With Republicans still maintaining that Obamacare is doomed to fail, Forbes magazine reports that enrollment may actually hit 7 million before the day ends.
While not saying that enrollment will definitely reach that mark before the deadline, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is the agency that oversees the roll out, seem pretty optimistic. They said on Sunday that with brisk traffic on the website and call center, along with the surge in applications in the past few weeks, the projection seems promising.
In an update issued Sunday afternoon, the agency said that the website had been holding up well to the heavy traffic, handling 8.7 million visits in the last week.
“The site continues to perform well under the largest sustained period of volume to date with average response times less than 400 milliseconds and an error rate of 0.5%,” the report said.
In spite of the rocky beginnings for the website, which proved to be far from ready when it was launched on October 1st of last year, it now appears that the original projection of 7 million sign ups may be reached. A recent report by the CBO found that there is already a sufficient number of enrollees to make the system an actuarial viability.
The New York Times is reporting that pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls. The bills, laws and administrative rules — some of them tried before — shake up fundamental components of state election systems, including the days and times polls are open and the locations where people vote.
In all, nine states have passed measures making it harder to vote since the beginning of 2013. Most have to do with voter ID laws. Other states are considering mandating proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or a passport, after a federal court judge recently upheld such laws passed in Arizona and Kansas. Because many poor people do not have either and because documents can take time and money to obtain, Democrats say the ruling makes it far more difficult for people to register.
I suppose it would have been fitting if the Obama Administration had scheduled April Fool’s Day as the last day to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. We’ve certainly been treated to a smorgasbord of ineptitude, shifting deadlines, executive pronouncements that let certain economic sectors off the hook, and some rude, disrespectful, sometimes hateful objections from the right-wing about the entire business.
That’s why March 31 is so important. It represents the end of the first, and possibly most vital, stage of the implementation of the act. Millions of people have signed up for heath insurance. Millions of others are now covered by Medicaid. The federal and state websites are still balky, but they work. The end of the beginning is upon us. It can only get better from here. And the best part is that the law is working.
Republicans have dropped their demand that the law be scrapped, which six months ago looked like a possibility as they shut down the government and Healthcare.gov showed exactly what can go wrong when the government attempts to shortchange the software cycle. Now the arguments are that the law needs to be fixed, although GOP candidates are running against it to the exclusion of everything else, except perhaps voter ID laws that will guarantee a Republican majority in the House for the foreseeable future. Even Democrats in tossup races in Louisiana and North Carolina are talking about fixing the law so it doesn’t ensnare the middle class and endanger employer-provided health insurance.
The problem is that, over time, that’s exactly what the law will accomplish. We are moving into uncharted waters, where the employer mandate will shift and companies will start to drop health insurance from their benefit plans. How this will work is the key. Will companies give employees a voucher with a dollar amount attached to it to buy insurance? Will they raise wages so people can pay for their own policies? Will insurance companies bring down the cost of policies so they can remain viable? Will we eventually get a public option that takes private insurance out of the economy? These are the questions that will define how successfully the ACA reforms the health care industry. Follow the money. That’s always been the gold standard of social change.
My sense is that employer-sponsored health insurance will be gone from most industries within 7-10 years, and the fallout won’t be as bad as some have predicted. Companies have a vital interest in the health of their workers and insurance companies won’t want to price people out of plans. Without the major expense of providing health insurance, companies will be able to pay workers more, though not too much more. The minimum wage will be less of a burden as it rises. Workers will need to make healthier choices and get checked more often before health issues become major concerns. The GOP calls this personal responsibility, and they accuse the Democrats of coddling the country with social programs. The ACA will do more for people taking control of their health than anything we’ve done in the United States. Remembers, the ACA is based on Republican ideas. That’s why the law is both a curse and a blessing.
All of that is in the future. For now, President Obama’s approval numbers are in the tank. History will remember him far more positively.
The lady at the center of the BridgeGate scandal is no longer staying quite. In a statement issued by her lawyers, Bridget Kelly slammed the assertions made by Christie’s lawyers that she closed the lanes on the George Washington Bridge last September because of a failed relationship she had with Bill Stepien.
The response.
Having reviewed the report of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, as well as listened to the comments of Randy Mastro, Esq., we note that by Mr. Mastro’s own admission, he did not have access to all information. Of course, without reviewing all pertinent evidence, any conclusions that are to be drawn are by definition incomplete. The report’s venomous, gratuitous, and inappropriate sexist remarks concerning Ms. Kelly have no place in what is alleged to be a professional and independent report.
There appear to be two distinct versions of the George Washington Bridge lane closings. On the one hand, Mr. Wildstein, through his counsel, has taken one clear position. On the other hand, Mr. Mastro has staked a different view. Thus, Ms. Kelly’s evidence could be critical to verifying either of the two competing versions of events. A preemptive strike to isolate Ms. Kelly and impugn her credibility is not surprising. Despite Mr. Mastro’s editorialized comments to the contrary, Ms. Kelly is not a liar. She is a single mother of four children who was deeply devoted and committed to her job at the Office of the Governor. She worked tirelessly to pursue the goals of the Office during her tenure.
The only credible investigation into the lane closings is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. If Ms. Kelly were provided with the appropriate procedural safeguards, she will be fully cooperative and provide truthful and complete answers to any questions asked of her by the appropriate law enforcement authorities.
Prosecutors charged former Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader Bill Kramer on Friday with sexually assaulting a political aide three years ago following a Republican mixer.
Kramer is charged with two counts of second-degree felony sexual assault. He faces up to $200,000 in fines and 80 years in prison if convicted on both charges. He is due to make an initial court appearance on April 14.According to the criminal complaint, the woman told police earlier this month that Kramer shoved her against her car outside the mixer, tried to kiss her and groped her breasts. He also assaulted her in her car, telling her he wanted to have sex with her, kissing her and groping her, the woman said.
The complaint said Kramer gave different answers about the incident in a telephone interview with a detective this month.
He asked the detective if the woman was the same one who applied for a job in his office, said he had been friends with her and that she had made a pass at him in 2008. He acknowledged kissing her good night but denied groping her, telling the detective the woman “has very nice doctor-enhanced breasts. I am not a big fan of those. I like the real ones.”
Asked if the woman ever told him to stop, he replied, “I am sure she said something about it not going any further. That is why I went home. I am sure that happened, but I don’t remember it. I have been turned down a lot.”
Kramer’s attorney, James Gatzke, said the case will have to run its course.
Mark D. Bearden wrote this letter on the White House website.
I am a staunch Republican, a self-proclaimed Fox News addict, and I didn’t vote for the President. And I’m here to tell you that Obamacare works. I’m living proof.
I’m a chemotherapy patient, and was previously paying $428 a month for my health coverage. I was not thrilled when it was cancelled.
Then I submitted an application at HealthCare.gov. I looked at my options. And I signed up for a plan for $62 a month.
It’s the best health care I have ever had.
So right now, here’s what I want to tell anyone who still needs health insurance, or knows someone who does:
Sign up. Follow the instructions on the website. Apply, and look at your options. You still have time, and take it from me: This is something you want to do.
I wrote a letter to President Obama this past February to tell him about my experience with the Health Insurance Marketplace. I hoped he’d read it, and he did.
I may not be a supporter of the President. But now, I get mad when I see Obamacare dragged through the mud on television.
And even though I regularly tune in to conservative pundits, I’d like to tell them they’re getting it wrong. Obamacare works.
So one more time: If you still need health insurance, you have just three days to get it. Do what I did. Go to HealthCare.gov, submit an application, and pick a plan that works for you.
Rep.Louie Gohmert, the Texas Republican Representative said that he was ‘shocked’ to learn that Corporations can’t have religious beliefs and be allowed to deny women the right to contraceptives.
“This is a Justice Department that has indicted corporations for forming intent to commit a crime,” the former Texas judge said. “Well, Tony, if you can as a corporation through your directors and officers, form the intent to commit a crime, then you can certainly, through your officers and directors form an intent to have religious beliefs.”
“And if every one of your directors and officers has the same exact religious beliefs, whether your Amish and have formed a corporation or any other religious group — Quakers or whatever the group is — certainly a corporation can, if they can have intent as the Justice Department repeatedly proves in court, then they can certainly have religious beliefs.”
WASHINGTON — More than 6 million people have enrolled in the federal and state health exchanges as of Thursday, President Obama announced this afternoon.
This means the administration has met its latest goal, as projected by the Congressional Budget Office, to ensure the insurance system is sustainable.
Obama made the announcement on a conference call with health care navigators and volunteers while he was traveling in Italy. He thanked them for their help.
The latest milestone comes after the troubled opening of the federal exchange Oct. 1. Software problems and other issues rendered the site virtually unusable for weeks, and it took a surge of technology support to have it fixed by Nov. 30. Since then, however, enrollments have risen dramatically, particularly as the Dec. 31 and March 31 deadlines approached.
You’re a Republican and running for public office? Here’s your sure and simple way to get elected. No policy ideas needed, just show your gun and maybe shoot at a copy of Obamacare.
That’s it. That’s all you need to do to satisfy the small minded, two-issue voter base of today’s Republican party. Alabama congressional candidate Will Brooke realizes this fact and his campaign video showing him shooting at the healthcare law means he has already won.
“We’re down here to have a little fun and talk about two serious subjects,” Brooke says. “The Second Amendment and see how much damage we can do to this copy of Obamacare.”
Yep. Those are the two major issues plaguing this country. The Republican brain at work.
The two men conservative Republicans love to hate will meet up on Thursday to discuss what they’ve been working on since taking office – wealth inequality and poverty.
It is also expected that President Obama will formally invite The Pope to visit the U.S. next year.
So far, the political discussion revolving around Chris Christie’s diminishing prospects for 2016 have centered on the George Washington Bridge scandal, (and the laughable investigation by his own attorney), and the not-yet-vetted story about Sandy aid being withheld from less-than-enthusiastic supporters of the governor. These are certainly key issues that tell us a great deal about Christie’s style and demeanor, but even without them, he simply doesn’t have a record that would support a national run.
There’s no New Jersey Miracle, no New Jersey Rebound, and no New Jersey Bounce (OK, there’s one of those, but it’s unrelated to economics and politics). The governor hasn’t led New Jersey into a new ideological paradigm, nor has he provided a new framework by which the state operates. Democrats still outnumber Republicans. His 2013 coattails were, shall we say, a bit short when it came to counting legislative seats. His Supreme Court nominees have been rebuffed.
And this guy wants to be president?
About all he can run on is a state worker’s pension and benefits bill that is providing little relief to anyone. Middle class public workers are being whacked because more money is coming out of their checks for pensions and health insurance (which should have been negotiated, not imposed), and property taxes remain stubbornly high (remember that these taxes were supposed to go down as a result of the pensions bill). The result is that the governor took spendable money out of the economy at a time when he should have been putting more money into the economy to create jobs. What we have in New Jersey now is slow growth, a deteriorating middle class and a governor who wants to have public workers pay even more into their pensions. What about millionaires, you ask? He won’t touch their taxes.
Funny side note: Christie is seen as a moderate Republican. You can stop laughing now.
Christie’s latest economic gambit is to renege on his mandated duty to make full payments to the public worker pension system. That would put it in serious jeopardy and would negate a promise that the courts have ruled to be essentially non-negotiable. He’ll lose this argument and more credibility because the Democrats in the legislature will not cave in to him as they did in 2011 and the crossover vote that earned him his victory in November is abandoning him. Conservative Republicans in NJ still back him, but that’s not nearly a majority of the voters.
My sense is that the governor will survive the scandals. The larger question is whether New Jersey can survive him.
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