Jon Cohn covers the new attempt to kill Obamacare’s mandate:
The Republicans’ latest gambit is to propose a five-year delay, which would save the government money, and then use those funds to offset the cost of a “doc fix”—a measure to spare physicians looming cuts in Medicare reimbursements.
It’s a new and clever way to package an effort to undermine the mandate—and, through it, the law. But, of course, it has consequences. According to the Congressional Budget Office, which released an analysis of the proposal on Wednesday, pushing back the mandate by five years would mean about 13 million fewer people would have health insurance, while premiums for those buying coverage would be 10 to 20 percent higher than they would be if the mandate remained in place. The estimates were for 2018 but, CBO said, the results would be similar for each of the previous years.
Jason Millman relays what both sides are saying:
People can avoid any penalties if they “experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance.” This language is pretty broad. And those who claim hardship don’t have to provide documentation. So doesn’t this mean anyone can just claim hardship and avoid the penalty for not having insurance? The GOP is arguing as much.
But the administration says these exemptions are limited, and just applying for one doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get it. Each request is processed manually, and people could be asked to provide more information or be denied outright.
Suderman argues that the mandate is fairly toothless:
In some sense, it’s like used car pricing, or cable company discounts. Officially, the price is what’s on the sticker. But if you make even a token effort to bargain, or half-heartedly threaten to cancel service, you can get the price lowered. Mostly, it’s a mechanism that allows the administration to have it both ways: Of course the mandate is absolutely essential to the law, and of course practically anyone who wants out of it can get an exemption on a hardship basis. But that approach also reveals the tough spot administration officials are in with regards to the mandate: They don’t want to remove the requirement, but they don’t really want to enforce it either.
The Dish 