Make It Stop... Obamacare Update

It’s time for the weekly Obamacare update. Blech. This stuff needs to stop. We need new news... somebody invade something. Anyway, here goes.

● Nothing To See Here: It seems that the media has decided that the Obamacare system is up and running. I can’t tell you the number of stories I’ve seen that start with the phrase, “Now that they’ve fixed the system and it’s up and running...” Yeah, right.

I see this as an attempt to stop the bleeding without first closing the wound: what the public doesn’t know can’t upset them. Sadly for the left, that never works.

Even assuming the system itself is working, which it probably isn’t as there has been no big party celebrating the fix, they still haven’t figured out a way to let people know they need to pay, to get people proof of insurance, to let people change their status if they have kids or get married or get divorced. There’s apparently no security either. What a great system! At least it doesn’t go all Skynet on your ass.

● Plenty of Harm To Go Around: Obamacare is hurting employees everywhere. According to a new survey, a majority of the public says Obamacare has negatively affected their health insurance: 47% of the 150 million people with employer-provided plans say their premiums have gone up because of Obamacare, 44% say their deductibles, co-pays and/or out-of-pocket expenses have gone up because of Obamacare, 19% have seen their choice in doctors decrease, and 7% have had their spouse or kids kicked off their coverage. Way to make friends, Mr. President! Why don’t you rough up some nuns for your next official act?

● Liars Can Figure: The Democrats are desperate to avoid the obvious, which is that more people are uninsured because of Obamacare than got insurance because of Obamacare. To make this point, they are claiming that nine million people got insurance from Obamacare. Woo hoo! If only that were true...

The nine million number consists of the following: (1) 2.1 million who have selected plans through an exchange; (2) 3.9 million who became eligible for Medicaid; and (3) 3.1 million young adults who are now on their parents’ policies. None of these numbers are what they seem.

(1) First, it’s not clear that the 2.1 million figure includes only people who signed up for private insurance or if this is mixed with Medicaid sign ups. It is most likely a mix, and Team Obama has been cagey about this.

Moreover, more than half these people didn’t pay, so they aren’t covered and there’s no way to tell them they need to pay. At this point, only 1 million people are confirmed and we don’t know what percentage are Medicaid.

(2) Secondly, the 3.9 million Medicaid sign ups is pretty fascinating once you start to look into it. First, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services admits that this 3.9 “includes new eligibility determinations and some Medicaid and CHIP renewals.” In other words, this include both new people and people already in the system. Typical Democrats trying to claim credit for causing something that already happened before they acted. In any event, Obamacare clearly has added fewer than 3.9 million people to Medicaid.

It gets worse.

Medicaid has been running for years and each year has a certain number of people who sign up. Obamacare expanded who was eligible, so presumably the number of signups would go up in 2013, right? Well, it didn’t. The number of people who signed up in the last three months of 2013 is lower than the numbers who signed up during the same period in 2012 and 2011. Said differently, fewer people signed up for Medicaid after Obamacare was passed than we would have expected to sign up had Obamacare not been passed. Interesting.

Now, it is true that the rate fell less in states that accepted the federal money and expanded the program, but the rate still fell in every state. Since fewer people signed up under Obamacare than one would otherwise have expected to sign up, it’s logical nonsense to claim that Obamacare caused 3.9 million people to sign up.

(3) Finally, we come to the 3.1 million young people on their parents’ insurance. This number was tossed out by Team Obama and no one really examined it, so take it with a glass of Kool-Aid. Moreover, there is no indication how many of these people would have bought insurance on their own if they hadn’t had this option. If half of them would have done that, then Obamacare can only be credited with half this number. We just don’t know. All we know for sure is that 3.1 million is overstated.

So what you’re really looking at here is not nine million people as Harry “The Rotten Liar” Reid claims. It is, instead, “something less than 4.15 million,” which is less than the “more than five million” who lost their insurance... and that’s the best case for Obama.

That best case is miles below estimates, by the way. Team Obama originally estimated that 7 million would buy private insurance, 9 million would get Medicaid, and only 2 million would lose their insurance. DISASTER.

● We Hate It!: Here are the latest poll numbers: 48% of Americans want it repealed – this includes 53 of independents – 38% want is saved.

● We Love It!: Finally, here’s why insurance companies love Obamacare and lobbied for it. Analysts are estimating that Obamacare will be worth $90 billion to the insurance firms who participate. That’s how much the Democrats wants to steal from your pocket and give to their crony friends.