In the 1st Open Enrollment Period: WHY ARE YOU ALLOWED TO KEEP CHANGING THE LAW

The Government continues to play with the consumer mind creating havoc in unfair ways. We are at our knees to their decision about "OUR" Healthcare. What's next? Regulation and Government Control of additional insurance markets? I have taken initiative to help guide familys and businesses through this historical change in healthcare. I do not believe in the system that has been created with reform, but it is an opportunity to help. What I don't understand is the idea of the open enrollment period and why it wasnt delayed!? We are over 6 weeks in to enrollment, the law was supposedly set in stone, yet laws have changed on a weekly basis. Traditional policies have been canceled and resold again, FSA rules have changed for the better, SHOP delayed to 2015, Catastrophic coverage added to the metal plans to create an "affordable" option, the 3:1 community ratio was going to save higher age demographic premiums (not the case), the website healthcare.gov apparently takes 17,000 people per day but I have yet to see my options and have tried for 44 days straight. It is sickening to see these public officials lie to American's on live national television such as CNBC "Squwak," stating the coverage is an affordable, cheaper option compared to today's market. With all this turmoil in place they are now attacking another freedom we hold, most common to the business owner. I have advised many on the opportunity to avoid the rules of Obamacare by self funding their group. Still a great option to employers, but for how long?!!! The Government is now targeting the issue and has made strides in certain states. Check out this article below released last week by Avalon Benefits...... Today, more than 60% of workers in large corporations and 80% of unions, along with 15% of workers in small businesses, are covered by self-insured plans. In fact, most of the 100 million workers now covered by self-insured plans don't even know it. The differences to them are that minimal. The exemption from many ObamaCare rules will encourage more businesses to shift to self-insurance -- but there's a nationwide drive to stop them. White House Targets Self-Insurance The White House is leading the charge to close what it calls the "self-insurance loophole" with a laundry list of tactics that were spelled out in a paper published by the hyper-liberal Center for American Progress, titled "The Threat of Self-Insured Plans Among Small Businesses." They've already had some success: A new California law greatly increases the cost to self-insure. Here in New York, legislation effectively bans companies with fewer than 50 employees from self-insuring. Republicans (and independent-minded Democrats) in Congress and in the states need to stand firmly against these efforts. It's the best way for businesses -- small, medium and large -- to avoid many of the taxes and mandates that come with ObamaCare. According to industry research, a typical self-insured group can expect to save more than 10% (versus traditional health insurance) without having to sacrifice quality of care. Even uninsured individuals in many states can access self-insurance via trade associations and community groups, instead of having to buy high-cost individual policies through the ObamaCare exchanges. The administration and its allies fear that the more people gravitate toward the successful, free-market self-insurance approach, the worse their government-engineered health "reform" will look. We're already seeing the beginning of this trend. Despite the president's repeated promises to the contrary, too many Americans are now finding out to their dismay that they can't keep insurance plans they like -- because the ObamaCare law is forcing insurers to cancel them. Worse, they have to spend much more for replacement policies. Meanwhile, ObamaCare penalties and onerous rules have forced many companies to lay off workers or cut hours to turn full-time employees into part-timers. Small-business owners should not have to make their hiring decisions based upon tens of thousands of pages of regulations in the Affordable Care Act. That's why the escape hatch is so appealing. Self-insured companies can tailor their health benefits to meet the needs of their workers. They don't have to pay for services their employees neither need nor want. And self-insured plans pay their own medical costs, without having to subsidize the health-care costs of other groups. It should be every elected official's goal to help find ways to free employers from dictatorial rules that hinder their growth. ObamaCare does the opposite, and that's why the self-insurance option needs to be preserved. Millions of Americans are seeing firsthand what a disastrous law this is, and searching for ways to escape. Democrats are panicked: If enough businesses do not join ObamaCare and instead opt into self-insured plans, their prized program is sure to implode quickly as its costs skyrocket. Of course, it may well implode anyway -- but "progressives" are trying to save it by forcing as many people as possible into it. Self-insurance can save countless Americans from ObamaCare's overpriced, low-choice, poor-quality health care. Preventing the president and his political cronies from undermining this alternative is vital. It's a winning fight for small businesses, our economy and the American people. © Copyright Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'UTC' for 'GMT/0.0/no DST' instead in /usr/home/avalon/www/htdocs/inc_footer.php on line 19 2013 Avalon Benefit Services, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any images or content without written consent.