Despite the fact that the White House has giddily announced "Mission Accomplished" on repair of the Healthcare.gov website, two significant problems remain. The first is that the website really doesn't work very reliably yet, and the second is that when it does work, people are going into cardiac arrest when they discover preposterously high premiums and deductibles which make their new, government-mandated "affordable" healthcare plans unaffordable.
Both the Wall Street Journal and CNN tried to sign up through the new, improved "Healthcare.gov 2.0" - and both failed miserably. Which is probably just as well, because insurers are now reporting that when the website actually does collect information for an application, it frequently distorts and corrupts the information when sending it to the insurer...if it sends the information at all.
Frankly, Hope n' Change wishes that the website would finally get fixed just so people would stop concentrating on it and look at the real impending disaster of Obamacare.
It's like being critical of the gangplank instead of the Titanic.
BONUS: Naughty or Nice?
To kick off the Christmas season, here's a very special video message to Barack Obama from Santa Claus! Feel free to share it with others!
One really runs out of negative superlatives when dealing with this law. Horrendous? the Worst? Horrid? Deliberately obfuscatory? Purposefully destructive? Then all the cuss words -- and still one is not satisfied at the description of this bumfuddling moronicness.
ReplyDeleteMy code word for this post was "goonga" _- yeah, that's it, the law is goonga.
Now we know why he's trying to kill the coal industry.
ReplyDelete--mech
Jim Hlavac,
ReplyDeleteHelp me understand your word. If lamontocare makes a lot of noise, is it referred to as a "goonga"-DIN?
Stilton,
I was just a little disappointed that the video didn't illustrate a "turf-war" because lamont encroaches on the fat-guy's "Santa" status. I also wonder if that 200 ton lump of coal heading toward Mt. Rushmore is lamont's Christmas present.
BTW, in the pursuit of controlling America's diet, are lamont and magilla going to have the soetoro traditional Christmas dinner of Ramadan Noodles?
Oh, the fun is just starting.
ReplyDeleteThey claim the have the front-end now working, but they're far less than clear about the back-end, which is where the real business takes place. It's like booking a flight or hotel on Expedia or Travelocity, but Expedia or Travelocity never manages to let the airline know. Then one day you show up at the airport, and there's no seat for you.
Imagine the citizen who faithfully signs up and pays on the exchange, and happily goes on with life with the knowledge that they are now covered. Move ahead a few months to some point in 2014 and happy citizen has some health crisis involving a night or two in a hospital. "No problem; thank God Obama has seen to it that I am insured" he thinks. Imagine his shock when a hospital administrator comes in the room on day 2 with the bad news; the insurance company has no idea who you are! Oooops. Not long after you're released (prematurely) comes the bills, at full list price, no less. Now the real fun begins. Who do you call first? The insurance company who's never heard of you or the 1-800-f**k-you number with the ex-Acorn "navigator" at the other end?
Actually, years ago I did have this happen to me with one of the travel sites; I had booked two flights for a recurring business trip, and the 2nd one was dropped by the travel site. The day before my second flight, I discovered that I wasn't actually booked on the airline and I called the site. After multiple exchanges, customer no-service at the site finally told me that there was nothing they could do at this late date. I told them that I had receipts from them for this flight, and that I was going to show up at the airport for my flight, and if they airline did not have a reservation for me, that I would go ahead and pay whatever it cost to get to my destination and then sue them for the difference upon my return. After making it clear that I was not going away and deciding that they had a losing case, they bought the ticket. (costing them over 10x what the original advanced fare was, btw)
Ever deal with an insurance company who doesn't think they owe you anything? Does anyone honestly think that dealing with a government that doesn't think they owe you anything is any easier?
I got my airline ticket because the travel site knew that their system had screwed up, and that they'd lose if I were to sue, and the cost of defending even a small claims case would cost them more than a last-minute ticket would.
However, when one sues the government, such calculus never takes place. With the government, it's not about the money. (They've already got plenty of yours to use) It's about the power. Progressives arguing for "universal" health care have always used to alleged misbehavior by insurance companies as a reason for a government take-over. To which I'd counter-argue: At least if my insurance company screws me over, I can take them to court and have an even chance. When the government screws me over, where do I go?
Speaking of being up against the government, if you continue to be critical of The Affordable Care Act, (formerly known as "ObamaCare" when it was more popular) you might as well get started now preparing for your IRS audit:
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/11/30/Political-Witch-Hunt-ObamaCare-Critics-Got-Their-Audit-Letters-On-The-Same-Day
After the Democrats got whacked by the Tea Party in 2010, the megastate bureaucracy made sure that the same would not happen again in 2012. And it didn't. And even though the partisan misbehavior by the IRS, NSA and other agencies have been clearly exposed, it looks like that isn't going to stop them from doing the same in 2014.
@Jim Hlavac- I've found that it's more and more difficult to write Hope n' Change without using profanities. All of the lesser words seem to fall short these days.
ReplyDelete@Mech- Now that's funny!
@Bruce Bleu- "Goonga Din"? Ouch. (grin)
I'm not sure what the Obama family has planned for Ramadan, but it will surely be executed (so to speak) with more sincerity and enthusiasm than anything they do for Christmas.
@John the Econ- Excellent comment. In declaring (rather than earning) victory in the governments Battle of the Bugs, Healthcare.gov claims that they're now working with "private sector velocity and effectiveness" - but make no such claims about having private sector accountability of the sort you describe regarding your airline ticket misadventure.
Because if (or likely "when") Healthcare.gov screws up your data, you'll have no recourse. No reparations will be made, and no belligerent tone of voice will stir whomever deigns to take your phonecall of complaint. You'll be left twisting in the wind during a medical/financial emergency.
Regarding the audits of Obamacare critics, I'm sadly unsurprised. I'm also pretty angry, as it appears that no strong action or punishment appears to be on the horizon for those who used the IRS as a weapon against conservatives. Which is why, of course, that the problem hasn't gone away.
I must admit that I'm enjoying a bit of schadenfreude with the idea of the avalanche of bad that is headed straight for the Democrats who supported ObamaCare who are up for re-election next year. They may or may not get heat for the millions of jobs that have either disappeared or were never created over the last 2 years. And yes, they dodged a bullet when the "employer mandate" that would have killed millions more jobs next year was put off until after the midterms. But there's no way they're going to be able to now escape the cascade effect of the non-functioning HealthCare.gov website, and the (un)intended secondary consequences of the law, like dropped employer coverage, higher deductibles and forcing people to buy coverage for services that they will never, ever need.
ReplyDeleteThen add to this the inevitable horror stories of countless people who thought they were covered, and find out that they didn't get what they were expecting, or worse, didn't get anything at all except a huge bill.
I hope the GOP is prepared with something better than just "We told you so."
@John the econ...
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! So many people, after absorbing their sticker-shock will think all is well in the universe, but many WILL be sadly surprised!
@stilt...good point in the toon, man! I, too, want the stupid website to function so EVERYONE gets to experience a bit of what is to come, UNLESS THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NEXT ELECTION!!
I know we all are tired of the daily repetitions concerning Obama's online siege, and my fear is the media, even FOX will move onto other stories, just as the MSM seem to be doing! They would love to talk about anything but "obamadoesntcare"!
@John the Econ,
ReplyDeleteRemember, having to pay for that coverage you'll never, ever need is just a smoke screen for paying for the same coverage for people who WON'T pay for it for themselves. Men over 60 who are required to pay for pregnancy services will actually pay for the service for the welfare queens, so the "taxpayers" won't pay it. This will make it look like welfare costs go down. The Demo_Rats will think so, anyway.
As I've said before, not even the New York Times can cover for Obama anymore. And the stories will continue to get worse as more people personally experience them. I have no doubt that as soon as January, we'll get plenty of media coverage of my above "I thought I was covered" scenario playing out.
ReplyDeleteOne major Obama tactical blunder? Many influential journalists are not employees of large papers or corporations, but are independent contractors who must purchase their own insurance and care. Oooops. Not the demographic you want experiencing the horrors of your national nightmare first and foremost.
Even Hitler is pissed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxwot4sGTrM