The Affordable Care Act is Coming Home to Roost

[Doc]

From the article:

 

UPDATE: In an email statement, UnitedHealthCare spokesman Ben Goldstein told News 8, "With the many changes happening in health care, we are building a network of health care providers that we can collaborate with more closely to have the most positive impact on the quality of care for our members. We are prepared to help our members transition to new providers. Members with questions are encouraged to call the customer service number on the back of their member ID card for more information."

 

The bold part means ACA

 

This is what we warned about. unintended consequences!!!

IOW, UHC is looking for providers who work cheaper.

[BillsFanM.D.]

From the article:

 

UPDATE: In an email statement, UnitedHealthCare spokesman Ben Goldstein told News 8, "With the many changes happening in health care, we are building a network of health care providers that we can collaborate with more closely to have the most positive impact on the quality of care for our members. We are prepared to help our members transition to new providers. Members with questions are encouraged to call the customer service number on the back of their member ID card for more information."

 

The bold part means ACA

 

This is what we warned about. unintended consequences!!!

 

How can this be? BO has told us many times that if we already have insurance....we won't pay more and we can keep our own doctor. If you don't believe me you can go to the ACA website.

Edited October 12, 2013 by BillsFanM.D.

[B-Man]

How can this be? BO has told us many times that if we already have insurance....we won't pay more and we can keep our own doctor. If you don't believe me you can go to the ACA website.

 

From the Pittsburgh Tribune:ObamaCare:

 

 

It's all about control

 

On health care, the president's pile of broken promises keeps getting higher. Consider this gem from Aug. 20, 2009: “Let's be clear about the fact that nobody has proposed anything close to a government takeover of health care.”

 

Well, yes, somebody did. President Obama is now well on his way to orchestrating the federal government's takeover of Americans' health care.

Commandeering the resources of major federal departments, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services and the IRS, the administration and its allies in Congress have created numerous federal bureaus, commissions and programs and have issued thousands of pages of rules, regulations, guidelines and directives, all reinforced by unprecedented mandates and new taxes, fees, fines and penalties. Central planning and coercion holds this sprawling thing together.

 

Virtually all key health care decisions will be made by government officials. Not you. Not your employer. Not your insurance company.

 

Beginning Jan. 1, government officials will require you to buy a federally approved health plan or pay federal fines or tax penalties. They will define and redefine, at their pleasure, the content of your health benefits package, meaning the medical treatments and procedures you must have; the kind and level of preventive health care services you must have; the level of coverage you must have; the level of cost sharing, deductibles and co-payments that are acceptable — to them, not you.

 

Writing in the October 2010 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, Sara Rosenbaum, professor of law at George Washington University and a supporter of the law, perhaps best described ObamaCare's transformative effect on private insurance: “It will take on certain characteristics of a public utility.” In other words, private insurance will be “private” in name only.

You will get what government officials say you will get.

 

Because the statutory language is often vague, “experts” at HHS and the IRS are free to write detailed regulations that cover a multitude of thorny items, such as the definition of “quality care” or “value” in doctor- or hospital-care delivery. Of course, officials who make the rules can make exceptions to the rules, issuing waivers, or exemptions, or securing special treatment for favored groups. The most obnoxious example is the Office of Personnel Management's decision to give hefty taxpayer subsidies to members of Congress and congressional staff to offset their premium costs in the new health insurance exchanges next year. Those special subsidies are bereft of statutory authority.

 

Government officials will exercise more control over the flow of your health care dollars and subject you to mandates and penalties. Your personal freedom will be curtailed by those who claim to know what is best for you.

 

Meanwhile, the president and his allies will insist that what you are witnessing firsthand is not a “government takeover” of health care.

 

You can either believe them or your own eyes.

 

http://triblive.com/...t#ixzz2hW3kAYUd

 

 

 

But just keep repeating (as many posters here do).............................

 

 

100% of dems voting for Obamacare.............doing it for America

 

100% of GOP voting against O-Care..............doing it for party

 

 

you'll feel better if you chant this..

 

 

 

.

Edited October 12, 2013 by B-Man

[BillsFanM.D.]

But just keep repeating (as many posters here do).............................

 

 

100% of dems voting for Obamacare.............doing it for America

 

100% of GOP voting against O-Care..............doing it for party

 

 

you'll feel better if you chant this..

 

 

Actually...I'd probably throw up.

 

From the article:

"You can either believe them or your own eyes." That was my point. It's 'on the internet' and the Pres says so. Therefore, it must be true. I'll pass on blind faith in this instance.

[B-Man]

Part of an article from a man who knows what he is talking about.

 

An Inauspicious Debut: The health exchange meltdowns are not just ‘glitches.’

by Michael Astrue.

 

For over a year it has been common knowledge within the Obama administration that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could not launch its network of health exchanges for the Affordable Care Act in a minimally acceptable way. That knowledge did not stop the HHS publicity machine from constantly assuring the American public that its computer systems would be ready for the first enrollment period. That knowledge did not stop carefully scripted HHS employees and contractors from making similar false assurances to two House committees just weeks before the botched October 1 launch.

 

As the HHS day of reckoning approached, the publicity machine shifted gears and began acknowledging the likelihood of “glitches,” a brilliant rhetorical technique designed to dismiss all HHS failures as minor and fixable. President Obama echoed this “glitches” theme, and it worked. A mesmerized USA Today, for one, characterized the catastrophic October 1 breakdowns as “glitches” despite ample evidence of meltdowns in the HHS systems. Nobody in Hawaii could access prices for the plans; North Carolina recorded only one policy purchase. The launch has even interfered with the Massachusetts exchange, which functioned well for years prior to being integrated into the HHS systems. The federal exchange was inaccessible for much of the week, and was taken out of service the first weekend for repairs.

 

The new HHS talking points assert that the department will quickly fix last week’s failures. Many in Congress and the media are parroting those points, even though almost every prediction HHS has made to date about the exchanges has turned out to be untrue. Its newest assurances are untrue as well.

 

{snip}

 

Finally, we should all remember that the Minnesota exchange illegally disclosed the Social Security numbers of 2,400 of its state’s citizens 18 days before its exchange opened for business. With HHS’s convoluted patchwork of contractors, including the data centers of “the cloud,” tens of thousands of people have now gained access to our personal data. The churning of marginal employees through the lowest bidders of “the cloud” particularly increases the risk of massive disclosures like those that Edward Snowden recently inflicted on the intelligence community and Bradley Manning inflicted on the military. Our greatest vulnerability may not be the hardware or the software, but the integrity of the contractors who use these tools. With regard to this issue, the HHS inspector general has once again maintained his unblemished record of inertia and silence.

 

Michael Astrue served as HHS general counsel (1989-92) and commissioner of Social Security (2007-13).

 

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/inauspicious-debut_762273.html

[Nanker]

More roosting going on now as hospitals are laying off thousands of workers. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/13/hospital-job-cuts/2947929/

[Gary M]

More roosting going on now as hospitals are laying off thousands of workers. http://www.usatoday....b-cuts/2947929/

 

"The payroll cuts are surprising"

 

No they aren't

 

"because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) whose implementation took a big step forward this month,"

 

Ha, what big step, it doesn't work,!!

 

"is eventually expected to provide health coverage to as many as 30 million additional Americans."

 

So now they have coverage and won't be able to get care. hahahahaahaha

 

Thanks Obama

Edited October 14, 2013 by Gary M

[IDBillzFan]

Two weeks later, report still can't sign up for health care.

 

Better hurry up or they'll be taxed for not signing up!!!

 

Damn you, Rummy!!!

[Joe Miner]

Two weeks later, report still can't sign up for health care.

 

Better hurry up or they'll be taxed for not signing up!!!

 

Damn you, Rummy!!!

 

Maybe this is just the security for the site? Since they didn't have time to put secure websites in place, just make them secure by making them not work?

 

I miss that Guinness commercial. Brilliant!

[B-Man]

After Two Weeks CNN Reporter Still Hasn't Been Able To Sign Up For ObamaCare

 

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been trying for two weeks to sign up for ObamaCare.

 

Unfortunately as she reported on Monday's New Day, despite trying for fourteen days including at hours that were claimed to be "off peak," she still hasn't been able to establish an account (video follows at link with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):

 

 

Read more:

http://newsbusters.org/#ixzz2hhyOUM6D

 

[Gary M]

From the Pittsburgh Tribune:ObamaCare:

 

 

 

 

http://triblive.com/...t#ixzz2hW3kAYUd

 

 

 

But just keep repeating (as many posters here do).............................

 

 

100% of dems voting for Obamacare.............doing it for America

 

100% of GOP voting against O-Care..............doing it for party

 

 

you'll feel better if you chant this..

 

.

 

https://scontent-b-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1385829_10151691451552596_1911908421_n.png

[B-Man]

this quote from the NY Times article:

These are not glitches,” said an insurance executive who has participated in many conference calls on the federal exchange. Like many people interviewed for this article, the executive spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he did not wish to alienate the federal officials with whom he works. “

The extent of the problems is pretty enormous

. At the end of our calls, people say, ‘It’s awful, just awful.’ ”

 

From Politico:

The glitch-plagued Obamacare rollout might be just the beginning: A series of potential technology problems could thwart the Obama administration’s goal of getting 7 million people enrolled in the new exchanges by the end of March.

Millions of people have already encountered error messages, delays, crashes and stuck accounts. Technology experts and Obamacare backers worry that each step ahead in the process — filling out applications, checking on subsidies and selecting a health insurance plan — creates a potential technology choke point. And that doesn’t even count any additional chaos when people try to use their new health insurance come January.

“There is grave concern that many individuals who are intent on securing coverage by [Jan. 1] may not be able to do so by that date,” said consultant Dan Schuyler, who helped design a health insurance exchange in Utah and is now the senior technology expert at Leavitt Partners. “There’s a small window [the Department of Health and Human Services] has. If the problems persist another three or four weeks, those at the back of the line will not have coverage.”

.

[GG]

I'm sure than anyone who's ever done any contract work with federal government and understand procurement, will certainly see familiar rings in this story.

 

Could President Obama have changed the system in time to make a difference for Healthcare.gov? Maybe — but it’s worth noting that federal IT procurement reform was just way, way low on the list of political priorities in the president’s first term, despite the issues that it created for enacting his policy agenda, from two ongoing wars to a global financial crisis to health care reform, grappling with the Arab Spring. The second term hasn’t been much better. Procurement is not a sexy issue, and it’s extremely hard to fix.

 

....

 

At the same time, it’s fair to acknowledge that billions of dollars have been spent on programs that haven’t come in on time or don’t work. When it comes to national security, this can be particularly egregious. One of the most important whistle-blowers in recent memory, Thomas Drake, ended up going to the Baltimore Sun when no one in government would listen to him crying foul on overspending on a given IT program when a much cheaper option was available.

[B-Man]

The Obamacare implosion is worse than you think

by Marc A. Thiessen

 

Obamacare is imploding. But thanks to the government shutdown, everyone is talking about the implosion of the GOP instead.

 

The shutdown drama has distracted from the fact that Obamacare’s debut is worse than many realize — and it threatens the fundamental viability of the law itself. The administration claims the Obamacare online exchanges crashed because the Web site got more than 8 million hits in the first week. Please. You know how many people visit Amazon.com every week? More than 70 million. The difference is: 1.) Amazon seldom crashes, and 2.) on Amazon, people actually buy something.

 

It appears virtually no one is buying Obamacare. While administration officials brag about how many visitors the site is getting, they refuse to divulge how many people actually signed up. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was asked that directly by Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show.” “Fully enrolled?” Sebelius stuttered. “I can’t tell you. Because I don’t know.” That is a frightening admission of incompetence. If the Obama administration can’t even track how many people signed up, how on earth is it going to verify whether those people are eligible for subsidies? How will it protect against fraud?

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-the-obamacare-implosion-is-worse-than-you-think/2013/10/14/7efa4e74-34d7-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html

[IDBillzFan]

The Obamacare implosion is worse than you think

by Marc A. Thiessen

 

Obamacare is imploding. But thanks to the government shutdown, everyone is talking about the implosion of the GOP instead.

 

LIke I said last week, if I were the GOP, I'd eat it on debt limit, open the government, and let the embarrassment of Obamacare fill the media vacuum.

[/dev/null]

LIke I said last week, if I were the GOP, I'd eat it on debt limit, open the government, and let the embarrassment of Obamacare fill the media vacuum.

 

Problem with that theory is the media would spin the Obamacare failure into the Republicans fault for not being willing to fix Obamacare

[B-Man]

 

 

SF Chronicle's Obamacare Advice: 'Working a Bit Less' Can Get You a 'Huge Health Care Subsidy'

by Tom Blumer

 

Kathleen Pender at the San Francisco Chronicle (HT Zombie at PJ Media) had some Obamacare-related financial advice for her readers on Saturday: "Consider reducing your 2014 income by working just a bit less," because doing so could get you a "huge health care subsidy."

 

This is not news to anyone who has studied Obamacare in detail, and shouldn't be a revelation to anyone in the business press, especially a financial advice columnist like Pender. Among several others, Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation and yours truly sounded the alarm about Obamacare's work-demotivating impact — as well as how it will encourage marital breakups and discourage couples from getting married — in early 2010. I also wrote related columns here and here in late September.

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2013/10/14/sf-chronicles-obamacare-advice-working-bit-less-can-get-you-huge-health-#ixzz2hjIvbScY

 

 

 

 

.

 

[DC Tom]

— as well as how it will encourage marital breakups and discourage couples from getting married —

 

 

There's only one conclusion to draw from this: Obama hates gays.

[B-Man]

There's only one conclusion to draw from this: Obama hates gays.

 

Joe Biden must have forced Barack to "evolve" his position...........................again.

 

.

[TheMadCap]

 

 

Problem with that theory is the media would spin the Obamacare failure into the Republicans fault for not being willing to fix Obamacare

 

This has to be a phenomenon of Obama's Presidency. I don't recall the media blatantly cheerleading for Clinton. One hopes they'll go back to being even marginally level in their shilling in 2016...