2014***ObamaCare***2014

The stock market has been on a straight up course for the past year; so it is not unexpected that insurance stocks (who are in other businesses beside medical insurance) would be going up also.

forky's chart also confirms what DD is saying, that since early January there have been concerns about losses from obamacare as these stocks have been down

For those not looking to be surprised, as poor Mr. and Mrs. alanleroy have been, DonDiego recommends a perusal of a summary of What is Yet To Come in the Obamacare saga written by a Megan McArdle and published on 21 January by Bloomberg.

Her first, apparently accurate, prediciton:
" 2014: Small-business policy cancellations. This year, the small-business market is going to get hit with the policy cancellations that roiled the individual market last year. Some firms will get better deals, but others will find that their coverage is being canceled in favor of more expensive policies that don’t cover as many of the doctors or procedures that they want. This is going to be a rolling problem throughout the year."

Some other forecasts:

" 2014 and onward: Medicare reimbursement cuts eat into hospital margins, triggering a lot of lobbying and sad ads about how Beloved Local Hospital may have to close."
[DonDiego supposes this won't happen. The Medicare reimbursement cuts are only in The-Bill-Which-No-One-Read to offset other Obamacare costs so that the CBO could score Obamacare as "deficit neutral"; when it comes time to impose the Cuts-That-No-One-Wants , Congress will intervene, . . . or He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed may just change the Law, again.]

" Spring 2015: The Internal Revenue Service starts collecting individual mandate penalties: 1 percent of income in the first year. That’s going to be a nasty shock to folks who thought the penalty was just $95. I, like many other analysts, expect the administration to announce a temporary delay sometime after April 1, 2014."
[See, . . . see, . . . see! Even Ms. McArdle doesn't expect her own prediction to happen; the Penalties-That-No-One-Wants won't be collected.]

" Fall 2017: Companies and unions start learning whether their plans will get hit by the “Cadillac tax,” a stiff excise tax on expensive policies that will hit plans with generous benefits or an older and sicker employee base. Expect a lot of companies and unions to radically decrease benefits and increase cost-sharing as a result."

. . . and more.

I have the perfect solution to Mr. Alanleroy's problem. Mr. Alanleroy should get a mistress and put her on the plan. Since she isn't a relative you will qualify for the "group" rate. For you it would be a win/win, but you would have to sell your wife on the idea that it is the lesser of two evils.

Well that's not quite the perfect plan for a few reasons:

1. The mistress would have to be a full time employee who I would have to pay at least minimum wage.
2. I would have to pay her portion and my portion of FICA, Worker's Comp (I don't even think they have a 'kept woman' class) and assorted other taxes and fees.
3. I would also have to make her eligible for our generious SEP IRA plan.
4. I imagine my liability insurance would increase.
5. I would have to issue her a W2 and file State Quarterly DE9 reports and Federal 941 reports.

From a purely financial viewpoint, I have figured out the perfect plan.

1. Mrs AlanLeroy and AlanLeroy would divorce leaving Mrs AlanLeroy with all assets as part of the settlement.
2. Mrs AlanLeroy would turn our LLC into a Sole Proprietorship.
3. AlanLeroy would become an unpaid intern living in Mrs. AlanLeroy's home surviving on her occasional generosity.

So, in this scenario, Mrs AlanLeroy goes to Covered California and gets individual health insurance. The pauper AlanLeroy with no income now gets his healthcare for free....and I imagine there's a lot of other stuff the pauper AlanLeroy would get for free.

What could go wrong with that?

Are there any mistresses out there that would "work" for minimum wage?

I do like your unpaid intern idea. Funny thing is this week I was told by a hospital social worker and my attorney that I needed to serve my wife divorce papers while she is still in the hospital so she can qualify for Medicaid. So your plan is apparently a real strategy that is used every day to get people coverage.

1. Well for $15,000 a year and a couple of minutes a week of 'work'...I imagine there are.
2. It really is the way the numbers work out. I can see it's going to be the only way some people can survive financially.

Another 800K and counting have now signed up in January. Where will the goal posts move once the "nobody will sign up" criticism evaporates ? Quick! Everyone think of a new narrative!

About fifteen years ago, my mother was advised to do the same thing, to avoid liability for my stepfather's huge medical bills.

Thanks Illinois State Senator Barack Obama?

Screw marriage. It causes huge liability. Thank you Obama!

....why do gay people want to get married?

Obama has changed the law numerous times since he signed it. As if he can legally do that. Your dictator modifies the law via fiat as the polls change and administrative failures mount.

The goal posts were never set in the first place. If they had been set, he wouldn't have had to lie to get reelected. If they had been set, the website would have worked from day one. If they had been set, people could have kept their policies, doctors wouldn't have closed their family practices, doctors and hospitals wouldn't be opting out of the programs, premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses to individuals and families wouldn't be skyrocketing.

This never was about health insurance. It was always about control of people, forcing more people to become dependent on the government, and redistribution of wealth.