Saturday, December 21, 2013

Surge in Obamacare signups and the Democratic plans to run on its successes.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

States running their own Obamacare insurance exchanges are reporting a significant surge in sign-ups just four days (This article is a few days old, so now it is is only two days.) before the first major enrollment deadline. 

The increase has ranged from 30 percent to 40 percent in the past few weeks, according to state officials who briefed reporters Wednesday. Monday is the last day to sign up for a plan that will guarantee health coverage effective Jan. 1. 

California, which has one of the most successful programs, averaged 15,000 enrollments a day last week, up from an average 7,000 a day the week before, state officials said. In all of November, 80,000 Californians picked a plan; in the first week of December, 50,000 signed up. 

“We are all still in the first inning of a nine-inning game,” Covered California executive director Peter Lee said. “Friends are telling friends; family are telling family. … We are quite confident that as we go into the next half of enrollment that we will build momentum.” 

In Kentucky, enrollments are up 40 percent since Thanksgiving, straining the state’s exchange and forcing administrators to hire dozens of extra call-center workers and application processors. “We are seeing about 3,000 people a day approved for Medicaid or a [qualified health plan],” Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange executive director Carrie Banahan said. “We started out a few weeks ago at about a thousand per day.” 

More than 92,000 people have gotten coverage so far. 

In New York, phones at marketplace call centers are ringing off the hook, averaging between 1,200 to 1,500 calls per hour, officials say. Roughly 4,500 people are enrolling in coverage each day, state Department of Health counsel Lisa Sbrana said. 

In the past week alone, they’ve seen a 34 percent increase in people signing up.

That success has inspired the Democrats to change tactics, and rather than focus on their concerns about the program they have decided to go all in to run on its successes as well as the Democrats concerted effort to keep making it better.

This from the Daily Beast:

Top Democratic strategists said the coming counteroffensive isn’t so much a full-on embrace of the warts-and-all Affordable Care Act rollout, but rather a reminder that Republicans’ call for repeal means the well-liked aspects of the law, such as the end of the lifetime cap on health spending and the end of pre-existing-condition discrimination, would wither as well. They plan also to tie Republicans’ continued efforts to a larger framework of obstruction, linking their unwillingness to improve the law to intransigence about budgetary issues that led to a government shutdown this year. 

“They are so committed to their plan—which is repeal—that they shut down the government trying to implement their plan,” said Michael Czin, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. He pointed out that while many are seeing benefits of the health-care law despite its frail website, Republicans like Sen. John Cornyn of Texas are facing primary challengers just for declining to keep the government shutdown over the law. 

“Democrats are making to work it better. Republicans are trying to take it away.”

Right now it seems that the GOP strategy is to simply bitch about every little bump along the Obamacare road to better, cheaper insurance, and to focus attention on anyone who had a bad experience, whether real or made up.

Personally I think that the Republicans are rapidly running out ammunition and that the final stages of the 2014 race will look like Custer's last stand.

I also just realized that I only have about  two days to sign up for the Affordable Care Act in order to count myself among the first wave. Wish me luck.

26 comments:

  1. Otto Katz2:49 PM

    Good Luck, Gryphen!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:12 PM

    Let us know how it goes?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:48 PM

    I signed up on the Federal Exchange, from Alaska and I only pay $115/month as I'm not making much money now. When my pay increases I'll pay more but for now I have a great plan with small deductible and small co-pay. I wrote a note to whitehouse.gov telling President Obama how much I appreciate my affordable coverage.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:59 PM

    Hey GOP, Here’s Your Chance To Repeal Obamacare – Now Put Up Or Shut Up

    It is time for the Republicans to put up or shut up. For years, they have proclaimed that they want nothing but to overturn Obamacare. However, the bills they have passed stand no chance to overturn the law, being nothing but half-measures which do not replace it with anything; or worse replace it with a near identical measure which does nothing but give them a talking point without any real change. So, two bills have been introduced, one in the House and one in the Senate, which give them an opportunity to actually prove that they are serious about repealing, or are just trying to “stick it to the black man.”
    Bill would replace Obamacare with single payer healthcare system.

    Back in March, Representative Jim McDermott filed H.R.1200 which would replace Obamacare with a single payer healthcare system modeled on Medicare. In the process it would replace multiple other programs such as Medicaid, SCHIP, streamlining the base healthcare system in the nation. Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a counterpart bill in the Senate. This bill would repeal Obamacare with a replacement ready set, which would in turn save the taxpayers money due to the streamlined handling and uniform healthcare system nationwide.

    This is the only “repeal Obamacare” proposal which actually could pass the presidents desk, and it fits with the fiscal conservative mindset as well. According to numerous studies, Medicare is far more efficient than private insurers, and what few inefficiencies there are stem from its integration with other programs which would be eliminated. A fiscal conservatives dream come true. And it would pander to their base, that they had indeed repealed Obamacare.
    Ready to put your vote where your mouth is GOP?

    So, Republicans, are you willing to actually do what you promised, while holding true to your values? If so, sign on as a co-sponsor for H.R.1200 in the house or S.1782 in the Senate. And if you pass it, we can guarantee the president will sign it.

    As a value voter, this is the only move which the GOP can engage in which would result in meeting their demands would be to embrace the cost-savings measure of a Single Payer. So, bow about it GOP? You have this opportunity to repeal Obamacare right now. Are you willing to pass it?

    http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/20/sanders-obamacare-single-payer/

    http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/20/sanders-obamacare-single-payer/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:15 PM

    Just In Time For Christmas. An Obamacare Video Sure To Make Republicans Squeal!

    Out To Enroll, says they are:

    Quite simply, we are a coalition of organizations who want to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people stay healthy by making sure that one of the major benefits of the Affordable Care Act – access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance coverage – reaches LGBT communities. We are working with national, state, regional, and local partners to get the word out, help LGBT community members separate fact from fiction, and provide tools to help LGBT people make well-informed decisions and enroll in coverage that works for them.

    http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/just-in-time-for-christmas-an-obamacare-video-sure-to-make-republicans-squeal/news/2013/12/20/80568

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:55 PM

      OMG, that was hysterical!!!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous4:26 PM

    Obamacare Will ‘Buckle’ Under The ‘High Risk Pool’ Of Gay People Warns Perkins

    ...So, in a nutshell, Tony Perkins, the head of a certified anti-gay hate group, is angered that more LGBT people may actually be able to access affordable health care insurance, despite his efforts to kill Obamacare and kill any workplace protections the LGBT community might be afforded, say, via ENDA.

    (Perkins, in all seriousness, in August actually labeled Obamacare “a rare strain of ‘flesh-eating bacteria’ that if not stopped and stopped now threatens the very life of our Republic.”)

    What does it say about a man who is doing absolutely everything he can, from every angle possible, to ensure LGBT people can get fired, and if they get sick, can’t afford to, well, keep living?

    http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/obamacare-will-buckle-under-the-high-risk-pool-of-gay-people-warns-perkins/politics/2013/12/18/80462

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Randall3:12 AM

      And I don't understand why our Democratic lawmakers don't start calling Tony Perkins and his ilk un-American for their views. After all, universal health-care works in
      Germany
      Spain
      England
      France
      Norway
      Sweden
      Switzerland
      Costa Rica
      Brazil
      Venezuela
      Australia
      (the list goes on and on...)

      but REPUBLICANS say we are too stupid to make it work HERE.
      In America.

      Tony Perkins and the REPUBLICANS say we're too incompetent to make it work HERE in the USA.

      Sarah Palin and FOX News don't believe Americans can DO it! Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh don't think we can pull it off!

      Well DEMOCRATS, by God, don't believe we're not as good as those other guys! We believe we can make it work right here in the good old USA!

      As a matter of fact, DEMOCRATS believe we can make it work better than
      Egypt
      Tunisia
      Japan
      Morocco
      Bahrain
      Pakistan
      Turkey
      India
      China
      Austria
      Denmark
      Luxembourg
      Finland
      Greece
      on and on and on
      ...



      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:57 AM

      Whenever I hear that name, Tony Perkins, I think of the fine actor who was gay and died years ago of AIDS. This cretin should change his name. The actor Tony Perkins was a far better person.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    3. That was Anthony Perkins. Just think of him that way.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous4:30 PM

    Colorado student, 17, wounded in school shooting, dies

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/22/us-usa-colorado-shooting-idUSBRE9BL00E20131222

    Heartbreaking.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:40 PM

    ThinkProgress: Nearly Four Million Low-Income Americans Now Have Health Coverage Under Obamacare

    About 1.7 million poor Americans looking for health coverage were deemed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in November, according to new government data released on Friday. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also revised previous estimates that about 1.5 million people qualified for Medicaid or CHIP in October up to 2.1 million. All told, that means that just under four million low-income Americans now have access to public health insurance.

    http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/12/20/3097351/medicaid-enrollment-obamacare/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:03 PM

    Looks like someone could benefit from 'Obamacare'...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd7c5tQCs1I

    I can't believe he actually DID that! It's mostly in German, except for the NSFW language parts, which are in English. I'm dying to know what they were saying in German, if anyone can do a quick translation, I'd appreciate it. Either way, it's pretty cringeworthy, funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:44 PM

      Germsany has healthercare for everyone.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:01 PM

      He is damn lucky he didn't break his spine.

      Delete
  10. So, are Republicans calling it the Affordable Care Act yet?

    As soon as they do, you know Obamacare is a success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:46 PM

      EXACTLY! You nailed it. As long as they see it as a 'failure' they're happy to attached Obama to the name, but as soon as it becomes popular and locked in they'll change the tune to something that makes it sound like THEY had a hand in making it a reality.

      They'll be taking credit all over the place for it, you'll see. They'll even try to rename it to reflect them in it in some way. They'll do all they can to try to rewrite history, and Sarah Palin will be chirping along with the rest of them.

      But we'll remember that they voted more than 40 times to repeal it, kill it, defund it, as well as not voting for it in the first place, in complete lock-step with their right wing masters.

      And then we'll get out and VOTE for Democrats...across the board. Because we MUST take back the House and hold the Senate, for President Obama to be able to do the most good for the country, our future in the world, and our arrival in the 21st Century during his last years in office.

      Barack Obama plays the long game. If you aren't able to think like that, you'll always be left in his wake.

      Delete
    2. Randall2:55 AM

      You're right about Obamacare - but the problem is:
      when it DOES become wildly popular and the Republicans DO try to re-brand it as theirs
      ...our Democrats will placidly let them do it!
      WHY don't the Democrats stand up to these bullies?

      With the exception of a few, (think Alan Grayson and Elizabeth Warren,) most Democrats just scurry out of the way of the bullies.

      Delete
  11. AJ Billings5:41 PM

    I'm personally waiting til mid January to sign up for the ACA. That was the advice I got "unofficially from an ACA Navigator.

    The Silver plans are often the best buy if you are eligible for subsidies, btw.

    Oh, and completely O/T, but every week I ask myself how much more stupidity, ignorance, hatred, and religious insanity can be propagated by the likes of Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, et al.

    This week we had the profoundly stupid and nasty racial ignorance of Phil Robertson saying "Things were fine for the blacks in the old South, pre- civil rights days."

    I wonder if Robertson remembers a couple of guys named Everett Till, or Medgar Evers?

    And to cap off the week, we have Bradlee Deen, saying that public education is demonic, and that the teachers in NYC are teaching beastiality.

    What's next from the Christian Taliban?

    http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dean-new-york-city-theyre-teaching-kids-bestiality-public-schools

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:04 AM

      Emmitt Till not Everett.

      Delete
  12. Anita Winecooler6:09 PM

    I think this post is why I felt so elated with President Obama's "best news conference of the year". With the website fixed and a lot of positive stories coming to the fore (One was on the show "The Doctors" - a woman said "Obamacare Saved My Life" - she presented to her pcp with a severe "headache" after signing up for her plan and getting confirmation of coverage. It turned out to be a hemorrhage, and while fixing it, they found and removed a malignant tumor the size of a tangerine in her skull. The physician said that if she showed up fifteen minutes later, she would have "bled out" and died. She didn't say she was thrilled to be alive, she said she was thrilled to have coverage and peace of mind for the first time in her life.

    Good luck, Gryph and everyone else applying, especially in the states that didn't expand medicare. The navigators are a huge help, I highly recommend going that route.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous12:10 AM

    "Personally I think that the Republicans are rapidly running out ammunition and that the final stages of the 2014 race will look like Custer's last stand."

    Fuck YEAH!

    $arah Paylin, I along with the majority of the sane people in this country think you are a blithering idiot. Have you ever watched yourself on the TV, ever listened to yourself on the TV? What tidbit of knowledge have you ever proffered? We laugh at your ignorance and your dwindling C4P army of sycophants full of crazy.We all realize you are nothing more than a right wing bell ringer who has memorized her talkin' points and has abundantly exposed her racist, intolerant, homophobic innards. You are an UGLY person $arah, I'd hate to be you.You grow more UGLY everyday, hope you are proud of yourself... and I'm sure you are.
    But it will come back to bite you in the ass, karma, you know?

    BTW, where is Tri-G's birth Certificate? Lost it? Misfiled it? Never had it? WTF is up with that? It would be so easy to dispel the"untrue" rumors of Tri-G's miraculous birth, no? We realize you will never own up to your "sins" $arah, and we don't care anymore. We see through your flimsy facade.

    So strap on those "Belmonts" and hold them high, it's going to be a rough ride from here on out baby. lol

    ps: I'd advise you have your daughters tested for std's, you too... living with the "Pimp Daddy" and all you know.

    follow_the_news

    ReplyDelete
  14. Randall2:51 AM

    You would think that the Democrats would start a website that features ONLY people who are thrilled with their "Obamacare".
    Such as Sue Spanke of Missoula, Montana:

    http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014675919

    There are thousands of stories like that - why not trumpet them on a Facebook website?

    Maybe call it:
    facebook.com/ohfuckmesidewaysILOVEobamacare
    ...or something witty and clever like that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous4:55 AM

    A sad story in our newspaper yesterday about a man, in his mid-30s, who got sick recently and learned that he has a complicated heart birth defect. He was hospitalized, now has over $200,000 in medical bills (no insurance) and has lost his job (layoff plus permanent health issues now). Wait, one would think that he is the perfect candidate for Medicaid or the ACA. Well, no, because he "knows his constitutional rights" and he's not going to be forced to take government handouts. So there's going to be a spaghetti dinner for him, his former coworkers have passed the hat and, when he cannot pay any of this medical bills, all of the rest of us will be stuck with them. But he "knows his constitutional rights."

    We'll, I'd like to tell him a thing or too - mainly that the American people pay taxes to help people like him. Medicaid is NOT charity. Spaghetti dinners are; passing the hat among coworkers is. And, while nice and well meant gestures, neither will pay all of the bill. The ACA is not imprisonment, nor is it a reduction in anyone's "constitutional rights." The ACA is a means to give people like this guy the chance to have decent and affordable medical insurance and to eliminate the problem he is creating: bad debts that he'll never be able to pay and that will end up being socked to all of us in higher premiums. If we all share the initial burden of paying for health insurance or if we understand that Medicaid is not a handout then the RISK IS SHARED so costs can come down.

    This man is the result of a lifetime of those Fox millionaires like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, etc. and the radio wave lunatics like Rush Limbaugh and all of those millionaire GOP members of Congress, not to mention our millionaire governor, Rick Snyder, and his henchmen in the state legislature. He's their dream creation: a really stupid person who is now sick and will become increasingly bitter.
    Beaglemom

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    Replies
    1. Maple7:21 AM

      You can educate the ignorant, medicate the mentally ill, but you can't fix stupid. However, this guy is willfully ignorant, so that's a problem that also can't be fixed.
      This reminds me of that Forbes mag writer Tamny who was interviewed on TDS last week. He wants the poor and downtrodden in society to rely solely on the charity of others, rather than the social welfare of the government. Glad I live north of the 49th.

      Delete
    2. If he were my coworker I would refuse to contribute, nor would I pay to attend a spaghetti dinner with guaranteed worse food than I make by my own hand.

      He's Republican? He's all about personally responsibility? Well, paying for your own healthcare is your personal responsibility accord to Republicans.

      Raking up horrendous medical bills that you then foist off on the American taxpayer isn't handouts?

      I wish there was something in the ACA that said now that you are responsible for your own healthcare there will be no more FREE medical care through emergency rooms or any other means. So scofflaws like this asshole were forced to pay for their own decisions.

      Either that, or FORCE him to choose. All his bills are his own PLUS add on a nice hefty fine for not signing up.

      Have a hospital administrator go in his room with a bill and an "on demand" payment for services in one hand and an ACA application in the other. "Pay up or sign up. Those are your choices. Otherwise we will stop all medical services as of this moment." Then we'll see how adamant he is that he'll stand up for his Constitutional right to die.

      Delete

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