A Colorado Democratic Senator has asked his state insurance agency to hide the numbers of people whose insurance was cancelled because of Obamacare.

Facts are such inconvenient things: A Colorado Democratic Senator has asked his state insurance agency to hide the numbers of people whose insurance was cancelled because of Obamacare.

As much as the Democrats want to make believe the Obamacare disaster hasn’t happened, it has. There are millions of people who had health insurance of their choice on December 31 that now do not have health insurance. God help them should a catastrophic health issue arise for them without that insurance. What will they do?

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Nearly two thirds of the fraud and waste lost by the federal government in 2013 was paid by HHS, the agency running Obamacare.

Nearly two thirds of the fraud and waste lost by the federal government in 2013 was spent by HHS, the agency running Obamacare.

The total amount lost by either fraud, waste, or error equaled $106 billion, slightly down from 2012’s $108 billion figure. Of that, about $65 billion occurred in Health and Human Services.

But hey, what’s a few billion dollars here and there. It’s not like the federal government has a debt problem, does it?

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Even if you have health insurance, it might be cheaper to pretend to be uninsured and pay cash instead.

Even if you have health insurance, it might be cheaper to pretend to be uninsured and pay cash instead.

This article points out the one fact that might actually be a benefit of Obamacare: The law is so screwed up that it is forcing many people out of their health insurance, where they might discover that by negotiating directly with doctors and hospitals. And that negotiation, more than any thing else — including every regulatory scheme proposed by any politician from the left or the right — will really lower the cost for healthcare.

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Obamacare does not provide any easy way for a family to add a new baby to their insurance plan.

Finding out what’s not in it: Obamacare does not provide any easy way for a family to add a new baby to their insurance plan.

There’s another quirk in the Obama administration’s new health insurance system: It lacks a way for consumers to quickly and easily update their coverage for the birth of a baby and other common life changes. With regular private insurance, parents just notify the health plan. Insurers will still cover new babies, the administration says, but parents will also have to contact the government at some point later on. Right now the HealthCare.gov website can’t handle such updates.

It’s a reminder that the new coverage for many uninsured Americans comes with a third party in the mix: the feds. And the system’s wiring for some vital federal functions isn’t yet fully connected. [emphasis mine]

To paraphrase something George Will once said, the law is a blunt instrument, not designed to do many complex things. But with Obamacare the Democrats have asked it to do something incredibly complex, run the health insurance business. It can’t do it, and because of this it is now causing a great deal of heartache and misery for many people, a large number of whom are sick and vulnerable.

But we all know that the Democrats care about the sick and vulnerable, which is why they insisted that Obamacare be enforced now without delay.

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Frontpage picks Ted Cruz as their 2013 man of the year.

Frontpage picks Ted Cruz as their 2013 man of the year.

From one end of the country to the other, the voices of the inevitable, Democrats and Republicans, politicians, pollsters and pundits, in ink-stained print, on the sprawling feeds of cable news and the endless whirl of the Internet, boomed their message.

Ted Cruz was wrong. Ted Cruz was doomed. Ted Cruz would destroy the Republican Party. Ted Cruz was a mad fool for taking on ObamaCare in all the wrong ways. But as the old year tips into the new, Cruz is standing tall and ObamaCare is being torn apart by its namesake in a frantic effort to save his popularity.

The truth is the truth. If you stand for it, without fear, you will win. Eventually, the bullies and naysayers will have to back off, simply because the truth will have become self-evident to everyone.

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The law gives the government the final say on how your doctor treats you.

Obama’s next Obamacare lie: Despite a promise by Obama that Obamacare would not come “between you and your doctor,” the law gives the government the final say on how your doctor treats you.

Section 1311(h)(1)(B) of the health law gives the secretary of Health and Human Services blanket authority to dictate how doctors treat patients. Not just patients in government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, but patients with private plans they pay for themselves. On Dec. 2, 2013, we learned from the Federal Register that the rules are now being written. Starting in 2015, insurance companies will be barred from doing business with doctors who fail to comply. The rules will be offered in the name of ensuring โ€œhealth-care quality,โ€ which of course could mean anything.

โ€œThe powers given to the secretary are so broad, he or she could literally dictate how all physicians nationwide practice medicine,โ€ warns Congressman Phil Gingrey (R. Georgia), himself a physician. Gingrey is sponsoring a bill to repeal Section 1311(h)(1)(B). Otherwise, he says, the HHS secretary โ€” a Washington bureaucrat with no medical training โ€” could, for example, bar doctors from doing routine mammogram screenings until female patients turn 50. In short, the federal government will be calling the shots on what patients get.

It appears that Sarah Palin’s death panels are coming, despite the denials of Obama, the Democrats, and their toadies in the media.

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AmeriCorps volunteers have discovered that the health plans provided by this federal program are insufficient to meet the requirements of Obamacare.

AmeriCorps volunteers have discovered that the health plans provided by this federal program are insufficient to meet the requirements of Obamacare.

If they don’t buy additional health insurance they will be subject to fines under the healthcare law.

I especially like this quote:

Sarah L. Sklaw, a 22-year-old Vista member from New York City, said: โ€œI really support the Affordable Care Act, and I donโ€™t want to be a naysayer. But it was surprising and frustrating to be told that our health coverage would not meet the lawโ€™s standards, especially because the Corporation for National and Community Service told us at orientation in August that we did not need to worry about the issue.โ€

In other words, she supported Obamacare, partly because she was told “if she liked her health plan, she could keep her health plan. Period.” She has now discovered that this was a lie and is angry. Who wudda thunk it?

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The Obama administration essentially admits that Obamacare has increased the number of uninsured.

The Obama administration essentially admits that Obamacare has increased the number of uninsured.

The signups on the Obamacare website have been far below their goals. Meanwhile, the numbers of people who have had their insurance cancelled is far far higher. The result: fewer people insured.

Way to go, Democrats!

And then there’s this: Five Obamacare news stories to watch out for in 2014.

Except for the midterm elections, none sound like they will be good news.

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Obamacare includes absurd regulations that will cost the vending machine industry millions.

Finding out what’s in it: Obamacare includes absurd regulations that will cost the vending machine industry millions.

Around 457 pages into Obamcare, section 4205 stipulates “the vending machine operator shall provide a sign in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button that includes a clear and conspicuous statement disclosing the number of calories contained in the article.” This new mandate will cost the vending machine industry an estimated $25.8 million initially and an additional $24 million for every subsequent year.

Expect some companies to go out a business because of this craziness.

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Obama’s top ten Constitutional violations for 2013.

The Obama administration’s top ten Constitutional violations for 2013.

The sad thing about this list is that it is incomplete, and it is only for 2013. Moreover, anyone who has been honestly following the news for the past five years will recognize most of these abuses. However, #9 was new to me, and just as egregious.

Responding to complaints about the University of Montanaโ€™s handling of sexual assault claims, the Department of Educationโ€™s Office of Civil Rights, in conjunction with the Justice Department, sent the university a letter intended as a national โ€œblueprintโ€ for tackling sexual harassment. The letter urges a crackdown on โ€œunwelcomeโ€ speech and requires complaints to be heard in quasi-judicial procedures that deny legal representation, encourage punishment before trial, and convict based on a mere โ€œmore likely than notโ€ standard.

Isn’t it nice how this administration is working hard to recreate Great Britain’s abusive and tyrannical Star Chamber?

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Under Obamacare more than half the counties in the 34 states that use the federal Obamacare health exchange have no affordable insurance plans.

What’s not in it: Under Obamacare more than half the counties in the 34 states that use the federal Obamacare health exchange have no affordable insurance plans.

Don’t worry, your doctor won’t see you anyway!

Aren’t we all glad the Democrats stood firm in Congress to make sure this law went into effect?

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Here come the Obamacare tax bills!

Finding out what’s in it: Here come the Obamacare tax bills!

The new taxes on one customerโ€™s bill added up to $23.14 a month, or $277.68 annually, according to Kaiser Health News. It boosted the monthly premium from $322.26 to $345.40 for that individual. The new taxes and fees include a 2 percent levy on every health plan, which is expected to net about $8โ€‰billion for the government in 2014 and increase to $14.3 billion in 2018. Thereโ€™s also a $2 fee per policy that goes into a new medical-research trust fund called the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Insurers pay a 3.5 percent user fee to sell medical plans on the HealthCare.gov Web site.

This list doesn’t include the hidden tax imposed on medical equipment that will also be passed on to customers.

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Should Republicans again demand that the Obamacare individual mandate be delayed?

Should Republicans again demand that the Obamacare individual mandate be delayed?

I say, no. I say the Republicans should demand that Obamacare be repealed. Agreeing to delay the mandate only acts to cement other parts of the law into place, which is bad as there is literally nothing about this law that is good, for the country or for health care.

Moreover, agreeing to delay parts of Obamacare will then make the Republicans part of the problem. Better to force the Democrats to vote against repeal, even as the law unravels. The result in November can only be good, as this vote will provide conservatives with more ammunition during the election campaign.

Finally, by putting repeal up to a vote we might even be surprised and get enough votes to repeal. Obama would then veto that repeal, but the vote would set the precedent for further repeal votes down the line, when Obama is gone.

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The sticker shock of Obamacare only begins when you pick your plan.

The sticker shock of Obamacare only begins when you pick your plan.

As a key enrollment deadline hits Monday, many people without health insurance have been sizing up policies on the new government health care marketplace and making what seems like a logical choice: They’re picking the cheapest one.

Increasingly, experts in health insurance are becoming concerned that many of these first-time buyers will be in for a shock when they get medical care next year and discover they’re on the hook for most of the initial cost.

In other words, the high premiums don’t cover most initial bills. You will have to pay the cost of most of your medical bills yourself.

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The Obama administration has announced another eleventh-hour exemption to Obamacare.

Chaos: The Obama administration has announced another exemption to Obamacare.

The Obama administration, in an 11th-hour change just before the holiday break, announced a major exemption in ObamaCare that will let people who lost coverage and are struggling to get a new plan sign up for bare-bones policies. The move Thursday to allow potentially hundreds of thousands of people to sign up for “catastrophic” coverage plans was blasted by the insurance industry as a shift that would cause “tremendous instability.โ€

I thought these “bare-bone” policies were “garbage plans” that only a few weeks ago Democrats were telling us we should be happy were cancelled.

It also appears from the above article as well as other sources that the insurance companies are very hostile to this announcement. (Read the second link especially. It outlines the many problems this new ad-hoc exemption causes.)

In a word, this law doesn’t work, it never has, and it should be repealed now.

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The Obamacare state exchanges are losing their directors.

The Obamacare state exchanges are losing their directors.

So far, 25 percent of officials in charge of the 14 state-run exchanges, plus Washington D.C., have been replaced, according to Forbes, which compares the turnover rate to professional sports coaching rosters. โ€œMore are sure to come as enrollment performance remains poor,โ€ according to Forbes. New Mexico, Massachusetts, Idaho, Washington DC, Nevada and Colorado are posting dismal enrollment numbers, all less than 10 percent of what was expected, the magazine noted.

Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that Obamacare is a turkey that no one wants to buy?

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