Gliltches Put Tax Credits & Health Insurance Exchanges at Risk

Today, Investors Business Daily reports that the Obamacare statute has a major glitch. Health Insurance Tax Credits, under the Obamacare statute can only be issued by state Health Insurance Exchanges not those operated by the federal government.

This news comes on top of Politico's report last month that while Obamacare provides funding for states to start up Health Insurance Exchanges it does not provide funding for the Federal government to do so.  This is problematic for the Obama Administration because Obamacare requires the Feds to start up Exchanges in states that either choose not to do so (AK, FL, LA, and TX for example) or  don’t have their infrastructure ready in time.

The article suggests that HHS might be able to get insurers to provide the funding up front.

But if they can’t find a way to fund it, the central mechanism for implementing Obamacare is at risk.  It is the Exchanges that certify that individuals are exempt from the individual mandate. They notify the IRS when employers do not comply with the employer mandate.  And, all federal health insurance subsidies are given out through the State Exchanges. 

This leads us to ask, “What would happen if more states joined Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas by refusing to start an Exchange?”