affordable care act | A View from the Nest

It maybe better stated that to whomever you are beholden shall be seen as beautiful.

“Never in my lifetime have I seen a law that is helping so many people be so vilified,” complained Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). “This is a huge success, this law.”

How successful? Well, a report released in time for ObamaCare‘s four-year anniversary Sunday indicates just the opposite.

The American Action Forum sums it up:

“After four years of implementation, countless delays, a website disaster, and constant litigation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) celebrates its inauspicious birthday this week,” the report said. “From a regulatory perspective, the law has imposed more than $27.2 billion in total private sector costs, $8 billion in unfunded state burdens, and more than 159 million paperwork hours on local governments and affected entities.”

“What’s more troubling, the law has generated just $2.6 billion in annualized benefits, compared to $6.8 billion in annualized costs,” it said. “In other words, the ACA has imposed 2.5 times more costs than it has produced in benefits.”

As is typical when liberals speak you have to listen with liberal ears and look with liberal eyes. Remember these folks do not think like normal, main-stream, American citizens do. You have to take into account from what perspective they are speaking and then what they say will make perfect sense.

In the liberal mind what is good for them and their ideology is considered good for all. And if it happens to harm conservatives in the process it is even better. So then using the liberal template and looking through the liberal tinted eyeglasses we can understand Ms Boxer’s statement this way:

The Affordable Care Act was never intended to save the average person money, it was designed to TAX the rich and give even more benefits to the poor. And by poor we mean those who support the liberal agenda. The fact that it is costing businesses money is a good thing to a liberal, since they think PROFITS are evil and corporations are pawns of Satan, therefore taking more money from them is a good thing.

The fact that the law only delivers a tiny benefit is also good because a good liberal knows that with any policy it is important that you never really SOLVE a problem because if you actually solved a problem there would be no more need for liberal policies, as such these programs are designed to dangle a carrot and keep the people chasing after a fix and demanding the government do more. This is DEFINITELY good news to a liberal. They want to control more and more of our lives and the bigger the government gets the more control they have which also is a good thing to a liberal.

What liberals consider bad is liberty and freedom. They do not want you prospering as an individual, you must be rounded up into groups and then vilified and indoctrinated into the liberal way of doing things. This is what liberals call good.

So you see Barbara Boxer was actually telling the truth when she said the law is a HUGE SUCCESS! To a liberal it is. To real folks living in Realville, this law is a disaster, which again is good for a liberal because anything that is BAD FOR AMERICA is good for them.

Now you understand that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and to the liberal the more who are beholden to them the better.

And that is the way I see it. What say you?

This is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Along for the journey

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

Just when you thought it was safe, after having been lulled to sleep, the nightmares are about to begin.

Something wicked this way comes hiding deep inside the belly of the beast we know as ObamaScare. Whether or not the website problems get fixed there is no escape from this horror show coming to your house. This nightmare will have you missing sleep for many days to come.

By now almost everyone has heard the horror stories since the roll-out of ObamaScares sign-up began. Well fasten your seat-belts because the horror show has just started and there are many more scarey stories to come. If you have not been sufficiently scared off by the initial phase of the ObamaScare road show, brace yourself for even greater horrors to come.

First up huge deductibles:When consumers finally do get onto the Healthcare.gov website, they are in for a new kind of sticker shock. Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute has exposed the high cost of Obamacare premiums — the next price shock will be the whopping cost of the deductibles.A Chicago Tribune analysis showed that 21 of the 22 lowest-priced plans offered for Cook County residents on the Illinois exchange have annual deductibles of more than $4,000 for an individual and $8,000 for family coverage.(Deductibles are the money consumers must spend on health care before most insurance benefits kick in.)

The huge deductibles along with the hefty premiums turns what once was a health insurance plan into a self-insurance plan. When you add up the premiums you must pay, and then add in the huge deductible, plus the additional out-of-pocket expense to pay the co-pay in any given year it maybe cheaper to simply pay for your health expenses as they occur and put the premiums you would have paid into a HSA (health savings account) for future expenses. But since Obamascare is now a MANDATE and you MUST buy a policy you are being forced to part with your money to essentially get absolutely nothing in return.Why are these premiums so high, this policy design is a direct result of the law’s instructions about the percentage of average health costs that insurance must cover (60 percent for Bronze, up to 90 percent for Platinum plans).

ObamaScare #2 Will people pay?

The Congressional Budget Office expects 7 million people to enroll in health insurance through the exchanges by 2014, and it needs about 2.7 million of them to be “young healthies” who will enroll, and pay premiums that are higher than their age or health status would warrant because of the law’s regulations. Enough Americans may enroll, but will they keep up with their premiums month after month?

The first month of the new health law’s rollout reveals an unexpected pattern in several states: a crush of people applying for an expansion of Medicaid and a trickle of sign-ups for private insurance.

This early imbalance — in some places, nine out of 10 enrollees are in Medicaid — has taken some experts by surprise. I guess they really where not experts after-all if they could not have foreseen that the FREE MEDICAID plans would see an influx of sign-ups while the EXPENSIVE private-care plans would not. I personally believe that this was the plan all along, to make it as easy for people to sign-up for the FREE PLAN and as difficult and unaffordable as possible for everyone else because the end game is to get everyone under a Federally run and administered health-care plan.

Low enrollment in private insurance, meanwhile, could increase premiums as it would likely indicate that only sick people, who really need coverage, were signing up. And the experts could not foresee this? Really those of us who are not experts knew this was going to happen.

ObamaScare #3 Attracting the sickest:

Sicker Americans, with high health costs, are the ones most determined to get through the Healthcare.gov website to enroll. If they dominate enrollment, premiums will have to rise in 2015, discouraging even more young healthies from applying in the future. The industry calls this a “death spiral.”

Again couldn’t the experts predict this? I believe they did know all this and it did not matter because once again this whole nightmare is not about providing the best possibly program for the most American citizens, the current private-sector programs would not have been tampered with, what it is about is gaining control of an individuals health-care.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/361946/top-ten-obamacare-disasters-come-grace-marie-turner

Need proof?

Thousands get health insurance cancellation notices

Oct. 18, 2013 at 2:55 PM ET Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, …

Nbcnews

Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.

The main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. The new policies supposedly will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify. Now that is a big caveat, if you do not qualify for a federal subsidy (read taxpayer support) then your premiums will most likely be much higher.

So now you are not only paying for your own plan, plus those who are already on Medicaid, now you are going to be asked to help pay for your neighbors plans as well. Face it folks we are being seen as a REVENUE source and not as individual human beings with lives. We are being subjected to this tyranny.The law requires policies sold in the individual market to cover 10 “essential” benefits, such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care, whether you need them or not. That’s right guys your policies will now have to cover your maternity care. What you say you do not need maternity care? Too bad you will have to buy it anyway.

In addition less expensive alternative plans are being outlawed.

ObamaScare #4 Less Expensive Plans Vanish

As previously stated since these “catastrophic” health plans do not contain the “required” basic coverages they are not permitted to be sold. And despite Obama’s continued claims that if you like your policy you can keep your policy, you can not.

ObamaScare #5 Families lose out:

Obamacare’s subsidies will mean that the federal tax code’s existing marriage penalty will get much bigger for certain Americans, especially older, middle-income couples. Families will have to reckon with the fact that remaining married could cost them $10,000 a year or more because single people with lower incomes qualify for bigger subsidies.

Massive Marriage Penalties in Obamacare Health Insurance Exchanges

On the Obamacare health insurance exchanges, being married can cost you a lot. Get divorced (or avoid getting married, if you live togeth…

Hans Bader

ObamaScare #6 More Jobs to be lost:

The Obama administration delayed for a year reporting requirements for the mandate that companies provide health insurance for their employees. But with those provisions coming into effect in 2015, employers will continue to restructure their businesses to stay under 50 employees and push workers under 30 hours a week to avoid the hefty fines that will be used to enforce this regulation.

Andrew Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that “the evidence that Obamacare is having a negative impact on hiring is unequivocal, abundant and consistent with common sense.” Job creation will continue to suffer.

ObamaScare #7 Identity Theft and Fraud will explode

Tens of thousands of “navigators,” “assisters,” and other agents are being hired, generally by nonprofit organizations, to help people apply. They will be gathering personal information, such as one’s Social Security number, address, income, employer’s name and address, children’s names and birthdates, and health habits, to find out if you qualify for Obamacare subsidies. Others are going door-to-door to get people enrolled, and there is no easy way of determining if the person at your door is legitimate. While these aides do receive some training, they’re not professionally licensed and don’t go through the background checks required of insurance agents and brokers. Even temporary census workers had to meet tougher standards.

The Obama Administration itself is warning that con artists will take advantage of confusion over the law to steal people’s identities.Beyond the potential for one-on-one fraud, security may be inadequate in the giant government “data hub.” This warehouse of detailed personal information of everyone in the exchanges will be available to people in many different government agencies. The security of that database still has not been independently tested and verified.The risks of potential identity theft are very real, and 13 attorneys general have expressed deep concerns about the security of the exchanges’ information. When this starts happening, it will generate a new wave of negative coverage of the law.

Lawmakers seek answers on Obamacare Data Hub security

Ask HHS for information on access controls, monitoring tools, and the measures used to protect against cyberattacks Computerworld – Two R…

Jaikumar Vijayan

ObamaScare #8 Repaying Federal Subsidies

It’s going to be very important to accurately indicate annual income on one’s insurance application. Those who understate income, either because their situation changes or they reported inaccurate information, and therefore get a larger subsidy than they are entitled to will be required to repay the excess, possibly amounting to thousands of dollars. And since the IRS is in charge of enforcing compliance you can see how this is going to end badly for the individual

ObamaScare #9 Losing your Doctor

To keep rates from going even higher, insurance companies have limited the doctors and hospitals patients can visit.

Many insurers have opted to limit their selection of doctors in some exchange plans to keep premiums and other costs down. And they are also excluding large academic medical centers, which are often pricier because they tackle sicker patients and more complex cases.

“The sticker price will be lower if the number of options are lower,” said Joe Mondy, a spokesman with Cigna (CI, Fortune 500), which is participating in five state exchanges. “The issue is how many options can you do without?”

For example, WellPoint (WLP, Fortune 500), a Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer that offers policies in 14 states, is narrowing its networks in many markets after research showed consumers care more about the price than the provider.

In areas with a heavy concentration of doctors, WellPoint might offer Obamacare plans with only half the number of doctors available in its off-exchange plans, said Colin Drozdowski, vice president of provider engagement and contracting. But where there’s less choice, the network might be only 10% to 20% smaller.

Insurers are also restricting participants access to doctors through HMO plans that don’t offer out-of-network benefits. So patients have to stick to a certain set of physicians and hospitals or foot the full bill themselves.

ObamaScare #9 Doctor choice in Obamacare? Not so much

Many insurers have opted to limit their selection of doctors in some exchange plans to keep premiums and other costs down. And they are a…

And ObamaScare #10 Customer Service Nightmares

If they could not get the website to work can you imagine the nightmare awaiting you if you actually have a health related problem and need to contact someone ASAP?

[4:09:56 pm]: Thanks for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Please wait while we connect you to someone who can help.[4:09:59 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
…..
[4:29:20 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
[4:29:50 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
[4:30:27 pm]: Welcome! You’re now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat.Thanks for contacting us. My name is PGSTX0534. To protect your privacy, please don’t provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information. (after you spent hours inputting all that information into the exchange website)

[4:30:51 pm]: PGSTX0534
Hello, how may I help you today?

[4:31:12 pm]: Alice

My information is not recording correctly in the summary of my application[4:32:21 pm]: PGSTX0534

Thanks for your interest in the Health Insurance Marketplace. We have a lot of visitors trying to use our website right now. That is causing some glitches for some people trying to create accounts or log in. Keep trying, and thanks for your patience. We’ll continue working to improve the site so you can get covered

[4:32:40 pm]: Alice what does that mean?

[4:32:52 pm]: Alice
It says my application is “in Progress”

[4:33:12 pm]: Alice
Does that mean it is not completed and I can continue to try to edit it?

[4:34:14 pm]: PGSTX0534
Thank you. One moment please while I look that up.

[4:36:19 pm]: PGSTX0534
The only way we can see your application is you will have to call The Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you.

[4:36:47 pm]: Alice
What does the Chat Service do then?

Alice it does nothing it only makes you feel better that you actually talked to someone. They are not concerned about you and your well being.

President Obama said that buying insurance through the exchanges would be like shopping at Amazon.com. We all know how “truthful” Obama is by now right? Instead of simply clicking a few buttons online, many people will spend hours following up with phone calls, emails, and faxes. As recently as two weeks ago, government software couldn’t reliably tell people the correct price for their insurance or their subsidies. Again all of this is by design, because the end result is the government wants as many people enrolled in a Federal Insurance plan like Medicaid so as to make it almost impossible for any future congress to end the program. This nightmare is going to have more sequels then Freddy Kruger.

Here’s How Well Obamacare’s Customer-Service Live Chat Works

The site failed to record her information correctly and she could not alter the incorrect information it’d recorded, so “Alice” went …

Thanks for visiting the ObamaScare House of Horrors. Our aim is to SCARE you to death so that we do not have to pay for your medical care. Thanks for your contribution to our campaign.

And this has been a “View From the Nest”.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.