According to frequently cited report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, thanks to the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) rule in PPACA, health plans in the United States will be sending an estimated $1.3 billion in premium refund checks to individuals and business plan subscribers by the end of August. That’s a hell of a lot of money, and Kossacks know that’s one of the key reasons why the PPACA challenge was even before the SCOTUS this year.
Some, including myself, have begun to speculate on how Republicans are going to message a convincing response to this windfall—frankly I’m not sure it’s all that important, given the capacity for cognitive dissonance the average conservative appears to have.
Still, what would happen if every progressive -- or even every reasonable person -- who received one of these refund checks in the next month pledged to pass part or all of it on to Obama’s reelection campaign, or to another deserving progressive candidate? How much of that $1.3 billion could we divert to future reforms in healthcare and campaign finance? And what impact would that make on all our lives?
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