B-Man Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Early Retirement, Courtesy of Obamacare NPR has happened upon a great Obamacare success story, or so it seems: Lela Petersen of Flagler, Colo. . . . is a small business owner with a very big health insurance bill. But thanks to the health law, she expects that bill will be cut by more than half in January. Petersen is 57, and her husband, Mike, is 60. They have some pre-existing conditions. He has diabetes. She has a back injury. The HMO policy they’ve carried since 1992 has risen over the years to $1,950 per month, just for the two of them. “When you pay $1,950 for insurance you might as well forget retirement,” says Petersen says. “There’s just no way.” Five years ago, she was planning on an early retirement, but she didn’t anticipate health insurance costing as much as the rest of her bills combined. At the beginning of October she checked out Colorado’s insurance exchange and found the exact same policy from the same insurer for only $832 a month. “It’s dropping us down about $1,100 a month. We can retire. We can go fishing. We can actually see a future,” says Petersen. Becoming part of an insurance pool helped Petersen reduce her cost. The federal law also forbids insurance companies from charging more for pre-existing conditions. That saved her a lot. And federal tax credits brought the cost down even further. While I’m sure the Petersens have worked very hard throughout their lives and deserve a comfortable retirement, but let’s examine what this story actually represents: Two people who can easily obtain insurance on the individual market, despite their preexisting conditions, have to pay a lot for the health care they consume, but an amount they can afford at their income levels – but not at their expected level of retirement income. Because Obamacare provides direct subsidies from the federal fisc, and indirect subsidies from the higher premiums paid by younger people and healthier people, their rates have dropped low enough that they can now close their small business and live off of their retirement savings — at the expense of others. Lots of decisions we all make involve implicit tax subsidies and social costs. But early retirement, needless to say, doesn’t really have much to do with the stated intent of Obamacare — expanding insurance to people who can’t get it or can’t afford it. The NPR story acknowledges that this is a rather odd side benefit of the law, and notes that we don’t know just how widespread it will be yet
Nanker Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Yes. Blessed are we to have the ACA passed to show us and millions of Americans another way to game the system. How fortunate we are to have an all-powerful federal government that will dip into the pockets of others in order that we might live a life of ease. The Progressive's Prayer
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Hysterical last night. They did a great job when Hank Williams Jr. got knocked off MNF, and last night was even better with "Obamacare by Morning." http://youtu.be/NRP8Do-IyRU
B-Man Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Can't keep their story straight: White House website at odds with latest Obama statement. DAVID HOGBERG: Papa John Was Right: Marking the first anniversary of the 29-hour workweek. ROLL CALL: Democrats Up in 2014 Vent Their Obamacare Anger in White House Meeting. NOTHING SLEAZY HERE: Obama Political Team “Trains” Reporters On How To Cover ObamaCare Website Problems. .
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 DAVID HOGBERG: Papa John Was Right: Marking the first anniversary of the 29-hour workweek. I remember when this happened and the giant progressive pile-on that followed. Today, everyone is turning back their employee schedules to sub-30 hours. Clemson just sent out an annoucement, and literally cited Obamacare as the reason. Trader Joes is dropping hours as well as coverage for part-timers, sending them to the Exchange. But hey...could be worse. Could be raining. This cracks me up.
3rdnlng Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 How can someone vote against this? http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/189499-house-to-vote-next-week-on-keep-your-health-plan-act House Republican leaders announced Wednesday the lower chamber will vote next week on a bill that would allow people to keep their health insurance plan if they like it. The vote hits at President Obama, who, during the debate over the Affordable Care Act, said people could keep their healthcare plans if they like them. Millions of people, however, have gotten cancelation notices because of ObamaCare's new standards. Late Wednesday afternoon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced via Twitter that the bill would get a vote. The Keep Your Health Plan Act, H.R. 3350, was introduced last week by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and more than two dozen Republicans. As of Wednesday, co-sponsorship had grown to 88 members. Upton's bill authorizes insurance companies to keep offering plans that they have said need to be canceled because of ObamaCare's new insurance standards. Since early October, companies have sent out millions of notices to enrollees saying their plans will be scrapped and, in many cases, replaced by more expensive plans. "Despite the president's repeated promise of 'if you like your plan, you can keep it,' many Americans are now learning the sad reality that their current plan will no longer exist beginning on Jan. 1," Upton said last week. "Instead they are forced to purchase healthcare that they cannot afford through a system that does not even work, and that's just not fair. "
B-Man Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 From WaPo's Fact Checker Glenn Kessler, What Kessler says today about blaming the insurance companies is: First of all, the administration wrote the rules that set the conditions under which plans lose their grandfathered status. But more important, the law has an effective date so far in the past that it virtually guaranteed that the vast majority of people currently in the individual market would end up with a notice saying they needed to buy insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. The administration’s effort to pin the blame on insurance companies is a classic case of misdirection. Between 75 and 95 percent of the problem stems from the effective date, but the White House chooses to keep the focus elsewhere. .
TheMadCap Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 How can someone vote against this? http://thehill.com/b...health-plan-act House Republican leaders announced Wednesday the lower chamber will vote next week on a bill that would allow people to keep their health insurance plan if they like it. The vote hits at President Obama, who, during the debate over the Affordable Care Act, said people could keep their healthcare plans if they like them. Millions of people, however, have gotten cancelation notices because of ObamaCare's new standards. Late Wednesday afternoon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced via Twitter that the bill would get a vote. The Keep Your Health Plan Act, H.R. 3350, was introduced last week by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and more than two dozen Republicans. As of Wednesday, co-sponsorship had grown to 88 members. Upton's bill authorizes insurance companies to keep offering plans that they have said need to be canceled because of ObamaCare's new insurance standards. Since early October, companies have sent out millions of notices to enrollees saying their plans will be scrapped and, in many cases, replaced by more expensive plans. "Despite the president's repeated promise of 'if you like your plan, you can keep it,' many Americans are now learning the sad reality that their current plan will no longer exist beginning on Jan. 1," Upton said last week. "Instead they are forced to purchase healthcare that they cannot afford through a system that does not even work, and that's just not fair. " I don't see how the Dems CAN vote for this and not admit failure...
Chef Jim Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 I remember when this happened and the giant progressive pile-on that followed. Today, everyone is turning back their employee schedules to sub-30 hours. Clemson just sent out an annoucement, and literally cited Obamacare as the reason. Trader Joes is dropping hours as well as coverage for part-timers, sending them to the Exchange. But hey...could be worse. Could be raining. This cracks me up. I see he has his hero's picture on the wall behind him.
Koko78 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) I don't see how the Dems CAN vote for this and not admit failure... That's the point. If the Democrats block it, they look disingenuous and partisan (moreso) at the expense of the common person. If they vote for it and it passes, the GOP takes credit for helping to fix a major problem with Obamacare. I think the GOP is betting that the Democrats are not going to turn their backs on Obama and actually concede that they lied to and misled the American public, so that GOP can say next year that they tried to uphold the promise that you could keep your healthcare, but the Democrats and Obama blocked it. Edited November 7, 2013 by Koko78
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 I see he has his hero's picture on the wall behind him. Frankly I'm surprised it wasn't a photo of Che.
Dante Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) I see he has his hero's picture on the wall behind him. Is that Idi Amin? Is this a real pic not Photo shopped? Edited November 7, 2013 by Dante
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Is that Idi Amin? Is this a real pic not Photo shopped? No, it's fake. It's funny, but it's fake.
B-Man Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 CNN: Sebelius headed to Atlanta tomorrow to make an “important announcement” about ObamaCare This Jim Acosta tweet piqued my interest so I’m tossing it out there. Let the feverish baseless speculation begin! Jim Acosta ✔ @JimAcostaCNN HHS: Sebelius to Atlanta tomorrow and "discuss an important announcement related to the Affordable Care Act" 11:54 AM - 7 Nov 2013 On the one hand, it’s probably nothing. E.g., “we’re pleased to announce that the share of total users able to enroll on the site has risen from two percent to three.” On the other hand, Friday is the traditional day for dumping bad news. If you’re going to dump, though, you typically do it quietly, via a statement from the White House press shop. You don’t send the secretary of HHS out there to declare with cameras rolling that the meltdown has now reached a point where she and O have no choice but to delay the individual mandate. It’s got to be good-ish news, at least in the sense that Sebelius won’t feel completely humiliated announcing it. Obvious possibility: She’s going to reveal the enrollment data for October a bit earlier than expected. That was supposed to come next week, I believe, but Dave Camp issued a subpoena two days ago demanding that it be released by Friday. Sebelius admitted yesterday that the numbers will be “quite low,” which means this is decidedly not “good-ish” for the White House. But it’s not as bad as you might think: One thing Sebelius could do to pad the numbers is refuse to distinguish between new Medicaid enrollees and ObamaCare enrollees. There have been lots and lots of the former, not so many of the latter. Another thing she could do for damage control is refuse to give any data, especially state by state data, on how many “young healthies” have signed up versus how many sick people. The success of ObamaCare depends upon the former; even if the site gets fixed and there’s a huge swell of enrollments in December, that won’t help the insurance industry if most of those enrollees have preexisting conditions. The devil’s in the details on the data. Which is why Sebelius is unlikely to get too specific.
3rdnlng Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 I don't see how the Dems CAN vote for this and not admit failure... The "Rs" are only supporting a bill that would give everyone what Obama stated as a fact over and over. Period
Doc Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 That's the point. If the Democrats block it, they look disingenuous and partisan (moreso) at the expense of the common person. If they vote for it and it passes, the GOP takes credit for helping to fix a major problem with Obamacare. I think the GOP is betting that the Democrats are not going to turn their backs on Obama and actually concede that they lied to and misled the American public, so that GOP can say next year that they tried to uphold the promise that you could keep your healthcare, but the Democrats and Obama blocked it. Actually about a dozen or so Dem congresscritters are looking to delay the individual mandate by a year, so they just might go along with this.
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 CNN: Sebelius headed to Atlanta tomorrow to make an “important announcement” about ObamaCare This Jim Acosta tweet piqued my interest so I’m tossing it out there. Let the feverish baseless speculation begin! Jim Acosta ✔ @JimAcostaCNN HHS: Sebelius to Atlanta tomorrow and "discuss an important announcement related to the Affordable Care Act" 11:54 AM - 7 Nov 2013 If I'm not mistaken, October job numbers come out tomorrow...so you have to believe she's armed with some kind of make-believe good news numbers that by next Tuesday will be debunked as fuzzy math. After the roll out of Obamacare, how can anyone trust anything that comes out the mouths of any of Obama's circle?
B-Man Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Baseball Legend Johnny Bench Gets Insurance Cancelled He ran into the Real "Big Red Machine".................................... .
IDBillzFan Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Baseball Legend Johnny Bench Gets Insurance Cancelled He ran into the Real "Big Red Machine".................................... Word on the street is that Obama is willing to give him a waiver if Johnny agrees to catch just one Obama pitch.
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