ObamaCare Genie

To allow something to happen which cannot be stopped (American idiom); A magic spirit that would do whatever the person who controlled it wanted (Arabic story).

Genie out of the bottle definitions

Is the ObamaCare genie out of the bottle, never to be repealed or replaced or seriously altered?

Indeed, is there any feasible alternative?

Is ObamaCare like toothpaste, once out of the tube, you can never shove it back in?

Once the health care of millions is subsidized, will it be possible to reverse those subsidies, or the subsidies of millions more to come?

Is ObamaCare, like the Internet, once global with a smart phone in every hand, a computer in every household, will there be any turning back?

The Obama administration is betting the genie out and here to stay and to grow. It is betting it will cover 13 million people, 6 million more than now, to the insured list by the end of 2015, just enough to keep premiums low. It is betting the outcome of the midterms will have no impact on these numbers. It is betting you can never put the Obamacare genie back in the bottle.

And the administration says health insurers are on their side. HHS secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell says more insurers are participating in ObamaCare next year – a 25% increase.

This is a sign, she maintains, the administration is make “historic progress” in covering the uninsured.“When you consider the law through the lens of affordability, access and quality, the evidence points to a clear conclusion: The Affordable Care Act is working,” Burwell said at the Brookings Institution in one of her first major speeches as secretary. “And families, businesses and taxpayers are a better off as a result.” (Jennifer Haberkorn and Brett Norman, "Insurers’ Bigger Role Suggests Confidence in ObamaCare,” Politico, September 23, 2014.

United Healthcare has announced it will offer plans in as many as two-dozen states, Other big insurers already in some markets have said they will move into more states as well, including Cigna and Aetna. The administration's message is that the health care law is working — a phrase Burwell repeated throughout her speech — despite the long-lingering political debate between Republicans and Democrats in Washington.

Overall, 77 new insurers will join exchanges next year in the 44 states that had available data, HHS said. On the federal HealthCare.gov, there will be 57 new issuers, a 30 percent increase from the 191 on the exchange this year, according to an HHS report released Tuesday. In the eight state-based marketplaces with data available, there will be six more issuers, marking a 10 percent increase.

Republican opponents think Obamacare beg to differ. They cite government reports that found insurers are selling ObamaCare plans without separating abortion funding from taxpayer money, an apparent violation of the law’s prohibition on federal funding of abortion. And they blame the health law for raising costs, limiting choices and, through what they cite as security flaws in HealthCare.gov, endangering people’s privacy.

It’s not insurer growth across the board In Minnesota, PreferredOne, which covered more than half of the individuals in the state exchange, announced it was pulling out last week. At least 13 other insurers across the country are dropping out, too.

Still, even critics admit: The more people subsidized on the exchanges, the more people dependent on government, the harder it will be to put the ObamaCare genie back in the bottle.