At least IRS might make house calls

Two of the largest frogs in the pot of rapidly warming water, United Health Care and Aetna, have recently jumped out, unwilling to suffer any more losses from a surge in claims. This leaves the number of insurers participating in Obamacare's exchanges at 287, down from 307 last year, and from 395 in 2013.

Premiums have increased by anywhere from 10 to 40 percent, and the only reason some customers are paying less for their coverage is that the government is subsidizing their cost, moving funds from Medicare or from underneath the cushions of the U.S. Treasury's sofa, to compensate the insurance companies for their shortfall. Is this capitalism or a shell game? Maybe Justice Roberts has an opinion.

Nationally, healthcare spending is projected to grow faster in the next five years than it did in 2008 and 2009; yet in the last two quarters the percentage of uninsured adults has inched up to 11.9 percent. After spending billions of dollars, and writing thousands of regulatory pages, and making a mockery of constitutional law, and polarizing the nation, the government is faced with continuing inflation in healthcare costs.

The fix is in, though a fix is nowhere in sight. Millions of young Americans remain unable, or unwilling, to obtain "mandatory" medical insurance.

On the bright side, we may now expect IRS agents to make house calls.

I feel better already.

Marlene Kolz

Wood Dale