◼ The Affordable Care Act doles out three months of free health care to individuals who choose to default on their premiums; providers and insurers pick up the tab. - Reason.com
Tucked inside nearly 11,000 pages of the Affordable Care Act is a little-known provision that doles out three months of free health care to individuals who choose to default on their premiums. ◼ (Section 156.270 of the Affordable Care Act)
People who receive the federal subsidy to be part of Obamacare will be allowed to incur a three-month “grace period” if they can’t pay their premiums and then simply cancel their policies, stiffing the doctors and hospitals.
“It will help break the system,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, one of a core group of Republicans who oppose Obamacare. “This is a huge piece of evidence to show this can’t work, you will break the system and bankrupt people involved.
“The hospitals, doctors and insurance companies will be left holding the bag. There will be disagreements over who will pay for what. Lawyers will get involved because we are talking about a lot of money,” he said.
...Under (Section 156.270) of the Affordable Care Act, the insured needs to pay a premium for just one month before qualifying for the three-month grace period. The insurance company must pay the claims during the first month of the grace period; during the second and third month doctors and hospitals are left to collect unpaid bills....
...medical professionals are bracing themselves for the worst.
...So what can be done about this now? Not much, says Gohmert. Changing the law would require a signature by Obama, and Gohmert holds out no hope for that scenario.
“You have a president who says doctors are greedy — they do surgery just so they get the money,” Gohmert said. “That’s what the president said. That same president will certainly be willing to say, ‘Greedy doctors are demanding more money – we just need to have Washington take over all health care.’”
