Initial attempts to sign up for ObamaCare go about as well as expected

[ElNono]

Six months to sign up... Don't think this is going to be a showstopper...

well.... I might have underestimated the general suckitude of certain IT companies out there...

[boutons_deux]

Another red state gets smart, goes PROGRESSIVE

Ohio Will Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare, Extending Health Coverage To Nearly 300,000 Residents

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013...aid-obamacare/

Ohio has become the 25th state to accept the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which was made optional to the states in a 2012 Supreme Court ruling.

What is extraordinary about the Buckeye State’s acceptance of the program — which will allow residents earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level to receive subsidized health care — is how hard Governor John Kasich (R-OH) pushed for expansion, and how he did it.

Ohio’s Republican-dominated state legislature rejected Medicaid expansion three times earlier this year, after Kasich became one of about a half-dozen Republican governors who signaled he wanted his state to embrace the ACA provision. Instead of accepting defeat, the governor took the matter to the Controlling Board, an obscure en y that normally handles small budgetary matters. More than three dozen Republican legislators protested this move to cir vent the legislature.

Kasich’s use of the Controlling Board to accept Medicaid expansion may end up being found illegal. Regardless, the governor — a potential 2016 candidate — has put Republicans in his state in a position where they will now have to take a concrete benefit away from residents, instead of arguing against a vague promise.

This is a decision that will also likely impact the 2016 election. Now if a candidate argues for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, he or she will be calling for health insurance to be snatched back from more than 200,000 working Ohioans.

No Republican has ever been elected to the White House without winning Ohio.Regardless, the governor — a potential 2016 candidate — has put Republicans in his state in a position where they will now have to take a concrete benefit away from residents, instead of arguing against a vague promise.

This is a decision that will also likely impact the 2016 election. Now if a candidate argues for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, he or she will be calling for health insurance to be snatched back from more than 200,000 working Ohioans.

No Republican has ever been elected to the White House without winning Ohio.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-best...ews-this-week/

[boutons_deux]

Crazy NC Repug



Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, said on CNN’s “New Day” that Kentucky had been signing up about 1,000 residents each day on the state’s Kynect website, which has been garnering praise since it launched Oct. 1.

But Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) refused to recognize the state’s results, even as she insisted to host that Carol Costello that she wanted to see some results from the Affordable Care Act.

“He’s talking about a situation that he supports. American people cannot wait for this. There are hard-working taxpayers –”

Costello interrupted to ask Ellmers if she thought Beshear was being truthful or just “joshing us.”

“I’m not exactly sure it is working in Kentucky,” Ellmers said, and Costello asked if she thought the governor’s statistics were cooked up for political purposes.

“Well, you know, let’s look at again the grand scheme of things,” Ellmers said. “It is a failure at monumental levels.”

Costello played another video clip of Beshear, who said that he’s encouraged his state’s residents to visit the Kynect website and see if they like it.

“That’s what’s happening,” Beshear said. “They are finding that they can get affordable health coverage for the first time in their lives. I’ll guarantee you, about a year from now, they’re going to look back at these critics, including a lot of
these senators and representatives, and they’re going to say, ‘You misled us, because, hey, this works. I’ve got affordable health care.’”

But Ellmers ignored her question, and said that a similar program to Obamacare she said had failed in Tennessee.

She claimed that program, TennCare, had lasted about 12 years before state officials “were able to erase the whole entire thing.”

In fact, the program that was launched in 1994 and overhauled in 2005 and continues to extend Medicare benefits to 1.2 million Tennessee residents, according to the state.

“I’m looking at results, (and) the results are right now, the Obamacare exchange rollout has been a complete failure, a total embarrassment,” Ellmers said.

Costello again presses Ellmers to address Beshear’s statistics, but the Republican instead makes the discussion personal.

“You’re getting awfully angry about this situation,” Ellmers said. “I hate that you’re in this position.”

The congresswoman says she wouldn’t mind seeing someone fired for the botched rollout of the federal exchange website, but she says the whole Affordable Care Act must be scrapped.

“Let’s put affordable health care forward for all Americans, let’s put something together that really will work, not something that’s dead on arrival already,” said Ellmers, who did not offer details for such a plan.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/2...ted-with-some/

Repugs deny and lie about ANY REALITY that negates their fantasies or conflicts with the talking points dictated to them.

[AntiChrist]

Actual ad in Colorado. Lol, "Don't tap into your beer money".

[SA210]

.

Jon Stewart Delivers Blistering Takedown of Obamacare Rollout: Dems Can't 'Spin This Turd"

October 21, 2013 - After the government shutdown, Jon Stewart said all Democrats had to do to regain political footing was "a mildly competent implementation" of the health care policy they'd been touting for three years, and somehow they managed to screw it up royally, leaving Stewart to tear into President Obama and the Democrats for failing to "spin this turd."

Stewart was utterly befuddled at how buggy the Obamacare site is being. It's so bad, even the calculator doesn't work. Stewart said normally websites are set up so it's "nearly impossible to not sign up for something," but somehow the Obama administration managed to fumble at every turn.

He even had some choice words for Obama for defending the "product" of health care and saying that despite the massive number of people who haven't been able to sign up, a teeny tiny bunch of other people managed to pull it off.

Stewart sent John Oliver to sign up for the health care law, but for some reason he got trapped inside the computer and chased around by Pac-Man instead.

[boutons_deux]

You assholes have your fun now, but ACA is a huge success, the states working to implement are succeeding, and even red states coming to their senses and expanding Medicaid.

the trainwreck won't be ACA, it will Repug electoral results

Amid Obamacare’s Struggles, Government-Run Health Care Shines

Uninsured Americans are having a hard time enrolling in private health insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov. The federal website is slow, unresponsive and at times provides inaccurate information about applicants’ eligibility for federal tax credits. Insurers, meanwhile, say they’re receiving duplicate enrollments, missing data fields, and other errors in the applications that consumers complete.

State-run health care marketplaces in Kentucky, New York, and Washington state appear more adept at quickly fixing problems and enrolling people, but the bright spot of reform isn’t the often-touted health care exchange. In these early days of implementation, the real standout is the government-run Medicaid program that provides health care insurance to Americans under 133 percent of the federal poverty line.

In fact, a survey of news reports from the states that have chosen to expand their Medicaid under the Affordable Care, shows that the program is responsible for thousands and of new enrollments and appears more successful in enrolling uninsured Americans than private insurers operating in the exchanges:

CONNECTICUT: Of the 3,847 individuals who signed up for coverage, 1,857 qualified for Medicaid, 1,897 signed up for plans with one of the three private insurance carriers, and 93 qualified for the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Of the individuals who signed up with private carriers, 772 won’t receive a subsidy and 1,125 will receive a federal subsidy to lower their monthly premium.” [CT News Junkie]

MARYLAND: “About 82,500 people had signed up for Maryland’s expanded Medicaid program as of Friday, more than 30 times the 2,300 Marylander’s who managed to enroll through the state’s
insurance exchange.” [Politico]

OREGON: “Though Oregon’s health insurance exchange is not yet up and running, the number of uninsured is already dropping thanks to new fast-track enrollment for the Oregon Health Plan. The low-income, Medicaid-funded program has already signed up 56,000 new people, cutting the state’s number of uninsured by 10 percent, according to Oregon Health Authority officials.” [The Oregonian]

ILLINOIS: “The sign-up process apparently hasn’t been as difficult for Illinoisans poor enough to qualify for the health-care law’s federally funded expansion of Medicaid eligibility, which the General Assembly approved this year without a single Republican vote. Those applicants are routed to the state’s ABE website for Medicaid.” [The State-Journal Registrar]

WEST VIRGINIA: “More than 50,000 West Virginians have already enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program that was expanded under the Affordable Care Act….But most new Medicaid signups came through an auto-enrollment program DHHR began in the weeks leading up to the opening of the insurance marketplace.” [Charleston Daily Mail]

ARKANSAS: “After two weeks of enrollment, a total of 56,288 adults have told the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) they want to enroll in the “private option” health insurance program, [the state's Medicaid expansion] according to data released Tuesday. From Oct. 1 through Oct. 12, DHS received 1,509 applications through its state-run web portal and 1,119 telephone and paper applications. That is in addition to the 53,660* current DHS clients who have already been determined eligible and returned letters saying they wanted coverage.” [Arkansas Department of Human Services]

Medicaid advocates attribute this success to several factors. The program, which was first signed into law in 1965, has years of experience in connecting low-income beneficiaries to health care benefits and has streamlined and simplified those processes. Medicaid also operates outside of the error-ridden federal exchange system and several states, including Arkansas, Illinois, West Virginia, and Oregon are auto-enrolling eligible individuals who are already receiving state benefits. Arkansas, for instance, sent letters to over 100,000 food stamp recipients, inviting them to apply for Medicaid coverage, along with a a stamped envelope. Almost 50,000 people responded.

Other states like Maryland have better functioning marketplaces (where an uninsured individual can be directed to Medicaid coverage) or robust consumer assistance and simplification procedures that allow for an easy sign-up process, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP) Judy Solomon explained. Consumers can also apply at the local Medicaid office.

“States that are committed to the Medicaid expansion are seeing some results,” Washington & Lee law professor Timothy Jost said. “Obviously people want health insurance and Medicaid is the cheapest way to get it …when it’s easy to sign up people do.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013...mplementation/

[AntiChrist]

boutons -- even your own side thinks you're bat

[AntiChrist]

Actual ad in Colorado. Lol, "Don't tap into your beer money".

Theses guys went from paying nothing to paying a fine if they don't purchase something they can't even sign up for.

[SA210]

You assholes have your fun now, but ACA is a huge success, the states working to implement are succeeding, and even red states coming to their senses and expanding Medicaid.

the trainwreck won't be ACA, it will Repug electoral results

Amid Obamacare’s Struggles, Government-Run Health Care Shines

Uninsured Americans are having a hard time enrolling in private health insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov. The federal website is slow, unresponsive and at times provides inaccurate information about applicants’ eligibility for federal tax credits. Insurers, meanwhile, say they’re receiving duplicate enrollments, missing data fields, and other errors in the applications that consumers complete.

State-run health care marketplaces in Kentucky, New York, and Washington state appear more adept at quickly fixing problems and enrolling people, but the bright spot of reform isn’t the often-touted health care exchange. In these early days of implementation, the real standout is the government-run Medicaid program that provides health care insurance to Americans under 133 percent of the federal poverty line.

In fact, a survey of news reports from the states that have chosen to expand their Medicaid under the Affordable Care, shows that the program is responsible for thousands and of new enrollments and appears more successful in enrolling uninsured Americans than private insurers operating in the exchanges:

CONNECTICUT: Of the 3,847 individuals who signed up for coverage, 1,857 qualified for Medicaid, 1,897 signed up for plans with one of the three private insurance carriers, and 93 qualified for the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Of the individuals who signed up with private carriers, 772 won’t receive a subsidy and 1,125 will receive a federal subsidy to lower their monthly premium.” [CT News Junkie]

MARYLAND: “About 82,500 people had signed up for Maryland’s expanded Medicaid program as of Friday, more than 30 times the 2,300 Marylander’s who managed to enroll through the state’s
insurance exchange.” [Politico]

OREGON: “Though Oregon’s health insurance exchange is not yet up and running, the number of uninsured is already dropping thanks to new fast-track enrollment for the Oregon Health Plan. The low-income, Medicaid-funded program has already signed up 56,000 new people, cutting the state’s number of uninsured by 10 percent, according to Oregon Health Authority officials.” [The Oregonian]

ILLINOIS: “The sign-up process apparently hasn’t been as difficult for Illinoisans poor enough to qualify for the health-care law’s federally funded expansion of Medicaid eligibility, which the General Assembly approved this year without a single Republican vote. Those applicants are routed to the state’s ABE website for Medicaid.” [The State-Journal Registrar]

WEST VIRGINIA: “More than 50,000 West Virginians have already enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program that was expanded under the Affordable Care Act….But most new Medicaid signups came through an auto-enrollment program DHHR began in the weeks leading up to the opening of the insurance marketplace.” [Charleston Daily Mail]

ARKANSAS: “After two weeks of enrollment, a total of 56,288 adults have told the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) they want to enroll in the “private option” health insurance program, [the state's Medicaid expansion] according to data released Tuesday. From Oct. 1 through Oct. 12, DHS received 1,509 applications through its state-run web portal and 1,119 telephone and paper applications. That is in addition to the 53,660* current DHS clients who have already been determined eligible and returned letters saying they wanted coverage.” [Arkansas Department of Human Services]

Medicaid advocates attribute this success to several factors. The program, which was first signed into law in 1965, has years of experience in connecting low-income beneficiaries to health care benefits and has streamlined and simplified those processes. Medicaid also operates outside of the error-ridden federal exchange system and several states, including Arkansas, Illinois, West Virginia, and Oregon are auto-enrolling eligible individuals who are already receiving state benefits. Arkansas, for instance, sent letters to over 100,000 food stamp recipients, inviting them to apply for Medicaid coverage, along with a a stamped envelope. Almost 50,000 people responded.

Other states like Maryland have better functioning marketplaces (where an uninsured individual can be directed to Medicaid coverage) or robust consumer assistance and simplification procedures that allow for an easy sign-up process, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP) Judy Solomon explained. Consumers can also apply at the local Medicaid office.

“States that are committed to the Medicaid expansion are seeing some results,” Washington & Lee law professor Timothy Jost said. “Obviously people want health insurance and Medicaid is the cheapest way to get it …when it’s easy to sign up people do.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013...mplementation/

Were you one of the ones that sheepishly applauded him on these anti-mandate speeches, or one of the ones that applauds him now??

(It's both, I know)

[Clipper Nation]

at partisan hack Boutons still trying to dis .... give it up, moron, the website is an absolute mess and is proving all the skeptics of your beloved government healthcare right every day

[boutons_deux]

boutons -- even your own side thinks you're bat

I stand refuted and humbled.

[boutons_deux]

at partisan hack Boutons still trying to dis .... give it up, moron, the website is an absolute mess and is proving all the skeptics of your beloved government healthcare right every day

did I say the healthcare.gov site was a success?

ACA is much more than a ed up website.

Have your fun, assholes, ACA is gonna kick butt.

[Chief Brody]

I stand refuted and humbled.

Wouldn't be the first time.

[Nbadan]

Ted Cruz Made Obamacare More Popular

Obamacare Thank You

According to a new CNN/ORC International poll, 53 percent of Americans either support the Affordable Care Act or think it should go further, up from 49 percent who felt that way before the shutdown.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday showed approval for the law also up, even among Republicans.

“Forty six percent now support it while 49 percent oppose it, ” according to The Washington Post‘s Chris Cilizza. “That compares favorably to a 42 to 52 percent negative split last month. Support has rebounded since July among moderate and conservative Democrats, while Republican opposition has also softened.”

[boutons_deux]

The Repugs thought they were slandering, trashing Obama and ACA by calling ACA Obamacare. Barry quickly accepted Obamacare as flattering. ACA will be as eternally popular as FDR's SS, and LBJ's Medicare, Medicaid, VRA.

The rule is very simple: if the 1%/VRWC/Repugs are against something, you absolutely know without a shred of doubt, that the something is good, even great, for the 99%.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

this plan would have been a lot easier if it was simply a single payer plan like every other modern country has, but you know that's never gonna happen because all the dumb liber ians in this thread would start screaming about "Death panels!" and "Big Gubbamint!"

[AntiChrist]

Not even former WH spin doctors can this .




Only people still are diehard leftists like boutons and Nbadan.

[AntiChrist]

Embarrassing

[Th'Pusher]

Embarrassing

I like the way Obama has turned you into a slightly more sophisticated version of SA210...whiney youtoobz without the memes...

Since you're not on board with the ACA, tell us what you like about Paul Ryan's plan to replace traditional fee for service Medicare with a voucher system.

[SA210]

I like the way Obama has turned you into a slightly more sophisticated version of SA210...whiney youtoobz without the memes...

Translation: "My messiah Obama is an idiot and they are pointing it out, I'll just change the subject to "youtubes" bc it makes me angry."


Btw, I like that Obama used youtubes as proof of the sarin attacks in Syria for his bs war

[Th'Pusher]

Translation: "My messiah Obama is an idiot and they are pointing it out, I'll just change the subject to "youtubes" bc it makes me angry."


Btw, I like that Obama used youtubes as proof of the sarin attacks in Syria for his bs war

DarrinS is slightly more sophisticated that you

[SA210]

DarrinS is slightly more sophisticated that you

I see ur still angry about Obama being exposed as a fraud time and time again. Change the subject as much as you can though..I'd be embarrassed if I were a dumb sheep for him too.

[boutons_deux]

How This Oregon Facility Is Effectively Expanding Access To Mental Health Care

NPR reports that the Oregon-area St. Charles Health System is experimenting with its model by bringing together a variety of medical professionals, including primary care doctors and behavioral health therapists, into a single setting. That’s intended to help the patients who need to be treated for both physical and mental health problems, but may be reluctant or unable to follow up a doctor’s visit with a trip to a referred psychologist. And as millions of Americans gain coverage under Obamacare, this tactic could become more widely-used.


Pursuing mental health care is often a burden for those who need it. While close to 20 percent of the U.S. population has a mental health disorder, just over 38 percent of those Americans actually pursue care. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), there’s a variety of reasons for that:




http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013...l-health-care/

otoh, Repugnant red state KS has cut mental health care causing 30% rise in suicides.

[boutons_deux]

Consumer Reports Criticizes Obamacare Opponents Like Sean Hannity

Consumer Reports rebuked conservatives who misconstrued their position on Healthcare.gov, but that didn't stop Sean Hannity from repeating the spin in order to demonize health care reform.
In acknowledgement of the bumpy rollout of Healthcare.gov, the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) online insurance exchange, Consumer Reports spent the first weeks in October detailing updates to the site and guiding readers step-by-step on how to navigate the site's glitches.

The publication advised still-confused readers to hold off briefly on signing up:

If all this is too much for you to absorb, follow our previous advice: Stay away from Healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can. Hopefully that will be long enough for its software vendors to clean up the mess they've made. The coverage available through the marketplaces won't begin until Jan. 1, 2014, at the earliest, and you have until Dec. 15 to enroll if you need insurance that starts promptly.

Conservative pundits pounced on the language. Sean Hannity cited it during an October 21 rant against the ACA on Hannity as evidence that health care reform has been discredited, yelling to guest Ann Coulter, "Consumer Reports, Ann, they're telling people, 'Stay away from the website!' "

Consumer Reports never warned consumers to stay away from the website for good, as Hannity intimates -- only for a few weeks while glitches are ironed out. And the publication isn't happy with the spin conservatives are using to attack the ACA. Also on October 21 -- more than three hours before Hannity cited the publication -- Consumer Reports chastised mischaracterizations of their position.

They wrote:

Pundits opposed to the new health care law and some media outlets have tried to suggest that our coverage of the troubled HealthCare.gov site means that Consumer Reports has turned against the Affordable Care Act.

Not true. Consistent with our mission to inform and protect consumers, particularly in this complicated health care market, our advice remains the same: The best place to buy coverage on your own is through the Health Insurance Marketplace in your state. That guarantees you will get comprehensive coverage, and it's the only way you can lower the cost of your premiums and possibly even your deductibles and copayments.

Doing that online in most states means registering at and shopping through the federal HealthCare.gov.

Hannity has a record of plowing forward with his favorite anti-ACA narratives, regardless of their accuracy, and so his disregard for Consumer Reports' true position is unsurprising.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/10...ponents/196532

[Winehole23]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...rss_ezra-klein