Activate the Mechanism!

Some very good news for Obamacare. The biggest state in the union released the prices on its health insurance exchange yesterday, and they’re lower than anyone expected.

(The Washington Post) - Obamacare got some very good news on Thursday.

In 2009, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that a medium-level “silver” plan — which covers 70 percent of a beneficiary’s expected health costs — on the California health exchange would cost $5,200 annually. More recently, a report from the consulting firm Milliman predicted it would carry a $450 monthly premium. Yesterday, we got the real numbers. And they’re lower than anyone thought.

As always, Sarah Kliff has the details. The California exchange will have 13 insurance options, and the heavy competition appears to be driving down prices. The most affordable silver-level plan is charging $276-a-month. The second-most affordable plan is charging $294. And all this is before subsidies. Someone making twice the poverty line, say, will only pay $104-a-month.

Sparer plans are even cheaper. A young person buying the cheapest “bronze”-level plan will pay $172 — and that, again, is before any subsidies.

California is a particularly important test for Obamacare. It’s not just the largest state in the nation. It’s also one of the states most committed to implementing Obamacare effectively. Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — remember how that really happened? — California was the first state to begin building its insurance exchanges. The state’s outreach efforts are unparalleled. Its insurance regulators are working hard to bring in good plans and make sure they’re playing fair. If California can’t make the law work, perhaps no one can. But if California can make the law work, it shows that others can, too.

read more

But … but … but Fox News told me Obamacare will be the worst thing ever and make everything cost more and send my grandma to a death panel!!!

Boehner, McConnell Try To Thwart Obamacare Cost-Cutting Panel

(Talking Points Memo) - The top two Republicans in Congress informed President Obama on Thursday that they will refuse to fulfill their duty under the Affordable Care Act to recommend members of a new board with the power to contain Medicare spending.

It’s a dramatic power-play driven by the explosive partisan politics of Obamacare and with potentially important implications for federal health care policy.

In a letter to President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) noted their original opposition to Obamacare, reiterated their intent to repeal it entirely, and declared that they would not make any appointments to the Independent Payment Advisory Board.

read more

Holy SHIT these guys never give up. The law passed and was upheld by the supreme court … fucking deal with it.

Michele Bachmann: It’s my Christian ‘duty’ to repeal Obamacare before it ‘literally kills’ kids

(The Raw Story) - Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on Thursday insisted that it was her “duty as a believer in Christ” repeal President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law before “it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens.”

In a speech on the House floor, the Minnesota Republican thanked Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) for continuing the fight to undo Obamacare.

“The American people, especially vulnerable women, vulnerable children, vulnerable senior citizens, now get to pay more and get less,” Bachmann opined. “That’s why we’re here because we’re saying let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens!”

“Let’s not do that!” she exclaimed. “Let’s love people, let’s care about people. Let’s repeal it now while we can.”

Bachmann explained that she was fighting Obamacare because she was a “born again believer in Jesus Christ.”

“And I believe, as part of my duty as a believer in Christ and what he has done for me, that we should do for the least of those who are in our midst,” she said. “That’s my personal belief and my personal conviction. And that’s why I want our government to create the space so that we can help people, because I’ll guarantee you one thing, Mr. Speaker, this doesn’t help people.”

read more and watch the video

So, basically, she believes it is her duty as a Christian to repeal something that would actually expand access to healthcare for millions of the poor, working poor, children and the elderly.

This is religious  grandstanding and it’s disgusting. She should have been laughed off of the floor, but instead her cohorts congratulate her ‘saying things in a way that none of the rest of us are capable of’.

I my honest opinion, this is sick.

The GOP is serious about killing ObamaCare because 10 million more voters with public health care will change everything

(Electablog) - [T]he more I think about it, the more I realize that making a last stand against ObamaCare isn’t just a fringe position of Tea Partiers who think it will destroy freedom and make Mt. Rushmore cry. Mainstream Republicans are terrified of ObamaCare for the exact opposite reason — it’s going to work in many ways.

About 10 million Americans will get government insurance in 2014. In the states that accept Medicaid expansion, the growth of rates will immediately slow as emergency room coverage for the uninsured will drop drastically. Income inequality will be improved by the richest Americans paying for the poorest American’s health care. People will stop avoiding the doctor for fear of being branded with pre-existing conditions. And entrepreneurs will have the freedom of starting a new business without fearing the loss of insurance for their family.

As I’ve been saying, ObamaCare is simply the best thing to happen to the middle class since Medicare.

And Republicans will get zero credit for it — even though it contains many of their ideas.

So expect that this year they will do just about anything to make sure we never get what we’ve already worked so hard for.

read more

While ‘Obamacare’ isn’t perfect, (I’d rather see full universal healthcare provided as a public service) it does appear to be a step in the right direction.

There are times I honestly think the hostility towards it from the average conservative voter has a lot more to do with it taking something that separates the “haves” from the “have nots” (access to healthcare) and makes it more accessible/obtainable for everyone.

“I don’t want MY tax money being spent on poor people who can’t afford to pay for their own healthcare” seems to be a common statement that comes from these folks.

I suppose they feel, “That’s what you get for being poor”.

Virginia Cuts State Employees’ Hours To Avoid Providing Obamacare Coverage

(Think Progress) - As part of his state’s new budget, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his administration are trying to force potentially tens of thousands of public sector employees in the state to work fewer hours so that the government can avoid providing them health care.

Under Obamacare, employers are required to offer health insurance options for any employee working 30 hours or more per week. So McDonnell and his team have slipped language into the state’s budget bill requiring that any hourly waged workers employed by the state put in no more than 29 hours a week.

The rule applies to a range of state employees, including adjunct college professors:

The 29-hour limit is on its way to becoming state law, thanks to language inserted into the state budget at the request of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration. The language appears in both versions of the budget adopted Thursday by the Senate and House of Delegates.[…]

Anticipating legislative approval of the policy, the state Department of Human Resource Management has advised all state agencies to implement it now.

The state has more than 37,000 wage employees. More than 7,000 of them have been working at least 30 hours a week, according to a recent survey taken by the department.

Other public universities have made the same shift to lower hours for employees to avoid providing them with basic health benefits. But the anti-labor practice is more prevalent in the private sector, where huge number of businesses in the restaurant industry — includingApplebee’s, Olive Garden, and Denny’s — seeking to pass the cost of health care onto their low-wage employees by limiting their hours. Workers who don’t receive employer-based coverage will be able to find insurance through the public exchanges.

source

Seriously. What the fuck is it with Republicans? These mother fuckers act like people having affordable health care is some kind of personal affront to them.

A Cruel Blow to American Families: The IRS has completely screwed up the Affordable Care Act

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a hugely disappointing ruling on how to calculate the affordability of health insurance offered by employers. Its needlessly strict interpretation of the Affordable Care Act could leave millions of Americans with modest incomes unable to afford family coverage under their employers’ health insurance but ineligible for subsidies to buy coverage elsewhere.

The problem arises from murky language in the law. It says a worker cannot get taxpayer-subsidized coverage on the new health insurance exchanges, starting in 2014, unless the cost of employer-based health coverage for that worker exceeds 9.5 percent of the worker’s household income.

Both the I.R.S. and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation have interpreted the law to consider only the cost of covering the individual employee in calculating the 9.5 percent, not the much higher cost for a family plan.

Although some analysts had offered persuasive legal and social arguments for adopting a more expansive and generous interpretation of what the law requires, the strict interpretation prevailed in a final rule issued by the I.R.S. last week.

There is no doubt that this pinched approach will put a significant number of workers and their dependents in a bind. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that in 2012, employees’ annual share of insurance premiums averaged $951 for individual coverage and $4,316 for family coverage. Under the I.R.S. rule, such costs would be considered affordable for an employee with a household income of $35,000 a year — making the employee’s spouse and children ineligible for a public subsidy on a health exchange, even though that family would have to spend 12 percent of its income for the employer’s family plan.

Estimates made in 2011 by respected research organizations suggested that some 2 million to 3.9 million non-working spouses and dependents would be harmed by the strict ruling. Looking only at children who were uninsured but supposed to gain coverage under health care reform, the Government Accountability Office estimated last June that 460,000 might remain uninsured because of the affordability definition, and that 1.9 million might stay uninsured if an existing children’s health insurance program is phased out as currently planned. This outcome is exactly the opposite of what health care reform is supposed to achieve.

read more

This outcome is exactly the opposite of what health care reform is supposed to achieve.

I’m pissed. Hell, pissed isn’t even a good word for it. This is absolutely ridiculous and leaves people like myself out in the cold.

I can’t afford health insurance.

I have a chronic illness that I can not get treated because of the cost that greatly affects my quality of life, forces me to miss work (to the point where I use up all my sick days, which hits me in my wallet yet again).

So, I’ll be stuck in the “Makes too much to get assistance, but still can not afford health insurance” margin.

I can’t believe this.

House Republicans snub Sandy victims to try to repeal Obamacare for the 34th time

(Politicus USA) - With House Republicans taking heat over not passing the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill, Michele Bachmann introduced the first bill of the new Congress to repeal Obamacare.

Bachmann proudly tweeted:

At noon today, I introduced the first bill of the 113th Congress to repeal Obamacare in its entirety.

House Republicans have voted on zero actual job creation bills (disguising a tax cut as job creation doesn’t count), but they have voted on repealing Obamacare 33 times in the past two years. It is a certainty that Bachmann’s bill will come to the House floor, and the House will vote to repeal Obamacare for the 34th meaningless time.

It would be easy to pick on Bachmann’s priorities, but she is just a symptom of the larger disease. House Republicans don’t care about the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Gov. Chris Christie specifically blamed John Boehner for the bill not being brought to the floor, when the person he really should have blamed was Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Cantor is the loudest and the most powerful GOP voice in the House behind the idea that disaster relief should be offset by spending cuts. InSeptember 2011, Cantor wanted a 40% cut in funding for first responders in exchange for disaster relief. Cantor has a long history of disaster relief hypocrisy. The fact that he chose to call out Boehner instead of the right wing billionaires’ best boy reveals a lot about both Chris Christie and who really controls the Republican Party.

If House Republicans actually cared about the victims of Sandy, disaster relief would have been the first bill introduced today. Instead the nation was given another cheap stunt that is designed to do nothing but waste more time on another meaningless debate and vote that will score ideological points with the right wing zealots who still believe that Obamacare is the root of all evil.

As far as the House is concerned, it is business as usual for the least popular Congress of all time.

source

Want disaster relief? Sorry about your luck, the GOP is too busy trying to keep you from getting affordable healthcare.

Florida Gov. Rick Scot drops opposition to health care reform

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Rick Scott, one of the most vocal critics of the federal health care overhaul, is dropping his staunch opposition to the law.

Scott said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that he now wants to negotiate with the federal government. He said it’s time for Republicans to offer solutions to help families after they lost their bid to defeat President Barack Obama.

“The election is over and President Obama won,” Scott said. “I’m responsible for the families of Florida … If I can get to yes, I want to get to yes.”

Scott had previously stated that he would not go along with any parts of the health care overhaul that the state controls.

But his newfound willingness to have a “conversation” about putting it in place in Florida comes at a critical time.

States have until Friday to notify federal authorities whether they plan to set up health insurance exchanges, a marketplace where individuals and smalls businesses can shop for the most affordable coverage and where many will get help from the government to pay their premiums.

Florida so far has taken no steps to set up its own exchange.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced an extension last week. She still wants to hear if states will be setting up health insurance markets under the law. But governors can now take another month, until mid-December, to submit detailed blueprints.

read more

While this is great news, the cynic in me says it’s all politics. Now that public opinion seems to be shifting more in favor of the ACA it could very well be a liability to oppose it.

Save the Rich: “Papa” John Schnatter Edition

cognitivedissonance:

“Papa” John Schnatter, Papa John’s founder and CEO, is back in the headlines once more for his assertion that there’s no way on God’s green Earth he can afford to provide health care for a portion of his employees, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Now, Schnatter hasn’t been hurting for cash. As Brian Warner writes:

When Papa John Schnatter hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney earlier this year, the Republican candidate began his remarks by saying: “Who would’ve imagined pizza could build this? This is really something. Don’t you love this country? What a home this is, what grounds these are, the pool, the golf course…. This is a real tribute to America, to entrepreneurship.” If your house impresses Mitt Romney, the ultimate one percenter, you know it must be pretty awesome. To start, John Schnatter’s 40,000 square foot castle is located in a wealthy country club suburb of Louisville, Kentucky. The property is spread out over a 16 acre estate and as Romney mentioned, features several swimming pools, a private lake and a golf course.

But who knows what’s going to happen now that the health care mandate could supposedly cost him $0.15 a pizza?! Schnatter claims the costs will be $5-8 million per year — though he had no trouble with giving away two million free pizzas this September that cost the company 24 to 32 million dollars. 

Maybe he was counting on Mitt Romney winning.

Anyhow, I’ve decided to take Garfunkel and Oats’ advice and save the rich, one wealthy CEO at a time. Joining me is easy. First, get an envelope and address it [click to zoom]:

Mine reads:
Papa John Schnatter
1904 Stone Gate Rd. <— (address listed for political fundraisers)
Louisville, KY 40223

Or you can send it to Papa John’s Corporate:

2002 Papa John’s Boulevard
Louisville, KY 40299 or

Papa John’s International, Inc.
P.O. Box 99900 
Louisville, KY 40269-9990

My letter [click to zoom]:

As I wrote, I may not be able to afford their overpriced pizza, but I can afford a nickel, a dime, and a stamp. I encourage folks to help save the rich and send Papa John some nickels and dimes to offset this gigantic burden, especially since it’s not financially feasible for him to survive without the extra few million. Apparently.

It’s the least we can do for folks working under such a selfish bastard. 

Cheers,

Meg

Let’s do this!!!

Anonymous Asked: “i love obama cus now i can get health care even tho im unemployed.” “y r u unemployed?” “i got laid off cus my employer cant afford to pay for obamacare”

It has nothing to do with “Not being able to afford Obamacare”

It has everything to do with business owners being whiny little crybabies.

John Schnatter (owner of Papa John’s) has been very vocal about this recently, so lets look at some numbers. 

Mr. Schnatter says that Obamacare is going to cost his company $5-8 million more annually.

Last year Papa John’s captured $1.218 billion in revenue, their total operating expenses were $1.131 billion.

This means that the additional costs associated with Obamacare comes out to an additional .4% to .8% (that is between 4 and 8 TENTHS of a percent of additional operating expenses).

So basically, what we have here is a very wealthy business owner crying his poor little baby eyeballs out over an increase in operating costs that are on the magnitude of TENTHS of percents. 

Let’s put this another way. 

If John Schnatter’s profits were an Olympic sized swimming pool, Obamacare would cause that pool to be at the most a few inches more shallow.

(rebloggable by request)

A federally sponsored, non-profit health insurance option is set to be available in all 50 state exchanges

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will soon take on a new role as the sponsor of at least two nationwide health insuranceplans to be operated under contract with the federal government and offered to consumers in every state.

These multistate plans were included in President Obama’s health care lawas a substitute for a pure government-run health insurance program — the public option sought by many liberal Democrats and reviled by Republicans. Supporters of the national plans say they will increase competition in state health insurance markets, many of which are dominated by a handful of companies.

The national plans will compete directly with other private insurers and may have some significant advantages, including a federal seal of approval. Premiums and benefits for the multistate insurance plans will be negotiated by the United States Office of Personnel Management, the agency that arranges health benefits for federal employees.

Walton J. Francis, the author of a consumer guide to health plans for federal employees, said the personnel agency had been “extraordinarily successful” in managing that program, which has more than 200 health plans, including about 20 offered nationwide. The personnel agency has earned high marks for its ability to secure good terms for federal workers through negotiation rather than heavy-handed regulation of insurers.

John J. O’Brien, the director of health care and insurance at the agency, said the new plans would be offered to individuals and small employers through the insurance exchanges being set up in every state under the 2010 health care law.

No one knows how many people will sign up for the government-sponsored plans. In preparing cost estimates, the Obama administration told insurers to assume that each national plan would have 750,000 people enrolled in the first year.

Under the Affordable Care Act, at least one of the nationwide plans must be offered by a nonprofit entity. Insurance experts see an obvious candidate for that role: the Government Employees Health Association, a nonprofit group that covers more than 900,000 federal employees, retirees and dependents, making it the second-largest plan for federal workers, after the Blue Cross and Blue Shield program.

read more