House Offers Plan to Let Insurers Sell Individual Insurance Regardless of Obamacare Mandates

It seems like the GOP and some Democrats are trying to get Obama to keep his word.

Brushing aside a White House veto threat, the Republican-controlled House voted Friday to let insurance companies sell individual health coverage to all comers, even if it falls short of the required standards in "Obamacare."

In all, 39 Democrats broke ranks and supported the legislation, a total that underscored the political importance of a controversial issue likely to be front and center in next year's elections for control of Congress.

The overall vote was 261-157 on a measure that supporters said would ease the plight of millions of consumers reeling from cancellation notices. Those cancellations have been arriving from companies despite President Barack Obama's oft-made promise that anyone who liked his plan could keep it. The bill now goes to an uncertain fate in the Senate.

The real question is if insurance companies have to honor that coverage come 2015 or later. Also they better have good backups of those risk pools and pricing on their old plans because they might need them. Their actuarial people must be scrambling to have to honor their old plans and account for Obamacare plans at the same time. Depending on what oozing mess comes out of Congress it might be a good idea to go short health insurance companies because big losses might be popping up in 2014.