Obamacare Exemption Questions, Verification Issues Cause More Confusion

The lack of exemption forms and an adequate means of income verification for insurance subsidies are fueling confusion over Obamacare, which has already stirred up frustration across the country from people who want to enroll but can't due to technical problems with the government's healthcare website. 

According to Politico, the exemption forms won't be ready for a few more weeks and there is still a debate about how to guarantee that people who get subsidies to help pay for insurance actually qualify for them.

Republicans say these hiccups are further examples of how flawed the healthcare law really is and why it needs some serious fine tuning and adjustments, if it's not defunded or repealed. 

“Instead of focusing on how to give big corporations a break from the law, the Obama administration should focus on making sure individuals know about their options for coverage,” Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn complained in a statement to Politico. 

The Obama administration estimates 12 million people will file for an exemption, under the law but right now the forms to get an exemption aren't available. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the exemptions forms will be online within a few weeks. The forms are currently going through a review process and a 30-day comment period. 

As things stand now, there's a long list of exemptions that can be found on Healthcare.gov website.

For example, people dealing with certain hardships like foreclosure or homelessness can qualify for an exemption. A low income individual living in a state that didn't expand its Medicaid program can also qualify. Certain religious groups are exempt as well.
Via: Newsmax

Continue Reading....

Another ObamaCare ‘Glitch’: $30B blown on non-operational medical record system

The rollout of ObamaCare has been plagued by problems these past two weeks, as thousands complained they couldn’t sign up for coverage due to a deeply defective website.  

But this process could have been easier if a nine-year, government-backed effort to set up a system of electronic medical records had gotten off the ground. Instead of setting up their medical ID for the first time, would-be customers would have their records already on file.

Unfortunately for patients -- and taxpayers -- the long-running project has produced tangibly few results despite costing the government, so far, at least $30 billion.

Under a George W. Bush-era executive order, all Americans should have access to their medical records by the end of 2014, part of a concept referred to as e-health. President Obama then made electronic medical records (EMRs) central to the success of the Affordable Care Act

Health care IT providers were tasked with creating a system connecting patients, health care professionals, hospitals, laboratories and medical facilities. But despite being paid vast incentives by the government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), they’ve dragged their feet.

Doctors have so far received $14 billion in sweeteners, and hospitals have been handed more than $16 billion. Officials indicate that incentives could eventually reach $45 billion, though there is no universally integrated system anywhere in sight.

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading....

Department of Veterans Affairs spent more than $3.5 million on furniture day before shutdown

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent more than $3.5 million on furniture the day before the government shutdown, according to a Daily Caller analysis of government purchasing records.

VA spent $7,559,675 on September 30, the last day the government was fully operating before this month’s partial shutdown.

Federal government agencies faced a “spend it or lose it” scenario on that day, the last day of the 2013 fiscal year, prompting excessive spending binges as the White House and Congress failed to reach a continuing resolution agreement.

While Federal Prison Industries in Lexington, Kentucky and Milwaukee’s Industries for the Blind, Inc. pulled in some nice government receipts, the Department also showed off a little taste, making multiple six-figure furniture buys from JPL & Associates in Sarasota, Florida.

Hey, sometimes you just need to throw down $16,174 for ergonomic chairs from a company called Ergogenesis.

And who could scoff at a one-time order of $87,725 in “lounge seating and tables” from Arcadia Chair Company in La Palma, California?

If you ever find yourself in a VA waiting room, you just might be sitting on the products of Office Dimensions, Inc. in Teaneck, New Jersey.

VA also spent $828,176 on office supplies, $296,484 on cabinets, lockers, bins and shelving, $122,739 on draperies, awnings, and shades, $73,225 on books and pamphlets, and more than $2.5 million on other miscellaneous purchases. The department spent less than $4,000 on artwork, having already purchased $562,000 in artwork the previous week.

Via: Daily Caller

Continue Reading.....

11,588,500 Words: Obamacare Regs 30x as Long as Law

(CNSNews.com) -- Bureaucracies in the Obama Administration have thus far published approximately 11,588,500 words of final Obamacare regulations, while there are only 381,517 words in the Obamacare law itself.

That means unelected federal officials have now written 30 words of regulations for each word in the law.

What is commonly known as the Obamacare law includes both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA). Since these bills were signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010, various agencies in the administration have published 109 final regulations spelling out how they are to be implemented.

These 109 final regulations account for a combined 10,535 pages in the Federal Register, where the government officially published them.

The Federal Register presents the regulations in relatively small type with three columns of text on each page. CNSNews.com calculated that there is an average of 1,100 words on each of these pages by counting the actual words in one 78-page Obamacare regulation and then dividing by 78.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading.....

Michelle Obama to make second stop on 'Biggest Loser'

Michelle Obama will appear on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" this season, marking her second appearance on the weight-loss reality show.

The first lady will tout her drink more water campaign, according to Broadcasting and Cable.

Brita, one of the sponsors on "The Biggest Loser," is a supporter of Obama's initiative. 

The episode is scheduled to air in November.

The first lady last appeared on the show in April 2012, where she joined the contestants in a workout at the White House as part of her Let's Move! anti-obesity campaign.

Via: The Hill

Continue Reading....

[CARTOON] Obamacare Rollout Disaster

Via: California Political Review

Senate leaders scramble to craft budget deal, but will House GOP buy it?

Republican leaders in the House and Senate will face restless rank-and-file members Tuesday morning when they give updates on ongoing negotiations to cobble together a budget plan that would end a two-week-old partial government shutdown and increase the U.S. debt ceiling. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scrambled late Monday to iron out the specifics of an emerging budget proposal after a string of prior plans fizzled.

Reid appeared on the chamber floor Monday night to announce, "We've made tremendous progress -- we are not there yet -- but tremendous progress, and everyone just needs to be patient."

McConnell added, "We've had a good day...I think it's safe to say we've made substantial progress and we look forward to making more progress in the near future."

The House GOP Conference is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. to discuss the tentative framework of the budget proposal with members, many of whom cast a skeptical eye toward the details of the negotiations that were dripping out Monday night. The Senate Republican Conference is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. to receive an update on negotiations. 

Resistance in the House could scuttle, or at least stall, anything that emerges from the Senate. 

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading.....

3 Liberals Who Are EMBARRASSED By ObamaCare's Disastrous Implementation ... How Many More Are Out There?

While many liberals are busy explaining away the disastrous launch of Obamacare’s online exchanges, these men of the left are big enough to admit all has not gone well.

1.) The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein

The liberal pundit is a big Obamacare booster, but he concedes that the program’s launch has been something less than triumphant.

“So far, the Affordable Care Act’s launch has been a failure,” Klein wrote in a Monday post entitled, “Five Thoughts on the Obamacare disaster.” “Not ‘troubled.’ Not ‘glitchy.’ A failure. But ‘so far’ only encompasses 14 days. The hard question is whether the launch will still be floundering on day 30, and on day 45.”

“A lot of liberals will be angry over this post,” he continued toward the end of his article. “A lot of conservatives will be happy about it. But it’s important to see the Affordable Care Act as something more than a pawn in the political wars: It’s a real law that real people are desperately, nervously, urgently trying to access. And so far, the Obama administration has failed them.”

“The Obama administration’s top job isn’t beating the Republicans,” he added. “It’s running the government well. On this — the most important initiative they’ve launched — they’ve run the government badly. They deserve all the criticism they’re getting and more.”

2.) Comedian Jon Stewart

The liberal host of “The Daily Show” isn’t exactly an Obamacare fan — it appears he would prefer a single-payer system. Nonetheless, he conducted a brutal interview of Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius last week, in which he mocked the launch of Obamacare’s online exchanges for being an unmitigated disaster.

“We’re going to do a challenge. I’m going to try and download every movie ever made and you are going to try to sign up for Obamacare — and we’ll see which happens first,” Stewart joked after opening a laptop computer.

During the interview, Stewart also questioned the fairness of delaying the employer mandate while not doing the same for the individual mandate, and accused Sebelius 0f lying to him. That’s probably not the type of interview the secretary expected when she signed on to do the show.

3.) Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs

Even Robert Gibbs, who was once one of President Obama’s closest aides, is shocked by the incompetence of Obamacare’s implementation.

“This is excruciatingly embarrassing for the White House and for the Department of Health and Human Services,” Gibbs said Monday on MSNBC, where he is now a contributor. “This was bungled badly. This was not a server problem, just too many people came to the website. This is a website architecture problem.”

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading.....

Police Search For Dry Ice Bomb Suspect After 3 More Devices Found At LAX

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Detectives Tuesday continued their efforts to find the suspect wanted for planting dry ice bombs around Los Angeles International Airport.

One dry ice bomb exploded and two plastic bottles containing the dangerous material were found around 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Tom Bradley International Terminal in a restricted area, Los Angeles Police Department Det. Gus Villanueva said.

No one was injured, and no flights were delayed.

Airport police and a bomb squad cleared the items around 9:45 p.m.

No one was injured, and no flights were delayed.

Airport police and a bomb squad cleared the items around 9:45 p.m.

On Sunday, a dry ice device exploded inside an employee bathroom at LAX’s Terminal 2. No injuries were reported in that incident.

In both instances, the bombs were left in an area of the airport that require special clearance for access.

“At least they found unexploded ones,” passenger Bing Smith said. “I don’t know frankly what to think about somebody getting to limited access areas that require a badge.”

Authorities said there was no indication that either incident was part of a terrorist act.

The FBI is aiding the LAPD in the investigation.

Via: CBS2 Los Angeles

Continue Reading....

BREAKING: House GOP To Offer Plan To Reopen Gov’t, Raise Debt Ceiling, Make Changes To Obamacare

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), one of the leading moderates in the House, confirmed Tuesday that the House will amend an agreement in the Senate to impose a two-year delay on the medical device tax.

Dent, emerging from the House GOP’s meeting Tuesday morning, told MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” that the House would also alter two other areas of the agreement.

“The speaker had said this: that the House is likely to launch an initiative, as early as today, that would do a few things: essentially use the same time frames for the debt limit and the CR as in the Senate negotiations … it would strike the reinsurance tax — the $63 per head tax for the large self-insurers and the large unions,” Dent said. “That would be out and would replaced with a two-year delay of the medical device tax, plus a variation of the derivative of the Vitter language, minus the congressional staff. But I think it would affect Congress and the White House and White House staff.”

Via: Weasel Zippers

Continue Reading.....

The GOP divide: A battle of Corleones

In trying to understand the Republican Party’s internal battles, it helps to think of Michael and Sonny.

On one side we have Sonny, the hotheaded, impulsive, shoot-now-take-names-later son of Don Corleone. On Capitol Hill, he personifies the tea party followers who would rather die on principle than live to win a later day.

On the other side, we have Michael, the cooler-headed son and intellectual strategist. On the Hill, Michael represents the so-called establishment legislators who understand the way forward but thus far have been reluctant to pull the trigger.

That’s a metaphor, for all those literalists out there who may feel compelled to issue fresh gun-control imperatives. It means to take necessary, if unpleasant, action. Before action, however, there should be a plan, which has been demonstrably missing in recent weeks. Had there been a strategic, long-view plan, rather than a series of tactical blunders, Republicans might now be basking in the realization of a dream: Obamacare is a hot mess.

Remember the “train wreck” that Republicans kept promising? Well, guess what. It’s happening. The train is wrecking. And yet, rather than popping open the champagne as the Obamacare Web site crashes in a glut of glitches, Michael and Sonny are having a staring contest.

Via: Washington Post

Continue Reading....