Something tells me the PPACA is going to turn out to be constitutional after all, and I'll tell you why: because the people, with their preexisting conditions and jobless kids in their 20s and so on, aren't the only ones who are showing signs of wanting it. The something is an article in today's New York Times with the headline "A Health Law at Risk Gives Insurers Pause".
That's right, the insurance industry is starting to give some thought to what they're going to do if the Supremes vote the law down, and it is not making them very happy:
“Many of us did not get the bill we wanted, but I think having to start over is worse than having to fix this,” said Robert Laszewski, a health care industry consultant and former insurance executive who opposed the bill.
Many insurers would have difficulty changing course. “The risk of repeal and starting from zero frightens them infinitely more” than having to comply with the law as written, said Michael A. Turpin, a former insurance executive who is now a senior executive at USI Insurance Services, a broker.
While companies would continue to make money by carefully selecting which customers to cover and would adjust their business accordingly, many insurers say the health care market is deeply flawed. “The system doesn’t work,” said Mark T. Bertolini, the chief executive of Aetna. “Something has to be done.”
The law, “while imperfect in a number of ways, was a step forward,” Mr. Bertolini said.
Doctors and government officials are concerned as well:
“The part I struggle with is how you undo two years worth of implementation,” said Dr. Glen R. Stream, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “It would leave tremendous uncertainty about what is the direction we’re going in and that uncertainty would obviously affect the patients directly.”
Maryland’s health secretary, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, said he was worried about the 50,000 people nationwide who are enrolled in a federally financed insurance program because they are seriously ill and cannot find coverage otherwise. If the entire law is thrown out, those people “don’t have other options,” he said.
This is going to turn out to be one of those things that makes people believe Obama really can work in 11 dimensions. The bill that disappointed you and me because of the lack of a public option disappointed them too because of the
medical loss ratio requirements, but they too needed something, because the situation as it was was not tenable. The Court, political as it is, is not going to be insensitive to their needs.