Mandating health Insurance - Obamacare

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Operator At Obamacare Call Center Fired, Hannity To The Rescue



The Healthcare Exchange hotline navigator Sean Hannity talked to on Oct 21st (see video above) has been terminated. Sean has offered to pay her $21,000, and offer to help her find a new job



DefendWallSt | October 24, 2013 4:10 pm

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CNN’s David Frum Gets Insurance Cancelled, Finds Obamacare Neither Adorable Or Affordable

Oopsie, David Frum gets “the letter” too. He was dropped from his plan with Carefirst.


davidfrum @davidfrum

I already had a high-deductible plan. Now I can buy a plan with double the deductible for only $200 a month more.
12:46 PM - 27 Oct 2013

NH Dan @DanWoods19 @davidfrum So keep what u have!

davidfrum @davidfrum
.@DanWoods19 Cant keep what I have, my policy is canceled by Carefirst.
12:48 PM - 27 Oct 2013

davidfrum @davidfrum Now I understand why the gold plans are so-called: in DC, gold plan for a family of 5 costs more than an ounce of the metal per month!
1:03 PM - 27 Oct 2013

[American Patriot]

LOL CNN has been hit! Good. I hope they all lose their jobs too.

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Some health insurance gets pricier as Obamacare rolls out

Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times


Jennifer Harris, a self-employed lawyer in Orange County, has been paying $98 a month for an individual health insurance plan that provides less coverage than the Affordable Care Act requires. The cheapest alternative she’s found so far costs more than twice as much.

By Chad Terhune

October 26, 2013, 9:42 p.m.

Thousands of Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them — and many don't like what they see.

These middle-class consumers are staring at hefty increases on their insurance bills as the overhaul remakes the healthcare market. Their rates are rising in large part to help offset the higher costs of covering sicker, poorer people who have been shut out of the system for years.

Although recent criticism of the healthcare law has focused on website glitches and early enrollment snags, experts say sharp price increases for individual policies have the greatest potential to erode public support for President Obama's signature legislation.

"This is when the actual sticker shock comes into play for people," said Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. "There are winners and losers under the Affordable Care Act."

Fullerton resident Jennifer Harris thought she had a great deal, paying $98 a month for an individual plan through Health Net Inc. She got a rude surprise this month when the company said it would cancel her policy at the end of this year. Her current plan does not conform with the new federal rules, which require more generous levels of coverage.

Now Harris, a self-employed lawyer, must shop for replacement insurance. The cheapest plan she has found will cost her $238 a month. She and her husband don't qualify for federal premium subsidies because they earn too much money, about $80,000 a year combined.

"It doesn't seem right to make the middle class pay so much more in order to give health insurance to everybody else," said Harris, who is three months pregnant. "This increase is simply not affordable."

On balance, many Americans will benefit from the healthcare expansion. They are guaranteed coverage regardless of their medical history. And lower-income families will gain access to comprehensive coverage at little or no cost.

The federal government picks up much of the tab through an expansion of Medicaid and subsidies to people earning up to four times the federal poverty level. That's up to $46,000 for an individual or $94,000 for a family of four.

But middle-income consumers face an estimated 30% rate increase, on average, in California due to several factors tied to the healthcare law.

Some may elect to go without coverage if they feel prices are too high. Penalties for opting out are very small initially. Defections could cause rates to skyrocket if a diverse mix of people don't sign up for health insurance.

Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Blue Cross in California, said she received a recent letter from a young woman complaining about a 50% rate hike related to the healthcare law.

"She said, 'I was all for Obamacare until I found out I was paying for it,'" Kehaly said.

Nearly 2 million Californians have individual insurance, and several hundred thousand of them are losing their health plans in a matter of weeks.

Blue Shield of California sent termination letters to 119,000 customers last month whose plans don't meet the new federal requirements. About two-thirds of those people will experience a rate increase from switching to a new health plan, according to the company.

HMO giant Kaiser Permanente is canceling coverage for about half of its individual customers, or 160,000 people, and offering to automatically enroll them in the most comparable health plan available.

The 16 million Californians who get health insurance through their employers aren't affected. Neither are individuals who have "grandfathered" policies bought before March 2010, when the healthcare law was enacted. It's estimated that about half of policyholders in the individual market have those older plans.

All these cancellations were prompted by a requirement from Covered California, the state's new insurance exchange. The state didn't want to give insurance companies the opportunity to hold on to the healthiest patients for up to a year, keeping them out of the larger risk pool that will influence future rates.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, said the state and insurers agreed that clearing the decks by Jan. 1 was best for consumers in the long run despite the initial disruption. Lee has heard the complaints — even from his sister-in-law, who recently groused about her 50% rate increase.

"People could have kept their cheaper, bad coverage, and those people wouldn't have been part of the common risk pool," Lee said. "We are better off all being in this together. We are transforming the individual market and making it better."

Lee said consumers need to consider all their options. They don't have to stick with their current company, and higher premiums are only part of the cost equation. Lee said some of these rate hikes will be partially offset by smaller deductibles and lower limits on out-of-pocket medical expenses in the new plans.

Still, many are frustrated at being forced to give up the plans they have now. They frequently cite assurances given by Obama that Americans could hold on to their health insurance despite the massive overhaul.

"All we've been hearing the last three years is if you like your policy you can keep it," said Deborah Cavallaro, a real estate agent in Westchester. "I'm infuriated because I was lied to."

Supporters of the healthcare law say Obama was referring to people who are insured through their employers or through government programs such as Medicare. Still, they acknowledge the confusion and anger from individual policyholders who are being forced to change.

Cavallaro received her cancellation notice from Anthem Blue Cross this month. The company said a comparable Bronze plan would cost her 65% more, or $484 a month. She doubts she'll qualify for much in premium subsidies, if any. Regardless, she resents losing the ability to pick and choose the benefits she wants to pay for.

"I just won't have health insurance because I can't pay this increase," she said.

Most Americans are required to have health coverage starting next year or pay a fine of $95 per adult or 1% of their income, whichever is greater. The fines increase over time.

A number of factors are driving up rates. In a report this year, consultants hired by the state said the influx of sicker patients as a result of guaranteed coverage was the biggest single reason for higher premiums. Bob Cosway, a principal and consulting actuary at Milliman Inc. in San Diego, estimated that the average individual premium in 2014 will rise 27% because of that difference alone.

Individual policies must also cover a higher percentage of overall medical costs and include 10 "essential health benefits," such as prescription drugs and mental health services. The aim is to fill gaps in coverage and provide consumers more peace of mind. But those expanded benefits have to be paid for with higher premiums.

The federal law also adjusts how rates are set by age, a change that gives older consumers a break and shifts more costs to younger people. Rates by age can vary by only 3 to 1 starting next year as opposed to 6 to 1 in some cases now in California. People in their 20s just starting their careers may earn so little they qualify for subsidies. But that might not be the case for consumers who are slightly older and earning more.

"It has the effect of benefiting people in their 50s and 60s and shifting costs to people in their 20s and 30s," said Patrick Johnston, president of the California Assn. of Health Plans. "Benefits are being increased for all, but it's not government subsidies for all. Some will pay more."

Rates would be going up regardless of changes from the healthcare expansion. The average individual premium will climb 9% next year because of rising healthcare costs and increases in medical provider reimbursement, according to Milliman's estimates.

Some consumer groups have questioned whether insurers are inflating their rates under the guise of the healthcare law changes.

"We believe the prices are higher than they should be," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica advocacy group. "This is giving a bad name to the Affordable Care Act."

State regulators checked the insurance companies' math and underlying cost projections for next year, but they don't have the authority to deny increases. Under federal rules, insurers can be ordered to issue rebates if they don't spend a minimum amount of every premium dollar on customers' medical care.

"The rates aren't going up because insurance companies are pocketing more money," Lee said. "That is what it takes to pay the claims and deliver the healthcare."

Javier Lopez, 38 and a self-employed aerospace engineer in Huntington Beach, pays about $750 a month for an Anthem Blue Cross plan for his family of four. His premiums may rise nearly 20% next year for a new policy because his current plan is being phased out.

Lopez says he's willing to absorb that one-year jump if it means the government can rein in future rate hikes.

"I'm hoping with this reform," Lopez said, "we won't see big increases year after year."

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Obama admin. knew millions could not keep their health insurance




Larry Downing / Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama walks out to deliver remarks alongside Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, October 1, 2013.

By Lisa Myers and Hannah Rappleye
NBC News

President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.

Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.”

That means the administration knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.

Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”

“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either,” said Robert Laszewski, of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consultant who works for health industry firms.

Laszewski estimates that 80 percent of those in the individual market will not be able to keep their current policies and will have to buy insurance that meets requirements of the new law, which generally requires a richer package of benefits than most policies today.

The White House does not dispute that many in the individual market will lose their current coverage, but argues they will be offered better coverage in its place, and that many will get tax subsidies that would offset any increased costs. “One of the main goals of the law is to ensure that people have insurance they can rely on – that doesn’t discriminate or charge more based on pre-existing conditions.

The consumers who are getting notices are in plans that do not provide all these protections – but in the vast majority of cases, those same insurers will automatically shift their enrollees to a plan that provides new consumer protections and, for nearly half of individual market enrollees, discounts through premium tax credits,” said White House spokesperson Jessica Santillo.

Individual insurance plans with low premiums often lack basic benefits, such as prescription drug coverage, or carry high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. The Affordable Care Act requires all companies to offer more benefits, such as mental health care, and also bars companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions.

Today, White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked about the president’s promise that consumers would be able to keep their health care. “What the president said and what everybody said all along is that there are going to be changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act to create minimum standards of coverage, minimum services that every insurance plan has to provide,” Carney said. “So it's true that there are existing healthcare plans on the individual market that don't meet those minimum standards and therefore do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act.”


Courtesy of Heather Goldwater
Heather Goldwater, 38, of South Carolina, says that she received a letter from her insurer saying the company would no longer offer her plan, but hasn't yet received a follow-up letter with a comparable option.

Other experts said that most consumers in the individual market will not be able to keep their policies.

Nancy Thompson, senior vice president of CBIZ Benefits, which helps companies manage their employee benefits, says numbers in this market are hard to pin down, but that data from states and carriers suggests “anywhere from 50 to 75 percent” of individual policy holders will get cancellation letters.

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, who chairs the health committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, says that estimate is “probably about right.” She added that a few states are asking insurance companies to cancel and replace policies, rather than just amend them, to avoid confusion.

A spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an insurance trade association, also said the 50 to 75 percent estimate was consistent with the range they are hearing.

Those getting the cancellation letters are often shocked and unhappy.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available.

The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

And the best option he’s found on the exchange so far offered a 415 percent jump in premium, to $948 a month.

"The deductible is less," he said, "But the plan doesn't meet my needs. Its unaffordable."

"I'm sitting here looking at this, thinking we ought to just pay the fine and just get insurance when we're sick," Schwab added.

"Everybody's worried about whether the website works or not, but that's fixable. That's just the tip of the iceberg. This stuff isn't fixable."

Heather Goldwater, 38, of South Carolina, is raising a new baby while running her own PR firm. She said she received a letter last July from Cigna, her insurance company, that said the company would no longer offer her individual plan, and promised to send a letter by October offering a comparable option.

So far, she hasn't received anything.

"I'm completely overwhelmed with a six-month-old and a business,” said Goldwater. “The last thing I can do is spend hours poring over a website that isn't working, trying to wrap my head around this entire health care overhaul."

Goldwater said she supports the new law and is grateful for provisions helping folks like her with pre-existing conditions, but she worries she won’t be able to afford the new insurance, which is expected to cost more because it has more benefits. "I'm jealous of people who have really good health insurance," she said. "It's people like me who are stuck in the middle who are going to get screwed."

Richard Helgren, a Lansing, Mich., retiree, said he was “irate” when he received a letter informing him that his wife Amy's $559 a month health plan was being changed because of the law. The plan the insurer offered raised his deductible from $0 to $2,500, and the company gave him 17 days to decide.

The higher costs spooked him and his wife, who have painstakingly planned for their retirement years. "Every dollar we didn't plan for erodes our standard of living," Helgren said.

Ulltimately, though Helgren opted not to shop through the ACA exchanges, he was able to apply for a good plan with a slightly lower premium through an insurance agent.

He said he never believed President Obama’s promise that people would be able to keep their current plans.

"I heard him only about a thousand times," he said. "I didn't believe him when he said it though because there was just no way that was going to happen. They wrote the regulations so strictly that none of the old polices can grandfather."

For months, Laszewski has warned that some consumers will face sticker shock. He recently got his own notice that he and his wife cannot keep their current policy, which he described as one of the best, so-called "Cadillac" plans offered for 2013. Now, he said, the best comparable plan he found for 2014 has a smaller doctor network, larger out-of-pocket costs, and a 66 percent premium increase.

“Mr. President, I like the coverage I have," Laszweski said. "It is the best health insurance policy you can buy."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/29/21222195-obama-administration-knew-millions-could-not-keep-their-health-insurance?lite



NBC News’ Bombshell Obamacare Report Disappears Due to ‘Publishing Glitch’ – and There Was Something Missing From Republished Version

Oct. 29, 2013 1:53am Jason Howerton

Related:

• Obamacare

NBC News is claiming that a “publishing glitch” caused its bombshell investigative report on Obamacare to disappear for a period of time. The news outlet has since republished the scathing article, however, a key paragraph was temporarily removed — and no editor’s note explaining why was included.

The article in question revealed that the Obama administration knew at least three years ago that millions of Americans would not be able to keep their health insurance under Obamacare. But that didn’t stop President Barack Obama and other administration officials from promising the opposite, the report suggests.

At some point Tuesday night, the link to the story started directing readers to a “Error 404″ page:


NBCNews.com

As if the mysterious “glitch” wasn’t strange enough, NBC News — inadvertently or not — later republished the article without the following key paragraph:

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date — the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example — the policy would not be grandfathered.

It was added back in to the article roughly 30 minutes after it was republished, but the discrepancy was again not noted in the article.

The website Weasel Zippers was able to screengrab both versions, before and after the “glitch.”



We first noticed the omission after reviewing the “Google cache” version of NBC’s original article and comparing it with the republished version.


Obama Reportedly Knew Millions Wouldn't Get To Keep Their Health Insurance But Promised It Anyway

Jason Howerton, The Blaze Oct. 28, 2013, 7:52 PM 4,207 91


HealthCare.gov

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The Obama administration has known for at least three years that millions of Americans would not be able to keep their current health care plans, despite repeated promises to the contrary made by President Barack Obama, NBC News reports, citing sources “deeply involved” in Obamacare. Americans across the country have begun receiving cancellation letters from their health insurance providers informing them that their current plans do not meet requirements of Obamacare. NBC News’ “expert” sources say 50 to 75 percent of consumers who have individual health care plans can expect to receive such a letter — and they can also expect some “sticker shock” due to more expensive policies.

More from NBC News:

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date — the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example — the policy would not be grandfathered.

Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.”

That means the administration knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.

Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”

Robert Laszewski, a consultant with Health Policy and Strategy Associates, told NBC News that the administration repeatedly made a promise that officials knew couldn’t be honored.

“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either,” he explained.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted that some people would not be able to keep their health insurance plans, but argued the replacement plans will offer better coverage. He also argued that there are subsidies available to help with any increased costs.
This story was originally published by The Blaze.

This post originally appeared at The Blaze. Copyright 2013.

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Obamacare Rationing: Seniors’ Doctors Get Booted From Medicare Advantage

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 10/28/13 1:08 PM

Obamacare opponents warned about death panels and health care rationing under Obamacare as the president and his Democratic allies pushed the legislation through Congress. Now that the implementation of Obamacare is in full swing, some of those concerns are coming to fruition.

Leading pro-life advocates predicted Obamacare would limit doctor and specialist choices.



“In addition to having access to fewer doctors and hospitals, the best medical centers are going to be excluded from many of the exchange plans,” pro-life advocates warn. “While insurers are moving to make their plans less expensive at the cost of sacrificing access to doctors and specialists, there is the real possibility that plans that choose not to limit access will be forced to do so under the Federal Regulations governing the exchanges.”

Now, in New York state, seniors are panicked after getting notices that insurance companies are kicked their doctors out of the Medicare Advantage program because of the new laws Obamacare is putting in place.

From a report:

That leaves patients with unenviable choices: keep the same insurance plan and find another doctor, pay out of pocket or look for another plan where their physician is a member.

New York State Medical Society President Sam Unterricht is demanding a congressional probe after learning that one health carrier alone, UnitedHealthcare, is terminating contracts with up to 2,100 doctors serving 8,000 Medicare Advantage patients in the New York metro region.

The are 2.6 million elderly New Yorkers who receive Medicare, the public heath-insurance program for the elderly.

But one in three patients — nearly 900,000 — are enrolled in Advantage, Medicare HMOs run by private insurers.

Dr. Jonathan Leibowitz, who serves 30 patients under Medicare Advantage at his Brooklyn practice, said he was blindsided by UnitedHealthcare’s decision to give him the boot.

“A patient can’t see his doctor? What are they doing!” he asked.

UnitedHealthcare told Leibowitz that because of “significant changes and pressures in the health-care environment,” he’d be getting the ax on Jan. 1.

Leibowitz’s patients are furious. Alfred Gargiulio, who has cerebral palsy with a seizure disorder, has been seeing Leibowitz since 1993. “Obama had said I could keep my doctor. Now they’re doing away with my doctor. They kicked him out! After 20 years, that’s not right. We love Dr. Leibowitz,” said Gargiulio.

This is just one concern about rationing and lack of patient choices following Obamacare.

Doctor shortages, medical-school dropouts, skyrocketing premiums, no money for pre-existing conditions, trillions more than promised, forced taxpayer funding of abortion, critical health-care rationing and a bankrupt nation — those were some of the dire predictions of those who opposed Obamacare.

Now that the government-run health care system is here, many of those are coming to pass — including doctor shortages. While backers of Obamacare derided opponents’ concerns about “death panels” as misleading, fears about health care rationing are already playing out with medical centers cutting staff, including physicians.

Under the Federal health law, state insurance commissioners are to recommend to their state exchanges the exclusion of “particular health insurance issuers … based on a pattern or practice of excessive or unjustified premium increases.” Not only will the exchanges exclude policies from competing in an exchange when government authorities do not agree with their premiums, but the exchanges will even exclude insurers whose plans outside the exchange offer consumers the ability to reduce the danger of treatment denial by paying what those government authorities consider an “excessive or unjustified” amount.

This will create a “chilling effect,” deterring insurers who hope to be able to compete within the exchanges from offering adequately funded plans even outside of them. The result will be that even outside the exchanges consumers will find it difficult to obtain health insurance that offers adequate and unrationed health care.

Documentation for this can be found www.nrlc.org/uploads/medethics/LifeatRisk112012.pdf

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Alaskan Company Suspends Obamacare Enrollments, Cites Faulty Subsidy Calculator


By Sterling Beard

October 28, 2013 3:22 PM



Enroll Alaska, an organization that was specifically created to aid Alaskans in enrolling for Obamacare, has thrown in the towel, at least for the time being.


As the Peninsula Clarion reports, Enroll Alaska has been able to enroll a grand total of only three people since the launch of the health-insurance marketplaces on October 1.

It has now given up entirely on that goal, at least until Healthcare.gov, the federal health-care exchange, gives Alaskans accurate figures on the subsidies they’re eligible for.


According to Enroll Alaska, the exchange is telling people that they’re eligible for a subsidy $100 less than what they actually qualify for. Spokeswoman Tyann Boling said that Enroll Alaska discovered the issue after comparing manual calculations with those generated by the website.


Alaska isn’t the only state to have difficulties with a subsidy calculator. Washington’s state-run health-care exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder, overestimated subsidies for approximately 8,000 people.

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Former Dem Staffer: “I Spent Two Years Defending Obamacare… I Was Wrong. Very Wrong”…



I hate to say we told you so, but yeah, we told you so. Her premiums jumped from $291 per month to $647 thanks to the law she helped ram down our throats.

Via Chicago Sun-Times:

Sue Klinkhamer has a problem.

It’s called Obamacare.

And the irony of her situation is not lost on her. In a recent email addressed to her former boss, Illinois Congressman Bill Foster, and other Democratic colleagues, she wrote:

“I spent two years defending Obamacare. I had constituents scream at me, spit at me and call me names that I can’t put in print. The congressman was not re-elected in 2010 mainly because of the anti-Obamacare anger. When the congressman was not re-elected, I also (along with the rest of our staff) lost my job. I was upset that because of the health care issue, I didn’t have a job anymore but still defended Obamacare because it would make health care available to everyone at, what I assumed, would be an affordable price. I have now learned that I was wrong.

Very wrong.”

For Klinkhamer, 60, President Obama’s oft-repeated words ring in her ears: “If you like your health plan, you will keep it.”

When Klinkhamer lost her congressional job, she had to buy an individual policy on the open market.

Three years ago, it was $225 a month with a $2,500 deductible. Each year it went up a little to, as of Sept. 1, $291 with a $3,500 deductible. Then, a few weeks ago, she got a letter.

“Blue Cross,” she said, “stated my current coverage would expire on Dec. 31, and here are my options: I can have a plan with similar benefits for $647.12 [or] I can have a plan with similar [but higher] pricing for $322.32 but with a $6,500 deductible.”

She went on, “Blue Cross also tells me that if I don’t pick one of the options, they will just assume I want the one for $647. … Someone please tell me why my premium in January will be $356 more than in December?”

The sticker shock Klinkhamer is experiencing is something millions of individual policyholders are reeling from having gotten similar letters from their private insurers.

Keep reading…

[American Patriot]

Legal Glitch “Has The Potential To Sink Obamacare”

As if the technological problems facing Obamacare were not enough, a potentially major “legal glitch” could cause the healthcare law to unravel in 36 states.
As the LA Times reports, The Affordable Care Act proposes to make health insurance affordable to millions of low-income Americans by offering them tax credits to help cover the cost. To receive the credit, the law twice says they must buy insurance “through an exchange established by the state.”
But 36 states have decided against opening exchanges for now. Critics of the law have seized on the glitch. They have filed four lawsuits that urge judges to rule the Obama administration must abide by the strict wording of the law, even if doing so dismantles it in nearly two-thirds of the states. And the Obama administration has no hope of repairing the glitch by legislation as long as the Republicans control the House…“This has the potential to sink Obamacare. It could make the current website problems seem minor by comparison,” noted on policy expert.
Via LA Times,

..
President Obama’s healthcare law also has a legal glitch that critics say could cause it to unravel in more than half the nation.
…
Apparently no one noticed this when the long and complicated bill worked its way through the House and Senate. Last year, however, the Internal Revenue Service tried to remedy it by putting out a regulation that redefined “exchange” to include a “federally facilitated exchange.” This is “consistent with the language, purpose and structure … of the act as a whole,” the Treasury Department said.
…
But critics of the law have seized on the glitch. They have filed four lawsuits that urge judges to rule the Obama administration must abide by the strict wording of the law, even if doing so dismantles it in nearly two-thirds of the states. And the Obama administration has no hope of repairing the glitch by legislation as long as the Republicans control the House.
…
“This is a problem,” said Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University. “This case could have legs,” although “it was never the intent of Congress to establish federal exchanges that can’t do anything. They were supposed to have exactly the same powers.”
Michael Carvin, the Washington lawyer leading the challenge, says the wording of the law is what counts. “This is a question of whether you believe in the rule of law. And the language here is as clear as it could possibly be,” he said.
..
“This has the potential to sink Obamacare. It could make the current website problems seem minor by comparison,” Cannon said.
Defenders of the law say the courts are being used as part of the political campaign against the law.
“This is definitely heating up. It is now the major focus of the Republican strategy for undoing the Affordable Care Act,” said Simon Lazarus, a lawyer for the Constitutional Accountability Center. “The lawsuits should be seen as preposterous,” he said, because they ask judges to give the law a “nonsensical” interpretation.
…
“They are betting on getting five votes at the Supreme Court,” Lazarus said. “I don’t think it will happen.”

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October 29, 2013
Under Pressure From The White House, NBC Throws Its Reporter Under the Bus and Censors News That Obama Wrote Regs to Disqualify and Terminate Health Insurance Policies

They later re-inserted the censored material. But what would compel them to delete true information in the first place?

Fears for Barack Obama's political position, of course.

The news world, and the right blogosphere, from what I can tell, is still missing the story here.

The story is not that "Obama knew" that policies would be terminated. That's damning.

But what is hugely damning and very important going forward is not that Obama knew, but that Obama made this happen, and could unmake it with a phone call, but chooses not to.

The White House's pushback on this point demonstrates that they understand how important this part of Lisa Meyers' report is.

This also illustrates how politically compromised NBC News is -- that they would throw their reporter under the bus and redact her story even though it was 100% right. I imagine Lisa Meyers had to fight like a demon to get a true story reported by NBC.

Here's a cached version of the original, and here's that damning paragraph 3:

None of this [that is, cancellation of policies] should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.

Emphasis added.

This is not just about having knowledge that events beyond Obama's control would unfold -- this is about events directly at his control. Regulation-writers are executive employees, and as such, answer to the president and not Congress.

This means Obama has the actual power -- not the puffed up, falsely asserted unconstitutional power, but the genuine legal power -- to call this agency and tell them, "We sold this bill as permitting people to keep their insurance; please re-write the regulations in a way that will honor this promise."

Remember, regulations are supposed to add details to the spirit of the law. They are not supposed to change the meaning of the law. Obama's regulations -- written at his behest, or at least with his connivance -- change the meaning of the law to render the "grandfathered policy" provision a nullity.
Via Politico, the White House began pushing back against this story. Not because it was untrue, but because it was politically lethal.

NBC News’s investigative team reported Monday that up to three quarters of the 14 million Americans who buy insurance on the individual market can expect their coverage to be canceled by next year because of the law’s minimum coverage requirements. NBC said that the administration has known since July 2010 that at least 40 to 67 percent of customers would not be able to keep their policies, even though President Barack Obama said before the law passed — and repeated in 2012 — that if you like your plan, you can keep it. The White House says not so.
On Twitter, Dan Pfeiffer called it a “misleading” story.

“FACT: Nothing in #Obamacare forces people out of their health plans. No change is required unless insurance companies change existing plans,” Valerie Jarrett wrote.

To be sure, many consumers will lose their insurance plans in 2014.

How directly that’s related to the law can be debated.

No it can't be debated, Politico. The White House is taking the position that even a minor escalation in policy premium -- something that always happens, given the constant inflation in health care insurance costs -- constitutes a "new policy" which is then not grandfathered.

This is absurd. A regulation could easily be written that any escalation in premium equal to less than the rate of health care inflation + 1% will be considered the same policy and thus grandfathered. They are deliberately writing the regulations to disqualify the maximum number of policies, because they want to force the maximum number of people into the exchanges, which are, effectively, high-risk pools, and need a lot of healthy bodies to have any shot at solvency.

And any policy that is cancelled can then have its rates forcibly jacked up by ObamaCare, in order to subsidize others.

After this pushback, NBC deleted paragraph 3 without noting why they had done so.

Now, after what I imagine was a furious bout of lobbying by Lisa Meyer, NBC has restored paragraph 3 (or at least close enough to the original). The new story does indeed recapitulate Meyers' reporting:

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.

Emphasis added again. And to emphasize yet again, those employees writing regulations for HHS do so at Obama's discretion.

But why was it deleted in the first place? Why did NBC decide to trust the Obama Administration on this -- obviously a party that stinks of self-interest and potential deceit -- over its own reporter, who got it right?

I really want to stress this to everybody, because no one seems to get this yet:

These regulations, being a creature of the Executive branch, can be rewritten by the executive branch at any time. We don't need a law for this (though one would be useful, to force Obama to do the right thing).

Obama has it within his power to call up the HHS reg-writers and instruct them to honor the promise he made time and again for two years. And he doesn't want people to know this, because he is determined to break that promise.

That promise was always a lie, and not a meaningless lie at the periphery, but a central lie propping up the political campaign for ObamaCare. Had he told Americans that they would be losing their current health care in order to be dumped into what is effectively a high-risk pool, so that they could subsidize high-risk clients, the public would have rejected the law even more strongly than he did.

So he lied. And lied. And lied. And lied some more.

And even at this late date, he could still choose to honor his promise.

But he won't, because he can't -- he always intended to take people's insurance away from them. Always. And he's not going to undo, short of a veto-proof act of Congress.

Obama would like to tell the American people that he must do this, or that he didn't do it at all. That the law requires it (it doesn't), that he can't instruct his employees to give a more generous reading of the law in their regulations (he can), that his hands are tied (they're not), that it's the GOP's fault (what?) or perhaps a fall-guy's like Kathleen Sebelius.

But Sebelius, the HHS, and all executive employees answer to Barack Obama. He is in fact their boss.
They are executing his will.

So there is one man, and one man only, responsible for deliberately lying to the American people and intentionally breaking a promise solemnly swore a dozen times: Barack Obama.

And he is the one man who can undo all of this and honor his promise with a mere phone call.

We must push to encourage the GOP to make an issue of this, so that the media will, possibly, bother to ask Barack Obama why he doesn't just instruct the HHS to honor the promise he made to the American people.

A promise important enough to make a dozen times is also a promise important enough to keep.

Obviously Obama does not agree. And he should be forced to explain why.

Thanks for all this to RD, who alerted me to NBC's sneaky partisan edits last night.

posted by Ace at 01:06 PM

[American Patriot]

I have been listening out of the corner of my ear to this Sebelius hearing and I am absolutely sickened at the bullshit coming out of the mouths of that woman and the people who are sitting on the Left side of this thing.

Pandering asshats, and she's a lying sack of shit.

When she was asked "Will you join Obamacare" (they phrased it differently) she ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to answer it....

I want to see it shut down completely. I refuse to sign up. I plan to fight this all the way to the end, and my wife is with me on this.

I would be completely surprised to see it shut down though and this is sickening here. It is CLEAR to me the American people in general DO NOT WANT this.

There are site issues, there are security issues, this is, like "Gun Control" a "people control" issue and people are getting it finally.

Sebelius needs to go. Obama needs to be IMPEACHED.

Oh, and by the way, Sebelius claimed it was ILLEGAL for her to join the exchange because "I'm covered by government insurance"

[vector7]

The White House ‘Pressured’ Insurance Execs to Keep Quiet About Obamacare: Report

Oct. 30, 2013 5:30pm Becket Adams

Top White House officials have reportedly “pressured” insurance industry executives to keep quiet about Obamacare, according to a new CNN report.
Insurance executives are not exactly fond of President Barack Obama’s health care law. And after voicing concerns over the new bill and its disastrous rollout, White House officials allegedly retaliated by informing industry leaders that the administration was not pleased:

CNN notes multiple sources declined comment on this claim, presumably out of fear of retribution.

However, there was one insurance insider who was wiling to go on the record.

“The White House is exerting massive pressure on the industry, including the trade associations, to keep quiet,” said insurance industry consulting firm head Bob Laszewski.

Laszewski, a longtime opponent of the law, said he has been asked by industry leaders to speak out on their behalf because they feel as if their hands have been tied. Plus, Laszewski notes, the federal government is a huge customer for the industry (so insurance executives can only say so much).

He said industry insiders are embarrassed that they had to cancels plans, forcing consumers into larger — and possibly more expensive — coverage.

“One of the things I think is clear here is the Obama administration has no trust in anything the health insurance industry is telling them about how to run a health plan,” he said.

Laszewski said that insurers told the White House repeatedly that the law would lead to the discontinuation of thousands of policies.

The White House has, of course, denied accusations that it’s pressuring the insurance industry to keep quiet, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney going so far as to characterize the claim as “preposterous and inaccurate.”

“[I]t ignores the fact that every day insurance companies are out talking about the law — in large part because they are trying to reach millions of new customers who will now have new affordable insurance options available from providers through the new Market Places,” Carney said.

Government-related health insurance plans accounted for approximately half of health care policies in 2012, CNN notes, and that number is “expected to grow over the years.”

[vector7]

Calling out the Administration for lying to the American people about Obamacare:











Obama refuses to rule out jail time for people who refuse to buy Obamacare:

[American Patriot]

MEDICARE COVERAGE IN A NUTSHELL

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, "Hello." ''Mrs. Sanders, please." 'Speaking." ''Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband's doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way, the results are not too good." ''What do you mean?" Mrs. Sanders asks nervously. "Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for HIV(AIDS).

We can't tell which is which." ''That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?" questioned Mrs. Sanders. "Normally we can, but Obamacare will only pay for these expensive tests one time." ''Well, what am I supposed to do now?" ' 'The folks at Obamacare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him."

[American Patriot]

Creepy uncle Sam does Obamacare rectal exam

New Obamacare enrollee gets the treatment from creepy Uncle Sam. http://optout.org/





Go watch the video. haha

[American Patriot]

Obama now blatantly delusional: Denies ever promising you can keep your health insurance

November 7, 2013 evilofindifference Leave a comment Go to comments



“The trail of lies from the Obama-occupied White House never seems to cease, and a recent speech by the Usurper-in-Chief himself concerning the ongoing Obamacare insurance debacle is no exception. Responding to widespread public outrage over his breaking of earlier promises that people could keep their existing health insurance coverage under the new system, Usurper Obama now claims that he never actually made such promises, despite the fact that there are at least 29 recorded instances of him making them.


In front of a mindless crowd of about 200 enthusiastic supporters from the Obama apologist group “Organizing for Action,” which was gathered at the St. Regis hotel in Washington D.C., the Usurper blatantly denied ever making statements like “If you like your plan, you can keep it,” which documented evidence proves he made dozens of times while on the campaign trail. What he really meant, he now claims, is that people can keep their plans only if these plans haven’t changed at all since Obamacare was forcibly rammed through the political system and declared to be law.”


Via Natural news

[American Patriot]

really?

Valerie Jarrett’s daughter and son-in-law work for CGI

YourTubeNews is reporting that now we know why a Canadian company got the contract for ObamaCare.

Not only is Michelle’s Princeton classmate an executive with the company, but news broke last night that Valerie Jarrett’s daughter Laura and her husband Tony Balkisoon, the son of a Canadian MPP, both work for CGI Federal.


The Washington Post reported that CGI Federal is a relative newbie on the U.S. government IT contracting scene. It bought the U.S. contractor American Management Systems in 2004, but only started ramping up business after 2008, and accelerated in 2010 with the $1.1 billion acquisition of U.S.-based military IT contractor Stanley Inc. That sent its contracting work through the roof: [CGIChart]


Now, what happened “after 2008″ that sent this loser company “through the roof?” Hmmmmmm?


Related: CGI was also awarded HUD contract to assist in the distribution of $1.7 billion in relief for Hurricane Sandy


Time to end this, demand immediate rescission of the contract and refund. Demand investigation in disbursements of hurricane Sandy funds


Dr. Orly Taitz Esq.

[American Patriot]

Mission Accomplished: Employer-Provided Health Plans Scaling Back, Forcing Crisis

Posted: November 7, 2013 | Author: The Butcher | Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, U.S. News, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Health policy, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act |1 Comment » As millions of Americans receive notice that they’re being dropped from their insurance, a nationwide debate has ensued over the quality and cost of the plans not meeting Obamacare standards. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – As millions of Americans receive notice that they’re being dropped from their insurance, a nationwide debate has ensued over the quality and cost of the plans not meeting Obamacare standards.
The Obama administration argues that the more than 2 million people who have lost their “grandfathered-in” insurance is a result of those companies altering those policies after the Affordable Care Act went into effect. President Barack Obama stated that such insurers will have to “replace them with quality, comprehensive coverage.”
However, for workers receiving employer-based benefits, certain policies will be scaled back due to the “Cadillac tax” implemented under Obamacare.
Although not set to take effect until 2018, the rule will impose a 40 percent excise tax on employee benefits exceeding $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. In 2013, the average employer-sponsored plans for individuals cost $5,884 and the average family plan cost $16,351, CBS News reports.
“Every employer plan since the passage of the health care law has been working to make sure their health care cost trends keep their plans under the ‘Cadillac tax,’” Steve Wojcik of the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit that represents large employers, told CBSNews.com.
The Obama administration has been making the case that no one in both the individual market and the employer-based market should expect to keep their current plan forever.
“The expectation was never there that a plan is going to be set in stone for any length of time,” Wojcik told CBSNews.com. “Plans should adopt to new evidence and new benefits practices — they shouldn’t be set in stone. We’ve wanted to do something about health care costs growing out of control.”
Wojcik added that the “Cadillac tax” is provoking employers to scale back plans with more “immediacy.”
“The clear expectation was and is that the ‘Cadillac tax’ — the tax on high-cost health plans — will cause those [employers offering] highly generous plans to pare back benefits somewhat so that they won’t be subject to the tax,” Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, explained to CBSNews.com. “It’s not going to affect a large number of people to begin with, but it is significant in the longer run in terms of its potential to hold down health care costs.”
“Yes, if you like your plan, you can keep it, unless you have great benefits,” Lindsay McLaughlin, legislative director for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, told CBSNews.com.
Obama told NPR in 2009 that the “Cadillac Tax” is levied against plans that “don’t make people healthier, but just take more money out of their pockets because they’re paying more for insurance than they need to.”
During a speech before Organizing for Action Monday night, Obama described what he meant when he previously said that no one would lose their coverage under the new law.
“Now, if you have or had one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really like that plan, what we said was you could keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law was passed. So we wrote into the Affordable Care Act you’re grandfathered in on that plan,” Obama said.
“But if the insurance company changes it, then what we’re saying is they’ve got to change it to a higher standard. They’ve got to make it better. They’ve got to improve the quality of the plan that they’re selling. That’s part of the promise that we made, too.”
As a whole, the Affordable Care Act may reverse the increasing trend of insurance prices.
The Kaiser Family Foundation found that from 2000 to 2010 insurance premiums increases an average of 8.2 each year. In that same time period, the percent of employers offering coverage fell from 68 percent to 59 percent.
CBS DC
Related articles

• Unions might dodge ObamaCare tax (thehill.com)
• IRS W-2 Box #12 Obamacare – Just Wait Until People Catch On To That Part (theconservativetreehouse.com)
• Obamacare “victim” now says loss of previous health plan may be “a blessing in disguise” (salon.com)
• Maher Battles Wasserman-Schultz Over Obamacare: Obama Clearly Lied, His ‘No New Taxes’ Moment (mediaite.com)
• Obamacare Killing Health Insurance Coverage for Spouses (freedomoutpost.com)
• Obama Officials In 2010: 93 Million Americans Will Be Unable To Keep Their Health Plans Under Obamacare (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
• No, Obamacare Might Not Cover Your Preexisting Condition… (im41.com)
• Obamacare is the Epitome of Mises’ “Planned Chaos” (dailyreckoning.com)

[Malsua]

Well, I now have the Yugo plan but in Soviet Russia. I.E. completely worthless plan, but required to have it by law.

[American Patriot]

It isn't bad enough they are fucking almost everyone in America, now they are fucking over retirees, military personnel, reservists and anyone else in military uniform.


DoD May Close Tricare Customer Service Centers

Nov 08, 2013
Military.com| by Brendan McGarry and Amy Bushatz
3 7 comments7 comments



The Defense Department may close Tricare customer service centers in the U.S. as part of a cost-saving move that would affect hundreds of thousands of troops and their families.
Tricare -- the military health care system -- manages walk-in service centers at bases across the country and around the world. The offices are typically staffed by contractors who help troops and family members navigate any number of medical coverage issues, from changing doctors to resolving billing complaints to registering newborns. At some bases, such as Fort Campbell, Ky., the offices are located in dedicated buildings. At others, such as Fort Bragg, N.C., they are located in the hospital.
The website MilitaryOneClick reported the department planned to begin transitioning those services to toll-free call centers and websites on Oct. 1 and to close all walk-in centers by April 1, citing interviews with unnamed Tricare representatives.
Poll: Should Tricare Close Its Customer Service Centers?
Army Lt. Col. Cathy Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for personnel and readiness at the Pentagon, on Thursday confirmed the department is considering closing the stateside centers, but said no final decision has been made.
“When the Defense Department announced the creation of the Defense Health Agency, elimination of walk-in service at Tricare Service Centers was one of the proposed actions to increase efficiency,” she said in an e-mail. “We are carefully considering this and reviewing all options for most effective customer service.


“However, the plan has not been finalized concerning the implementation or timing of such action,” she added. “When plans are finalized, the DHA will inform beneficiaries. I can verify that no changes to Tricare Service Centers overseas are being considered.” The customer service centers are a recommended in-processing stop for the 300,000 troops who, along with their families, report to a new post each year as part of a permanent change of station. That figure is more than 20 percent of the active-duty force of 1.4 million troops.
It was unclear how a shuttering of the centers would affect servicemembers dealing with base-specific issues, such as filing an appeal to see an off-base primary doctor or registering their newborn with Tricare, which is usually done in-person in the office.
News of the possible change drew criticism and disappointment from some military spouses.
“If Tricare will allow you to do everything on the phone or on-line, then face to face isn't necessary,” said Amanda French, an Army wife stationed at Fort Campbell. “But the few times I've called, I've been told that I needed to visit the local office.”
“Our in-person care center was hugely helpful,” said Mya Parker, who is stationed with her family at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif. “Assuming the care center wouldn't be much help, I spent nearly two months attempting to fix multiple issues over the phone with Tricare. It was only when I spoke to our in-person rep that we made any significant head-way.”
But not everyone agreed. Some spouses said that with the exception of a very few issues, such as the primary provider appeal process, the in-person representatives are not very helpful.
“With our appeal, they handed us the paperwork, told us the process, and said they couldn't do really anything else,” said Army wife Kelly Wanger, who has used the Fort Campbell Tricare office. “They never really help with our appeals anyway.”
“I have always had more luck calling in than actually going in and talking to someone,” Sarah Thompson, an Army spouse stationed at Fort Leavenworth said. “At [Fort] Benning ,the face to face people would just send me to the phone.”