Monday, January 13, 2014

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.

19 comments:

EricP said...

Mmm-mmm! Kryptonite, aka facts for any liberal/regressive/statist readers, for breakfast sure do taste great. Take that, Frosted Flakes!!!

BevfromNYC said...

Jeez, Andrew...get your priorities straight [this is me yelling at you...] WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE FAILED GOV. CHRISTIE AND BRIDGE-GATE!!!! WHAT GIVES??? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MORE IMPORTANT IT IS TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF WHY A BRIDGE WAS CLOSED AND PEOPLE HAD TO WAIT IN TRAFFIC FOR 4 HOURS??? WHO CARES ABOUT LOSING INSURANCE WHEN WE CAN OBSESS OVER WHETHER CHRISTIE HAS RUINED HIS CHANCES OF RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN TWO YEARS???

Okay, I will stop yelling now.

As for Obamacare, I have heard 2 million to 10million have signed up for something. Why don't they know exactly? And, not to put to fine a point on it, why is this administration lying to us about the numbers. Why can't we get a straight answer. Oh, and the crackerjack IT firm that build the web network is out, and a very well-heeled Obama donor has been appointed to "fix" the website.

On another note, the jobs report that came out this weekend was dismal - 78,000 jobs created. Yet, inexplicably, unemployment is now at 6.7%. The CBO and the Obama Administration still refuse to remove those people who have stopped looking for work. We are at our lowest number of employed in 50 years - 62.8%. Oh, but the good news is that Obama has now pivoted to "jobs"...again.

OH WAIT - CHRIS CHRISTIE...BRIDGE-GATE!!!

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Eric! I do love the smell of facts in the morning! :)

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I'm taking the standard liberal approach to this because I see this as a made-up scandal.

Big whoops... nothing happened, he didn't do it, everyone does it, what an outrage I'm sure we've all learned lesson for the next time someone does this.

As for jobs, but Bev... that's 78,000 jobs that wouldn't have existed if Obama had personally made them!

Koshcat said...

Bev, not to argue with you but the fake Christie scandal is to cover up a different democrat embarrassment. It came out last week that both Senators Obama and Clinton opposed the Iraq surge for political purposes only. Something that was suspected but never confirmed. Far more worrisome and alarming that one would choose political gain over soldiers lives.

Pretty convenient that the made up 9 million people just happen to be double those who lost insurance. No such thing as a coincidence in slimey government.

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, Agreed on both points. It is amazing how the fake 9 million figure is double the number of people who lost insurance. That reeks of a figure made up for precise political purposes. Sadly for them, figures like that get exposed as time goes on and people tend to react even more badly when they find out they've been had.

On Christie, that is a great point. That was very damning of both Obama and Hillary. Such amazing timing that a non-scandal scandal should appear to refocus the media.

Tennessee Jed said...

fellow tax payers ...... enjoy subsidizing the losses of the insurance companies. There was a song by the late J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton saying something along the line that "if there's something you want that you can't get, use your credit card slide deeper in debt; it's easy ... easy you see. If tomorrow never comes, everything is FREE!"

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew and Koshcat - [***clears throat***memememememe...deep breath] IT IS NOT A FAKE SCANDAL TO COVER UP DISTURBING NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA!!!! PEOPLE WERE STUCK...IN...TRAFFIC!!!

So if there are 9million+ people who have signed up for Obamacare, where are they? That's a lot of people, so you think they'd be easy to find and interview, right? Why can't the insurance companies find them? Isn't this a simple accounting procedure and an Excel spreadsheet somewhere that verifies this info? I mean, you know...US Healthcare has X number of new customers with Y-Obamacare precious metal-named policy. It can't be THAT hard to do, right? Oh, wait, this is our government at work here, so I just answered my own question. Well, and if one does not want the sad truth to be available then there is no need to keep track, is there?

Koshcat said...

CMS can't keep track of 9 million people but the NSA can track 5 BILLION phone calls per day.

BevfromNYC said...

Good point, Koshcat..

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I just did my taxes and trust me... I know. I understand the nature of our loving government. Grrrr.

Also, I saw the article you mentioned. Yep, we are subsidizing the hell out of the insurance carriers. They stand to make $90 billion by government force, and if they don't, the government will just hand them the difference... and yet, a lot of conservatives continue to worry about protecting these poor, insurance companies. Sniff sniff... weep weep.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, LOL! I stand corrected. :) Yes, nothing to see here, not when there are such outrages as people being made to wait in traffic in New Jersey.

As for the 9 trillion people, can't you just trust Obama? Have we reached the point where we can no longer take Obama's word for everything? Such a lack of faith.

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, That's different. Tracking phone calls is fun. ;-)

BevfromNYC said...

Hey, insurance stats are fun too. There must be tons of accountants out of work, so maybe we can put them to work a-countin' some new insurance policies...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, What a great idea! We can build an entire economy around trying to figure out how Obamacare is working! We can become an Obamacare economy! That will be fantastic!

BevfromNYC said...

We can call it "Accountin' On US" :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Nice pun! :D We're accountin' on all of you help us out!

T-Rav said...

Andrew, don't suggest invading something. You'll just give them ideas.

On a related note, I just found out I have to pay $633 for a checkup and some blood work I had done recently, because my insurance won't pick it up for some reason. I really have no reason to think ObamaCare is to blame, but I'm going to claim it is because that will make me feel better.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I don't know... the moon seems kind of uppity to me lately. Maybe an invasion of Democratic activists would be appropriate?


There's no reason you can't blame Obamacare. He would take credit if someone had paid the bill for you. So why not blame him?

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