Obamacare’s Useful Idiots
Guess who. And guess about what.
Tag: obamacare
The Obama administration has decided to actually follow the law and not give its Democratic union buddies a waiver on Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: The Obama administration has decided to actually follow the law and not give its Democratic union buddies a waiver on Obamacare.
It shows us how far we have fallen that we are surprised that the Obama administration is going to follow the law, as written and passed by Congress, rather than arbitrarily rewrite that law illegally into order to help its political allies. Nowadays we are increasingly expecting this administration to treat the law as a plaything that it can ignore willy-nilly, without any opposition from anyone.
This story also illustrates the danger of blindly supporting the actions of one political party. Union leaders have for decades allied themselves with the Democratic Party, without ever really questioning the wisdom of anything those Democrats were doing. Obamacare was only one example of this foolishness. Now they are going to suffer badly for their blind partisanship.
It would have been much smarter for those unions to have done what conservatives and tea party advocates demanded back in 2009 and 2010: Read the damn law before you pass it!
Before the Minnesota Obamacare health exchange has even officially opened there has been a security breach of the private health records of more than 2,400 individuals.
That didn’t take long: Before the Minnesota Obamacare health exchange has even officially opened there has been a security breach of the private health records of more than 2,400 individuals.
Stay tuned for more screw-ups and the misuse of private health records for political purposes. The Obamacare health exchanges are inherently insecure.
Indiana University is laying off 50 maintenance workers to avoid Obamacare costs.
Finding out what’s in it: Indiana University is laying off 50 maintenance workers to avoid Obamacare costs.
The employees will now work for an independent company, which I am sure will either make sure its total staffing is under 50 or those employees work less than 30 hours per week in order to also avoid Obamacare.
The numbers here aren’t gigantic, but the story is notable in that these employees and the university that had employed them almost certainly supported Obamacare and Obama blindly this last five years. The sad thing is I doubt they will finally face reality and link their troubles with his policies.
And then there’s this: Trader Joe’s to drop health insurance for part-time workers because of Obamacare.
Major unions are now calling for the repeal of Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: Major unions are now calling for the repeal of Obamacare.
Maybe a wiser action would have been to to read the damn law beforehand, or at least demand that Congress do so, before supporting it blindly because it was proposed by their saint and savior, Barack Obama?
Obamacare is forcing a number of artist organizations to cancel health insurance for its members.
Finding out what’s in it: Obamacare is forcing a number of artist organizations to cancel health insurance for their members.
The College Art Association website posted a notice this month: “The New York Life Insurance Company recently informed CAA that it will no longer offer catastrophic healthcare coverage previously available to CAA members.” Why? Because it “is no longer an option” for “associations whose members reside in different states” to provide such coverage. These members will have to seek help from their home states’ newly formed Obamacare exchanges. Plans offered to Modern Language Association (MLA) members will suffer a similar fate.
Other insurance providers are reporting cancellations. The Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) website posts the following notice: “All individual and/or Sole Proprietor Health Insurance will terminate January 1, 2014. This includes plans acquired as Members of our Affiliated Associations & their groups.” Those affiliated associations include the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Graphic Arts Guild, NY Women in Film and Television, and many others.
From my experience in the movie industry it is almost certain that the vast majority of these artists, writers, musicians, and actors are Democrats who blindly supported Obama and Obamacare. I am also certain that, even after this disaster, they will still blindly support the Democratic Party.
Taxing both the rich and the sick to pay for Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: Taxing both the rich and the sick to pay for Obamacare.
Key quotes:
The change will negatively impact parents who have special needs children and who use FSA funds to help pay for tuition in special needs schools, says Xavier Epps, owner of XNE Financial Advising.
and:
For the more than 10 million individuals and families that claim medical expenses in 2011, there’s more bad news. In order to claim medical expense deductions in 2013, the claims must be at least 10% of AGI, up from 7.5% in the past. There’s an exception for people who are age 65 and older at the end of the year and for married taxpayers with only one spouse age 65 or over. Their threshold will remain at 7.5% until the 2017 tax year.
Y’know, I have yet to find any documented evidence of Obamacare lowering costs or improving health coverage anywhere. So far, this law has done nothing but balloon costs, limit options, and reduce the ability of people to either get health insurance they can afford or healthcare they need.
But that’s all right. The Democrats passed it! It must be good! Let’s vote for them again so they can do this kind of masterwork in many other places. (Right now, the Middle East and Syria comes to mind.)
Five large population groups are losing their healthcare insurance because of Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: Five large population groups are losing their healthcare insurance because of Obamacare.
The five groups are spouses, part-time workers, retirees, individuals, and unions. I wonder how many of these — especially the unions — will continue to blindly support Democrats, even after this disaster.
Aetna pulls out of New York because of Obamacare.
If you like your insurance you won’t keep your insurance: Aetna pulls out of New York because of Obamacare.
That’s the fifth state that Aetna has fled in its effort to survive the Democratic Party’s effort to reform our healthcare system.
City governments nationwide are cutting employees’ hours to below 30 hours per week to avoid Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: City governments nationwide are cutting employees’ hours to below 30 hours per week to avoid Obamacare.
Healthcare premiums have climbed almost $3,000 since 2009.
Healthcare premiums have climbed almost $3,000 since 2009.
The important point however is this:
And while annual premium increases have moderated over the past two years, that’s due to trends in the insurance market largely unrelated to ObamaCare, and trends the law could actually reverse.
To save money on insurance people had been shifting to plans with high deductibles. Obamacare however has outlawed such plans, thus requiring health insurance coverage in cases where people really don’t need it or can’t afford it.
The University of Virginia is cutting health insurance coverage for spouses.
Finding out what’s in it: The University of Virginia is cutting health insurance coverage for spouses in order to avoid the cost of Obamacare.
Though the article doesn’t say, I would not be surprised if the university is also cutting the work hours of some teachers to make them part-timers as well, for the same reasons. And as Moe Lane notes, it is almost certain that this is what these university people voted for, as almost every single academic in the country is a partisan Democrat. I wonder how they will spin this disaster to blame it on conservatives.
How one man saved $17,000 on the cost of a surgery.
How one man saved $17,000 on the cost of a surgery.
UPS announced today that it is dropping the spousal coverage for 15,000 employees because of the cost of Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: UPS announced today that it is dropping the spousal coverage for 15,000 employees because of the cost of Obamacare.
To the Obama administration and the Democrats, this is proof that Obamacare works. According to a spokeswoman for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The health care law will make health insurance more affordable, strengthen small businesses and make it easier for employers to provide coverage to their workers.” Well, obviously!
Orwell called this kind of thinking doublethink, the ability to hold two completely contradictory statements in your brain and see nothing contradictory about it.
The Obama administration has failed to meet more than half of the deadlines mandated by Obamacare.
Ignoring what’s in it: The Obama administration has failed to meet more than half of the deadlines mandated by Obamacare.
Meanwhile, here’s another example of a company switching all of its workers to part-time to avoid Obamacare. The result is that those employees will not only earn less, they will lose their company health insurance. So much for Obama’s promise, “If you like your healthplan you keep your healthplan.”
The Obama administration has quietly decided to arbitrarily delay implementation of another Obamacare requirement.
The law is such an inconvenient thing: The Obama administration has quietly decided to arbitrarily delay implementation of another Obamacare requirement.
The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the administration is giving some insurers and employers a one-year grace period to adhere to the limit, which otherwise would have capped individual costs at $6,350 a year. The full requirement will go into effect in 2015, rather than 2014. The change means some employers — namely, those with more than one benefit provider — could use plans with higher limits or no limit at all on out-of-pocket costs during that period. The grace period apparently was granted earlier this year, though was buried in reams of regulatory material and was not publicly reported until now. Department of Labor guidelines published in February had addressed the delay.
As Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) correctly notes, “The president doesn’t get to write legislation, and it’s illegal and unconstitutional for him to try and change legislation by himself.”
By allowing a president to do this kind of thing, we are losing our democracy.
How Obamacare discourages people from making more money, discourages businesses from hiring, and discourages everyone from becoming better than they are.
How Obamacare discourages people from making more money, discourages businesses from hiring, and discourages everyone from becoming better than they are.
But we all know that the real and only reason I mention these unfortunate facts about Obamacare is because Obama is black and that I’m a racist.
An inspector general report has found that the 24 health co-ops formed under Obamacare are going bankrupt, even before they have opened.
Our government at its best: An inspector general report has found that the 24 health co-ops formed under Obamacare are going bankrupt, even before they have opened to their first customers.
And that’s not all:
Examiner Watchdog investigative reporting project focused on the co-ops began in 2012 and has since uncovered extensive evidence of financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, failure to file required tax returns, inadequate capitalization and evasion of public disclosure requirements such as the federal Freedom of Information Act. A recent Examiner survey found, for example, that all but one of the 24 co-ops failed to file required tax returns, and several may invoke a highly questionable loophole allowing them to avoid doing so in the future. Even more troubling, two of the co-op loans were awarded to organizations headed by individuals with questionable backgrounds, the Examiner has learned, including an insider trading conviction and a history of child sexual abuse.
The Obama administration has given Congress and its staff a waiver so that they will not have to pay the full cost increase imposed by Obamacare.
The law is for the little people: The Obama administration has given Congress and its staff a waiver so that they will not have to pay the full cost increase imposed by Obamacare.
No waiver for anyone else, however. You gotta pay, tough luck. You ain’t an important member of the Washington elite, the royal class, the superior smarter set that makes the laws you (and not they) have to follow.
The government is months behind in testing the security arrangements of Obamacare.
O goody: The government is months behind in testing the security arrangements of Obamacare.
“They’ve removed their margin for error,” said Deven McGraw, director of the health privacy project at the non-profit Center for Democracy & Technology. “There is huge pressure to get (the exchanges) up and running on time, but if there is a security incident they are done. It would be a complete disaster from a PR viewpoint.” The most likely serious security breach would be identity theft, in which a hacker steals the social security numbers and other information people provide when signing up for insurance.