Another Obamacare "oopps"

[DrLeftover]

Nov. 3, 2013 6:37 p.m. ET

Everyone now is clamoring about Affordable Care Act winners and losers. I am one of the losers.

My grievance is not political; all my energies are directed to enjoying life and staying alive, and I have no time for politics. For almost seven years I have fought and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 2% after diagnosis. I am a determined fighter and extremely lucky. But this luck may have just run out: My affordable, lifesaving medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31.

My choice is to get coverage through the government health exchange and lose access to my cancer doctors, or pay much more for insurance outside the exchange (the quotes average 40% to 50% more) for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar insurance company and impaired benefits.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304527504579171710423780446


It would seem Mr Obama's "take a pill" statement is coming true

 

[DrLeftover]

Obama denies ‘you can keep it’ videotaped promises
11/05/2013

President Barack Obama told his enthusiastic supporters Monday night that he never promised what video recordings show him promising at least 29 times.

The videos show Obama promising 300 million Americans that “if you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan, period.”

But that’s not what he really said, Obama announced Monday in a speech to about 200 Organizing for Action supporters, gathered at the St. Regis hotel in D.C.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/05/obama-denies-you-can-keep-it-videotaped-promises/

 

[Evil Eye]

I mean, politicians don't lie, video does...

To be fair, technology would make that easy enough.

 

[DrLeftover]

But of course that is the only way there is any video of Our Beautiful President saying anything untrue, it has to have been faked by Haters.

 

[DrLeftover]

Perhaps those who can read:

Health Care that Works for Americans

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, putting in place comprehensive reforms that improve access to affordable health coverage for everyone and protect consumers from abusive insurance company practices.

For those Americans who already have health insurance, the only changes you will see under the law are new benefits, better protections from insurance company abuses, and more value for every dollar you spend on health care. If you like your plan you can keep it and you don’t have to change a thing due to the health care law.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview

 

[DrLeftover]

Roughly 100,000 people enrolled in health insurance through Obamacare last month – far short of the administration's goal.

The Health and Human Services Department said 106,185 people have successfully applied for and chosen private insurance through the health care law's new marketplaces. That total is only about 20 percent of the administration's initial enrollment target for October, the first month in which consumers were able to sign up for coverage.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/it-s-official-obamacare-enrollment-is-super-low-20131113

 

[DrLeftover]

Probably.

Fewer than 100 Delawareans Sign Up for Health Care
Posted: Nov 13, 2013 4:09 PM CST Updated: Nov 13, 2013 4:19 PM CST


DOVER, Del. (AP) - Federal officials say 97 people have enrolled in Delaware's health insurance exchange, less than one-third of one percent of the 35,000 people that state officials hope will sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Federal officials also reported Wednesday that 1,897 applications for coverage in Delaware's exchange were completed in the first month of open enrollment. Of the 3,491 individuals identified in those applications, 2,204 were determined to be eligible for one of the exchange's insurance plans. Another 1,200 were assessed as eligible for expanded Medicaid coverage.

State officials reported last week that only four Delawareans had enrolled with the help of "marketplace guides" that were hired using a $4 million federal grant. But they noted that other Delawareans were enrolling on their own.

http://www.wboc.com/story/23961305/fewer-than-100-in-delaware-sign-up-for-health-care

 

[Naiwen]

And perfectly free for all American citizens... yes? Obama's been promising that these days
on the news.

 

[Jazzy]

And perfectly free for all American citizens... yes?

Free? No. The Affordable Care Act makes it easier to get insurance you can afford. People who do not get insurance by the end of the enrollment period will be fined.

 

[Jazzy]

And if you're too poor to get it then you'll get even poorer by fines and maybe jail?

How much are the penalties for not buying a health plan?

The penalties are not very high to begin with. In 2014, the fine to remain uninsured is $95 per person (up to a family maximum of $285, or 1 percent of family income, whichever is greater).

But the penalty will increase more than sevenfold in the next two years, with the fine running as much as $695 per person by 2016. The family maximum would be as high as $2,085 (or 2.5 percent of family income, whichever is greater).

Read more

 

[Jazzy]

That doesn't sound like America or being free and not tyrannical...

You're free to choose whether or not you want to buy insurance.

 

[DrLeftover]

You're free not to buy it, and when the IRS kicks in your door to collect the fine, you're free to resist.

Good luck with that.


In other news, Mr. Obama has successfully executed a double back-flip in the tuck position.

Thursday, November 14, 12:50 PM

President Obama announced Thursday an administrative change in one of the bedrock ideas of the new health-care law, allowing insurers to continue offering individual insurance plans for another year even if they do not comply with the law’s rules for minimum benefits.

“This fix won’t solve every problem for every person, but it’s going to help a lot of people,” Obama said in making the announcement. “Doing more will require work with Congress,” he added.

with video
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamato-to-announce-change-to-address-health-insurance-cancellations/2013/11/14/3be49d24-4d37-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html

 

[DrLeftover]

Oh, by the way:

Franklin Lakes, New Jersey (My9NJ) -

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare seems to be in the headlines every day because of all of the problems surrounding the launch. And while most realize the law is funded in part by the individual mandate and penalty tax, it is also being funded in ways that are not discussed as much in the media.

Luxury real estate broker Ron Aioso says there is a tax that is rarely discussed that also helps fund Obamacare. It is a tax on high-income taxpayers when they sell their homes.

http://www.my9nj.com/story/23967715/njs-rich-funding-obamacare

 

[DrLeftover]

November 14, 2013

On the campaign trail, President Obama vowed that lobbyists would have no place in his administration, but his health care agency last month gave a half-million-dollar grant to a registered lobbying firm to help enroll people for Obamacare as Affordable Care Act “navigators.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave the $510,577 grant to Chatman LLC, which has filed disclosure forms revealing that it lobbies CMS on behalf of a private hospital client.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/14/administration-changed-its-tune-hired-lobbying-fir/

 

[DrLeftover]

18 November 2013

President Barack Obama told a conference-call audience of progressive volunteers on Monday evening that 'more than 100 million Americans' – in a nation of less than 314 million – have successfully signed up for health insurance via the Affordable Care Act.

And at a time when his signature legislative initiative's website has made the White House the butt of jokes, the website hosting the conference call was plagued with its own connection errors and other malfunctions.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509715/Obama-flubs-health-care-conference-community-organizers-More-100-million-Americans-successfully-enrolled.html

 

[DrLeftover]

CNN reports that a woman the president hailed as an Obamacare success story just realized she won't be able to afford Obamacare because it's too expensive:

With video:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/woman-hailed-president-obamacare-success-story-now-cant-afford-obamacare_767868.html

 

[DrLeftover]

The gift that just keeps on giving

November 19, 2013

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Seven weeks to the day since the troubled healthcare.gov website was launched, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Miami, meeting with so-called “navigators” who are helping the public get signed up for coverage.

At a second table, the secretary met Carmen Salero who was trying to sign up online. As the secretary and Salero made small talk, CBS4′s Brian Andrews noticed the site crash on the lap top in front of them.

“The screen says I’m sorry but the system is temporarily down,” Andrews pointed out. “Uh oh,” responded the secretary. “That happens every day,” said Salerno, “it must mean a lot of people are on there trying to get coverage.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/11/19/hhs-secretary-sebelius-visits-south-florida-to-meet-with-healthcare-navigators/

 

[DrLeftover]

November 25, 2013

ObamaCare may have backfired in its goal of making smoking so expensive that users quit, public health experts say, as sky-high insurance premiums force smokers to drop coverage altogether and lose smoking cessation programs along with it.

"Tobacco surcharges are not proven to help tobacco users quit and there are major concerns that they will prevent people from getting health care coverage," the American Lung Association's Jennifer Singleterry said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/25/obamacare-policies-slam-smokers-could-backfire/

 

[Naiwen]

Yeah, that must be the reason...

Such bs, or the secretary is actually ignorant or just dumb, or perhaps both maybe?

The gift that just keeps on giving

November 19, 2013

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Seven weeks to the day since the troubled healthcare.gov website was launched, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Miami, meeting with so-called “navigators” who are helping the public get signed up for coverage.

At a second table, the secretary met Carmen Salero who was trying to sign up online. As the secretary and Salero made small talk, CBS4′s Brian Andrews noticed the site crash on the lap top in front of them.

“The screen says I’m sorry but the system is temporarily down,” Andrews pointed out. “Uh oh,” responded the secretary. “That happens every day,” said Salerno, “it must mean a lot of people are on there trying to get coverage.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/11/19/hhs-secretary-sebelius-visits-south-florida-to-meet-with-healthcare-navigators/

As the reporter said: really stupid plan.

 

[DrLeftover]

20 December 2013
The Obama administration has said it will provide an exemption for those whose insurance plans were cancelled under his embattled healthcare law.

The "hardship exemption" will apply to roughly 500,000 people who lost their private plans under the law commonly known as Obamacare.

They will also be able to buy cheaper "catastrophic" plans offering minimal insurance coverage levels.

Those plans were previously available only to people under the age of 30.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25468585