OBAMACARE: WE HARDLY KNOW YE

DATELINE: Changeville, Feb 11 – Whatever it is, it isn’t Obamacare any longer. At least it isn’t the version that passed into law in 2010. There have been so many changes and postponements that it will look like an imposter at its fourth birthday party next month.

And there’s another major distorting fact. The alterations and delays have made an impossibly complex piece of legislation even more convoluted. Just take a look at the most recent stall, which happened to happen this week.

On Monday, Obama delayed the employer mandate, which he has done once before although on a difference scale. Last year, he suspended the entire employer mandate for one year. But, that reprieve has turned out to be too little, too late for some employers. This week’s delay grants businesses with between 50 and 99 full-time employees until 2016 to get their act together. Or, as Obama put it, “get right with the law.”

So, as of this moment in time, there are three different categories of employers. Those to which the law will never apply (less than 50 full-time employees). Those that can wait until after the next presidential election to comply (between 50 and 99 full-time employees). And the rest that must belly up to the law this year but after the mid-terms.

In Obama-speak, an opportunity to get right with the law means that he’s being fair to employers. Fairness is one of the twin siren excuses for all of the delays and changes.  The other is that the delay, whatever it is, or the change, whatever that is, affects only a small number of people.

Regarding the second pretense, to the President, if the group impacted by the alteration is only a few million then its consequences are inconsequential. You might agree until, of course, you are among those taking a hit. Then you find yourself an unlucky member of an insular minority, cut off from the herd. Your political punch has become a punching bag.

As it turns out, millions on top of millions have been punched out. Last month, Obama extended, for the second time, the sign up deadline for people with pre-existing conditions. They either have better choices or they feel no need for speed.

Also last month, Obama delayed the effective date of the equal coverage provision for one year. The provision is supposed to make sure coverage for “highly compensated” employees is not superior to that of other employees. The IRS requires more time to figure out a definition of “highly compensated” and how to place a value on healthcare.

This is the second delay of the provision which was originally supposed to go into effect in 2010. The IRS had better hurry up and screw its thinking cap on a lot tighter.

In December, the President delayed the individual mandate for those with cancelled policies. These six million or so get to survive for another year on their substandard coverage. They also have the option of signing up right away for catastrophic coverage only.

Unfortunately, those with no prior coverage don’t have the same catastrophic option. That seems unfair to the claimed 40-plus million who have no coverage. That is, until you remember that Obama is only counting small numbers. Big numbers don’t count at all.

In August of last year, Obama delayed the consumer protection provision that he lauded in 2009 as one of the chief virtues of Obamacare. The back-burnered provision limits the cost of out-of-pocket expenses and deductibles for individuals and families. During the delay, some insurers can charge up to double the limits in the suspended provision.

In announcing this week’s delay, the President tried to take the sting out of future postponements by foretelling them. Not specifically, of course, but just to let us know that, surprise, he’s open to more of them. So, don’t bother complaining when postponements happen because we’ve been told that they are on their way. Old news and all of that.

The justifications will be fairness and the small number of people affected. Right up until the small numbers add up to more people than have signed up. When that happens, Obamacare will be completely unrecognizable.