Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"'Family glitch' in health law could be painful"

"A "family glitch" in the 2010 health care law threatens to cost some families thousands of dollars in health insurance costs and leave up to 500,000 children without coverage, insurance and health care analysts say."

Congress defined "affordable" as 9.5% or less of an employee's household income, mostly to make sure people did not leave their workplace plans for subsidized coverage through the exchanges. But the "error" was that it only applies to the employee — and not his or her family. So, if an employer offers a woman affordable insurance, but doesn't provide it for her family, they cannot get subsidized help through the state health exchanges."

That can make a huge difference; the Kaiser Family Foundation said an average plan for an individual is about $5,600, but it goes up to $15,700 for families. Most employers help out with those costs, but not all."

More at the link... USA Today

Meanwhile, Politico now reports the birth of Obamacare as just something the campaign picked up, to punch up a campaign appearance.
Soon-to-be-candidate Obama, then an Illinois senator, was thinking about turning down an invitation to speak at a big health care conference sponsored by the progressive group Families USA, when two aides, Robert Gibbs and Jon Favreau, hit on an idea that would make him appear more prepared and committed than he actually was at the moment.
Why not just announce his intention to pass universal health care by the end of his first term?
Thus was born Obamacare, a check-the-box, news-cycle expedient that would ultimately define a president.
Define a president, who, after passing his own signature legislation, through both, the congress and the Supreme Court, needs Bill Clinton to explain it. Thereby redefining the real defining signature of Obama's presidency, "leading from behind."
President Obama is rolling out Bill Clinton once again to give him some desperately need public relations assistance, appearing with the former president late this afternoon in New York City to try to sell the unpopular Obamacare to Americans.
It’s the second time in recent weeks Clinton has been enlisted by Obama to promote Obamacare.
Bill’s service is hardly altruistic. Not only does he love being the center of attention, he may also want something from Obama in return for his PR work – an endorsement of Hillary, or at least a neutral stance in her expected primary fight with Vice President Joe Biden.
UPDATE: Cruz appears to be filibustering Obamacare. Si se puede!

USA Today , Politico , White House Dossier , Althouse

35 comments:

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Proving that ObamaCare and HillaryCare are no different.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Hey America - are you sick of these people yet?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

"In most states, workers at small businesses will have only one plan to choose from in the health exchanges next year, not the multiple choices they were supposed to have."



Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I wonder whether those families getting screwed will be disproportionately African-American but not enough to bother to do the research to actually find out.

KCFleming said...

It's working as designed.

Just wait until you find out your doctor's visit is a "group visit", not for you, but to meet gubmint demands.

And your paperwork better be filled out; expect fines for noncompliance. There's gonna be lotsa paperwork.

Methadras said...

Pass it to know what's in it so we can fill in and fuck up the law as we write it as we go along. Yup, government in action.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Perhaps the democrats should have designed it with input from the American people and the opposition party? -

This is what happens when you shove a poorly written bill down the throats of all Americans on party line vote in the dead of night.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Nancy Pelosi thinks getting your hours cut is liberating.

You can have Obamacare now!

Methadras said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Methadras said...

AprilApple said...

Perhaps the democrats should have designed it with input from the American people and the opposition party? -

This is what happens when you shove a poorly written bill down the throats of all Americans on party line vote in the dead of night.


This is the problem with legislation. Once it's passed regardless of the opposition, or the shady way it came to pass, well then we have to live with it and even with a vast majority of the American public saying not only no, but fuck no, our 'representatives' still ho and hum and don't dare fight back, so we live with until implementation, then it's to late. Once the unwashed get their tax payer funded freebies, it's over. It's always an incremental erosion of successive laws that infringe on everything we do. Never a rollback. Never seen one in my lifetime. Maybe I missed them.

Icepick said...

Hey America - are you sick of these people yet?

They're clearly not, because the voters would vote for Obama again today, just to prove that they're (a) not RACIST and (b) the most stupid people in the history of the Universe.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

UDATE:

Cruz appears to be filibustering Obamacare.

Si se puede!

Aridog said...

Lem ... while I admire Senator Cruz, the fact is a filibuster is a temporary measure, in this case, designed to defeat or sustain another temporary measure known as a Joint CR.

At this point (channeling Hillary), Cruz has little choice but to try to slow ACA down, but he cannot stop it by temporary means when it is already the law of the land.

The PPACA will still stand as the law of the land with or without funding text in a CR. By the time sundry lawsuits reach SCOTUS and hordes of new ACA participants are allowed to sign up without means testing for subsidy (deferred until 2015 by Executive Order IIRC), the ACA will be bumping along ruining lives as it goes.

Leland said...

According to democrat operatives across Texas, filibustering is the politically astitute thing to do. Go for it Cruz!

edutcher said...

That half million kid glitch goes with the 30 million who still won't be taken care of and all the people whose premiums triple.

PS Ice, they were sick of them in '10 when Joe Wilson yelled, "You lie".

That's why all that vote fraud and intimidation was the only way they could win last year.

Icepick said...

Ed, Romney lost by over four and half million votes. Do you really think that was all fraud?

deborah said...

It's depressing IIRC that national children's healthcare had passed both houses during Bush's second term.

deborah said...

Health insurance. S-CHIP(?)

Aridog said...

Leland said...

According to democrat operatives across Texas, filibustering is the politically astute thing to do.

That's what bothers me...this whole affair has become a political side show. Cruz has no choice, really, if he wants to appear as a real constituent serving Senator. As you said, "go Cruz" ... I only hope concervatives remember his stand down the road a ways.

Make no mistake about it, I support Cruz in whatever he tries to do...and if he becomes a nominee in 2016 I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.

Birches said...

This is saving face I think. There's no way the media is going to go gaga over Cruz the way they did for Rand.

chickelit said...

The PPACA will still stand as the law of the land with or without funding text in a CR. By the time sundry lawsuits reach SCOTUS and hordes of new ACA participants are allowed to sign up without means testing for subsidy (deferred until 2015 by Executive Order IIRC), the ACA will be bumping along ruining lives as it goes.

The continued negative effects on the economy will guide the nation to reconsider its mistakes in 2008 and 2012.

I'm Full of Soup said...

A glitch is when your bank ATM machine is down for a 1/2 day. It is not when your family insurance doubles or triples because of a horribly devised "reform" law.

I'm Full of Soup said...

A glitch is when your bank ATM machine is down for a 1/2 day. It is not when your family insurance doubles or triples because of a horribly devised "reform" law.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

This is what happens when you have people who don't know what they are doing, passing laws about industries that they know nothing about, that were written by no nothing interns and passed without anyone reading the law or trying to figure out what the consequences of it might be.

Our doctor told my husband a few days ago that at the end of this year he is going to retire from his family practice and might still be working as an on call ER doc. My husband was the first appointment of the morning 8am. He sat in the exam room for at least 40 minutes and when the doc came in he explained that the delay was for all of the paperwork required JUST for my husband's appointment. It was gonna be a very very long day.

Another tidbit of information from his doc buddies in Southern California. The specialists are closing their practices in San Diego etc and opening up clinics in their specialty in Mexico. It doesn't cost them as much to run the practice. They will accept cash only and NO fucking Obamacare.

One of our friends is sending his wife and himself to Mexico in a few months to get veneers on her teeth. Cost in the US with insurance is over $3000. In Mexico with a reputable clinic and good referrals to the clinic $500. They can take the rest of the money and have a nice vacation.

Expect to see much more of this.

Birches said...

Yeah, I like how the USA Today article still blames the "glitch" on those evil Republicans.

hmmmm, maybe congress shouldn't be passing 20000 page bills about something they know nothing about.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Ed, Romney lost by over four and half million votes. Do you really think that was all fraud?

You only have to create enough fraudulent votes in certain key States. We don't have a popular vote election. It is all about gaming the electoral college. SO, yes is my answer.

Cruz has little choice but to try to slow ACA down, but he cannot stop it by temporary means when it is already the law of the land.

At least Cruz is standing firm on his principles and actually DOING what his constituents voted for him to do. If every other congress critter did the same thing, instead of folding like a cheap suit and flip flopping on their campaign promises, perhaps we might actually beat this thing

test said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
You only have to create enough fraudulent votes in certain key States. We don't have a popular vote election. It is all about gaming the electoral college. SO, yes is my answer.


Even cherry-picking close meaningful states the required fraud total is over 400,000 votes. There's no evidence f fraud on that scale.

Media and Academia bias easily delivered that many votes.

bagoh20 said...

Glitchcare. Yea, that's all these are, just little glitches. Lose your doctor - glitch, lose full time - glitch, lose your job - glitch, can't see a doctor for weeks - glitch, wait months for surgery - glitch, no doctors - glitch, death panel - glitch. $200 billion turns into $700 billion - glitch, The President fails to keep every promise he made on it - glitch.

Obama - a study in success through the art of the glitch.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Congress and Senate make about $175,000 a year and are exempt from paying for Obamacare.

Isn't that nice?

bagoh20 said...

There are long-standing regulations against having special and sweeter healthcare deals for the higher-ups in a company, because it's considered unfair for those setting up the programs to carve out special deals for themselves, but that's private sector. Public servants would never do that.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I know it's hard to believe, but Our Community Organizer makes US pay for Obamacare--
But elected government officials from both parties and their high paid staff, are exempt.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Glitchcare. I'm going to borrow that.

Paddy O said...

Obamacare is a "family glitch"

Icepick said...

Why aren't phx and Ritmo over here telling us how this glitch is really going to help America get stronger?

chickelit said...

@icepick: Fellatio fatigue?