual medical care.
I have my rebate check. And since I’m one of those people who believe that if Romney is elected and has 50 Republican friends in the Senate, the bulk of what they call ObamaCare will be eliminated or choked out of existence, I’m donating all of my refund to help rebate check back to Obama/Biden 2012. It’s a selfish act in that I’m hoping to get another rebate next year if my insurance agency overcharges me. But it’s also patriotic in that I feel ObamaCare is the greatest victory for the middle class since Medicare.
I encourage you to donate part of yours, if you can. Send some to President Obama’s campaign or other supporters of the Affordable Care Act in Congress or your statehouse. You can even help support blogs like Eclectablog that love Obamacare.
There are still huge battles left to be won if President Obama wins. We have to make sure every state in the union makes the decision to expand Medicaid to all who are eligible. And we can push for improvements like the public option.
But what we can’t do is take for granted just how much has been accomplished. Millions are already covered, tens of millions are enjoying free preventative care that pays for itself and $1.1 billion in rebates are on their way to Americans who deserve that relief.
ObamaCare will save lives. That’s undeniable. But only if we save it first.
