Mandatory Health Insurance part 3

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by AEON

C'mon, Irvine - do you think ANY politician is different?

Do you see ANY other politician acting this way?

It generally takes an egomaniac to run for office, but what Cruz is doing is of a different order altogether.

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

Do you see ANY other politician acting this way?

It generally takes an egomaniac to run for office, but what Cruz is doing is of a different order altogether.

Honestly - they all seem to take a turn at this - especially when the opposing Party has the Oval Office. There's nothing new or shocking here.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by INDY500

Big business got their exemption... Funny how political allies of the White house always get their waivers and exemptions in the end. It too will be illegal.

I thought Obama was always anti-business? Someday you should get your talking points straight.

Originally Posted by INDY500

Large companies are dropping coverage, cutting hours and hiring part-time only.

Rates are skyrocketing.

These are both highly exaggerated, and many have turned out to be complete fabricated bs that Drudge just made up.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by INDY500

Large companies are dropping coverage, cutting hours and hiring part-time only.

This was the argument heard in Canada when the government legislated a 52-week maternity leave. That companies would respond by not hiring women in their 20s and 30s. Maybe at the margin there were a few that behaved this way, but guess what? As people accepted this to be the norm, it simply did not bear out the way you would think.

[Irvine511]

bye, Ted. i hope your 21-hours of self-aggrandizement in the small minds of a few was worth it:

Shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) 21-hour talkathon, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open beyond Sept. 30.

The final vote was a unanimous 100-0 and even Cruz voted to begin debate. His lengthy speech was a call for a filibuster to end debate unless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed to make it easier for the GOP to block funding for Obamacare.

"The next vote we take will occur on Friday or Saturday and it will be on what is called cloture on the bill," Cruz said during his speech. "That is the vote that matters."
It was a conscious strategy by Republican leaders to steer clear of threatening a government shutdown over the unachievable goal of gutting President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement. Procedurally they had an escape hatch: they were merely agreeing to debate the House-passed bill, which keeps the federal government running until Dec. 15 but denies funding to implement the Affordable Care Act.

"Invoking cloture on a bill that defunds Obamacare, doesn't raise taxes and respects the Budget Control Act strikes me as a no-brainer," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Democratic leaders intend to restore the Obamacare funds when debate ends with a simple majority vote, as Senate rules permit them to do. Cruz and other conservatives wanted Republicans to block cloture until Reid agreed to a 60-vote threshold for amendments.

"I know how this movie ends. I don't know all the scenes, but I know that at the end, we don't defund Obamacare," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told reporters in the Capitol. "It'll be a cold day in Gila Bend, Arizona" -- a desert town known for its scorching heat -- "before we defund Obamacare. Very cold day. In fact, there might be a snowstorm."

Senate Democrats' substitute bill would move funding to extend to Nov. 15, instead of the House's version which funds the government until Dec. 15. Reid said Democrats will also eliminate a House-passed provision to prioritize debt payments to foreign creditors and Social Security recipients in the event that the country's borrowing authority expires.

Both the House and Senate bills fund the government at $986.3 billion, roughly what the government is spending now after the automatic cuts ordered by the sequester. It's a victory for conservatives who lock in a lower spending level than most Democrats want. Senior Democratic aides insist the move was tactical and they'll still push to replace sequestration.

Cruz's vote for cloture after his call for a filibuster caused plenty of confusion. But there are multiple cloture votes. Wednesday's vote was about *beginning* debate. What Cruz wants is for 41 senators to vote against *ending* debate and moving toward final passage unless Democrats allow a 60-vote threshold to fund Obamacare.

"Cloture on the bill, the vote Friday or Saturday, is the vote that matters," he said.

If Republicans don't filibuster the cloture motion to end debate, and if both sides avail of their debate time, the Senate will likely wrap up the bill late this week or during the weekend. Then it'll be send to the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will have little time to pass the Senate version or face a government shutdown.

The lights go out when the clock strikes midnight on Monday night.

Senate Unanimously Moves Toward Averting A Government Shutdown

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by anitram

This was the argument heard in Canada when the government legislated a 52-week maternity leave. That companies would respond by not hiring women in their 20s and 30s. Maybe at the margin there were a few that behaved this way, but guess what? As people accepted this to be the norm, it simply did not bear out the way you would think.

from an article I posted in another thread.

#2 Since Obama has been president, seven out of every eight jobs that have been "created" in the U.S. economy have been part-time jobs.

I'm afraid this is "the norm" under this president's policies which Obamacare.

[LJT]

It is the norm over here in the UK to. It's cheaper for businesses to have part time workers, better for profits, just you know the brilliance of capitalism...unless you think we should maybe introduce more protection for workers? Maybe even allow them to collectively bargain, but ah tis but a fairy tale.

[Irvine511]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/25/news...tes/?hpt=hp_t2

[deep]

I watched Cruz and Lee, the Tea Boyz on C-Span, how pathetic and delusional

[bono_212]

Maybe people are talking about this in another thread, but has anyone tried to use healthcare.gov yet?

Let me tell you...what a joke.

Also, I really hope that there's a good explanation for all of this:

Blog: $634 million for Healthcare.gov website

EDIT: Oh and, FYI, I have been completely unable to sign up.

[LemonMelon]

Local insurance providers have better websites than healthcare.gov.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by bono_212

Also, I really hope that there's a good explanation for all of this:

Sean Hannity owns the website design company

[bono_212]

Originally Posted by LemonMelon

Local insurance providers have better websites than healthcare.gov.

Hey now, the site itself is just gorgeous

Originally Posted by BVS

Sean Hannity owns the website design company

I don't know if I wish that I knew enough about political commentators to get this joke or not...

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I don't know if I wish that I knew enough about political commentators to get this joke or not...

For starters, he's from Fox News. That's probably enough there.

[bono_212]

It's not

[KhanadaRhodes]

yep, still can't sign up. i've tried creating an account every day since the site opened. at least now i can create an account, but when i get the confirmation email, i click on the link to confirm my email address (really? how pointless) within seconds of receiving it, and i get told i waited too long to click it. gawrsh, i didn't realise there was only a two second window to click on it.

i know i still have months to sign up and given where i live will probably get told i can get next to nothing for $300/month even though i don't work (thanks, tennessee!), so i really don't want to find out now. chances are i'll probably just pay that minimum fee they've been talking about to not have any coverage or whatever.

[Irvine511]

I think it is a travesty that the federal site has been a bomb so far, and while I'm certain it will improve, Seibelius has a lot to answer for. This is the most ambitious, complex website in history, but still, it should be better.

What is also disappointing is that in the states that have set up their own exchanges, their websites are going reasonably well (Kentucky seems a particularly notable success). It was always intended to be a state marketplace, not a national one. It's too bad that red states, with the largest amount of people most in need, are further harming their citizens. I wish you the best of luck, because you deserve more than your state and federal government are giving you.

i found this article interesting:

WASHINGTON — Robyn J. Skrebes of Minneapolis said she was able to sign up for health insurance in about two hours on Monday using the Web site of the state-run insurance exchange in Minnesota, known as MNsure. Ms. Skrebes, who is 32 and uninsured, said she had selected a policy costing $179 a month, before tax credit subsidies, and also had obtained Medicaid coverage for her 2-year-old daughter, Emma.

“I am thrilled,” Ms. Skrebes said, referring to her policy. “It’s affordable, good coverage. And the Web site of the Minnesota exchange was pretty simple to use, pretty straightforward. The language was really clear.”

The experience described by Ms. Skrebes is in stark contrast to reports of widespread technical problems that have hampered enrollment in the online health insurance marketplace run by the federal government since it opened on Oct. 1. While many people have been frustrated in their efforts to obtain coverage through the federal exchange, which is used by more than 30 states, consumers have had more success signing up for health insurance through many of the state-run exchanges, federal and state officials and outside experts say.

Alan R. Weil, the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, an independent nonpartisan group, credited the relative early success of some state exchanges to the fact that they could leap on problems more quickly than the sprawling, complex federal marketplace.

“Individual state operations are more adaptable,” Mr. Weil said. “That does not mean that states get everything right. But they can respond more quickly to solve problems as they arise.”

In addition, some states allow consumers to shop for insurance, comparing costs and benefits of different policies, without first creating an online account — a barrier for many people trying to use the federal exchange.

The state-run exchange in New York announced Tuesday that it had signed up more than 40,000 people who applied for insurance and were found eligible.

“This fast pace of sign-ups shows that New York State’s exchange is working smoothly with an overwhelming response from New Yorkers eager to get access to low-cost health insurance,” said Donna Frescatore, the executive director of the state exchange.

In Washington State, the state-run exchange had a rocky start on Oct. 1, but managed to turn things around quickly by adjusting certain parameters on its Web site to alleviate bottlenecks. By Monday, more than 9,400 people had signed up for coverage. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange does not require users to create an account before browsing plans.

“The site is up and running smoothly,” said Michael Marchand, a spokesman for the Washington exchange. “We’re seeing a lot of use, a lot of people coming to the Web site. If anything, I think it’s increasing.”

Other states reporting a steady stream of enrollments in recent days include California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Rhode Island.

In Connecticut, a spokesman for the state-run exchange, Access Health CT, said users have generally had a smooth experience with the Web site other than “a couple of bumps and hiccups on the first day.”

By Monday afternoon, the Connecticut exchange had processed 1,175 applications, said the spokesman, Jason Madrak.

Daniel N. Mendelson, the chief executive of Avalere Health, a research and consulting company, said: “On balance, the state exchanges are doing better than the federal exchange. The federal exchange has, for all practical purposes, been impenetrable. Systems problems are preventing any sort of meaningful engagement.”

“By contrast,” said Mr. Mendelson, who was a White House budget official under President Bill Clinton, “in most states, we can get information about what is being offered and the prices, and some states are allowing full enrollment. All the state exchanges that we have visited are doing better than the federal exchange at this point.”

In California, Peter V. Lee, the executive director of the state-run exchange, said that more than 16,000 applications had been completed in the first five days of open enrollment. Mr. Lee said that while the consumer experience “hasn’t been perfect,” it has been “pretty darn good.”

Some state-run exchanges have run into difficulties because they rely on the federal marketplace for parts of the application process, like verifying an applicant’s identity. Minnesota, Nevada and Rhode Island are among the states that have reported problems with the “identity-proofing” process, which requires state-run exchanges to communicate with the federal data hub.

Brandon Hardy, 31, of Louisville, Ky., was one of the first to sign up for health insurance through Kentucky’s state-run exchange, working with an application counselor who guided him through the process last Wednesday. Mr. Hardy, who is uninsured and has epileptic seizures that land him in the hospital every few months, spent about 45 minutes filling out the online application, and learned that he would be eligible for Medicaid under the health care law.

“It was pretty easy,” Mr. Hardy said of the process. “What I really need is a neurologist, and now hopefully that will happen. This is like a huge relief.”

Attempts to sign up for coverage through the federal marketplace have often proved more frustrating.

Bruce A. Charette, 60, of Tulsa, Okla., said he had been trying to log onto the Web site for the federal exchange since last Wednesday, but had not been able to see the available plans or their rates.

Mr. Charette said he was asked verification questions that did not appear to match his identity. One question, he said, asked about the name of a pet for which he had purchased health insurance two years ago. “I don’t have any pets,” he said.

“It’s obvious that the site is overloaded,” said Mr. Charette, an electrician who works in the aviation industry and said he did not have health insurance. “I am not going to stare at a computer screen for 45 minutes, waiting for a response. It looks as if the Web site is freezing up.”

Still, some groups helping people sign up for insurance through the federal marketplace said they were finally able to complete applications on Tuesday, a week into open enrollment.

“This was the first day that I have been able to get onto the Web site and sign people up,” said Laura Line, corporate assistant director for Resources for Human Development in Philadelphia, which has a contract to help people in Southeastern Pennsylvania enroll in health plans through the federal exchange. “We have been setting appointments and answering a ton of phone calls now that we are able to do something.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/us...ates.html?_r=0

[bono_212]

SUCCESS! I shouldn't be feeling this proud to have successfully signed up for a website.

[bono_212]

Wow....that was....incredibly stupid. I went through the whole thing and then at the end, got a PDF document, basically telling me to call Hoosier Healthwise....why make me go through all of that if you were just going to send me to the Indiana Medicaid office?

[INDY500]

15 days and counting...