ObamaCare architect defends plan, says president not to blame for rollout glitches

WASHINGTON –  The architect of the Affordable Care Act insisted on “Fox News Sunday” that President Obama isn’t to blame for the rocky rollout of ObamaCare and deflected charges that the administration misled Americans about being able to keep their current health plans.

Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist, was part of the president’s health care reform team for two years and is the brother of former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

“We grandfathered in plans,” Emanuel said.

Host Chris Wallace pressed Emanuel to defend the growing number of cancellation notices sent to people whose plans changed after the law was implemented, but Emanuel could not.

Instead, he blamed much of the problems on insurance companies and not the new law.

“The law does not say ‘Sears drop coverage!’ Sears decides what’s good for Sears,” Emanuel said. “The insurance decides how to make money. When the private companies decide to drop an individual, you blame Obama. He isn’t responsible for that.”

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Feinstein: Take Down Healthcare.gov Until It’s Fixed

California senator Dianne Feinstein revealed on Sunday that she told the White House, in the wake of the botched rollout of the health-care exchanges, that the administration should pull down Healthcare.gov until it is functioning properly. Her advice was rejected. “They believe that they need to keep it running and that they can sort out the difficulties,” she said.

Feinstein also conceded that the president did not make clear that millions would lose their health plans as a result of the law. Though she indicated that she is murky on the details of the law, she told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that “I think that part of it, if true, was never made clear” and, with regard to individuals’ ability to keep insurance, “it is really very unclear, right now, exactly what the situation is.”

Nonetheless, the California senator cast some of the blame for the chaos and confusion surrounding the law on its Republican opponents and others who have spoken out against the law’s passage and implementation. “The big problem here is that there are so many destroyers in the House, in the public, in the private health-care sector that just want to destroy, and that’s not helpful,” she said.

Via: NRO
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[CARTOON] Pinocchio Obama

Via: California Political Review

[VIDEO] Rob Reiner aka Meathead: 'Obama Is Right Around Where Reagan Was' Politically

It really is hysterical listening to liberal Hollywoodans talk 

about politics.

Take for example actor/director Rob Reiner - made famous by his role as Meathead in the legendary sitcom All in the Family - claiming on HBO's Real Time Friday ("Overtime" web segment) that Barack Obama politically "is right around where Reagan was" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

BILL MAHER, HOST: I’m just saying the Democrats have moved to the middle.

CONGRESSWOMAN DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ (D-FLORIDA): We have.

MAHER: Unfortunately, the other people have moved way over there. So now the middle isn’t the middle anymore.

ROB REINER: Obama right now, where Obama is is right around where Reagan was, right around where Nixon was. There, he’s no more left than those, those, those Republicans.

MAHER: Hardly a socialist. He’s barely, barely a liberal.

REINER: No, as Bob Dole said, he could not get…

MAHER: Right.

REINER: …anywhere in this Republican Party. And so Obama’s right around where Bob Dole is. They’re very similar, you know? There’s not much of a difference there.

MAHER: Whenever they say, “Oh, he’s the most radical president ever,”

REINER: No, no, no, no.

MAHER: …right, because they’re such experts on history. What they mean is, “He’s black.” That’s what’s the most radical thing about him.

Via: Newsbusters

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[VIDEO] Forget the website crashes: The real $1 trillion problem with Obamacare has yet to emerge

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Dr. Robert Nirschl — a practicing orthopedic surgeon, former faculty member of Georgetown and a former member of the legislative committee of the American Academy of  Orthopedic surgery — dismissed the recent issues suffered by HealthCare.gov and the media feeding frenzy surrounding it, arguing that the systemic flaws within the law had not yet surfaced, and that when they do, it will be catastrophic.

Nirschl took apart the concept of “health insurance” arguing that it’s an inaccurate buzzword. What is being legislated is not insurance at all, Nirschl said. By its very nature, “insurance” is a way of protecting against an unforeseen, catastrophic incident. It works by having large groups of people paying premiums into a central fund with the understanding that if they were to suffer an unlikely incident, they will be compensated. The likelyhood of people claiming out of the central fund is a calculated through a risk assessment, and the riskier the “bet,” the higher the premium. Nirschl points out that since the 1950s’s true health “insurance” has not existed.

Via: Daily Caller

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Major Media File Lawsuits To Squeeze Obama For Federal ObamaCare Enrollment Numbers

The Hill newspaper reports “A slew of media organizations have petitioned the government to release ObamaCare data that the White House has refused to make public.”

ABC, CNN, MSNBC and others have filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information on the beleaguered healthcare.gov website. They asked for government documents revealing how many Americans have enrolled in the new healthcare exchanges.

ABC News wants "the documents detailing and describing the actual and potential costs associated with addressing flaws in [the healthcare.gov] website from Oct. 1, 2013 to Oct. 21, 2013." MSNBC also sought the "up to date number of people who have enrolled in the government's healthcare exchanges set up by” Obamacare.

“Some media outlets have asked for internal e-mail communications between key administration officials on the implementation of ObamaCare,” but “Government processing of FOIA requests can take weeks, months or years.” Team Obama promises a number by mid-November, so this is a way for media outlets to underline that they’re on the case and frustrated by the administration's reluctance to release numbers, even if the lawsuits aren’t quickly effective.

The numbers are going to be politically sensitive. As Josh Archambault argued at Forbes, “Over 500,000 individuals have seen their insurance policies cancelled in just 3 states.  In all 50 states, only 476,000 applications have been ‘filed’ in an exchange.”

Via: Newsbusters
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[VIDEO] Claim: Obamacare User Sent Other People's 'Eligibility Letters'

Justin Hadley was using the Obamacare website when he was accidentally sent "eligibility letters" addressed to other people -- in other states.

"Justin Hadley logged on to HealthCare.gov to evaluate his insurance options after his health plan was canceled. What he discovered was an apparent security flaw that disclosed eligibility letters addressed to individuals from another state," the Heritage Foundation reports.

“I was in complete shock,” said Hadley, who contacted Heritage after becoming alarmed at the breach of privacy.

Hadley, a North Carolina father, buys his insurance on the individual market. His insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, directed him to HealthCare.gov in a cancellation letter he received in September.

After multiple attempts to access the problem-plagued website, Hadley finally made it past the registration page Thursday. That’s when he was greeted with downloadable letters about eligibility — for two people in South Carolina. 

Here's a screen shot of one of the "eligibility letters" he wasn't supposed to receive:

Via: Weekly Standard

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Most Of 290,000 Individual Market Health Care Plans In Washington State To Be Cancelled

In Washington, most of the 290,000 people covered by insurance plans they purchased on the individual market received letters this fall telling them that their plans are going away.

Bill Fullner has reached his breaking point.

It started with the letter from his health-insurance company informing him it was canceling his plan and offering him a new one that’s nearly twice as expensive. Then the 60-year-old retiree from Mount Vernon heard about more people like himself with canceled plans and soaring premiums. Finally, he spent hours on the phone and computer trying — and failing — to find a new option that he likes.

“This whole experience has converted a lifelong Democrat into a foot soldier for the Republican Party,” Fullner said.

He’s not alone in his frustration.

In Washington, most of the 290,000 people covered by insurance plans they purchased on the individual market received letters this fall telling them that their plans are going away.

That’s because under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans must meet new requirements, including limits on how much money patients spend in out-of-pocket medical expenses, and they must cover 10 so-called essential benefits such as preventive care, prescription drugs and maternity care.

So all 90,181 people with insurance coverage from Regence BlueShield have learned their plans will be canceled, as did all 60,000 people covered by Group Health Cooperative. Some 77,000 people with LifeWise Health Plan, a subsidiary of Premera Blue Cross, also learned their plans were being scrapped.

An additional 24,000 people with LifeWise are covered under “grandfathered” plans that predate the act and will not be canceled, though members will be getting letters in November informing them they can move to another plan if they would like to.

VIA SEATTLE TIMEX

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ObamaCare’s Old Dominion Disaster

As Obama Campaigns For Terry McAuliffe And Virginia Democrats, ObamaCare Continues To Hurt Virginians

Today, President Obama Is In Virginia To Campaign For Terry McAuliffe And Encourage Democrats To Get Out The Vote. “President Barack Obama will campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe this weekend, giving a late boost to McAuliffe as he seeks to energize core Democratic voters in an off-year governor’s race, Democratic sources told POLITICO.  Obama is set to appear at a Sunday afternoon get-out-the-vote rally in Northern Virginia. It will be the president’s first campaign appearance for McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.” (Alexander Burns, “President Obama To Campaign For Terry McAuliffe,” Politico, 10/28/13)

AS OBAMA ASKS VIRGINIA VOTERS TO SEND HIS TEAM TO RICHMOND, HIS HEALTHCARE LAW IS COSTING THEM THEIR HEALTHCARE

No Virginian Will Be Allowed To Keep An Individual Insurance Plan That Does Not Comply With ObamaCare. “President Obama may have promised Americans that they can keep their insurance if they like it, but that's not the case in at least three states where insurance companies are required to discontinue plans that don't meet Obamacare's new coverage standards.  Virginia, Kentucky and Idaho have told insurance companies that they must scrap insurance plans that don't meet the minimum coverage requirements laid out in the Affordable Care Act.” (Chris Frates, “3 States Tell Insurers To Scrap Plans That Don't Comply With ObamaCare,” CNN, 10/30/13)

According To HHS’s Report On Premiums In The ObamaCare Exchanges, A 27 Year Old In Virginia Will Pay An Average Of $156 A Month For The Lowest Bronze Plan – An Increase Of 310.53 Percent Over Average Premiums Previously Available. (Office Of The Assistant Secretary For Planning And Evaluation, “Health Insurance Marketplace Premiums For 2014,” HHS, 9/13; John E. Dickson, Director Of Health Care For The Government Accountability Office, Letter To Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, 7/23/13)

The Fairfax County Water Authority Will Likely Drop Health Care Coverage For Its 400 Employees Due To ObamaCare’s ‘Cadillac Tax’ On Generous Health-Care Plans. “The Fairfax County Water Authority said that it will likely drop insurance coverage for its nearly 400 employees if taxes on generous health-care plans take effect as planned in 2018 under the federal Affordable Care Act.” (Laura Vozzella, “Fairfax Utility: ObamaCare Will Likely Lead To Dropped Coverage,” The Washington Post, 10/2/13)

• The Tax Would Cost The Utility $60,000 In The First Year, And $7 Million Per Year By 2028. “Under the ACA employers that provide relatively expensive coverage will have to pay taxes to the federal government starting in 2018. Those taxes would cost the authority $60,000 in the first year and shoot up to nearly $7 million a year by 2028, the authority said in a letter sent this week to Virginia’s congressional delegation.” (Laura Vozzella, “Fairfax Utility: ObamaCare Will Likely Lead To Dropped Coverage,” The Washington Post, 10/2/13)

ObamaCare Is Projected To Add $7.3 Million To The Cost Of The University Of Virginia’s Health Care Plan In 2014. “Provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act are projected to add $7.3 million to the cost of the University health plan in 2014 alone. Federal health care reform will create new costs related to the “individual mandate” that requires all Americans to have health care coverage (or pay a penalty). (Press Release, “University Employees Will See Significant Changes to Health Plan This Year,” University Of Virginia, 8/21/13)

• Some Working Spouses Of University Of Virginia Employees Will Lose Access To Coverage. “Changes to the plan that affect working spouses of U.Va. employees will take effect Jan. 1. On that date, all spouses of covered employees will no longer be covered by the University plan unless the employee has provided certification of the spouse’s continued eligibility.  Spouses who have access to ‘affordable health care that provides minimum value,’ as defined by the Affordable Care Act, through another employer will no longer be eligible for the U.Va. plan.” (Press Release, “University Employees Will See Significant Changes to Health Plan This Year,” University Of Virginia, 8/21/13)

VIRGINIA WORKERS ARE SEEING THEIR HOURS CUT DUE TO OBAMACARE

Via: GOP.com

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U.S. Immigration Officers Give Frightening Warning

Chris Crane, president of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council, which represents immigration enforcement officers, recently called on Congress to resist immigration reforms that harm his officers’ ability to do their jobs:

ICE officers are being ordered by [Administration] political appointees to ignore the law. Violent criminal aliens are released every day from jails back into American communities. ICE Officers face disciplinary action for engaging in routine law enforcement actions. We are barred from enforcing large sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, even when public safety is at risk. Officer morale is devastated.

If this were the U.S. Capitol Police, the Secret Service, or the military, Congress would be outraged, the President would react firmly and swiftly, and pundits and groups from across the country would be demanding this problem be fixed. Sadly, though, nothing is being done to fix this broken and dangerous state of affairs.

In fact, the situation is even scarier. As the ICE letter points out, President Obama continues to order ICE officers to ignore ever-growing sections of immigration law and undertake actions that create a risk to public safety. The Senate has passed a gargantuan immigration bill that includes mass amnesty, tons of handouts to special interests, and enough waivers and exemptions to make Obamacare officials jealous.

Notably, the Senate bill does little to actually support the hard-working men and women of ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies. Even worse, amnesty would make the work of ICE even more difficult by encouraging more illegal immigration and adding new classes of provisional immigrants who have special rules that apply to them.

Via: The Foundry

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