The White House Thought They Knew What Health Plan You Should Have. They Were Wrong.

[Valin]

The Foundry:

Alyene Senger

March 16, 2014

 

“Too many Americans have substandard health plans.”

 

That was just one of many arguments made by President Obama and his allies to justify why America needed the heavy government regulation included in Obamacare. Obamacare, they assured us, would rein in all those “bad-apple insurers” and protect consumers from the false security of “junk” health care plans.

 

Last year, however, millions of Americans who liked their health care coverage found out that the administration regarded their health plans as “substandard.” They learned of this the hard way — when Obamacare regulations forced their insurers to discontinue their policies.

While it was evident that the president’s key promise — “If you like your plan, you can keep you plan” — was no longer operative, Obamacare advocates dismissed the loss of coverage as insignificant because the federal law would replace their plans with “better” insurance. After all, who knows better — the consumer or an “expert” in Washington?

 

(Snip)

 

Even with the extended delay, no administrative “fix” can make up for the 4.7 million plans that were discontinued in 2013. Worse, the temporarily unenforced insurance rules that caused the cancellations remain core elements of the law. At some point, the administration will fully implement them — convinced that standardization of health insurance in the individual insurance market is best for all, no matter how many people it hurts.

[Valin]

Previous Thread

[Valin]

How’s Can Democrats Run on Obamacare?
Grace-Marie Turner
March 17, 2014

Democratic strategist Bob Shrum has some questionable advice for his party’s candidates facing the hurricane-force headwinds of Obamacare in the November elections: In his Daily Beast column, he tells candidates to “emphasize the popular provisions” and to “pound away at a Republican candidate” on specifics.

 

He says it would be wrong for Democrats to double down on the progressive dream of a single-payer system, wrong for them to run against the health overhaul law, and wrong to promise to mend it, as failed candidate Alex Sink did — weakly — in the Florida 13 special election. “Sink didn’t lose because of Obamacare,” he argues, but because of a demographic disadvantage and low turnout.

 

“Democrats have to stop allowing Republicans to define the election as an up or down vote on an abstraction called Obamacare,” Shrum writes.

 

An abstraction?! What is abstract about 2,800 pages of legislation and at least 25,000 pages of regulations? What’s abstract about nearly 6 million people losing the health coverage they liked and being forced into the Obamacare exchanges where health insurance is more expensive, deductibles are sky-high, and networks are limited to a short list of doctors and hospitals? And what is abstract about citizens paying potentially thousands of dollars in fines for not complying with the law’s individual mandate?

 

So here is Shrum’s concrete advice to his candidates:

 

(Snip)

[pollyannaish]

Is there anything these guys touch that isn't turning to dust?

[Valin]

Nudity, humor used to get youth sign up for health care in Maine
With those 18-to-34 making up just 19% of the state’s sign-ups so far, ad appeals get ‘hip’ as the March 31 deadline nears.
Joe Lawlor
3/14/14

Advertising executives didn’t need a scientific study to surmise what would draw young adults to ads that encourage people to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
They went with skin – lots of it.

“He may not be naked. He could be wearing a Speedo,” Wendy Wolf said with a laugh, referring to an ad showing a young man who is otherwise unclothed but covered by a strategically placed laptop computer.

“Dude, it’s time to get covered,” proclaims the ad for www.enroll207.com that ran this week in the Portland Phoenix alternative newspaper.

 

Wolf, executive director of the Maine Health Access Foundation, and others are making the final push to enroll Mainers age 18 to 34 before the ACA’s March 31 deadline. Experts say the enrollments will hold down insurance costs while benefiting those younger Mainers.

 

(Snip)

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

My Head Hurts...BAD

[Valin]

White House using twerking, ducks, and cats to get signups for Obamacare

 

(Snip)

 

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

[nickydog]

Is there anything these guys touch that isn't turning to dust?

 

I'd use a different word than dust....

[Valin]

S.M @redsteeze Follow

"We're releasing our new gif campaign.. Make sure everything is working..We don't want to look stupid!" - @Lehrich44 https://twitter.com/lancesalyers/status/445622819636801536 …

1:20 PM - 17 Mar 2014

 

 

Whoops! It’s a little late for that.

 

Lance Salyers @lancesalyers Follow

Clicking on the http://healthcare.gov link from the #ACABracket takes you to 404 ErrorLand @GayPatriot @DrewMTips

1:04 PM - 17 Mar 2014

 

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The Crack Obamacare Team

[Draggingtree]

House GOP leadership cast Florida as a sign of good things to come, but they also cautioned that Republicans needed to offer a clearer alternative to Obamacare.

 

House GOP Crafts Vision
for an Alternative to Obamacare

Robert Costa, The Washington Post
House Republican leaders are adopting an agreed-upon conservative approach to fixing the nation's health-care system, in part to draw an election-year contrast with President Obama's Affordable Care Act. The plan includes an expansion of high-risk insurance pools, promotion of health savings accounts and inducements for small businesses to purchase coverage together. The tenets of the plan -- which could expand to include the ability to buy insurance across state lines, guaranteed renewability of policies and changes to medical-malpractice regulations -- are ideas that various conservatives have for a long time backed as part of broader bills. But this is the first time this year that House leaders will put their full force behind a single set of principles from those bills and present it as their vision. This month, House leaders will begin to share a memo with lawmakers outlining the plan, called "A Stronger Health Care System: The GOP Plan for Freedom, Flexibility, & Peace of Mind," with suggestions on how Republicans should talk about it to their constituents...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republican-leaders-craft-their-vision-for-an-alternative-to-health-care-law/2014/03/16/b98db274-ab7e-11e3-98f6-8e3c562f9996_story.html

[clearvision]

Vegas man stuck with $407,000 medical bill after ObamaCare breakdown

 

The busted ObamaCare websites cost a lot of people a lot of time. But for one Nevada man, problems with the state insurance exchange reportedly cost him $407,000.

 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Larry Basich, a 62-year-old Vegas resident, has been stuck with the massive medical bill despite signing up for an insurance plan via the state exchange last fall.

 

Basich, according to the article, selected a UnitedHealthcare plan in November, and even paid his first premium. But he never received confirmation that he was enrolled, despite being assured that he was by Nevada Health Link.

 

[Valin]

Scott Gottlieb, MD ‏@ScottGottliebMD Mar 16

How many have paid ACA premiums? "They have a lot more information than they’re letting on

" http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obamacare-affordable-care-act-health-insurance-premiums-104602.html#.UyYDhLi_xaI.twitter … …

via @charlesornstein

[Valin]

 

Vegas man stuck with $407,000 medical bill after ObamaCare breakdown

 

The busted ObamaCare websites cost a lot of people a lot of time. But for one Nevada man, problems with the state insurance exchange reportedly cost him $407,000.

 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Larry Basich, a 62-year-old Vegas resident, has been stuck with the massive medical bill despite signing up for an insurance plan via the state exchange last fall.

 

Basich, according to the article, selected a UnitedHealthcare plan in November, and even paid his first premium. But he never received confirmation that he was enrolled, despite being assured that he was by Nevada Health Link.

 

 

 

 

I'll have yoy know this never happened!

[SrWoodchuck]

Should be required signage for the Oblunder Regime:

 

 

Pic via iOTW

[Valin]

O-Care premiums to skyrocket

Elise Viebeck

3/19/14

 

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.

The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOPs prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015.

 

The industry complaints come less than a week after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to downplay concerns about rising premiums in the healthcare sector. She told lawmakers rates would increase in 2015 but grow more slowly than in the past.

The increases are far less significant than what they were prior to the Affordable Care Act, the secretary said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee.

 

Her comment baffled insurance officials, who said it runs counter to the industrys consensus about next year.

Its pretty shortsighted because I think everybody knows that the way the exchange has rolled out is going to lead to higher costs, said one senior insurance executive who requested anonymity.

The insurance official, who hails from a populous swing state, said his company expects to triple its rates next year on the ObamaCare exchange.

 

(snip)

 

[Valin]

It’s come to this: Lefty groups now offering young people cash prizes to enroll in Obamacare
Guy Benson
3/19/14

Obamacare is such a glittering success that the president has unilaterally issued dozens of delays, suspensions, postponements and alterations to the law. It’s such a success that the administration continues to exaggerate and lie about its enrollment numbers. It’s such a success that its administrators have quietly expanded waiver eligibility to include virtually anyone who might want one, an acknowledgement that the law is a “hardship” unto itself. It’s such a success that Obama and his allies have openly abandoned the top three promises upon which it was sold. It’s such a success that only a small fraction of the previously-uninsured population has chosen to participate in it. And it’s such a success that outside advocacy groups, desperate to boost the paltry share of young, healthy sign-ups, have resorted to stunts and bribery (via John Ekdahl):

 

 

With roughly two weeks left in the open enrollment period for health insurance, some groups are trying to sell Obamacare to young people in terms they might actually understand: music, comedy, and cash. Young Invincibles, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that is focused on the economic issues affecting young adults, launched a sweepstakes last week where it is awarding a cash prize of $1,200 — enough to potentially cover a year’s worth of health insurance premiums for a young adult — to people who download their health care app or submit a card in the mail. The contest runs through the fall, but by launching it now, organizers hope young people who download the app can use it to learn more about whether they qualify for financial assistance and where they should go to sign up….Young people are particularly lagging behind in other groups in signing up. So far, 25% of those who have selected private plans are between the ages of 18 and 34. Administration officials have said repeatedly that they expect young and healthy people to put off signing up for insurance until the last minute. So groups are getting creative with their approach in the final push.

 

 

(Snip)

 

Click through for links to all of the supporting data. How “affordable” does any of that sound? And that doesn’t even cover any of the substantial premium hikes industry experts are predicting for next year, which the administration is downplaying, not disputing. So which is more persuasive, Millenials: Your bank accounts, or comedy bits starring multi-millionaire movie stars? Young people can either run some quick math and determine for themselves that the “Affordable” Care Act is nothing of the sort, or they can submit to the allure of Obamacare music video contest entrants like this:

 

(Snip)

 

________________________________________________________________

 

(Warning! Clicking on Video may cause brain damage)

[Draggingtree]

19 Mar

You want the good news or the bad news about Obamacare?

By: DrJohn

OK, that was misleading. There is no good news. It’s all bad. In fact, it’s raining bad news. Remember this bullsh*t? It was exactly that. Bullsh*t. Pretty much just like everything Obama says. Bullsh*t. Well, here it comes. Health care … Continue reading →

[clearvision]

It's Friday night and you know what that means....

 

Yep new O'care rule changes announced....

The Obama administration will soon issue new Obamacare guidelines allowing people to enroll in health coverage after a March 31 deadline, but only under certain circumstances, according to sources close to the administration.

 

The sources said the new federal guidelines for consumers in the 36 states served by the federal health insurance marketplace and its website, HealthCare.gov, would allow people to enroll after March 31 if they had tried earlier and were prevented by system problems including technical glitches.

 

On Friday, the administration proposed new regulations that would allow state-run marketplaces new flexibility in setting insurance coverage effective dates for people who sign up during special enrollment periods.

 

 

LINK

[clearvision]

Another Sign ObamaCare Works: Wellpoint Boosts Profit Forecast

 

So I can think of two other reasons they boosted their earnings....

 

1) They got less signups than they thought and so will make more money.

2) The exchange is SO MUCH WORSE for consumers than anticipated and so they make more money.

[Valin]

It's Friday night and you know what that means....

 

Yep new O'care rule changes announced....

 

The Obama administration will soon issue new Obamacare guidelines allowing people to enroll in health coverage after a March 31 deadline, but only under certain circumstances, according to sources close to the administration.

 

The sources said the new federal guidelines for consumers in the 36 states served by the federal health insurance marketplace and its website, HealthCare.gov, would allow people to enroll after March 31 if they had tried earlier and were prevented by system problems including technical glitches.

 

On Friday, the administration proposed new regulations that would allow state-run marketplaces new flexibility in setting insurance coverage effective dates for people who sign up during special enrollment periods.

 

 

LINK

 

 

OMG! I'm shocked they would do that.

[Draggingtree]

A Costly Failed Experiment

 

The law's treatment of people is arbitrary and unfair. Its economic impact is only going to get worse.

 

By John C. Goodman Updated March 21, 2014 7:20 p.m. ET

 

With Sunday marking the fourth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law, it's worth revisiting the initial purpose of the president's signature legislation: Universal coverage was the main goal. Four years later, not even the White House pretends that this goal will be realized. Most of those who were uninsured before the law was passed will remain uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Democrats also fixated on another goal: protection for people with pre-existing conditions. One of the first things the new law did was create federal risk pools so that people who had been denied coverage for health reasons could purchase insurance for the same premium a healthy person would pay. Over the next three years, about 107,000 people took advantage of that opportunity.

Think about that. One of the main reasons given for interfering with the health care of 300 million people was to solve a problem that affected a tiny sliver of the population.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303802104579451162959061196?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADSecond&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303802104579451162959061196.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ_Opinion_LEADSecond

[Draggingtree]

"The good news is you won�t have insurance companies to kick around much longer. The system is changing. As a result, insurance companies as they are now will be going away," Emanuel wrote.

Most Employers Will Drop Health Coverage

Sandy Fitzgerald, NewMax.com

Saturday March 22, 2014
Obamacare will bring "the end of employer-sponsored insurance," says Ezekiel Emanuel, who helped design the healthcare plan, but he insists the shift will be "a good thing" that helps control costs and improve consumer choices. "It'll be a matter of a few big employers, blue-chip companies" making the move, Emanuel told The NY Times. "Then it's going to be the norm." In his new book, Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve Our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System, Emanuel estimates that private-sector workers who get insurance through their employers will drop below 20% by 2025. Just under 60% of workers now get their insurance through employer plans. As Obamacare continues, companies will begin backing away from providing health insurance, says Emanuel, whose brother Rahm Emanuel is the mayor of Chicago and Obama's former chief of staff. It's happening already, he wrote in an article earlier this month in The New Republic...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Emanuel-employers-drop-health/2014/03/21/id/560906/

[Valin]

Words cannot express how shocked and Surprised I am

Another 'Glitch'
But don't worry, ObamaCare is running smoothly.
James Taranto
3/21/14

The story in today's Philadelphia Inquirer begins reassuringly: "Nearly six months after the disastrous launch of Healthcare.gov, with the website running smoothly and more than five million people signed up as open enrollment heads to a close . . ."

 

But it turns out that's just disclamatory throat-clearing. Here's the rest of the paragraph: ". . . a new glitch has come to light: Incorrect poverty-level guidelines are automatically telling what could be tens of thousands of eligible people they do not qualify for subsidized insurance."

 

Reporter Don Sapatkin writes that he and his colleagues discovered the error "while running scores of income scenarios through Healthcare.gov"--the * sort of testing you'd think the developers would have conducted long before the launch last Oct. 1. The story observes that the finding "again raises questions about the site's accuracy."

 

It seems to us the Inquirer doesn't give itself nearly enough credit. Its investigation doesn't raise questions, it answers them.

 

The error affects consumers in states that haven't opted into ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion, and the tests were conducted only on the federal exchange, so that it isn't clear whether state exchanges are affected or not. But most presumably are not. Only one state, Idaho, has its own individual-market exchange and has not expanded Medicaid.

 

(Snip)

 

 

* Testing? Why would the administration do something silly like that? Not when a little pixie dust will solve everything.

 

[Valin]

"The good news is you won�t have insurance companies to kick around much longer. The system is changing. As a result, insurance companies as they are now will be going away," Emanuel wrote.

Most Employers Will Drop Health Coverage

Sandy Fitzgerald, NewMax.com

Saturday March 22, 2014

Obamacare will bring "the end of employer-sponsored insurance," says Ezekiel Emanuel, who helped design the healthcare plan, but he insists the shift will be "a good thing" that helps control costs and improve consumer choices. "It'll be a matter of a few big employers, blue-chip companies" making the move, Emanuel told The NY Times. "Then it's going to be the norm." In his new book, Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve Our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System, Emanuel estimates that private-sector workers who get insurance through their employers will drop below 20% by 2025. Just under 60% of workers now get their insurance through employer plans. As Obamacare continues, companies will begin backing away from providing health insurance, says Emanuel, whose brother Rahm Emanuel is the mayor of Chicago and Obama's former chief of staff. It's happening already, he wrote in an article earlier this month in The New Republic...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Emanuel-employers-drop-health/2014/03/21/id/560906/

 

 

Soon to be on your local remainder rack.

 

 

Emanuel estimates that private-sector workers who get insurance through their employers will drop below 20% by 2025

 

 

 

(Stupid question alert)

And Public sector employees?

[Draggingtree]

Desperate Times for ObamaCare

March 21, 2014 by Arnold Ahlert

The air of desperation surrounding ObamaCare gets thicker and thicker with each passing day. And no matter how dishonest President Obama, his administration officials, Democrats and their media allies, are in their attempt to fool the public, painful truths about this disaster can no longer be obscured.

 

We begin with premiums. As revealed by The Hill, they are about to “skyrocket,” with costs in some parts of the country increasing by as much as 200 percent. Unsurprisingly, this revelation runs completely counter to the Obama administration’s claims, most recently advanced by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in last week’s testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee. “The increases are far less significant than what they were prior to the Affordable Care Act,” the Secretary said.

 

Except that they’re not. A report by eHealth explains that premiums http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arnold-ahlert/desperate-times-for-obamacare/

[Draggingtree]

Democrats Steal Tea Party Symbol to Promote Obamacare

by Joel B. Pollak 21 Mar 2014 View Discussion

How desperate are Democrats to sell Obamacare? So desperate that they're adopting the Tea Party's beloved symbol, the Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag, to sell it, as per this tweet by Democrat strategist Christine Pelosi (yes, that Pelosi family). The flag is a national symbol, of course, but Democrats have spent the last several years describing it as some kind of latter-day version of the Confederate battle flag, or worse.

Matt Welch of Reason.com has a nice roundup of past Democrat statements about the Gadsden flag. The irony is compounded by the fact that the Gadsden became popular at Tea Party rallies in 2009-10 partly because

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/03/21/Democrats-Steal-Tea-Party-Symbol-to-Promote-Obamacare