Obamacare includes a little-known provision that allows the federal government to dole out taxpayer dollars to health insurance companies who lose money under the new law. Not surprisingly, conservatives are not happy about it.
Via the Washington Examiner:
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the provision could amount to a bailout of the insurance industry, which stands to lose if the troubled Obamacare exchanges fail to enroll enough people to make the system financially viable. Obamacare enrollment has already been stymied by glitches at the healthcare.gov sign-up site and it could be dampened again under an administrative fix President Obama proposed this week to resolve problems with millions of cancelled policies.Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said the Tea Party-aligned senator and potential 2016 presidential candidate is concerned that the fix Obama proposed would increase the likelihood that insurance companies would need a federal bailout. And the existing law would effectively give Obama a blank check to deal with it, he said.
“We need to protect taxpayers from having to bail out anyone as a consequence of Obamacare," Conant said in an email exchange with the Washington Examiner. "Rubio's bill will fully repeal the 'risk corridor' provision in Obamacare, preventing a bailout."
