Insurers will dominate NC’s new “Independent” Health Exchange

We know what small businesses and working families think of this mockery to health reform — but why on earth would doctors and hospitals support this? It will mean even more upfront premium money extracted from small businesses and the working class going to the insurance predators (for zero care) with no money left to pay the providers (co-pays,deductibles, co-insurance). This is already squeezing many providers operating budgets and will only get worse.

Also, hard working Americans will continue to avoid going to the providers — and getting the care they need to keep this country moving — out of fear of a diagnosis that will require treatment that they won’t be able to afford after their premiums deplete their continually withering and fragile budgets.

And forget subsidies for premiums — they will be meaningless in the land of co-pays, per incident deductibles, traditional deductibles, co-insurance and all the other slight of hand wizardry designed to create an illusion that we are actually covered.

The NC Health Exchange is rapidly devolving into just another layer of pointless insurance bureaucracy.