There's going to be a lot of talk about how the idea might actually work, and whether it can be more effective than Obamacare's individual mandate, at a House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee hearing this morning. The idea is to cover people with pre-existing conditions only if they keep themselves insured. Based on advance statements and testimony, this is what you're likely to hear:
- Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the American Action Forum: It's probably going to be more effective than the mandate, since a lot of young adults decided to just pay the fine rather than get coverage.
- J. Leonard Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society: it would be too broad and would unfairly penalize people who lost coverage for reasons beyond their control.
- Ranking Democrat Frank Pallone: It means insurance companies could go back to charging people more for pre-existing conditions.
So far, the actual language of the continuous coverage proposal hasn't been released.