Mississippi Republican governor Phil Bryant has some nerve! Just like other Republican governors nationwide, Governor Phil Bryant has denied the people of his state any access to healthcare through Obamacare, and has refused to expand Medicaid through the provisions provided under Obamacare.
That is expected. He is after all, a Republican and as such, has put his political ideology above the health needs of the people he governs. After a WalletHub study of the uninsured in Mississippi found a 3.3% increase in the uninsured rate, Bryant is putting the blame squarely on Obamacare… the same Obamacare he refused to implement in Mississippi.
“If statistics show that the ill-conceived and so-called Affordable Care Act is resulting in higher rates of uninsured people in Mississippi, I’d say that’s yet another example of a broken promise from Barack Obama,” Bryant said.
The nerve of this dude!
An estimated 137,800 people in Mississippi were left uncovered by health insurance because the state did not expand Medicaid.
This is making Republicans very very angry. Not only is Obamacare helping millions of Americans live healthier lives, thus reducing insurance costs, thus reducing the deficit, thus making the economy stronger, Obamacare is also giving refund checks to millions of people.
Millions of Americans can expect to get a refund from their insurance companies this year, at an average of about $80 dollars per family, thanks to a little-known Obamacare provision that’s helping people save money on their premiums. According to a new report released by the Health and Human Services Department on Thursday, Americans across the country have received a total of $1.9 billion dollars in rebates since this provision first took effect in 2011.
Obamacare’s medical loss ratio provision — which is also frequently referred to as the “80/20 rule” — requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of every American’s premium costs on their medical care, rather than on the company’s own profits or administrative overhead. If insurance companies don’t hit the right balance, they have to issue a refund check to their customers to make up for it.
According to HHS’s calculations, 6.8 million Americans will save $330 million in refunds this year because of the 80/20 rule. Insurance companies are required to provide those reimbursements by no later than the beginning of August. Not everyone will actually receive a physical check in the mail; insurers are allowed to apply the reimbursements to future premiums, so the savings could show up that way.
They have been gunning after the Affordable Care Act since it was signed into law by President Obama over four years ago. One would think that a party so energized around the idea if ending Obamacare would have a replacement plan already in place.
But you would be wrong if you thought Republicans had a way for you to have or maintain your healthcare after they take away the one you already have. House Speaker John Boehner dashed the hopes of those who thought Republicans had a plan – “not there yet,” Boehner said.
“You know, the discussions about Obamacare and what the replacement bill would look like continue. We’re trying to build consensus around one plan,” the Ohio Republican told reporters. “Not there yet.”
Yep. Not there yet, not there ever! That’s how the Republicans are working for you.
The newly released poll conducted by CNN comes a day after duelling court decisions, one striking down the subsidies in the law that helps with policy payments and the other decision upholding them.
The poll, which surveyed 1012 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points found, that 53% have a favorable opinion of the law while 44% felt the law has not been beneficial.
I took my talents to South Beach over the weekend for a relative’s surprise birthday party, and on the plane to and fro I had the opportunity to…think. Love airplane mode. Phones and tablets should have other modes, such as marriage mode, play-with-children mode, just-watch-one-screen mode, or perhaps physical media mode, where you would be forced to consume news and entertainment using a newspaper or magazine. I know, I know. I’m old and out-of-touch.
I am worn out about the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian war and the war over which press outlets are too pro-Israel (FOX) and too pro-Palestinian (The New York Times). Terrorist groups and organizations have for too long molded the narrative and have sabotaged every attempt at peace in the region. And the governmental authorities in the warring camps have let it happen. Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is not the man who will lead Israel to recognize a two-state solution and there is no current Palestinian leader with the credibility to make peace with Israel. As long as countries in the region refuse to recognize Israel’s sovereign right to exist, there is no basis for meaningful talks. As long as Israel continues to blow up Palestinian homes, the world will continue to paint it as an immoral country.
And speaking of leaders with no credibility and few morals, Vladimir Putin has almost succeeded in building his neo-Soviet state out of the ashes of the USSR. Covering up the shooting of the Malaysian airliner, then having his thugs block access to the crash site is right out of the Chernobyl 101 textbook. The problem is that textbooks are so passe and the technology we have now has laid bare his claim that it was Ukrainians, not pro-Russian separatists, who perpetrated this horrific deed. I don’t believe that this will lead to Putin’s downfall in the short term because he’s still very popular in Russia and he controls the media. Some Russians even believe that Putin himself was the target as he was flying in the general vicinity at the time the Malaysian plane was destroyed. Next up to blame will probably be the Israelis. Putin loves the Israelis.
As for the latest domestic squabbles, the Third Circuit Court in DC struck down the ACA subsidies and the Fourth Circuit in Richmond upheld them. Gotta love our judicial system. Both sides can claim victories, but my sense is that the ultimate decision by the Supreme Court, either next year or the year after, will uphold the subsidies that people get when buying insurance on the national exchange even though the law says that subsidies should only be given to people who buy on the state exchanges. Of course, the last time we tried to parse the ACA arguments in the court, the general consensus was that the law was toast. Ouch. And even if the Republicans win the Senate in November, which they won’t, the law will still survive.
This bit of news will totally mess up your crazy Republican uncle’s day. So be my guest and share this news with him.
A report published last week in the esteemed New England Journal of Medicine provided an overview of Obamacare’s first year, its successes and the challenges ahead. It also offered a yet another estimate of the number of people covered by the law: 20 million.
The NEJM report pulled a wealth of information, much of it already known by those closely following the law’s implementation but presented together by the journal, from think tanks and government agencies. It covered a range of topics, including the number of people covered, 2015 premiums, and the adequacy of provider networks for plans offered through the law.
But its bottom line was that millions of people have become insured under Obamacare.
“Taking all existing coverage expansions together, we estimate that 20 million Americans have gained coverage as of May 1 under the ACA,” the authors wrote. “We do not know yet exactly how many of these people were previously uninsured, but it seems certain that many were.”
They reached the 20 million total this way: 1 million adults under age 26 enrolled in their parents’ plan; 8 million enrolled in private coverage through the insurance marketplaces; 5 million enrolled in private coverage directly through their insurer; 6 million enrolled in Medicaid.
So Republicans, especially House Speaker John Boehner, voted against healthcarw refirm, even voting over 50 times to end Obamacare. They call the law a travesty, saying that it would lead to ” armageddon ” if it went into effect.
Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) lawsuit against President Obama will focus on the delay of the employer mandate in ObamaCare, according to a draft resolution authorizing the litigation released Thursday.
The lawsuit will challenge the administration’s decision to unilaterally delay a requirement that firms offer health insurance to their employees or pay a penalty, Boehner said in a statement.
“The president changed the healthcare law without a vote of Congress, effectively creating his own law by literally waiving the employer mandate and the penalties for failing to comply with it,” Boehner said. “That’s not the way our system of government was designed to work. No president should have the power to make laws on his or her own.”
Under the law, employers with more than 50 full-time workers offer health insurance or pay a penalty. But earlier this year, federal health officials announced that employers with between 50 and 99 workers have until January 2016 to comply with the requirement to offer health insurance or pay a fine.
That was on top of a previous delay in July 2013, which pushed back implementation of the penalty for all impacted companies until January 2015.
Boehner said the lawsuit was borne out of “an obligation to stand up for the Legislative Branch.”
“The current president believes he has the power to make his own laws — at times even boasting about it,” Boehner said. “He has said that if Congress won’t make the laws he wants, he’ll go ahead and make them himself, and in the case of the employer mandate in his health care law, that’s exactly what he did. If this president can get away with making his own laws, future presidents will have the ability to as well.”
The White House panned the lawsuit as a “political stunt” that will waste taxpayer dollars.
When you’re so against providing contraceptive to your female employees that you take your case all the way to the Supreme Court, you better make sure your business dealings and squeaky clean and represent those strong beliefs. Hobby Lobby’s business dealings are not squeaky clean.
Claiming religious beliefs, Hobby Lobby took issues with the Obamacare provision requiring contraception be part of an employee’s health care package. They took their case all the way to the Supreme Court and earlier this week the Supreme Court agreed that, base on Hobby’s religious beliefs, the company did not have to provide contraception to its employees. But when Mother Jones did some digging a few months ago, they found out that Hobby Lobby is making millions of dollars from… get this… contraception!
Mother Jones found that Hobby Lobby’s retirement plan had more than $73 million invested in companies that produced emergency contraception pills. It was that same type of birth control that Hobby Lobby said it had an objection to when it took its case to the Supreme Court. CNN needed some answers and put Hobby Lobby and their hypocrisy on full blast!
Enter CNN host Ashleigh Banfield.
“The critics are calling Hobby Lobby’s 401(k) investments hypocrisy at its finest,” Banfield emphasized on Wednesday, adding that CNN had not gotten an explanation from the company after giving it “plenty of time” to respond.
“I don’t even know where to begin on this one,” the CNN host remarked. “I kept thinking to myself, this had to be an accident. But then I thought, it’s no accident when you are in the middle of the biggest political storm — all the way to the Supreme Court — and, yet, your guys aren’t aware of what your investments are in your very, very large 401(k)?”
CNN Business Correspondent Alison Kosik said that it was possible that Hobby Lobby’s investments in contraception makers could have initially been an oversight, but she noted that the company could ask its mutual fund manager to forbid investments in certain companies.
“It would mean that Hobby Lobby employees would most likely have higher fees,” Kosik pointed out. “But if you ask me, my thought is, if they’re that fervent about upholding their biblical principles, maybe that should include their investments to.”
“That’s putting their money where their mouth is,” she concluded.
We’re not keeping count here, that would be like rubbing it in that we were right about Obamacare all along and they were wrong. But there are at least 6, count em, 6 Republican predictions on Obamacare that turned out to be wrong or just boldface lies.
2. Even if people sign up, they won’t pay their premiums.
Reality: Signups exceeded expectations, and the vast majority paid.
3. More people will lose coverage cancelled by Obamacare than gain it.
Reality: Sharp drop in the number of uninsured.
4. Rate shock.
Reality: Like it says, affordable care.
5. Young people not signing up, and death spiral.
Reality: Pretty good demographics.
6. Soaring health costs.
Reality: Health costs are below anyone’s expectations.
It’s quite an impressive track record, actually. And what’s even more impressive is that none of the usual suspects will even consider admitting having been wrong.
The state is of course run by Republicans, but the law does not discriminate. And I would bet my hard earned money that if you ask the average Oklahoman, they would tell you that Obama is the worse thing Kenya ever produced for this country. And I would also be that person is benefiting greatly from Obamacare.
According to a newly released report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average premium for Oklahomans who used a tax credit to buy healthcare is $75.00 a month. Oklahoma residents who enrolled in the marketplace set up by the law passed by Mr. Obama, are paying less than the national average of $82.00 according to the report.
“What we’re finding is that the marketplace is working for Oklahomans,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell in a released statement. “Consumers have more choices, and they’re paying less for their premiums. When there is choice and competition, everybody benefits.”
The federal health insurance marketplace was created through the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform law passed in March 2010.
About 79 percent of Oklahomans who selected plans through the marketplace used tax credits.
Overall, Oklahomans paid below the national average, which was $82 among states with federally facilitated marketplaces.
In Oklahoma, 74 percent of enrollees who selected marketplace plans with tax credits had premiums of $100 a month or less, and 47 percent had premiums of $50 a month or less after tax credits, according to the report.
If you only listen to Fox News, you need help because all you know are lies. But if you get your news from any other source, chances are, you might have already heard – Obamacare is a jobs maker, not a jobs killer like the liars would want you to believe.
Obamacare was once called “The Job-Killing Health Care Law.” But the latest jobs report suggests that the broader economy—and the health care sector, specifically—are adding jobs at a healthy rate.
Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March 2010, the health care industry has gained nearly 1 million jobs—982,300, to be more precise—according to Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates released on Friday.
Meanwhile, the rest of the economy has added 7.7 million jobs since March 2010, and for the first time, more people are working since the recession began five years ago.
Private-sector jobs also grew for the 51st straight month, Justin Wolfers observes at The Upshot, which ties the longest consecutive streak on record and overlaps with the passage of Obamacare 50 months ago. But that streak is piddling compared to health care, which just reported its 131st straight month of job gains.
Booming growth in the heath care industry shouldn’t come as a surprise. The health care sector was gaining about 25,000 jobs per month in the years before the Affordable Care Act, and the law’s infusion of newly insured patients will help bolster providers’ bottom lines.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell now holds a seven-point lead over Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race following last week’s state party primaries.
McConnell earns 48% support to Grimes’ 41% in the latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Kentucky Voters. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The two were tied with 42% support each in late January in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the then-hypothetical race.
In other words, with his promise to repeal Obamacare, the people of Kentucky would prefer giving up their own health care with a vote for Mitch McConnell.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
