I am shamelessly using the "weird trick" marketing ploy to alert AT readers who have individual policies to a very desirable alternative to being sucked into the nightmare of Obamacare.  My "weird trick" provides the following benefits:

1)      You will not need to go insane trying to enroll on the disastrously and irreparably broken Healthcare.gov website.

2)      You will not need to put your personal information at risk by giving it to an ex-ACORN employee at the Obamacare phone center (1-800 F1U-CKYO).

3)      You will contribute to the downfall of this misbegotten gateway to the socialist conversion of the US economy and enslavement of the populace (aka Obamacare) by not participating.

4)      You will not need to pay the John Roberts "tax" penalty to the IRS for not participating in this fiasco.

5)      You will not need to pay for "benefits" you don't need or want, such as free contraceptives, unlimited abortions, or mental health care (although you may need therapy after constantly hearing Democrats try to justify why lying about Obamacare's higher costs and lower quality was for your own good.)

6)      Best of all, you will pay considerably less for benefits that are roughly equivalent to your current (perhaps about to be cancelled) individual policy.  You may pay even less than an Obamacare policy that is eligible for subsidies.

The solution was revealed by someone in the insurance industry who called into the Rush Limbaugh radio program last week (scroll down to the last caller on the webpage).  It appears that "short-term" healthcare policies are exempt from the requirements of Obamacare.

Many healthcare insurance companies offer policies that expire after six to twelve months.  The premiums for these policies are much cheaper than standard policies with similar benefits, since the risk to the insurance company is limited by the duration of the policy.  The one drawback is that they do not cover pre-existing conditions.

Another potential risk exists if in the unlikely event Congress removes the requirement for insurance companies to accept enrollees with pre-existing conditions and you develop a serious illness.  In this case, the short-term policy could expire and leave you without coverage.  It seems highly improbable, though, that Congress would take that benefit away in the next year, especially with Obama at the ready to veto it.

President Obama has decreed that his imperial highness will not deign to enforce the law on those insurance companies that want to offer pre-Obamacare policies, at least until after the 2014 elections.  But what are the odds that insurance companies will have the inclination or the ability to offer them in time to enroll everyone whose policies will expire on January 1?

It ain't gonna happen.  Insurance companies worked millions of man-hours and spent huge sums to comply with the new law.  You can't put the genii back in the toothpaste tube, to use a mixed metaphor.

It will not be repealed as long as Obama is in office.  However, political necessity will force dramatic re-engineering of the law prior to the 2014 elections.   

I hope that Congress will gut it and rebuild it from scratch, providing coverage for pre-existing conditions and subsidies for the truly needy to be made available through the private market.  The addition of allowing insurance companies to compete nationwide and limitations on lawsuits would help to offset these costs.  Obama can keep his name on it to salvage his pride.  At least, this is my optimistic prognostication.  In any event, a short-term policy will allow you to stay above the fray, paying truly affordable premiums, until the dust settles. 

This can be a desirable alternative for anyone who currently purchases an individual policy and does not have a significant pre-existing condition.  It is especially viable for those young "invincibles" who would otherwise pay the exorbitant premiums needed to keep Obamacare afloat.  If enough take this route, Obamacare will sink before their short-term policies expire.

Andrew Thomas blogs at Darkangelpolitics.com