Posted on 03/07/2014 7:48:50 AM PST by Kaslin
Thursday was a very bad day -- perhaps even the worst possible day, in fact -- for President Obama to say the following about his signature healthcare overhaul: "At this point I think, actually, it is working the way it should." Here he is advancing that assessment, in living color:
Obama Won't Rule Out More Changes To ObamaCare
Obama's statement would sound wildly out-of-touch based solely on the recent announcement of his administration's 30th (!) politically-motivated Obamacare delay -- the repercussions of which expert Bob Laszewski discusses here. Adding insult to injury many of these on-the-fly changes have occurred after White House officials pledged the delay parade was over. But it gets worse. A lot worse. The Washington Post has published an absolutely devastating report about the administration's progress, or lack thereof, in signing up previously uninsured Americans under Obamacare. Which, you may recall, was the primary stated purpose of this $2 trillion law. This is what abject failure looks like:
The new health insurance marketplaces appear to be making little headway so far in signing up Americans who lack health insurance, the Affordable Care Act’s central goal. A pair of surveys released on Thursday suggest that just one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private health plans through the new marketplace have signed up for one — and that about half of uninsured adults has looked for information on the online exchanges or plans to look. Taken together, the snapshots shown by the surveys provide preliminary answers to what has been one of the biggest mysteries since HealthCare.gov and separate state marketplaces opened last fall: Are they attracting their prime audience? One of the surveys, by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., shows that, of people who had signed up for coverage through the marketplaces by last month, just one-fourth described themselves as having been without insurance for most of the past year...The McKinsey survey also found, as it had during the previous few months, that, of people who are uninsured and do not intend to get a health plan through the marketplaces, the biggest factor is that they believe they could not afford one.
It's difficult to overstate the scope of this failure. Fully 90 percent of uninsured Americans who are eligible for plans under Obamacare have declined to sign up for one. About half of those people simply haven't bothered looking. Four out of every five who have browsed their options elected to take a pass. And if you're waiting for a statistical rebuttal from the White House, don't hold your breath:
CMS' Cohen, asked how many uninsured signing up for ACA: “That's not a data point we are really collecting in any sort of systematic way” — Sam Baker (@sam_baker) March 6, 2014
Among uninsured Americans who've said 'no thanks' to Obamacare, the number one factor (by far) cited is lack of affordability, even after all of the taxpayer subsidies are calculated:
CHART: McKinsey survey shows 50% who shopped exchanges and did not purchase cited affordability as the reason. pic.twitter.com/SqJMvqciL3 — Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 6, 2014
According to a review by eHealthInsurance.com, average unsubsidized individual premiums have increased 39 percent for individuals and 56 percent for families compared to pre-Obamacare levels. The former finding aligns closely with the Manhattan Institute's research. So the overwhelming majority of "new" Obamacare enrollees are people who already had coverage before the law was passed. Millions of those people were uprooted from their preferred coverage (a major broken promise) and forced into new plans, for which many are paying more. Disaster. And again, it gets worse: Of those few previously-uninsured Americans who have "selected plans" under Obamacare (thus fitting the administration's loose definition of "enrolled"), nearly half haven't paid their premiums. Those people are not covered:
CHART: McKinsey survey shows 50% who shopped exchanges and did not purchase cited affordability as the reason. pic.twitter.com/SqJMvqciL3 — Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 6, 2014
And as a final indignity, Gallup is out with new polling on Obamacare. Fox News' national survey released last night showed Obama's approval rating on healthcare underwater by 23 points, with 57 percent of Americans saying that his administration has failed to improve America's healthcare system. Gallup asks different questions, but the results are just as ugly. Approval of Obamacare remains terrible (40/55) with more than twice as many Americans saying the law has hurt their family's situation (23 percent) than helped it (10 percent). And this speaks for itself:
Obamacare is failing to insure the uninsured, driving Americans' healthcare costs up, and hurting twice as many people as it's helping. How many voters would agree with the president's assessment that this law is "working the way it should"?
“Let’s roll”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know a family that was a victim of Alex Jones syndrome. They moved to Costa Rica last year.
That is why I stay away from Alex Jones.
Only idiots would sign up for the 0bama/Hillary/Demonrats healthcare plan
They ARE aging fast — but I’ve learned to never put much stock in politician’s snapshots -— two seconds later expressions and demeanor can change dramatically — but you’ll never see those pictures.
I tarely listen to Alex Jones because sometimes borders on being a conspiracy nut but he does come up with some interesting topics for discussion. I’m just reflecting what I’m hearing with my ear to the ground. Many people are finally getting to the point where he has pushed them to the wall. He has destroyed many of their lives indirectly but he is still the root cause. I’m not talking about violence before anyone gets the wrong idea.
a big gathering on May 16, 2014, called “Operation American Spring” in Washington D.C.
**********
I can’t wait for this. Its the moment we’ve been waiting for. Let’s get it on!
This cannot be one of those 1 Million Man marches or 2 Million Motorcycle events where only 800,000 show up. You better flood that city with 10 Million to show you are REALLY fed up and its impeachment time or there will be problems
Obama's Mistaken Belief That Others See the World as He Sees It
And the definition of it in Merriam-Webster dictionary.com
I was at the seminal 912 Tea Party event in DC. It was a huge rally. Great turnout of hundreds of thousands of patriots.
I hope the 516 event dwarfs it. We have a chance to make a big statement.
Force him to show his true face...
Agree. I think impeachment should be a central theme.
Even for those who cannot make it, pray for its sucess.
Bring soldiers
They thought it would be FREE.
Well Obamacare is neither FREE nor affordable.
Its the Catch-22 of this Administration’s approach to health care.
No wonder its fast unraveling.
Medical care was free under the old system. Walk into a Hospital Emergency room and rack up a an eight thousand dollar bill for getting a runny nose treated.
Hospital writes off the loss, tax payers pick up the difference...
Real reform would have dealt with the actual problems of health care for the poor... That’s not what happened. Obamacare is an elite liberal’s idea of what’s wrong with a system they never understood. Fools.
It’s gonna matter big time in the next few elections...
Honest answer. It's destroying the healthcare that was once second to none in the world..........................
High cost and identity fraud.
everything he says is a lie, so he knows it ain’t working for crap.
he’s upset because his goal of voluntary slavery via hcare isn’t being embraced and the press isn’t just spouting only good things about it.
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