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Re: Obamacare debut goes about as smoothly as you'd expect

Posted by Dan Lawrence on Thu Oct 3 13:57:32 2013, in response to Re: Obamacare debut goes about as smoothly as you'd expect, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Oct 2 15:19:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
All the regular Republicans should promptly throw out the Tea Party ones and do what they are supposed to do. :)

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Re: Obamacare debut goes about as smoothly as you'd expect

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 3 14:14:43 2013, in response to Re: Obamacare debut goes about as smoothly as you'd expect, posted by Dan Lawrence on Thu Oct 3 13:57:32 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Right now though, it's the other way around. Republicans are too busy fighting one another to even notice the democrats in the room. :)

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WH press secretary Jay Carney does not know if POTUS has used www.healthcare.gov website

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 10 17:22:45 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
AP via CBS DC

Carney: I Don’t Know If Obama Has Used Health Care Website

October 9, 2013 3:14 PM
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admits that he doesn’t know if President Barack Obama has personally used the healthcare.gov website that has experienced numerous glitches since it launched last week.

“There’s no question that he’s capable when it comes to using technology. He gets briefed on implementation regularly and is shown how the system works, so I know he’s is very familiar with it,” Carney said. “I don’t know if he’s personally gone on the website absent those briefings he’s had.”

Many Americans have complained they haven’t been able to enroll for “Obamacare” through the website because it continually crashes or does not load properly.

Obama and his staff have downplayed the technology flaws and said delays reflected the public’s huge interest in the website. There were 7 million visits to HealthCare.gov in the first two days. But federal health officials acknowledged problems beyond just high web traffic.

“We are working really around the clock,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday during a meeting in Tampa. “We have made a lot of progress. Today is better than yesterday and we’re hoping in the very near future to have a seamless process.”

Carney additionally noted, “I can guarantee you he knows in great detail how the website works, what the issues are, the number of people across the country who have been going to the website and exploring the options available to them and he has made clear to his team that he wants them to take every measure necessary to improve the consumer experience.”

Technicians were adding equipment to expand the site’s capacity and making software changes that had already cut wait times in half since Friday.

Experts said the decision to require that consumers create online accounts before they can browse available health plans appears to have led to many of the program’s technical problems. Consumers trying to create their accounts multiplied the volume of online transactions that have overwhelmed the website.

Consumers have until Dec. 15 to enroll for coverage that starts Jan. 1. They have until the end of March to sign up before penalties are incurred.




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Re: WH press secretary Jay Carney does not know if POTUS has used www.healthcare.gov website

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 10 20:26:27 2013, in response to WH press secretary Jay Carney does not know if POTUS has used www.healthcare.gov website, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 10 17:22:45 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
And why should he? POTUS and the teabaggers all have that premium congressional healthcare system, not the POS they stuck US with.

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Concerns raised about security of www.healthcare.gov website

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Oct 30 16:22:09 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Associated Press

Oct 30, 2013 12:49 PM EDT

Concerns raised about security of health website

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Laurie Kellman
Associated Press
Defending President Barack Obama's much-maligned health care overhaul in Congress, his top health official was confronted Wednesday with a government memo raising new security concerns about the trouble-prone website that consumers are using to enroll.

The document, obtained by The Associated Press, shows that administration officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were concerned that a lack of testing posed a potentially "high" security risk for the HealthCare.gov website serving 36 states. It was granted a temporary security certificate so it could operate.

Security issues are a new concern for the troubled HealthCare.gov website. If they cannot be resolved, they could prove to be more serious than the long list of technical problems the administration is trying to address.

"You accepted a risk on behalf of every user…that put their personal financial information at risk," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during questioning before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Amazon would never do this. ProFlowers would never do this. Kayak would never do this. This is completely an unacceptable level of security."

Sebelius countered that the system is secure, even though the site has a temporary certificate, known in government parlance as an "authority to operate." Sebelius said a permanent certificate will only be issued once all security issues are addressed.

Added spokeswoman Joanne Peters: "When consumers fill out their online…applications, they can trust that the information they're providing is protected by stringent security standards and that the technology underlying the application process has been tested and is secure. Security testing happens on an ongoing basis using industry best practices."

A security certificate is required before any government computer system can process, store or transmit agency data. Temporary certificates are allowable, but under specific circumstances.

Earlier, the secretary said she's responsible for the "debacle" of cascading problems that overwhelmed the government website intended to make shopping for health insurance clear and simple.

"Hold me accountable for the debacle," Sebelius said during a contentious hearing. "I'm responsible."

Sebelius is promising to have the problems fixed by Nov. 30, even as Republicans opposed to Obama's health care law are calling in chorus for her resignation. She told the committee that the technical issues that led to frozen screens and error messages are being cleared up on a daily basis.

Addressing consumers, Sebelius added, "So let me say directly to these Americans, you deserve better. I apologize."

The Sept. 27 memo to Medicare chief Marylin Tavenner said a website contractor wasn't able to test all the security controls in one complete version of the system.

"From a security perspective, the aspects of the system that were not tested due to the ongoing development, exposed a level of uncertainty that can be deemed as a high risk for the (website)," the memo said.

It recommended setting up a security team to address risks, conduct daily tests, and a full security test within two to three months of going live.

HealthCare.gov was intended to be the online gateway to coverage for millions of uninsured Americans, as well those who purchase their policies individually. Many people in the latter group will have to get new insurance next year, because their policies do not meet the standards of the new law.

Sebelius' forthright statement about her ultimate accountability came as she was being peppered with questions by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about who was responsible. It was Blackburn who introduced the term "debacle."

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee, scoffed at Republican "oversight" of a law they have repeatedly tried to repeal.

"I would urge my colleagues to stop hyperventilating," said Waxman. "The problems with HealthCare.gov are unfortunate and we should investigate them, but they will be fixed. And then every American will have — finally have access to affordable health insurance."

Throughout the hearing, Sebelius was respectful and poised, often addressing lawmakers as "sir" or "congresswoman." She kept her cool as some lawmakers repeatedly cut off her answers. But she did not shy a few times from tersely interjecting her views while a member was speaking.

The standing-room-only hearing room was silent when she swore an oath to tell the truth and began her statement. "I apologize," she told the rapt committee.

Sebelius faced questions about problems with the website as well as a wave of cancellation notices hitting individuals and small businesses who buy their own insurance.

Lawmakers also want to know how many people have enrolled in plans through the health exchanges, a number the Obama administration has so far refused to divulge, instead promising to release it in mid-November.

On Tuesday, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner was questioned for nearly three hours by members of the House Ways and Means Committee who wanted to know why so many of their constituents were getting cancellation notices from their insurance companies.

The cancellations problem goes to one of Obama's earliest promises about the health law: You can keep your plan if you like it. The promise dates back to June 2009, when Congress was starting to grapple with overhauling the health care system to cover uninsured Americans.

As early as last spring, state insurance commissioners started giving insurers the option of canceling existing individual plans for 2014, because the coverage required under Obama's law is significantly more robust. Some states directed insurers to issue cancellations. Large employer plans that cover most workers and their families are unlikely to be affected.

The law includes a complicated "grandfathering" system to try to make good on Obama's pledge. It shields plans from the law's requirements provided the plans themselves change very little. Insurers say it has proven impractical. The cancellation notices are now reaching policyholders.

Tavenner blamed insurance companies for canceling the policies and said most people who lose coverage will be able to find better replacement plans in the health insurance exchanges, in some cases for less money.


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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 08:50:20 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
CBS Evening News

Obamacare website failed in tests just before launch date

By Sharyl Attkisson
October 30, 2013 8:45 PM
One of the mysteries of the problems with the Obamacare website is why Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius would give the "all clear" after the system failed, repeatedly, during tests days before its debut.

CBS News has learned the website failed with a small test pool of 200 to 300 people that included employees from the government and insurance companies. The government employees worked at their own computers and desks within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversaw the health care implementation.

According to sources familiar with the process, CMS employees were provided fake personal information to enter into HealthCare.gov rather than their own data and were given a date that testing would begin. However, on that date, the employees were told it was being postponed.

When the testing finally took place in late September, the testers started trying to create an application. Just a couple of pages into the process, everything "ground to a stop," said one source.

"It froze. It couldn't go forward. It crashed," the source said.

A couple of days later, testers tried again and had a similar outcome. They were never able to successfully browse plans for cost estimates.

"It was unequivocally clear from testing … this wasn't ready," said a source close to the testing.

The account is in stark contrast to the testimony Tuesday from Marilyn Tavenner, the head of CMS. She testified under oath she had no idea prior to Oct. 1 that the problems were so bad.

"We had tested the website, and we were comfortable with its performance," Tavenner said. " The volume issue and the creation of account issues was not anticipated and obviously took us by surprise and did not show up in testing."

One question this raises: Was the head of CMS unaware of the results of the testing that took place inside her own agency just days before the launch?


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Biden, Sebelius "sorry" for www.healthcare.gov problems; claim it'll be fixed by end of November

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 15:07:47 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Cable News Network

All apologies: Biden, Sebelius sorry for Obamacare site debacle

By Tom Cohen and Holly Yan, CNN
updated 3:56 AM EDT, Thu October 31, 2013
If only this was just a Halloween trick.

Visitors trying to log on to the Obamacare website early Thursday morning saw the same stubborn phrase that has roiled users for weeks: "The system is down at the moment."

It's been almost a full month since the HealthCare.gov website launched, riddled with technical problems despite a series of advance warning signs. And despite a chorus of apologies out of Washington, it may be another month before everything's running smoothly.

Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-ranking administration official to apologize Wednesday for the botched rollout.

"We assumed that it was up and ready to run," he told CNN's sister network HLN. "But the good news is although it's not — and we apologize for that — we are confident by the end of November it'll be, and there'll still be plenty of time for people to register and get online."

That came after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the "miserably frustrating" problems with the website during a 3½-hour congressional grilling.

The former Kansas governor promised a "vast majority" of consumers will be able to shop online for health insurance under Obamacare with greater ease by the end of November.

"In these early weeks, access to HealthCare.gov has been a miserably frustrating experience for way too many Americans, including many who have waited years, in some cases their entire lives, for the security of health insurance," Sebelius said.

To the frustrated users who have had problems, she said: "You deserve better. I apologize. I'm accountable to you for fixing these problems."

She said she made a mistake when she told President Barack Obama that HealthCare.gov was "ready to go" for its October 1 launch.

"Clearly, I was wrong. We were wrong," she said. "We knew that in any big, new, complicated system there would be problems. No one ever imagined the volume of issues and problems that we have had and we must fix it."

Obama couldn't log on

Biden said he didn't even bother logging on to the Obamacare site.

"Actually, the President tried to get online, and my daughter tried to get online," he said. "I did not, because it was clear that I was not getting online."

Obama himself acknowledged that too many people "have gotten stuck, and I am not happy about it."

"There's no excuse for it," the President said. "And I take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP."

Glass half full?

Sebelius said the sweeping health care program has delivered on its central promise to provide affordable health care coverage. Thousands have been able to access the website to look at new health coverage options that will give them security of knowing they won't go bankrupt if they get sick, she said.

She echoed the overall administration stance — that a team of experts is scrambling to fix the website's errors.

Republicans have called for Sebelius to be fired for the Obamacare problems, but a White House spokesman said Wednesday that Obama has "complete confidence" in her.

"She took responsibility for many of the problems that are evident with the (Obamacare) website, but she also deserves credit for the other aspects of the Affordable Care Act implementation that have gone well," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

In fact, Obama tried to turn the tables on Republican opponents of his signature health care reforms, challenging them to come up with helpful ideas instead of undermining the federal law.

"Anyone defending the remnants of the old, broken system — as if it was working for people — anybody who thinks we shouldn't finish the job of making the health care system work for everybody ... those folks should have to explain themselves," he said.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation website, 15.4 million people had individual health care coverage in 2011, representing about 5% of the population. The vast majority of Americans have coverage through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid or other public providers and will not be affected by changes involving individual coverage.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that "a significant portion" of the 5% of people with individual coverage will end up paying less for better policies when they shop around in the new exchanges.

Sufficient preparation?

Some of the criticism of the website's launch has to do with what Obama and other officials knew and when they knew it.

CNN has learned the administration received stark warnings a month before the launch that the Obamacare site was not ready to go live, according to a confidential report. The caution, from the main contractor CGI Federal, warned of risks and issues for HealthCare.gov, even as company executives were testifying publicly the project was on track.

Sebelius told the House committee the outside contractors that built the website never recommended delaying this month's launch. But she conceded that "we did not adequately do end-to-end testing."

The contracts with the private companies working on the Obamacare website — which amount to $174 million so far, with more bills due well into 2014 — do not have "built-in penalties" allowing her department to charge them for disappointing or faulty work, Sebelius said. But the Sebelius said the agency will not pay for incomplete work.

Security questions

Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, accused Sebelius of putting the private information of Americans at risk by failing to properly test security measures on the website.

"This is a completely unacceptable level of security," he said. "You know it's not secure."

Sebelius responded that testing occurs regularly, and she told Rogers she would get back to him on whether any end-to-end security test of the entire system has ever occurred. Rogers responded that he knows there have been no such comprehensive security tests.

An internal government memo obtained by CNN on Wednesday and written days before the website launched warned of a "high" security risk because of a lack of testing.

"Due to system readiness issues, the (security control assessment) was only partly completed," said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services memo. "This constitutes a risk that must be accepted and mitigated to support the Marketplace Day 1 operations."

Sebelius told CNN last week that Obama didn't know of the problems with the site — even though insurance companies had complained and the site crashed during a pre-launch test run — until after it went live.

A senior administration official said Obama now gets a "nightly readout" with the latest Obamacare statistics and an update of the website's status.

CNN's Brianna Keilar, Joe Johns, Gloria Borger, Kevin Bohn, Lisa Desjardins and Z. Byron Wolf contributed to this report.


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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:15:36 2013, in response to Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 08:50:20 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Better question would be why was the project repeatedly delayed and not funded? But hey ... thanks for advocating that we just dump this crap and go with single payer. :)

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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 17:23:31 2013, in response to Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date, posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:15:36 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I'm not Robert Reich.

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Re: Biden, Sebelius ''sorry'' for www.healthcare.gov problems; claim it'll be fixed by end of November

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:39:47 2013, in response to Biden, Sebelius "sorry" for www.healthcare.gov problems; claim it'll be fixed by end of November, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 15:07:47 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Yay, single payer! The more the GOP bitches, the sooner it will happen. :)

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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:41:32 2013, in response to Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 17:23:31 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
No, but this meghilla is certainly serving him. :)

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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 17:46:33 2013, in response to Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date, posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:41:32 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
That's the intent. As the evil "conservative" talk show hosts kept harping on.

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Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Oct 31 17:50:32 2013, in response to Re: ACA Health Care website *failed* in tests days before official launch date, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 17:46:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
And to think ... if they hadn't screwed with it so hard all these years, then we wouldn't be headed there. I tell ya, today's conservatives never fail to impress me with their glaring stupidity.

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Re: Biden, Sebelius ''sorry'' for www.healthcare.gov problems; claim it'll be fixed by end of November

Posted by italianstallion on Thu Oct 31 18:08:01 2013, in response to Biden, Sebelius "sorry" for www.healthcare.gov problems; claim it'll be fixed by end of November, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 31 15:07:47 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Don't know what CNN is doing wrong. I just logged on to healthcare.gov with no problem whatsoever.

I see they've also prominently posted the call-center phone number in case the website does not work.

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Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: "I give up"

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 18:18:36 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
The Hill

Carney bristles at O-Care query: 'I give up'

By Justin Sink
11/04/13 03:01 PM EST
Fresh questions about whether the White House deceived Americans with claims they could bypass the broken HealthCare.gov website by using the phone or mailing in an application provoked an exasperated response Monday from White House press secretary Jay Carney.

"I give up," Carney told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, accusing the White House reporter of speaking "in tones of dramatic revelation" to inflate a story.

The exchange centered around documents released by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Monday.

Meeting notes from the administration "war room" handling the rollout of ObamaCare showed that consumers who called the ObamaCare hotline or applied for insurance would still have their information eventually entered on the glitchy HealthCare.gov website, which has been plagued by technical problems since its launch on Oct. 1.

"The paper applications allow people to feel like they are moving forward in the process and provides another option; at the end of the day, we are all stuck in the same queue," one official wrote.

That prompted reporters to ask whether President Obama had been deceptive when he said during his address in the Rose Garden that consumers could bypass the website by phoning a call center or sending in a paper application.

Carney said that the White House "never pretended" that the call centers wouldn't eventually route consumer information through the website. The point, he argued, was to shift the burden of waiting for the technical glitches to be ironed out from applicants to the government.

"In terms of the user experience, the whole point was to alleviate the frustration that so many Americans were having online and to take that frustration away from them and allow a live person at a call-in center to handle their questions and their sign-ups and their enrollment for them," Carney said. "So I know it's spoken in tones of dramatic revelation, but it was a known fact at the time."

After Karl continued to press on with questions on the issue, Carney himself adopted the ABC reporter's cadence to mock the line of questioning.

"Jon. I get it. But the person who calls isn't the one who continues to wait after the application is filled, right?" Carney said, exaggerating the pauses between each word.

Later, Carney said that other reporters in the press room were "looking quizzically" at Karl because of his repeated questions.

"There's a reason to be quizzical here," Carney said. "You call up, you give your information, you get the questions answered that you need answered, and then they take over from there."

In a subsequent exchange with NBC's Peter Alexander, Carney said that "clarity in reporting matters."

"We're, you know, busting rocks every day to fix the website so that it's up and running at a standard that's acceptable for the vast majority of Americans by the end of the month," he said.


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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 18:23:19 2013, in response to Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: "I give up", posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 18:18:36 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Love the distortion of the headline ... Jonathan Karl is an idiot. Carney had his fill of the idiot. So the story gets written up by the truth squad to appear to claim that there will be no more answers forthcoming. Nice propaganda work, kids ... :-\

Better headline? "Exasperated Carney loses it with reporter" perhaps.

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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by LuchAAA on Mon Nov 4 18:28:25 2013, in response to Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up'', posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 18:23:19 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
If you really felt that strongly about it, you would have changed the subject line.



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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 18:29:47 2013, in response to Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up'', posted by LuchAAA on Mon Nov 4 18:28:25 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Nah ... I leave that to the OCD Battalion. :)

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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 18:32:38 2013, in response to Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up'', posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 18:23:19 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Nice bit of Alinskyism there. Carney's only mad because journalists were actually doing their jobs.

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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 18:33:33 2013, in response to Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up'', posted by LuchAAA on Mon Nov 4 18:28:25 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Don't you mean "changed the subject line back"?

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Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 18:34:54 2013, in response to Re: Jay Carney to www.healthcare.gov queries: ''I give up'', posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 18:32:38 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Obviously you haven't ever seen Jonathan Karl's sidewalk act. He's an annoying little shit.

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"Universal" Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 20:15:33 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
CBS New York

Affordable Care Act Could Be Further Hamstrung By Shortage Of Doctors

At Current Rate, As Many As 52,000 Primary Care Physicians Needed By 2025
November 4, 2013 6:37 PM

A doctor shortage is threatening to make the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act even more difficult — and it could create lines for care and services.

New Yorkers are notorious for wanting things immediately, and that includes medical care.

But even doctors who support Obamacare say there could be delays due to more patients and fewer doctors, CBS 2’s Dick Brennan reported Monday.

“It’s like shopping during Christmas time. I mean, you’re going to have a tough time if you have all of these people demanding services at the same time,” said Dr. Steven Lamm of the NYU School of Medicine.

Lamm said the Affordable Care Act could mean an explosion of demand for doctors and services, but will the system be able to handle it?

“I think the concern would be that the system will be overwhelmed, that there will be a greater demand that we can meet in a quality fashion and that we will have to delay services for a lot of individuals,” Lamm said.

Right now, there is already a shortage of 20,000 doctors nationwide, and with healthcare expansion, plus increasing population, there will be a need for about 52,000 primary care doctors by 2025.

This while only 20 percent of new doctors become primary care physicians and the new landscape has older doctors bailing, Brennan reported.

“Doctors are planning to retire. Anybody who is anywhere near retirement age is talking about retirement. … There’s just too much going on,” said Dr. Sam Unterricht of the New York State Medical Society.

Others fear that centralizing medical care will squeeze out small independent doctor groups, groups that insurers claim are more expensive, in favor of large centralized care.

“It will be inferior care. They will end up going to clinics, to situations where they don’t have their own private physician. When they go to hospitals they are not going to know any of doctors who are taking care of them,” cardiologist Dr. David Hess said.

Doctors say one solution could be a quick infusion of residents.

“They are not training enough residents. The number of medical students has increased a little bit, but the number of residency spots has not. They’ve kept the number of residency spots frozen for, I think, 13 years now,” Unterricht said.

Just by sheer numbers, doctor retirements will increase. Nearly half right now are over the age of 50, and the American Medical Association says nurses will also be in short supply, Brennan reported.


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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 20:30:04 2013, in response to "Universal" Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 20:15:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
You mean to tell me they didn't notice this over the past twenty some years that hospitals have been closing and merging and doctors refusing to take medicare and medicaid patients or saying "screw this noise" because of HMO's and "networks?"

Yep ... Obama started this problem!



Fortunately, immigrants don't mind and are happy for the work, so problem solved once again!



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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by Dave on Mon Nov 4 21:34:57 2013, in response to Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 20:30:04 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
The quality of Filipino nurses being brought into U.S. hospitals is lacking.

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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 21:46:20 2013, in response to Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by Dave on Mon Nov 4 21:34:57 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I guess it's time for us to invade Grenada again. :)

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Obama admin "war room" fears next bad news story about www.healthcare.gov failures

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 23:22:43 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Cable News Network

Obamacare 'War Room' docs: We're concerned next media story is some consumers getting on website and finding fewer options, higher prices

By CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper
November 4th, 2013 03:30 PM ET
Officials expressed concern that the next shoe to drop in the evolving story about the Affordable Care Act would be disappointment from consumers once they are able to get on the troubled HealthCare.gov website — disappointment because of sticker shock and limited choice, according to a new document obtained by CNN.

“Mike described a general concern of PM (plan management team): getting to the point where the website is functioning properly and individuals begin to select plans; the media attention will follow individuals to plan selection and their ultimate choices; and, in some cases, there will be fewer options than would be desired to promote consumer choice and an ideal shopping experience. Additionally, in some cases there will be relatively high cost plans,” say the notes from the Obama administration’s Obamacare 'War Room' from one week ago.

Plan management team is a reference to those individuals in the Obama administration tasked with standing up the president's health care law at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

The discussion appeared to be in reference to an October 24 story by The New York Times titled “Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas.”

“While competition is intense in many populous regions, rural areas and small towns have far fewer carriers offering plans in the law’s online exchanges," the newspaper reported. "Of the roughly 2,500 counties served by the federal exchanges, more than half, or 58 percent, have plans offered by just one or two insurance carriers, according to an analysis by The Times of county-level data provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. In about 530 counties, only a single insurer is participating. The analysis suggests that the ambitions of the Affordable Care Act to increase competition have unfolded unevenly, at least in the early going, and have not addressed many of the factors that contribute to high prices.”

Other notes from the war room meeting describe specific “problem plans,” and a problem with the site that prevents certification, perhaps due to a misspelling on the website.

“These are notes taken by contractors, they are not official agency positions," Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters said in an e-mail.

Peters also highlighted affordable options for consumers, noting "Nearly all consumers will have a choice of two or more health insurance issuers, and often many more. About 95% of consumers live in states with average premiums below earlier estimates."


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Democrats taking Tea Party stances on Affordable Care Act?

Posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 5 21:42:39 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Politico

Democrats now see why tea party wants to delay Obamacare

By Jenny Beth Martin | 11/5/13 9:09 PM EST
What a difference a few weeks make.

When congressional conservatives and Tea Party Patriots fought to delay Obamacare’s individual mandate during the debate over the partial government shutdown, Democrats engaged in some of the most incendiary name-calling Americans have heard in years. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California called opponents “arsonists.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called them “anarchists.” Other Democrats resorted to more colorful language, like “political terrorism,” and said their political foes were “guilty of murder.”

That was then. Fast-forward to November and suddenly Democrats are advocating the conservative position. “Allowing extra time for consumers is critically important so they have the opportunity to become familiar with the [Obamacare] website, survey their options and enroll,” wrote New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a letter to President Barack Obama, calling for a delay in the individual mandate.

Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who said, “Given the technical issues, it makes sense to extend the time for people to sign up,” is setting a parallel tone, while Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is going so far as to help draft legislation to delay by a year the penalties facing people who do not buy government-mandated insurance. Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska is also calling for extending the individual enrollment period, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana are among 10 Democrat senators who have signed Shaheen’s letter to the president.

Whether these politicians are motivated by political survival or a desire to finally do what’s right for America is secondary to the truth betrayed by their actions. Obamacare is unworkable, and Democrats are finally beginning to acknowledge that the Tea Party Patriots were right all along.

The catastrophic failure of the Obamacare website looms like a metaphor for the destructive nature of the law itself. Not being able to log on to HealthCare.gov is one thing. Horrified Americans discovering that their health insurance is being canceled is another thing entirely — it put a lie to the promise of Obamacare itself. Just like the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have seen their insurance premiums go up in recent weeks, when their president promised Obamacare would save them $2,500 a year.

Obamacare has never been about health care; it is, and always has been, about power. That is why the White House keeps pressing on with a law that most Americans don’t want, amid widespread job cuts, canceled insurance plans and devastating loss of work hours many attribute to the Obamacare train wreck. Such is the allure of political power; it blinds politicians to the plight of the people they are supposed to represent.

But we’re beginning to see an evolution in the perception of Obamacare, both in terms of the terrible impact it’s having on the lives of Americans and the political fallout that comes from backing an equally terrible law. This evolution is also re-energizing grass-roots conservatives who fought so hard this year to save American families from shouldering the cost of this disastrous legislation.

Some members of the establishment punditocracy have suggested that conservatives and tea partiers and anyone who dares stand on principle should quietly slink away, give up on the country and lick their wounds after being trounced by the president and congressional Democrats last month. But events are multiplying and as they do, the innumerable problems with Obamacare are coming into focus. Ultimately, this is not about which political party wins and which loses; it’s about which policies improve the lives of Americans and which harm them.

It’s been said that good policy is good politics. The mirror image of that statement is also true; bad policy is bad politics. Democrats are awakening to this truth and they may have the courage to join with the “arsonists,” and “anarchists” who saw long ago the enormous harm that Obamacare would visit upon us. To which I say: Welcome to the tea party.


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Re: Democrats taking Tea Party stances on Affordable Care Act?

Posted by Fred G on Tue Nov 5 22:42:25 2013, in response to Democrats taking Tea Party stances on Affordable Care Act?, posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 5 21:42:39 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Yes and we all believe that the Tea Party wanted to delay the ACA so it would work better. And we all believe that the Democrats have taken up the TP stand.

/sarcasm

your pal,
Fred

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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by RIPTA42HopeTunnel on Wed Nov 6 07:23:29 2013, in response to "Universal" Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 4 20:15:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
“They are not training enough residents. The number of medical students has increased a little bit, but the number of residency spots has not. They’ve kept the number of residency spots frozen for, I think, 13 years now,” Unterricht said.

Well, there's a possible solution.

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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Wed Nov 6 11:56:37 2013, in response to Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Nov 4 20:30:04 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Fortunately, immigrants don't mind and are happy for the work, so problem solved once again!

Primarily because if you're smart, white, and sociable, you can go into finance and make far more money while the doctors are grinding to pay their student loans after nearly ten years of schooling.


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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by rbseabeach on Wed Nov 6 12:24:11 2013, in response to Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Wed Nov 6 11:56:37 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
make that 14 years.

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Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Nov 6 15:01:46 2013, in response to Re: ''Universal'' Health Care may be hamstrung by doctor shortage (need 52K PCPs by 2025), posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Wed Nov 6 11:56:37 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
And THERE'S the real problem. Kids don't want to undertake a ball and chain for the rest of their lives.

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Sebelius admits that www.healthcare.gov and other enrollments are "very low"

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Nov 6 15:21:32 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Politico

Sebelius says Obamacare enrollment 'very low'

By Jennifer Haberkorn and Jason Millman | 11/6/13 8:06 AM EST | Updated: 11/6/13 2:59 PM EST
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today acknowledged that long-awaited enrollment figures for the rocky first month of Obamacare will be “very low.”

“We intend to give you as much information as we can validate,” Sebelius told a Senate Finance Committee hearing where lawmakers from both parties harshly criticized the rollout and her agency’s lack of foresight about the massive problems. She said the initial batch of enrollment figures being released next week cover “the first month of enrollment” and will include both Medicaid and health plan numbers in the new insurance exchanges.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also announced the abrupt retirement of the chief information officer — the first high-level departure since the botched HealthCare.gov launch on Oct 1. CIO Tony Trenkle is leaving Nov. 15 for a job in the private sector, CMS said. His deputy, Henry Chao, has been identified as a liaison to key contractors who built HealthCare.gov as well as the official who briefed the White House monthly on implementation. The CMS email sent to agency employees made no mention of the flawed rollout.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who helped write the law and get it through the Senate in 2009, told Sebelius bluntly that Obamacare’s early problems have been “unacceptable.”

“Needless to say, it has been a rocky rollout,” he told her.

“It has been disappointing to see members of the administration say they didn’t see the problems coming,” he said amid growing consternation with how the website may hamper enrollment, and the firestorm over cancelled health policies.

Other Democrats expressed vast “frustration” with HealthCare.gov — and the contractors tasked with building it.

“I want you to burn their fingers and make them pay for not being responsible,” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) told Sebelius.

Sebelius repeated the administration’s commitment to having the site repaired by the end of the month. She reported progress on the list of a “couple of hundred” fixes that have been identified but admitted, “we are not where we need to be.” Sebelius said experts who looked at the site advised HHS that it could be repaired without having to take the site down completely.

Citing numerous improvements to HealthCare.Gov in the past five weeks, Sebelius also strongly pushed back against demands that the administration delay Obamacare implementation.

“For millions of Americans, delay is not an option — people’s lives depend on this,” Sebelius said.

It was her first appearance before the Finance Committee since April, when Baucus memorably told her he worried about a “train wreck” if implementation of the health law did not improve. On Wednesday, he addressed the comment indirectly, saying his words have been used to “malign” the law. “Make no mistake,” he clarified, “I believe in this law.”

Republicans chastised Sebelius for what they called misleading testimony that the enrollment website would be working when it went live Oct. 1, and a broken promise that consumers could keep their coverage.

Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican from Sebelius’s home state of Kansas, repeated his call for her to resign because of her poor leadership. Sebelius did not respond.

The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), said Sebelius’s earlier testimony to the committee about the website’s readiness was “at best, misinformed.” He predicted more problems ahead and called for Sebelius to visit the committee once a month with status updates.

Several Republicans questioned the security and testing of the website, pointing to warnings from outside experts said password glitches and incomplete testing that could make it easier for identity thieves to attack. Sebelius said that neither security consultants nor the administration felt those concerns warranted halting enrollment.

“No one suggested the risks outweighed the importance of moving forward,” she said, “including Mitre, who made recommendations to CMS as is required.” Mitre is a federally-funded nonprofit that handles much of the federal insurance marketplace’s security.

The hearing came as Sebelius’s agency faces two subpoenas and numerous other demands to turn over information on HealthCare.gov. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa has demanded HHS release a slew of documents, including lists of the “technical problems” with the site, the user capacity of the site, the testing information and the number of people who have enrolled or attempted to enroll, among other requests. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp on Tuesday issued a subpoena for CMS to turn over enrollment figures.

The hearing is the fifth so far in a string of House and Senate hearings on the rollout of HealthCare.gov. Four main contractors involved with the site went before the House two weeks ago in a scene filled with finger pointing and blame game. CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and Sebelius testified in the House last week, both apologizing for the HealthCare.gov disaster and both pledging to make it right.

Jessica Meyers and Brett Norman contributed to this report.


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Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 13:40:44 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
ProPublica

Loyal Obama Supporters, Canceled by Obamacare

By Charles Ornstein
Nov. 6, 2013, 9:57 a.m.
San Francisco architect Lee Hammack says he and his wife, JoEllen Brothers, are “cradle Democrats.” They have donated to the liberal group Organizing for America and worked the phone banks a year ago for President Obama’s re-election.

Since 1995, Hammack and Brothers have received their health coverage from Kaiser Permanente, where Brothers worked until 2009 as a dietitian and diabetes educator. “We’ve both been in very good health all of our lives — exercise, don’t smoke, drink lightly, healthy weight, no health issues, and so on,” Hammack told me.

The couple — Lee, 60, and JoEllen, 59 — have been paying $550 a month for their health coverage — a plan that offers solid coverage, not one of the skimpy plans Obama has criticized. But recently, Kaiser informed them the plan would be canceled at the end of the year because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The couple would need to find another one. The cost would be around double what they pay now, but the benefits would be worse.

“From all of the sob stories I’ve heard and read, ours is the most extreme,” Lee told me in an email last week.

I’ve been skeptical about media stories featuring those who claimed they would be worse off because their insurance policies were being canceled on account of the ACA. In many cases, it turns out, the consumers could have found cheaper coverage through the new health insurance marketplaces, or their plans weren’t very good to begin with. Some didn’t know they could qualify for subsidies that would lower their insurance premiums.

So I tried to find flaws in what Hammack told me. I couldn’t find any.
  • The couple’s existing Kaiser plan was a good one.
  • Their new options were indeed more expensive, and the benefits didn’t seem any better.
  • They do not qualify for premium subsidies because they make more than four times the federal poverty level, though Hammack says not by much.
Hammack recalled his reaction when he and his wife received a letters from Kaiser in September informing him their coverage was being canceled. “I work downstairs and my wife had a clear look of shock on her face,” he said. “Our first reaction was clearly there’s got to be some mistake. This was before the exchanges opened up. We quickly calmed down. We were confident that this would all be straightened out. But it wasn’t.”

I asked Hammack to send me details of his current plan. It carried a $4,000 deductible per person, a $40 copay for doctor visits, a $150 emergency room visit fee and 30 percent coinsurance for hospital stays after the deductible. The out-of-pocket maximum was $5,600.

This plan was ending, Kaiser’s letters told them, because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. “Everything is taken care of,” the letters said. “There’s nothing you need to do.”

The letters said the couple would be enrolled in new Kaiser plans that would cost nearly $1,300 a month for the two of them (more than $15,000 a year).

And for that higher amount, what would they get? A higher deductible ($4,500), a higher out-of-pocket maximum ($6,350), higher hospital costs (40 percent of the cost) and possibly higher costs for doctor visits and drugs.

When they shopped around and looked for a different plan on California's new health insurance marketplace, Covered California, the cheapest one was $975, with hefty deductibles and copays.

In a speech in Boston last week, President Obama said those receiving cancellation letters didn’t have good insurance. “There are a number of Americans — fewer than 5 percent of Americans — who've got cut-rate plans that don’t offer real financial protection in the event of a serious illness or an accident,” he said.

“Remember, before the Affordable Care Act, these bad-apple insurers had free rein every single year to limit the care that you received, or use minor preexisting conditions to jack up your premiums or bill you into bankruptcy. So a lot of people thought they were buying coverage, and it turned out not to be so good.”

What is going on here? Kaiser isn’t a “bad apple” insurer and this plan wasn’t “cut rate.” It seems like this is a lose-lose for the Hammacks (and a friend featured in a report last month by the public radio station KQED.)

I called Kaiser Permanente and spoke to spokesman Chris Stenrud, who used to work for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He told me that this was indeed a good plan. Patients in the plan, known as 40/4000, were remarkably healthy, had low medical costs and had not seen their premiums increase in years. “Our actuaries still aren’t entirely sure why that was,” he said.

While many other insurance companies offered skimpier benefits, Stenrud said, “our plans historically have been comprehensive.”

Kaiser has canceled about 160,000 policies in California, and about one third of people were in plans like Hammack’s, Stenrud said. About 30,000 to 35,000 were in his specific plan.

“In a few cases, we are able to find coverage for them that is less expensive, but in most cases, we’re not because, in sort of pure economic terms, they are people who benefited from the current system … Now that the market rules are changing, there will be different people who benefit and different people who don’t.”

“There’s an aspect of market disruption here that I think was not clear to people,” Stenrud acknowledged. “In many respects it has been theory rather than practice for the first three years of the law; folks are seeing the breadth of change that we’re talking about here.”

That’s little comfort to Hammack. He’s written to California’s senators and his representative, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asking for help.

“We believe that the Act is good for health care, the economy, & the future of our nation. However, ACA options for middle income individuals ages 59 & 60 are unaffordable. We’re learning that many others are similarly affected. In that spirit we ask that you fix this, for all of our sakes,” he and Brothers wrote.

Consumer advocate Anthony Wright said it’s important to remember the way the insurance market worked before the act was passed, when insurers could deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. “It’s impossible to know what the world would have looked like for these folks in the absence of the law,” said Wright, executive director of the group Health Access.

“We certainly had an individual market, especially in California which was the Wild Wild West, where there was huge price increases, cancellations, a range of other practices.

“That doesn't mean that there were certain people who lucked out in the old system, who wound up in a group with a relatively healthy risk mix and thus lower premiums,” he added. “The question is: Is health insurance something where people get a rate based on the luck of the draw or do we have something where we have some standards where people who live in the same community, of the same age, with the same benefit package are treated equally?”

Wright said discussions should focus on how to provide consumers like Hammack with assistance if they barely miss qualifying for subsidies.

So what is Hammack going to do? If his income were to fall below four times the federal poverty level, or about $62,000 for a family of two, he would qualify for subsidies that could lower his premium cost to as low as zero. If he makes even one dollar more, he gets nothing.

That’s what he’s leaning toward — lowering his salary or shifting more money toward a retirement account and applying for a subsidy.

“We’re not changing our views because of this situation, but it hurt to hear Obama saying, just the other day, that if our plan has been dropped it’s because it wasn’t any good, and our costs would go up only slightly,” he said. “We’re gratified that the press is on the case, but frustrated that the stewards of the ACA don’t seem to have heard.”


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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Dan Lawrence on Thu Nov 7 13:49:50 2013, in response to Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 13:40:44 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Making up stuff again, Olog?

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:15:59 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Dan Lawrence on Thu Nov 7 13:49:50 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
LOL! Yes, I own all the media, didn't you know? I'm a multi-billionaire and I'll pay you $1 million to sleep with me and all that jazz.

FYI, ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning left-wing web site for liberal journalists; their material has served as source material for lots of mainstream media, e.g. 60 Minutes, ABC World News, BusinessWeek, CNN, Frontline, LA Times, NY Times, Newsweek, USA Today, WaPo, Huffy Post, MSN Money, MSNBC, Politico, Reader's Digest, Salon, Slate, This American Life, and NPR, and lotsa others.

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"Universal Health Care" (ACA) restrictions make Brooklyn couple consider getting *divorced*

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:25:36 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
"Affordable care" or "Abolition of the family"?

CBS News

Obamacare Restrictions Lead Brooklyn Couple To Consider Divorce

'We Would Save Thousands Of Dollars If We Got Divorced,' Woman Says
November 6, 2013 10:00 PM

From website crashes to long holds on calls, the issues involved with the unveiling of the Affordable Care Act are well documented.

But now, could it be breaking couples up?

CBS 2’s Don Champion spoke to one Brooklyn couple on Wednesday who said they may be forced to get a divorce to get health insurance.

Nona Willis Aronowitz and Aaron Cassara’s love affair began at a party in 2008.

“We kissed on a bean bag chair,” Aronowitz said.

A year later, it grew into a marriage at City Hall in Manhattan.

“It was really sudden,” Aronowitz said. “It was basically because he needed health insurance, and I had a job that would give that to him.”

But four years later, there is now irony in the fact the couple could soon divorce for the same reason.

“After Obamacare has rolled out, we realized that we would save thousands of dollars if we got divorced,” Aronowitz said.

The issue for Aronowitz and Cassara is that together as family of only two, they make more than the $62,000 level to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. But if they lived together unmarried, they would qualify for the subsidies and could literally save hundreds of dollars a month on their health care.

A single person can qualify for subsidies if they make less than $46,000 a year.

“It’s really complicated,” Aronowitz said. “Go on the website, you’ll see what I mean,” Aronowitz told Champion.

Aronowitz, a freelance writer, and Cassara, who works as a freelancer in the film industry, lost their health coverage recently when Aronowitz was laid off.

Critics of the Affordable Care Act have called the pricey decision the couple faces the “marriage penalty.” But the income levels for subsidies were set by Congress.

“I’m an educated, very well plugged-in person and I can’t figure it out,” Aronowitz said.

Aronowitz said she and her husband are deeply in love but together were never the “marrying type.” Still, they said they’re not taking the decision ahead of them lightly.

“In our case, it would be worth it,” Aronowitz said. “In other people’s cases, where marriage is really, really important to them and they had this big wedding and it was this sacred experience, I think it would be a really tough decision for them.”

The couple is looking at other health options before making the divorce decision.


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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:26:00 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:15:59 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Are there any places that are "right wing"? You would probably consider Matt Drudge "left wing" because he doesn't support a monarchy

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:27:56 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:26:00 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Just look up ProPublica's affiliations. They are an extension of the mainstream media, so there's no way that you can paint them as "right wing" as you might be wont to do.

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:30:12 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:27:56 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
That does not answer my question. Are there any websites you consider "right wing"?

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:35:15 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:30:12 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I'm not answering your question because it's irrelevant to what I posted, and you're being presumptuous besides. Why don't you want to discuss the problems faced by the couple in San Fran?

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by dand124 on Thu Nov 7 14:40:23 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:30:12 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
here's what he considers right wing

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:43:29 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by dand124 on Thu Nov 7 14:40:23 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
What he (or I) "consider right wing" is irrelevant to the thread. AAMOF, it's your buddy mtk that brought up the phrase "right wing" in this here subthread.

How come people like he and ye cannot define that phrase "right wing" yourselves even though you throw it around so casually?

And I notice that all of you continue to evade discussing the problems with the ACA, too.

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:55:31 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:43:29 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I used "right wing" because you called ProPublica "left wing," a concept you have no problem throwing around (in addition to changing thread titles) yet you cannot define it yourself

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by dand124 on Thu Nov 7 14:58:23 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:55:31 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
he's also refused to state if he thinks South Africa is better now than it was under apartheid.

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 15:00:28 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:35:15 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Unfortunately the numbers discussed in the article only scratch the surface. More details are actually needed about the plans. Under ACA I can get a plan with less of a deductible ($0 versus $2000) and lower costs for $240 less per month. The problem is out of network is not covered and there is no one plan that all of the doctors I see (or would want to see in case I needed to see certain specialists) accept. Assuming I had nothing out of the ordinary I would save money, but if I had something more complex I would lack the flexibility my plan currently affords

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Re: ''Universal Health Care'' (ACA) restrictions make Brooklyn couple consider getting *divorced*

Posted by Fred G on Thu Nov 7 15:00:50 2013, in response to "Universal Health Care" (ACA) restrictions make Brooklyn couple consider getting *divorced*, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 14:25:36 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
This will be debunked in a couple of days :)

your pal,
Fred

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 15:13:33 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by dand124 on Thu Nov 7 14:58:23 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Why do you insist on changing the subject?

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 15:15:41 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by mtk52983 on Thu Nov 7 14:55:31 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
No, I don't "throw it around" casually. There are certain stances that are easily definable as left wing. You seem to have a problem defining "right wing".

Again, stop being evasive.

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Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan

Posted by dand124 on Thu Nov 7 15:25:37 2013, in response to Re: Loyal Obama supporters lose their health insurance under ACA even though it was a good plan, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 7 15:15:41 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Again, stop being evasive.



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