Obama puppeteer Valerie Jarrett Obamacare insuror bailout increases, House oversight committee report July 28, 2014, Large backdoor bailouts of insurance companies

“Obama’s introduction into the “Combine” came when his wife Michelle was hired by Jarrett in the early 1990s, and served as Jarrett’s assistant in Daley’s office and followed her to the Department of Planning and Development.
Jarrett was appointed chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board in June 2006. She was also made chairman of a newly created Executive Committee of that Board, according to a June 13, 2006 University announcement. In addition, Jarrett was named vice-chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, the announcement states.
Michelle landed a high paying job at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Two months after Obama became a US senator, she was appointed vice president for community and external affairs. Tax returns show the promotion nearly tripled her pay to $317,000 in 2005, from $122,000 in 2004.”…Evelyn Pringle

“What about those rumored billions of dollars the oil rich Arab nations are
supposed to unload on American black leaders and minority institutions?
“It’s not just a rumor. Aid will come from some of the Arab states,”
predicted a black San Francisco lawyer who has close ties to officials of
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“The first indications of Arab help to American blacks may be announced in
December.” said Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al-Mansour, formerly known as Donald
Warden, of the Holmes and Warden law firm.”…Vernon Jarrett November 6, 1979

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

Valerie Jarrett, one of the puppeteers of Barack Obama, for the most part, flies under the radar and escapes scrutiny.

Many people are still unaware of who she is, her long time envolvement with the Obamas and her involvement in Chicago corruption.

I was reminded of this at a gathering Saturday evening when I mentioned her name and the otherwise informed person said “Who is she?”

Many have asked who are the puppeteers controlling Obama. Some, including myself believe that the Saudis are.

Whether Obama is in the Oval Office or on one of his numerous vacations or golf outings, Jarrett is running the White House.

From the House Oversight Committee July 28, 2014.
“In making the case for ObamaCare prior to its passage in Congress, President Obama often vilified insurance companies and decried their large profits. For example, in July 2009, President Obama remarked that “health insurance companies and their executives have reaped windfall profits from a broken system.”1 One month later, he remarked that “nobody is holding these insurance companies accountable.”2 The President’s public criticism of large health
insurance companies was good politics for him and likely contributed to the law’s passage. The text of the law passed by Congress and the White House’s recent actions to protect insurance company profits, however, show the hypocritical nature of the President’s arguments in selling the law.”

“ObamaCare benefited health insurance companies with its unprecedented mandate that individuals purchase government-approved health insurance coverage and with expensive subsidies to assist individuals in purchasing that coverage through ObamaCare exchanges. In addition to providing health insurance companies with a mandate for individuals to purchase their product as well as creating these subsidies, ObamaCare contains large backdoor bailouts of
insurance companies offering ObamaCare-compliant coverage in the individual and small group health insurance market. Essentially, ObamaCare contains two types of bailouts for insurance companies offering ObamaCare-compliant coverage – one bailout transfers money from the vast majority of people with health insurance, and another bailout transfers money directly from
taxpayers.”

“At least one insurance company appealed directly to Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, after the Administration signaled its intent in March 2014 to implement the Risk Corridor program in a budget neutral manner. Chet Burrell, the President and CEO of Care First Blue Cross Blue Shield, wrote to Ms. Jarrett that insurers would likely require Risk Corridor payments on net and that budget neutrality would lead insurers “to increase rates substantially (i.e., as much as 20% or more…).””

“Ms. Jarrett intervened and wrote to Mr. Burrell that “the policy team is aggressively pursuing options.” After the Administration explained how it would implement the Risk Corridor program in April 11, 2014 guidance, Ms. Jarrett wrote to Mr. Burrell that the Administration had given insurance companies 80 percent of what they sought.”

“It appears that several companies, including Care First Blue Cross Blue Shield,
underpriced their exchange plans in 2014 due to their expectation of a taxpayer bailout through the Risk Corridor program.”

“Essentially, ObamaCare contains two types of bailouts for insurance companies offering ObamaCare-compliant coverage in the individual health insurance markets throughout the country. The first bailout, ObamaCare’s Reinsurance program, transfers money from the vast majority of people with health insurance to individuals who have purchased ObamaCarecompliant
coverage in the individual market. The amount of this bailout was set by statute and will equal $10 billion in 2014, $6 billion in 2015, and $4 billion in 2016.

The second bailout, ObamaCare’s Risk Corridor program, transfers money directly from taxpayers to insurance companies. There is no statutory limit on the amount of taxpayer exposure for this bailout. According to the information obtained by the Committee, health insurance companies and the co-ops expect a taxpayer bailout of the magnitude of about $1 billion this year alone. Moreover, the information provided by insurers shows that the expected size of the taxpayer bailout has increased by more than 33 percent since October 1, 2013, partly because the Administration ceded to industry demands and unilaterally altered numerous bailout provisions, making them more generous to insurers.”

“ObamaCare’s mix of taxes, subsidies, regulations, and mandates significantly increased the cost of insurance in the individual market. For example, in its rate filings for the 2014 plan year, one of the insurers that provided information to the Committee planned to increase average premiums by 55 percent for its ObamaCare eligible individual members, with a much larger increase for younger individuals.13 The insurer referred to these increases as “dramatic ‘shocks’ on premium rates, out of pocket expenses and reduction in plan choice.”14 The insurer further stated that “only a relatively small percentage (approximately 7 percent) of our members may be eligible for meaningful subsidies to help offset the higher premiums or obtain lower out of
pocket expenses. This means that most will feel the full brunt of the increases.””

“Evidence that Several Companies Underpriced Plans and Now Expect Large Bailouts

The 3R programs, which insulate companies from significant losses, provided insurers with a strong incentive to price aggressively to gain market share. As described by Health Watch, risk corridors “could provide an incentive for an issuer to price its plan competitively … and if this price ends up being too low to cover costs, it will share that burden with HHS, while at the same time gaining market share.”56 Both the Reinsurance program and the Risk Adjustment program provide insurers with similar incentives.

According to Professor Chandler’s estimates, ObamaCare’s Reinsurance program, funded by higher premiums on the vast majority of Americans, provides about a $500 subsidy per covered life for ObamaCare-compliant plans in the individual market.57 With respect to the Risk Corridor program, Professor Chandler testified “that by backstopping the losses, there is
somewhat of an incentive for insurers to underprice, get the business, if things go badly, Risk Corridors bails them out and if things go okay, well, great.””

“Size of the Expected Bailout Has Significantly Increased

Table 2 shows the total expected Risk Corridor and Risk Adjustment payments for the 15 insurers and 23 co-ops as of both October 1, 2013, and May 2014. Table 2 demonstrates that insurers’ expected payments through each program have grown in size over time. Overall, the insurance industry’s expectation for payments through the Risk Corridor program have increased by about 34.7 percent since October 1, 2013. In addition, insurers and co-ops currently expect
payments through the Risk Adjustment program of nearly twice the amount they expected on October 1, 2013.”

“For example, on April 4, 2014, Chet Burrell, the President and CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, emailed Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, “I want to bring to your attention a brewing issue that will negatively impact upcoming ACA premium rates – any chance
for a brief conversation?”87 Later that day, Mr. Burrell and Ms. Jarrett spoke on the phone, and the following day, Mr. Burrell emailed Ms. Jarrett, “[h]ere’s a short summary of the issue I described to you yesterday, as you requested. Thank you for understanding that I am only trying to give a ‘heads-up’ notice on an issue that could produce an unwelcome surprise. …”88 Mr. Burrell attached a document entitled ‘Premium Rate Increase Concern.docx’; which discussed
the “Concern That [the] Recent HHS Rule will cause Sharp Premium Rate Increases.”89 According to Mr. Burrell’s memo:”

Mr. Burrell’s memo is further evidence that insurers generally expect to receive payments through the Risk Corridor program. It also shows that this expectation of receiving payments allowed insurers to keep exchange plan premiums significantly cheaper than they would have been without taxpayers being on the hook for a bailout. Mr. Burrell’s memo essentially presents
the Administration with a choice: face significantly higher premium increases in 2015 for exchange plans or make taxpayers bail out insurance companies.”

Read more:

Click to access WH-Involvement-in-ObamaCare-Taxpayer-Bailout-with-Appendix.pdf