Huh, what do you know? CBS News is getting an inkling that Obamacare kind of sucks. I guess when things become this obvious it’s hard to ignore. You know, like people losing the policies they could afford.
The Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama in 2010 and since then he has repeated one reassuring phrase: “If you like your insurance plan you will keep it. No one will be able to take that away from you. It hasn’t happened yet. It won’t happen in the future.”
But it is happening. The president’s health care law raises the standards for insurance policies, which many consider to be a good thing. But hundreds of thousands of Americans whose policies don’t meet the new standards are being told that their health plans are being cancelled.
Natalie Willes is a sleep consultant who helps parents in Los Angeles train their newborns to sleep. She buys her own health insurance.
“I was completely happy with the insurance I had before,” Willes said. …
“Before I had a plan that I had a $1,500 deductible,” she said. “I paid $199 dollars a month. The most similar plan that I would have available to me would be $278 a month. My deductible would be $6,500 dollars, and all of my care after that point would only be covered 70 percent.” (Read More)
She’s not the only one, there are millions more, maybe 16 million by the time it’s all said and done.
Then there are the number of people enrolling in Medicaid. CBS is noticing that, too, and how that alone could make the whole scheme come crashing down.
As the Obamacare website struggles, the administration is emphasizing state-level success. President Obama said Monday, “There’s great demand at the state level as well. Because there are a bunch of states running their own marketplaces.”
But left unsaid in the president’s remarks: the newly insured in some of those states are overwhelmingly low-income people signing up for Medicaid at no cost to them.
Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said, “We’re seeing a huge spike in terms of Medicaid enrollments.”
He says the numbers have surprised him and state officials.
CBS News has confirmed that in Washington, of the more than 35,000 people newly enrolled, 87 percent signed up for Medicaid. In Kentucky, out of 26,000 new enrollments, 82 percent are in Medicaid. And in New York, of 37,000 enrollments, Medicaid accounts for 64 percent. And there are similar stories across the country in nearly half of the states that run their own exchanges.
Medicaid experts say they’re not sure why they’re seeing the lopsided enrollment numbers, but point out it’s easier to enroll in Medicaid than private insurance.
An administration spokeswoman says coverage provided by the new law offers “a range of options so consumers can pick a plan that best meets their needs … and their budget.”
But Gail Wilensky, a former Medicaid director, said the numbers are causing concern in the insurance industry, which needs healthy adults to buy private insurance in large numbers for the system to work. (Read More)
Well, Nancy Pelosi said they had to pass it to know what’s in it. Too bad more people didn’t take her seriously before it was passed.
It’s not just CBS noticing how dreadful this is. Even Ezra Klein has taken notice, and Hollywood stars are being advised to abandon their plans to shill for this disastrous law.
Funny, isn’t it, the way reality constantly intrudes on Utopia?
Poor little Marxists…. must be so disappointing when reality intrudes. I keep hearing about how “it needs healthy young people to sign up so that their premiums are used to fund older people who need care”. Uh…. that’s the definition of INSURANCE, which is where we started. These people are honestly so stupid I can’t believe it. Yes, the Progressives are evil and their goal is not care but rather single-payer for control of the economy and the populace…. but then there are all those useful idiots out there who cannot grasp even the concept of insurance and are allowed to vote. The Holy Grail of Healthcare that these idiots pursue cannot happen; its pursuit will only devastate and obliterate innocent bystanders while the greatest health care system in the world is destroyed. Where is the glory in saving a few by sacrificing many? Despise collectivist thinking.
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Some editorialists at Bloomberg are getting hammered for their optimistic attitude about obamacare. Here is something I saw via RCPolitics -
From the New Hampshire Union Leader 10.25.13
QUOTE
Obamacare does not allow Americans to buy any health insurance product they want. It compels us under penalty of law to buy very specific plans. They must include maternity, contraception and pediatric overage, for instance. That makes no sense for young, single men, male retirees or couples who have surgically
rendered themselves incapable of reproduction. But all must pay for that coverage or be, in the word of Shaheen and Kuster, penalized.
They believe that the federal government should tell people what kind of insurance to buy, for how much, and then punish people for not obeying the command. If they believe the federal government should have that kind of power over every American, what else are they willing to force us to do?
END QUOTE
i have been saying this for 5 years - in emails to the congress critters, in letters to editors, in blogs, in person. What is it that they do not understand ?
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CBS Noticing Obamacare Kind Of Sucks http://t.co/ybtmUx695F via @lonelycon
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