The Most Embarrassing Efforts to Spin CBO’s Obamacare Report as ‘Good’ News

A bombshell Congressional Budget report released this week indicated that the Affordable Care Act will result in the equivalent of 2.5 million workers voluntarily leaving the workforce by 2024, all taking their productivity with them. The report is politically devastating for ACA supporters, and they know it. Their flailing reaction to that report speaks to the adverse impact it could have on Democrats’ political position ahead of the 2014 midterms. 

The last 48 hours have produced some of the finest, most rarified examples of spin the political universe has been privy to in some time. It’s been a veritable windfall for consumers of political discourse who enjoy observing painful rhetorical contortions.

The majority of those recklessly twisting this impending economic disaster into a welcome development have generally tried to focus on the expanded “opportunity” that will result from creating publicly-funded incentives for people not to work.

“Many workers, however, will see not having to ‘work for the man’ to get health coverage as liberation,”wrote liberal columnist Froma Harrop, channeling David Crosby.

She went on to label as “anecdotal” the prediction that “some employers may reduce worker’s hours to avoid paying the employer mandate,” a function of the ACA that has not even taken effect yet. In the following paragraph, however, she said the opportunity provided by not working will allow others to “start the business they’ve always dreamed of,” or allow parents to “spend more time with their children.” Some anecdotes appear are more equal than others.

The more thoughtful E.J. Dionne took a stab at spinning the news himself. On Thursday, Dionne offered up his own anecdote, one about a 64-year-old looking to work less to spend more time with the kids. “Many on the right love family values until they are taken seriously enough to involve giving parents/workers more control over their lives,” he wrote. I take back what I said about being thoughtful.

“And it’s sometimes an economic benefit when some share of the labor force reduces hours or stops working altogether,” Dionne added. “At a time of elevated unemployment, others will take their place. The CBO was careful to underscore — the CBO is always careful — that ‘if some people seek to work less, other applicants will be readily available to fill those positions and the overall effect on employment will be muted.’”

At least that’s an argument, one that can be summed up as essentially: Unemployment will remain virtually as high as it is today when the equivalent of 2.5 million productive workers perform a simple cost/benefit analysis and determine it is in their best interest to cut back on their working hours. Even Dionne might concede that it’s an argument of dubious political utility for Democrats.

He’s not alone in making the claim that a vast exodus of able workers from the labor market might be a good thing. In U.S. News & World Reports, Danielle Kurtzleben, bravely wrote what she claims we’re all afraid to say:

What the truth might be, and what few politicians would dare say, is there might simply be some value in lower economic growth.

Via: Mediaite
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Tom Cotton Responds To Obama’s State Of The Union

Representative Tom Cotton (R., Ark.)  joined KARK Wednesday morning to respond to President Obama’s State of the Union, saying the President should have apologized for the harm Obamacare has done to many Americans, and that the President should focus his use of executive action on a rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

“The one thing I thought missing, more than anything from the speech, was an apology by Barack Obama for what Obamacare has done to Arkansans,” Cotton said, citing canceled plans, rising premiums and deductibles, and loss of doctors for many of his constituents.

Asked about the President’s proposed “Year of Action” through executive orders, Cotton responded, “The only surprising thing about the President’s call for more unilateral executive orders and decisions is the fact he thinks he hasn’t done enough of it.” Cotton noted the President’s changes to the Affordable Care Act through executive orders and his reluctance to enforce parts of the both the healthcare law and immigration law.

“Unfortunately, the one place he could take executive action more effectively, overseas, he continued to sound the bell for retreat and defeat in the world,” Cotton said.

As for what he would like to see in 2014, Cotton focused on protecting Americans from various facets of Obamacare. Cotton listed initiatives passed by the House that would allow Americans to keep their insurance plans cancelled by Obamacare, and would eliminate the penalty if they could not afford a new Obamacare plan.

Said Cotton, “There’s a whole host of ways that we can try to solve the problems Obamacare has created, if only President Obama and the Senate Democrats would realize Americans do not want this law.”

Via: WFB

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California’s Version of Obamacare a Success? Not by the Numbers

I’m pretty amazed at how long the CA media have gone along with the idea that the state’s version of Obamacare is doing well. I wrote about Covered California in Sunday’s U-T San Diego:

“… the state’s version of Obamacare has reduced the number of Californians with health insurance while doing a terrible job with [Latinos,] the single community that was most in need of health coverage and assistance in navigating the bureaucracy to obtain it. The program also appears likely to be far more costly to taxpayers than previously estimated.

“If this is an Affordable Care Act success story, that’s a profound comment on how badly the rollout is going elsewhere around the nation.”

The lack of Latino participation bodes badly for agency’s need to have a healthy mix of subsidized and non-subsidized enrollees.

“Just 15 percent of those enrolled aren’t eligible for subsidies. If that ratio continues — nearly six subsidized enrollees for every unsubsidized enrollee — then Covered California’s cost to taxpayers will explode.

“And there’s reason to think the ratio will continue: More than half of the Californians without health insurance are Latinos, mostly low-income or unemployed. But they make up only one in five of those who have enrolled with the agency.

“These numbers spurred sharp criticism of Covered California officials last week. The state Legislature’s Latino Caucus disputed agency claims that better marketing would sharply increase Latino participation. Critics said that wouldn’t make up for a poor Spanish-language website, weak outreach and the agency’s failure to understand the Latino community.

“If Covered California corrects these problems, and Latino enrollment surges, that’s good news in terms of the agency’s goals. But then it would be more likely that the highly costly ratio of subsidized to unsubsidized enrollees continues.”

Via: California Political Review

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The End of Obama?

This looming scandal could ruin 

the 44th President and 

disrupt the entire...

A few big moves stand out in Barack Obama’s Presidency.

• The $800 billion stimulus plan passed in 2009
• The $5 trillion in debt accumulation—the most of any President in history
• The passage of Obamacare… the assassination of Osama Bin Laden… and huge tax increases

As bad as The Affordable Care Act will be, what's coming next is going to be much worse for the american middle class. And you will hear this shocking revelation from the most unlikely person of all. Meet Jud Anglin (a wealthy healthcare business owner) who stands to gain a lot of money from the Obamacare program. Jud also happens to be uninsured himself due to a pre-existing health condition which prevents him from getting insurance coverage. So you might think he'd be happy with the “universal coverage” offered by the president’s plan. But you’d be wrong...

Jud says "The Affordable Care Act … or Obamacare… is not the godsend it's promoted to be. In fact, it’s been designed to distract us from something radically worse that’s on the horizon. While what’s coming will be a great thing for my business, it’s going to cause you and millions like you sleepless nights."

President Obama's Big Lie: A Special Presentation

According to Forbes.com, “Obamacare will increase individual-market premiums in California by as much as 146 percent.” And ABC News reports that “the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets.” Many journalists in America also say these events are nothing compared to the next big surprise that could devastate Obama’s legacy.

Imagine you or a loved one needing critical even life-saving surgery. But your application to the Health Board has been rejected. What will you do then? This happens every day in countries around the world. And soon… it will happen right here in America, too.

Now Jud says there’s a much worse and much more shocking surprise working its way through the Obama administration. In the free video, he reveals how this one event could single-handedly ruin Barack Obama’s Presidency… and perhaps even his entire career.

Even if Jud is only half right, this situation will have a dramatic impact not only on Barack Obama, but also everyone else in this country.

Via: Lifestyle Journal

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Brent Budowsky: ObamaCare sales surge

WE CAN ALL DREAM, BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IS GOING TO FAIL BIGTIME!!

Remember Budowsky's first law of insider punditry: When the media and political herds are tripping over each other's hoofs while stampeding in a certain direction, the herds are almost always wrong.

Take note of the fact that in recent days, the traffic to the Affordable Care websites has skyrocketed, and sales of insurance policies have surged nationally and in key states.

Some of the big stories of 2014, I predict, will be: First, reports of ObamaCare's demise have been greatly exaggerated, and sales will be on an upward curve through the first quarter of 2014.

Second, insurance companies will spend well over $100 million to market their policies to consumers, because they have a tremendous vested interest in new signups.

Third, ObamaCare will be a particular success in blue states with Democratic governors and insurance commissioners who are consumer-friendly. And that is why: Fourth, Democrats, progressives, liberals and populists who are smart will continue to own the healthcare issue with American voters.

My mini-enlightenment was caused, strangely enough, by a story on Fox News, which suggested (correctly) that consumers in red states were getting the worst deal under ObamaCare. I had an exchange with the individual on Fox who did that story, which I promised to keep off the record.

I am at liberty to state my response to the story, which was: Doesn't the story suggest that voters in red states with Republican governors would receive better and cheaper healthcare if they became blue states and elected Democratic governors? The answer, I propose, is yes.

Watch California — a state with a progressive Democratic governor who has supported the healthcare law, acted to make it work, done a good job protecting consumers — which has had a major surge in signups.

Via: The Hill

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What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels

The unraveling of the Affordable Care Act presents a historic opportunity for change. Its proponents call it "settled law," but as Prohibition taught us, not even a constitutional amendment is settled law—if it is dysfunctional enough, and if Americans can see a clear alternative.

This fall's website fiasco and policy cancellations are only the beginning. Next spring the individual mandate is likely to unravel when we see how sick the people are who signed up on exchanges, and if our government really is going to penalize voters for not buying health insurance. The employer mandate and "accountable care organizations" will take their turns in the news. There will be scandals. There will be fraud. This will go on for years.

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David Gothard

Yet opponents should not sit back and revel in dysfunction. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in response to genuine problems. Without a clear alternative, we will simply patch more, subsidize more, and ignore frauds and scandals, as we do in Medicare and other programs.

There is an alternative. A much freer market in health care and health insurance can work, can deliver high quality, technically innovative care at much lower cost, and solve the pathologies of the pre-existing system.

The U.S. health-care market is dysfunctional. Obscure prices and $500 Band-Aids are legendary. The reason is simple: Health care and health insurance are strongly protected from competition. There are explicit barriers to entry, for example the laws in many states that require a "certificate of need" before one can build a new hospital. Regulatory compliance costs, approvals, nonprofit status, restrictions on foreign doctors and nurses, limits on medical residencies, and many more barriers keep prices up and competitors out. Hospitals whose main clients are uncompetitive insurers and the government cannot innovate and provide efficient cash service.

Via:WSJ

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Obamacare: Now Officially a Hardship

“If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” By now, every American has learned that oft-repeated promise by President Obama is—to employ a Nixon administration phrase—“no longer operative.”

That discovery came as those with individual health insurance started getting letters telling them that their plans were being cancelled and that they would need to buy new, Obamacare-compliant, replacement coverage. One response from Obama administration officials was to assert that the old plans were “substandard” anyway, and that the affected individuals could get better, more affordable coverage under Obamacare.

However, that explanation is now apparently “no longer operative” either, since recently the Administration released a “regulatory guidance” memo informing us that:

If you have been notified that your individual market policy will not be renewed, you will be eligible for a hardship exemption and will be able to enroll in catastrophic coverage if it is available in your area. In order to purchase this catastrophic coverage, you need to complete a hardship exemption form, and indicate that your current health insurance policy is being cancelled and that you consider other available policies unaffordable.

Obamacare stipulates that these so-called catastrophic plans must comply with all of the law’s new benefit mandates, but do not have to meet the same “minimum value” criteria imposed on other plans. Oh, and the plans also come with a standard deductible of $6,350 per person. Thus, an Obamacare catastrophic plan is—by both Obamacare’s own definition and design—a “substandard” plan.

Via: The National Interest

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Obamacare Website Crashes As Obama Tries To Enroll…

President Barack Obama plans to sign up for health insurance through an Affordable Care Act exchange before the end of the day Monday, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said.

Jarrett made the announcement in an interview with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks, apparently ahead of the White House’s planned rollout. Officials did not respond to repeated requests for confirmation.

The White House first said in 2010 that the president, who has coverage through the federal government and gets his care from White House doctors, would sign up for insurance through an exchange.

Via: Weasel Zippers

Krauthammer: 'Huge Gov't Bailout' of Health Insurance Industry at End of 2014

(CNSNews.com) - President Obama, by issuing new rules that erode Obamacare's "financial structure," is putting the health insurance industry -- and taxpayers -- at risk, author and conservative political analyst Charles Krauthammer said on Sunday.

"The insurers understand that they're going to be completely ruined," Krauthammer said on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace. "And what's going to happen as a result of this? There's only one way out, a huge government bailout of the insurers is waiting at the end of next year."

That's the issue Republicans should be focusing on right now, Krauthammer said.

On Thursday, the Obama administration unilaterally delayed another provision of the law, saying there will be no tax penalty for people who had their existing health insurance canceled because of the Affordable Care Act and who did not find new coverage as required by law.

"There still may be a small number of consumers who are not able to renew their existing plans and are having difficulty finding an acceptable replacement," Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to Senate Democrats. "These consumers should qualify for this temporary hardship exemption," the Associated Press quoted her as saying.

Krauthammer on Sunday said insurers "are apoplectic" about all the rule changes because it exempts another important group from the exchanges.

Via: CNS News

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