And I’m not talking about Whitey Bulger…I’m talking about the president’s Affordable Healthcare Act.
Because Obamacare as we knew it–until noon today–is gone, just like Whitey.
Neither is dead, but both are barely alive.
“The bottom line is insurers can extend current plans that would otherwise be cancelled into 2014,” the president said.
The president is now advocating precisely what he refused to do, just before his healthcare site went online, and crashed.
The president is putting Obamacare on the ropes because, if the people whose policies were cancelled are now allowed to keep them, then young, healthy people are more likely to do that, since those old policies are generally cheaper than the new Obamacare coverage.
That means the new insurance exchanges will fill up with older, more sickly people, whose healthcare costs are the most expensive.
And that means premium costs will continue to increase!
And that’s what’s called the death spiral.
Plus, insurance companies say it’s too late to make the changes the president called for today.
And–in Congress–both Democrats and Republicans are making plans for legislation that could further complicate the process.
The president conceded today he “fumbled” the rollout.
But all fumbles aren’t the same.
You can fumble the ball, and recover it.
Or, you can fumble, and have the other team run in it for a touchdown.
In this game, the other team is the Republicans, and they remain committed to repealing Obamacare.
So, if the president doesn’t get a little lucky in this political game, then his signature accomplishment may soon be written in invisible ink.