HERE IS WHAT WAS REPORTED NINE MONTHS AGO:
DOCTOR'S ORDERS
SEBELIUS ASKED TO EXPLAIN $2B IN OBAMACARE LOANS
Published: 8 hours ago
Several leading GOP members of Congress are asking Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, under whose watch the Healthcare.gov website rollout has experience one fiasco after another, to explain the $2 billion in taxpayer money loaned to various interests to get health insurance CO-OPs up and running – and whether the taxpayers will get any of that back.
Just when the Obamacare experience appears to be able to go no lower – the website malfunctions, millions of policies are canceled outright, only thousands are able to sign up via online offerings, prices for policies are skyrocketing, and more – come the questions about loans.
“Out of the $1.98 billion awarded to CO-OPs, what amount does HHS expect to be repaid? What is the period of time by which HHS expects these funds to be repaid?” were among the questions presented to Sebelius by Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee; Sen. Lamar Alexander, ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Sen. Michael Enzi, ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families; Sen. Tom Coburn, ranking member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee; and Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Oversight.
The letter noted it’s not the first time members of Congress have asked for information about the HHS program called Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, which has been used to loan that massive sum of money to non-profit health insurance issuers that offer qualified health plans in the individual and small group markets.
Two dozen of those groups have been given the money, the members of Congress note, for startup costs and solvency, “which help CO-OPs meet state insurance solvency and reserve requirements.”
“When we wrote to you in May 2012, we noted that there was little evidence that the CO-OP program would promote greater competition and lower costs in most state insurance markets, and we questioned whether HHS had significantly underestimated the financial risk … The responses to our letter from CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner – which were delivered on your behalf more than nine months after we sent our letter – did little to assure us that HHS or CMS was prepared to address these issue.”
The scanty information that was available was not reassuring, the members of Congress said.
An inspector general’s report, for instance, said “11 of 16 CO-OPs reported estimated startup expenditures … that exceeded the total startup funding ultimately provided,” producing a “risk that CO-OPs could exhaust all startup loan funding before they are fully operational or before they earn sufficient operating income to be self-supporting.”
They also note that at least one of the CO-OP plans was denied a license by the state of Vermont to operation.
With the letter today, the senators want to know whether the government, on behalf of the $2 billion in tax money, monitored licensing processes and how many have or have not been granted that status.
They also want to know when the plans will be operational, and will those plans be within budget?
They also ask for an explanation of those startup costs, what does the “problematic launch” of the healthcare.gov website mean to the operations, have all the required reports been submitted, and are the operations meeting their required milestones.
“Please provide all documents related to (1) the Vermont CO-OP’s failure to obtain an insurance license and (2) HHS’s decision to terminate the Vermont CO-OP loan,” they ask.
Earlier this year, a number of Republican senators asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an independent audit examining the effectiveness of CO-OPs. The members also requested GAO evaluate efforts by CO-Ops related to covering the uninsured, providing lower-cost plans, and repaying loans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Meanwhile, Healthcare cost inflation has fallen from Double Digits to less than 1.5% over the last three years, and in the last CPI Report, were flat.
ReplyDeleteSomething's working.
These Coops ARE part of Obamacare.
DeleteIf you control the books, you can make anything happen.
DeleteNo need for ObamaCare then.
ReplyDeleteThe racist Farmer Fudd speaks,
DeleteIn its house editorial yesterday, USA Today retold the now-accepted story of Detroit’s bankruptcy. Railing on “reckless public pensions,” the newspaper told its readers that the Motor City is “Exhibit A for municipal irresponsibility” because it allegedly “negotiated generous pensions” that were too lavish. In this fable, the average Detroit pensioner’s $19,000 a year stipend — which many get in lieu of Social Security — is somehow defined not only as excessive, but also as the primary cause of the city’s financial problems. Detroit, thus, becomes a weapon in the larger Plot Against Pensions, as the right holds it up as a cautionary tale supposedly showing that A) police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers are greedy and B) America cannot afford to fulfill negotiated agreements to pay public-sector workers a subsistence retirement benefit.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt, there is a tiny grain of truth in this otherwise inaccurate story. Yes, it is true, Detroit is a cautionary tale for governments about financial management and legacy costs. However, it is not a cautionary tale about allegedly greedy employees living the MTV Cribs life off taxpayers. As an eye-opening new report from a former Goldman Sachs executive documents, it is instead yet another cautionary tale about Wall Street’s too-good-to-be-true schemes that end up being, well, too good to be true.
Commissioned by the think tank Demos, the new report out today from former investment banker Wallace Turbeville shows that contrary to the myths about a bloated municipal government overspending on lavish social services, Detroit’s “overall expenses have declined over the last five years” by $419 million thanks to the city “laying off more than 2,350 workers, cutting worker pay, and reducing future healthcare and future benefit accruals for workers.” Today, Turbeville notes that “Detroit has a significantly smaller workforce per capita than comparable cities.” Yet, those draconian cuts still left the city with an annual $198 million shortfall because of three big problems — none of which has anything to do with supposedly greedy public workers and their allegedly overly “generous” pension . . . .
Pensioners? Naw. Try Goldman Sachs
"First and foremost, Detroit suffered from an unprecedented loss of public revenue. As I’ve previously reported, this was brought on by many factors. The most obvious of those were the recession and free-trade-related deindustrialization, both of which decimated the city’s manufacturing job base and drove population out of the city. On top of that, the state of Michigan reduced its revenue sharing with the city."
Delete---
Yep, it was all free trade and bad loans: Unions lavish spending requiring large loans and corrupt govt had nothing to do with the decimation of the manufacturing workforce.
Even as Domestic Car Manufacturers, Nissan, BMW, Toyota, and Boeing Aircraft were setting up shops in free labor states to the south.
Nothing like $283 Million (and counting) on a new stadium to balance the books. Maybe they should name it Goldman Sachs Stadium.
Nice diversion from Affordable Care Miracle Sweeping the nation, though.
DeleteRemember when it was called Obamacare?
Good that Obama continues to shovel new money to his cronies on Wall Street.
DeleteMaybe he can give them enough that they'll feel satisfied and let Detroit off easy.
.
DeleteThe DEMOS report is pretty much true. Especially the parts about the loss of jobs and the revenue sharing cuts. However, DEMOS is a liberal think tank and one of its prime objectives is to preserve workers pensions.
Living here, I can tell you some unions deserve to be getting the pensions payouts they had expected to get. Some of the pensions that were negotiated were unreasonable. However, the biggest abuses of the pension plans are by those at the top of city (and county government). Some of those packages are currently under review by the Feds as part of the corruption investigations in both Detroit and Wayne County.
.
Oh, for a platinum parachute!
DeleteThis will get interesting:
ReplyDeleteSuspected US drone targets Islamic seminary in Pakistan
November 21, 2013 1:06AM ET
Attack kills six people including two suspected members of the Haqqani network, say officials
A suspected U.S. drone carried out a missile strike in Pakistan's northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa early on Thursday, killing six people, Pakistani police and security officials said.
The missiles hit an Islamic seminary in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that was known to be visited by senior members of the Afghan Haqqani network, an ally of the Taliban and one of the most feared armed groups battling U.S troops in neighboring Afghanistan, the officials said.
Two members of the Haqqani network were killed in the strike, according to Hangu police chief Iftikhar Ahmad. An intelligence source told Reuters separately that Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of armed group, was spotted at the seminary two days earlier.
The two dead fighters were named as Mufti Hameedullah and Mufti Ahmad Jan. A local police officer said three students were among those killed in the attack.
Pakistan publicly opposes U.S. drone strikes, stating that the toll on civilian life is too high and that it violates Pakistani sovereignty, although in private officials admit the government broadly supports the program.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is considered a "settled area" of Pakistan, meaning it is generally more populated and developed than the tribal region.
It was one of the first drone attacks to occur outside Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border since the strikes began in the country in 2004 and could increase tension between Islamabad and Washington.
A draft text of the agreement dated July 25th, 2013, does not specify how many U.S. troops will be allowed to remain in Afghanistan, likely giving the U.S. unilateral power to determine this number. Furthermore, the document does not prohibit the U.S. from using Afghan territory to launch drone strikes against nearby Pakistan, The Washington Post points out.
DeleteThe U.S. has framed the raids and continued troop presence as part of an ongoing special operations force to hunt down "terrorist" cells. “The Parties acknowledge that continued US military operations to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates may be appropriate and agree to continue their close cooperation and coordination toward that end,” the July 25th draft agreement states.
Yet critics charge that this is just occupation by another name. "The 'counter-insurgency' and paramilitary tactics employed in Afghanistan that require fewer ground forces are also being developed for use by armed forces and militarized police units all over the world, including in the U.S., making resistance to the U.S.'s latest strategy for global dominance imperative," said Heinz.
They really so have their head up their ass.
ReplyDeleteImagine two known IRA bombers, fund raising at an Irish Catholic College in the US, being bombed by an English missile, killing both and four American students.
ReplyDeleteThese pompous pieces of garbage never apologize; and it's really starting to get old. The government has become what it sought out to destroy. They're terrorizing the people of the world with drones; and terrorizing their own people with fear mongering and surveillance.
DeleteI'm kind of glad they caught the guys in Kentucky with the Stinger and RPGs.
DeleteThe Iraqi, now from Kentucky, killed four troops from Pennsylvania in Iraq with an IED. The military had his fingerprints from a cell phone used to detonate the bomb. They investigated him because he was bragging about it. I saw nothing about him having RPGs and a Stinger missile.
Deletethere are photos all over the net...
Deletehttp://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/FBI-releases-new-images-from-Kentucky-terrorism-case-232739391.html
DeleteNattie Dresser!
Delete.
DeleteStraight police work.
No NSA involvement.
No drones (yet).
.
The FBI sold him the weapons.
DeleteI think we did that in Mexico as well.
DeleteDeuce Thu Nov 21, 09:40:00 AM EST
DeleteI think we did that in Mexico as well.
We are learning. In the Mexican mess we let them keep the weapons.
What we have not learned is how to keep them out of the country.
Keep in mind, Healthcare is a $2.7 Trillion piece of the U.S. economy.
ReplyDeleteA double-digit increase in that number is, at minimum - by definition, $270 Billion.
Lowering the rate of increase to One percent is a savings of $243 Billion / Year.
Soon only Rufus and Obama will be making false promises about the savings to come under the ACA.
DeleteHHS TO SPEND 7 BILLION TO REDUCE SPENDING UNDER OBAMACARE
DeleteThe Department of Health and Human Services revealed on Wednesday a plan to spend up to $7 billion to find ways to reduce spending under the Affordable Care Act while maintaining or improving the quality of health care. The solicitation for bids for this wide-ranging project appeared today on the Federal Business Opportunities website:
They had to spend it to save it, Rufus.
Soon the savings will come rolling in.
:)
DeleteRufus will support it even after Obama gives up.
Maybe we'll have the World's First and Only Multibillion Dollar Website.
DeleteTo spend $2 Billion, or $7 Billion to save $240 Billion?
DeleteYeah, boy; that don't pencil out does it?
:-)
Delete(to the tune of "When the Savings Come Rolling In")
.
DeleteRufus will suddenly be against it when Obama and the Dems eventually start calling it Bushcare.
.
Sylvia Browne, the psychic who was able to tell people when they would die, died unexpectedly today.......
ReplyDeleteMy pet snake ate it's tail.
DeleteShoulda kept goin'
DeleteRussian woman bungee jumps without cord.....dies unexpectedly.....as you might expect.....Fox News
DeleteThose white Russians are sure stupid
DeleteWhen I fight gravity, gravity always wins.
DeleteObamacare dissected:
ReplyDeleteNo-one can dictate that the American people MUST buy something against their will — That’s Unconstitutional, and subject to charges of treason by the Government Official (in this case the President) for trying to enforce it!
——————————————————————————————–
As a pessimist I’ll state the following (which may seem optimistic for the eventual repealing of ACA, better described as ‘ObamaCaresLess’ in it’s true meaning as: Dictatorial Health Enforcement by the Obama Gov on all American Citizens — to those that expect that patriotic Republicans will win in 2014, and not the Neocons supported by the GOP Establishment):
1) The Young Healthy Bodies of 7,000,000 (7 Million) Americans that need to be thrown as sacrificial lambs to make this infamy work in the first year won’t even approach a fraction of that NEED — Barrack Hussein and Patsies tried going to Universities to get healthy young students to enroll, only to get mostly BOOED and laughed out of college auditoriums (he guessed wrong that college students have been dumb-ed up enough to accept his idiotic plan)!
I’ll state that Hussein Obama will be lucky to get 1/10th of the needed young, healthy bodies — 700,000 at most! He may think the people are dumb, but the healthy young people are nowdays most aware of where this nation is heading — Dictatorship — and I’ll wager that the final number that fall for Obama’s trap are 70,000…a JOKE of a Number exposing the rejection of his dictatorial desires, that’s 1/100th of his Majesty’s Clairvoyance, which will make Obama an even bigger JOKE!
Regardless how few young healthy bodies register — anything under 3 million will throw this socialist scheme into unsustainable turmoil. Barrack Hussein will then have to attack others to make it work. The less healthy sacrificial lambs subscribe, the more the “Health Care” Dictator will have to squeeze the rest!
This will cause major problems for the Democrooks, come election time. Especially since by November 2014, expect the cancellations to individuals to become well over 17,000,000 Americans to have their insurances canceled because of Obamacare (to make a comparison, 17 million people is like the WHOLE Nation of Holland — men, women and children — getting Nixed)!
———————————————————————————————-
2) Come 2014, all employers will be subject to compliance with this infamy (or pay penalties)!!!
The end result will be that even more Americans will lose their current plans — as many as another 35,000,000 (to make a comparison, 35 million people is like the WHOLE Nation of Canada — men, women and children — getting Nixed)!
This will keep on coming month after month in 2014 — how many employers will decide to pay the penalty and not provide their employees with health insurance (in order to stay alive in business, and if their employees leave because of that, won’t most of them go out of business)?!
And how many employers will risk increasing their employees premiums astronomically, in order to comply with Obama’s Dictates (hoping their employees won’t quit, thus put them out of business, because the workers’ final paycheck is so small that they can’t make ends meet)!
The near destruction of ALL Self-employed and Small Business seems to be the end result of Obamacare. And I’ll state that that was HIS GOAL — the destruction of what America is all about: Private Proprietorship and Small Business — the BACK BONE OF AMERICA’S INDUSTRY!!!
——————————————————————————————
The above shows CLEARLY that what Obama is doing is Unconstitutional — and since he swore to defend the US Constitution when taking Office, that makes him Perjurer of the oath he took!
By breaking the Oath to Preserve and Defend the US Constitution, Barrack Hussein Obama is GUILTY of TREASON — as such he should not only be Impeached, but send to Jail for Life!
Read more at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2013/11/obama-meets-with-senate-dems-over-obamacare-fears/#iVCXUICEEdpWz4JA.99
The fever is high in this one. :)
DeleteObama's a mo' f''er that's for sure.
DeleteRubbish and Horseradish!
DeleteRoberts said it's a tax.
...and ONE HUNDRED MILLION Small Business Policies alone will be canceled next year.
Obama should be given a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
DeleteBy Obama
"and ONE HUNDRED MILLION Small Business Policies alone will be canceled next year"
DeleteRight.
This disaster hasn't even begun yet.
Though to be fair I read it was estimated to be somewhere between 70 million and 100 million.
LOL, it is like the old Soviet Politburo with them giving each other medals and so proudly accepting them.
DeleteRufus IIThu Nov 21, 05:58:00 AM EST
DeleteThe fever is high in this one. :)
Delete
You can’t make this stuff up. LOL LOL
And Magnificent Plans stretching well out into the future.
DeleteSo that we all can be certain of what is to come, and how much better things will be.
100 Million "small business policies" in a country of 320 Million.
DeleteQuite the trick.
Includes the wife and kids.
Delete...and the stunned parrot.
DeleteSBA Estimated 119,917,000 employed by Small Businesses in 2006.
DeleteADP Estimated 113,475,000 in 2006.
(Automatic Data Processing)
Find the number of "small business insurance policies" and get back to us.
DeleteDear Professor Exacto:
DeleteEmployee Policies of People who WORK for small businesses.
A new analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall -- right before the mid-term elections.
The next round of cancellations and premium hikes is expected to hit employees, particularly of small businesses.
While the administration has tried to downplay the cancellation notices hitting policyholders on the individual market by noting they represent a relatively small fraction of the population, the swath of people who will be affected by the shakeup in employer-sponsored coverage will be much broader.
As to the "wife & kids".the average 'household' in the US is 2.46 people.
DeleteNot all of whom are 'married with kids' households.
So, there are not 100 million 'small business policies'.
It is a numeric impossibility that 246 million, of the 330 million of US are covered by 'small business policies', especially when 47 million o US were not covered by ANY policy, at all
Unemployment won't be going up though. The Census Bureau will take care of that.
ReplyDeleteI can’t stop laughing.
ReplyDeleteMass Senate votes for $11.00 Minimum Wage.
ReplyDeletearticle
100 Million "small business policies" in a country of 320 Million.
ReplyDeleteQuite the trick.
See DougThu Nov 21, 06:55:00 AM EST, above.
See "Rufus" above.
DeleteMexican standoff.
DeleteSee "Doug" above.
DeleteNot even cloe. The Mexicans all side with Rufus.
DeleteOnly a fuckin' racist Farmer Fudd would not see that.
Only a racist Fudd would tell us that 1.8% participation by the slave owning Indians is a higher incidence of occurrence than 10% of South Africans.
13 million slaves and only 252,000 people speaking English as a First Language, that makes India an Anglophile nation, according to the racist Fudd.
While South Africa cannot be considered an Anglophile country, when 10% of the people there speak English as a First Language!
How can this be .... one wonders?
Well,, the 'white' people are leaving South Africa ... that is the reasoning proffered, by the racist Farmer Fudd.
You see, when black people speak English, it really does not count., They being "Brutish Children", according to Farmer Fudd's demigod, Winston Churchill.
Policies canceled are policies canceled, no matter how you slice and dice them.
Delete...except in RufusWorld, where the Community Organizer always tells the truth, and can do no wrong.
Deletenumbers are the numbers, Doug.
Will many policies be cancelled, sure.
Will 100 million 'small business policies be cancelled, not a chance.
There are not that many 'small business policies' in the market place, to begin with.
Hyperbole and exaggeration unde cut the case you are trying to make.
Even when you have a solid argument, thhe use of hyperbole and exaggeration invalidate your arguments.
.
DeleteI see one of the blogs libs has started early with his racist rants this morning.
.
Yep, it is being "Called Out"
DeleteWill be reading of it, for quite a while.
Until the racist says something else stupid to focus upon.
May stay on it until the wind blows the stench away,as it riffles 600,000 American graves ...
He is following me around. Does it daily.
DeleteNo one listens to him.
There used to be a guy in Lewiston who walked around waving his arms in the air looking fierce all the time, all day long, every day.
I asked a cop once, 'is he dangerous'.
'No, he's just crazy', the cop said. 'Can't get him institutionalized'.
Sad situation.
Whacky is the same way.
DeleteYou can't blame anyone else, ... , no one but yourself.
You have to make your own choices and live every agonizing day with the consequences of those choices.”
Farmer Fudd, the raping racist speaks!
DeleteThen, I will be praying for fair wind.
DeleteBy the way to join the Anglosphere that the man spoke about a group doesn't have to speak English. A group needs those institutions that first arose in England and English lands.
DeleteThings like common law, juries, voting, rights, peaceful changes of government, limits on government, those type things.
*******
Whacky is frustrated early this morining.
"Only a fuckin' racist Farmer Fudd would not see that.:
He loves the sounds of those f words.
:) Kinda humorous.
And Mexican standoff is not racist. Just another term for a stubborn Swedish deadlock. Which isn't racist either, though not as well known.
The British abolished Slavery over 100 years ago, Farmr Fudd.
DeleteIt is still alive and doing well in India.
That is the "English Way"?
I do not think so.
You are a fucking racist pig, Farmer Fudd.
The objection to South Africa was that only 10% of its population spoke Englih as a first language.
In India that number is 1.8%
Your bullshit stinks, you fuckin' racist.
You cannot wiggle out of reality,
.
DeleteMay stay on it until the wind blows the stench away,as it riffles 600,000 American graves ...
The wind can't blow it away as long as you keep blowing it out your ass.
.
DeleteBreathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day's useless energy spent
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteGraeme EdgeThu Nov 21, 10:49:00 AM EST
Delete"Breathe deep the gathering gloom"
Someone had been into his pints for that one.
Stare close the gathering gloom
Palestinians are now murdering their Egyptian Brothers in the Sinai.
ReplyDeleteThings are getting interesting.
Remember the Moslem Brotherhood is now HIDING out in Gaza and waging their war from there...
Car bomb kills 10 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai
BY SHADIA NASRALLA AND YOUSRI MOHAMED
CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt Wed Nov 20, 2013 5:39am EST
(Reuters) - Ten Egyptian soldiers were killed by a car bomb in the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, one of the deadliest attacks there since al Qaeda-inspired militants stepped up violence following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.
State television reported a suicide bomber carried out the assault near the coastal town of El-Arish, on the road to the border with the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. A military source said the explosive was set off by remote control.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. But Islamist militants have kept up attacks in the desert peninsula in the face of a major military operation launched this summer to reassert state control.
The army pledged to continue "its war on black terrorism".
"The precious blood of our sons only increases our determination to purify Egypt and to protect its people from violence and vengeful terrorism," the military spokesman said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
Thirty-five people were wounded in the attack, security officials and state media said. The soldiers were traveling by bus in a convoy on the road to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
Gaza and Egypt are like Taiwan and China. Who are the rightful leaders of the largest arab nation? Except that Gaza aint Taiwan (lol)
Hamas is part and parcel of the Moslem Brotherhood.
Suicide bombing, murder, kneecapping all part of the playbook....
No Egyptian effort to seal off Gaza has been successful. Thousands of tons of advanced weapons have been smuggled into Gaza from Libya are now being used not against Israel, but against Egypt.
This is why Egypt will not rescue Gaza with fuel and funds. Hamas/Moslem Brotherhood.
I wonder if Israel would pitch a fit if Egypt decided to clean out Gaza? No Israeli complaint has come from Egypt's up arming so far.
DeleteBetter still would be a joint operation by Egypt and Israel, Operation Ramses. Twenty-four hours notice would be given to the Hamas government. During that time all weapons, ammunition, and explosives would be surrendered. Additionally, all hiding places, either above or below grade, would be clearly marked by small red flags.Then, a foot by foot search would follow, taking the French Commune as a model, i.e. all malefactors would be summarily executed. Those wishing to leave Gaza would be unhampered.
DeleteCyber security experts told Congress today that the Obama administration should take Healthcare.gov offline until privacy vulnerabilities are addressed and detection capabilities are improved.
ReplyDeleteDavid Kennedy, a so-called “white hat hacker” who tests security flaws by hacking online systems to help identify weaknesses, warned that there are critical flaws and exposures “currently on the website that hackers could use to extract sensitive information.”
Anyone doubt that they will just have to trash this thing and start all over?
Obviously, it is easier to organize a community and never use the Village People to design a website.
ReplyDeleteIf The Village People are a Beatnik Band of Seniors they can be given Federal Stipends for entertaining the AARP Crowds, however.
DeleteWait til you see what happens in California that Rufus touts so highly:
DeleteThe Guy in charge has never had a real job, but is a far lefty who created failed government policies before and always fell up.
With 250 Navigators and 1,500 attendees at a Demo, 10 Applications were completed.
Applied, but not yet granted policies.
"Covered California" it's called.
Best bet is to Duck and Cover.
You bring up another era, Doug.
DeleteWhen we promoted fear, as a matter of Federal policy.
We are in a ...
Brave New World
better get used to it.
The Answer My Friend, is Blowin in the Wind
Delete"How many times can a man turn his head
Deleteand pretend that he just doesn't see?"
Rufus has already exceeded infinity.
The Mustache and Goatee have come and gone:
DeleteHow many years longer must we endure the Hollywood Wannabees 3 day growth look?
Until the economy improves and they can afford to buy more razors.
DeleteThe first line item for budget cuts ...
Razors
An easy item to cut back on.
ReplyDeleteA member of Anonymous Indonesia said the group carried out the cyber attacks
Anonymous has attacked the websites of the Australian police and Reserve Bank amid an ongoing row over reports Canberra spied on Jakarta officials.
Cyber attacks
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australia's Reserve Bank confirmed that their sites were victims of a cyber attack on Wednesday night.
"We have had an attack on the open source website," AFP Commissioner Tony Negus said.
"I am not sure who is the perpetrator but we are investigating that."
Australian police said that the site was "not connected to secret networks" and no sensitive information had been compromised.
"These attacks are irresponsible, and will not influence government policy,"
the police added in a statement.
The Reserve Bank also said its website was "the subject of a denial of service attack".
"The bank has protections for its website, so the bank website remains secure," a spokesman added.
Australian media identified a Twitter user who described herself as a member of Anonymous Indonesia and appeared to claim responsibility for the attack.
The user wrote: "I am ready for this war!" and said she would conduct further attacks unless there was an apology from the Australian government for the alleged spying.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-2502926
"Under the health care law, businesses with fewer than 50 workers do not have to provide health coverage. But if they do, the policies will still have to meet the benefit standards set by ObamaCare.
ReplyDeleteAs reported by AEI's Scott Gottlieb, some businesses got around this by renewing their policies before the end of 2013. But the relief is temporary, and they are expected to have to offer in-compliance plans for 2015. According to Gottlieb, that means beginning in October 2014 the cancellation notices will start to go out.
Then, businesses will have to either find a new plan -- which could be considerably more expensive -- or send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges.
For workers, their experience could mirror that of the 5 million or so on the individual market who already received cancellation notices because their plans did not meet new standards under the Affordable Care Act. "
"The study also showed 27 percent of franchise businesses, and 12 percent of non-franchise businesses, have replaced full-time workers with part-time employees. "
DeleteThe Affordable Care Economy.
increasing productivity, efficency and lowering costs.
DeleteAll 'Good' things, Doug.
But the numbers that are listed, they do not add up.
So is it that the reporter is exaggerating the number, or that his 'source' is biased, or that the combination, source and reporter ...
They are just partisan bullshitters
One full time worker ..
DeleteOr two part-timers ...
Which is better, for the most people?
If one full timer can be replaced by one part timer, that is an improvement, for the business owner, is it not?
Delete“There is one rule for the industrialist and that is:
Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.”
DougThu Nov 21, 09:14:00 AM EST
Delete"The study also showed 27 percent of franchise businesses, and 12 percent of non-franchise businesses, have replaced full-time workers with part-time employees. "
Just wait until ATM ordering kiosks are the rage in fast food restaurants. This should enable small businesses to do away with 15-20% of all work force.
This is a good thing as "Martha" would say...
In Japan? Fat Food Vending Machines are all the rage, just like the kind America had in the 1940's, back filled by the workers, customers paying and taking from the front...
All to reduce labor costs.
"not fat food" fast food
DeleteHenry FordThu Nov 21, 09:46:00 AM EST
Delete“There is one rule for the industrialist and that is:
Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.”
This is the same Henry Ford honored personally by Adolf Hitler with a chancellor's medal and author of THE INTERNATIONAL JEW. Wow!
The entire Health Care industry is a "Ticing Time Bomb"
ReplyDeleteThe rampant inflation that we were experiencing, in health care costs ... unsustainable.
18% of the US economy, dedicated to Health Care ...
Unproductive and unsustainable.
We had to ...
"Do Something"
The Republicans rejected Nixon's proposal, rejected Clinton's proposal, and were overwhelmed when they tried to reject Obama's.
No one to blame for that debacle, Doug, but GW Bush.
There is no skating away from that reality.
Then, the management style of the President, the 'Delegater in Chief', did not serve him well.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he was bored, disinterested, or in over his head.
At this point it does not make much difference.
I'd have thought Obama would have put Mr Google on the ACA web site development team.
That he did not, just another illustration of the disinterest in the nuts and bolts of governing often displayed by Mr Obama.
Signs of deflation are becoming rampant, the FED better start pumping money into the economy!
ReplyDeleteWholesale Prices in U.S. Fell in October for a Second Month
Bloomberg -
Wholesale prices in the U.S. fell in October for a second month, reflecting cheaper energy costs. The 0.2 percent drop in the producer-price index followed a 0.1 percent decline the prior month, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.
Was a nice pleasant thread here until that Whacky fellow showed up.
ReplyDeleteHe'll be here until midnight again.
Passing gas like a 1,000 hamsters, as the Lady put it.
business calls, out
.
ReplyDeleteNo one to blame for that debacle, Doug, but GW Bush.
Gee, it got here faster than I thought it would but still it did come from one of the usual suspects.
Lord.
:)
.
Backing up Doug, Bob and others -
ReplyDeleteHEALTH CARE
Second wave of health plan cancellations looms
Published November 20, 2013FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/20/second-wave-health-plan-cancellations-looms/
That Saudi Arabian 'fox", the one that captured Farmer Fudd's attention and admiration
DeleteH
Fudd, he does fit the "Muslim" profile.
He is a misogynist and a hater.
A racist and a rapist, he exemplifies the ...
. . . . ."Evil That Med Do" . . . . . .
.
Delete'The 'Evil That Med Do'?
You talking the ACA 'Death Panel'?
.
No, I am speaking of starving 3 million people, to death, in India, because they ...
Delete"Breed Like Rabbits".
You see, Quirk, it is a pervasive mentality, amongst the Fudds, that their "Goals" supersede real people.
Especially when people can be dismissed, as being "Brutish Children"
When 12 million people in slavery can be dismissed as a trifle.
That is the "Evil That Men Do"
That Farmer Fudd applauds.
When government can do that, and be supported by the Fudd ...
Then the idea of a "Death Panel" that appropriates limited economic resources .
Categorizes and prioritizes, well .....
That Is merely Standard Operating Procedure.
Merely a riffling wind across the Prairie.
Delete“Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself - that is my doctrine.”
Cancellations to continue - Death Panels Meeting Now
ReplyDeleteA Cancellation With Your Name On It
Three Step Cancellation Program
Step Three: Cancel you
Step three in the Obamacare Cancellation Program will eliminate the most costly element in the whole healthcare system: you, collectively known as We The Patients.
ACA's Independent Payment Advisory Board -- IPAB, Sarah Palin's "Death Panel," recently renamed HTAC, Health Technology Assessment Commission -- is meeting right now in secret (if they are following the law). In 2014, they will declare some medical treatments Cost Effective and others Not Cost Effective. The latter, obviously the expensive ones, will not be authorized for payment and therefore not available to 99% of the American populace.
So, if you are a member of We The Patients with a very expensive medical problem, especially if you are older (however defined by IPAB), you will be cancelled, meaning you will not get treatment and you will die. Whether it is some non-famous 71-year old (not Dick Cheney) who needs a heart transplant; a 60-year old who needs dialysis at $10,000/month; or a 50-year old with lymphoma who needs chemotherapy that only has a 75% chance of curing the patient, you die. You are too expensive. You get cancelled.
The Obamacare Three-Step Cancellation Program is now complete. Thank you for believing in President Obama's signature reform plan for our healthcare system. His legacy appreciates your continued support, even from the grave.
Deane Waldman MD MBA is the author of The Cancer In Healthcare, Adjunct Scholar for the Rio Grande Foundation, a member of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange Board of Directors, and Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology and Decision Science. He can be reached at www.deanewaldman.com.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/11/obamacares_three-step_cancellation_program.html
Exactly in a "Sane" system the government would not spend $250,000 to replace Farmer Fudd' hip.
DeleteIt was not "Life Threatening", but still the taxpayer ponied up and spent the money.
Replacing Fudd's hip, cost someone else their life.
Does that make Farmer Fudd a "Killer"?
Or just a blood sucking leech upon the body politic, another of the welfare queens
I prefer the elegant brevity of "Death Panel". "T4" would be even better, but it has already been taken.
Delete.
DeleteThe obvious alternative is for the government (perhaps Planned Parenthood or Acorn or one of its offspring could handle the details) to set up a Home a la Soylent Green where the sick and/or just weary can go and listen to an auditory/visual montage of classical music (or Lady GaGa if they prefer) and watch squirrels, and puppies, and nature scenes as they slowly sink into a drug induced death.
.
Time is everything, Quirk, the process cannot take more than the usual doctor's visit, say, 12 minutes. That 12 minutes must include removal of the corpse and set up for the next "patient". "Yes, we can"!
DeleteG. W. Bush is THE anti-Christ (if the were a Christ).
ReplyDeleteThere would have been no Democratic majority, if not for the majesty of GW Bush's handling of the government. from 2004 until 2008.
ReplyDeleteThe complete "wipe out' that caught GW from his 'blind side', it came straight a him.
.
ReplyDeleteGood lord, rat, you are THE complete idiot.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
Take the red pill, son. Come back to reality.
.
A rabbi whose good friend became the pope
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/rabbi-whose-good-friend-became-pope-060646630.html
When the government of the United Sates protects and supports those that disenfranchise and imprison 4 million Palestinians in ghettos and reserves …
ReplyDeleteWhen the government of the United States traverses the world, striking at "enemies" with little or no concern for the 'collateral damage' involved.
When the government of the United States imprisons its own citizens without charge, bail or trial.
When the government "locks down" an entire metropolitan area, to search for an uncommon criminal, a murderous bomber.
When the government of United States can take a citizen's very life and commander it for reasons that suit the government's purposes.
Well then, of what additional significance is another Committee, in the medical system infrastructure?
Call it a "Death Panel" or call it an "Advisory Panel", use any Newspeak term you desire.
Regardless of its title, it is a trifle, a breeze that does not even riffle the sands of time.
desert rat ran his very own Death Panels down there in Central America.
Deletedesert rat stole 350 prime bottom land acres from the injuns.
DeleteEd said, When the government of the United Sates protects...
DeleteThat "protects" thing is both irksome and untrue. You cannot name one soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine killed or injured while protecting Israel.
The US Liberty, allen.
DeleteBeyond that, the Patriot missiles he US has deployed ...
....to Israel ...
To PROTECT Israel.
That you would dismiss the US putting its troops in harms way, to protect Israel ...
Typical of the ingratitude that permeates the Israeli faction.
The $110 BILLION dollars the US has GIFTED to Israel, to PROTECT it, by arming it to the teeth.
DeleteThat does not count with the Israel faction.
They are the most ungrateful bunch I have ever encountered.
Treasure is not enough for the Israel faction
DeleteThey want our BLOOD!
Panama Ed Thu Nov 21, 01:02:00 PM EST
DeleteThe US Liberty, allen.
I will take this foolishness as a "No".
Panama EdThu Nov 21, 01:09:00 PM EST
DeleteTreasure is not enough for the Israel faction
They want our BLOOD!
You silly man, we just want you to butt out.
Not a single sailor, soldier, airman, or Marine has been killed or wounded protecting Israel. Once again, you have let your mouth outrun your brain.
Delete:-)
desert rat is crazy.
DeletePay no attention to what he says.
He likes to provoke and catch attention.
He is one lonely, sad individual.
He needs help.
He needs mental health care.
Gotta be the worst bunch of socialists, ever.
ReplyDeleteSince 2010, Medicare costs/per enrollee are Flat, and
Medicaid Costs/per enrollee are Down.
As for "quality of care?" Hospital Readmissions are dropping like a rock.
Republicans don't look at this page
.
DeleteEveryone reads an article and assumes what he wants. But then remember this is from the .White House Council on Economic Advisorsand is printed out on the White House Blog. What would one expect it to say?
The study starts out with the comment
Recent data show that health care spending and prices are growing at their slowest rates in decades; it appears that something has changed for the better. While this marked slowdown likely has many causes, and these causes are not yet fully understood, the available evidence suggests that the ACA is contributing to these trends...
but then goes on to imply that the ACA is responsible for mom and apple pie and all good things despite the fact that it hasn't been fully implemented yet..
This isn't to say there isn't some good that has already been brought about by the ACA but two years doesn't create a definable trend and little has been proved at this point. It will be interesting to see where we are a year from now.
Questions that need to be asked whose answer is 'assumed' by the White House study but not 'proven by it.
- Is the ACA responsible for the slowdown in the rate of healthcare price inflation
or
As the Kaiser Foundation study indicates, they've looked at the current slowdown in healthcare costs and estimated that 77% of the decline in the price of healthcare can be explained by changes in the broader economy (ie by the recession).
- Is the current lower price inflation sustainable
or
Once the economy picks up, will it return to previous patterns. In 2009, healthcare spending represented about 17% of GDP. In 2010, it represented about 18% of GDP. A Bipartisan Policy Group study predicts that by 2020 it will represent 20% of GDP.
Looking at the individual split on the costs:
Private Insurance. The study didn't look at the rise in individual costs. Is the reduction in the private sector mostly the result of lower rates or do they come from the costs passed onto individuals in the form of higher copays and deductibles?
Medicaid: Are cuts in Medicaid costs the result of the ACA or the result of the massive cutbacks many of the states have been forced to make in the program given the recession and the cutback in funds from D.C.
Medicare: Supporters of the ACA credit ACA policy for cutting down the number of return visits to the hospital, purporting that changes brought about by ACA have reduced costs and improved quality. Perhaps true, on the other hand, the $700 billion cuts in Medicare to help pay for ACA and the subsequent cuts in payments to doctors and service providers as well as the penalties the ACA imposes on those same service providers may affect whether the service providers encourage patients, even those that need it, to return. Likewise, we have to ask whether increased fees, deductibles, and copays played a part in keeping individual away.
The White House assumes quality of care is improving because of hospital readmissions. We will have to wait to see if the opposite isn't the case.
As for the macro cost of healthcare it is difficult to see how cost inflation could remain low when the economy finally recovers when the CBO estimates based on the data they are given that the cost of Obamacare will be twice what it was originally projected to be.
In the end, each individual will be able to judge the effect of the ACA on him and his. I have an HBO for my wife through my former employer, a major manufacturer, and we have the 'enhanced plan' rather than the 'standard plan'. Our monthly payments will be going up 8% in 2014. Copays on drugs, already substantial, will double. Our experience, though rather steep, doesn't come close to the increases in the 'standard' HMO plan or the other, non HMO, plans the company offers.
The rest of the report talking about the ACA resulting in increased employment and higher wages is just plain silly or outright lies.
.
When desert rat opens his mouth gas comes out his ass.
ReplyDeleteWhen desert rat gets frustrated he tells lies, swears, uses the f word incessantly, issues death threats and drools on his shoes.
Deletedesert rat has done this so often now that no one pays any attention to him anymore and six here think he needs mental health care.
DeleteIncoming phone call gotta run later
ReplyDeleteSenate just passed the nuclear option. Harry Reid has made a foolish mistake.
ReplyDeleteThe Dems will rue the day.
Delete52 Democrats wielded unbridled power today and changed a centuries old Senate rule. They should have recalled that absolute power corrupts absolutely, because one day they will face a triumphant Republican majority which will rule absolutely.
DeleteOn every occasion when the option is used the Reps should walk out en masse.
ReplyDeleteWho would notice?
DeleteRufus,
DeleteOne day, what goes around comes around. Each time they walk out, they should recite that. Down the road, it will be noticed.
That day might come soon, like next year.
DeleteAbout 15 million people currently purchase health insurance on their own, using the individual market. And about 70 percent of them -- about 10.8 million people -- will qualify for the financial help buying coverage under the health-care law, according to a new study out Thursday from Families USA.
ReplyDeleteTheir analysis suggests that many Americans receiving cancellation notices would receive assistance through the health overhaul, either by qualifying for subsidies to purchase a private plan or through Medicaid, the public program that serves low-income Americans.
Whether they know about that financial help is a different question, as many have had trouble using HealthCare.gov to figure out how much insurance would cost under the Affordable Care Act. And the study does not include information on whether those subsides would lead to lower premiums for shoppers buying in the health law's new exchanges.
Click here to subscribe.
Click here to subscribe.
"There's no question that when people get better coverage it is likely to mean that they are going to pay somewhat higher premiums," Families USA executive director Ron Pollack said. "You don't get anything for nothing. But if you're eligible for subsides that are going to significantly reduce your premiums, that could more than make up for an increase in . . . . . . .
a few numbers
But I want my old policy and my old doctor. Will men with guns come if I persist in refusing "ObamaCare?"?
Delete.
DeleteThe liberal wet dream.
We know what is good for you and you are sure as hell going to get it whether you can afford it or not.
(Of course, being elitist and thinking ourselves elite, the same rules won't apply to us.)
.
.
DeleteThe individual market is small, covering about 5.7 percent of non-elderly Americans.
What the hell does that mean?
It is small. A mere nit. 18,000,000 million people.
When does the cut off come for becoming 'elderly'?
.
.
DeleteAnd don't worry about the cost.
The government pays for it.
It's free.
.
Post-monetarist Fed is sleepwalking into a trap (technical)
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100026095/post-monetarist-fed-is-sleepwalking-into-a-trap-technical/
Here is a path desert rat will never walk. It is for the initiated only -
ReplyDeletehttp://unurthed.com/2007/05/24/the-navajo-pollen-path/
My niece and I are going to commission two Navajo rugs woven in this design.
The imagery/symbol system is from here country, India.
One wonders how it came to the Navajo.
desert rat would not appreciate this question.
He would rather talk horse shoes.
her country
DeleteHe would rather use profanity daily and lie and slander and threaten on a blog than think about such things, which are not for him.
DeleteAt the beginning of the Pollen Path there is a sign that reads:
ReplyDeleteNO PROFESSIONAL ASSHOLES ALLOWED
"More than half a million elderly people are being admitted to hospital with conditions which could have been avoided if they had not been neglected by GPs, care homes and social services, regulators have said."
ReplyDelete.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10465586/Neglect-of-elderly-fuels-500000-hospital-admissions.html
Neglect of elderly fuels 500,000 hospital admissions
Elderly people are being routinely admitted to hospital because they did not receive basic care they needed in time, a report finds
Yes, the British health care system should be a model and ideal for us all.
Why not look at Massachusetts? That's the template; not the U.K.
DeleteI would were a comprehensive study available. Moreover, there are hundreds of written opinions on the wonders of the UK and Canada. These studies have a positive impact on public consciousness disproportionate to the reality.
DeleteAny civilized society must address the humane treatment of the old, ill, and insane. It is my opinion that the present evolving ACA does not accomplish that end. Why not fund through taxation a public delivery system for the truly indigent? Why not bring into play those institutions (religious in affiliation e.g.) whose mission, historically, was caring for the poor through dedicated volunteers?
In my lifetime, I have yet to see a government program, no matter how well meaning, meet public expectations at reasonable cost.