I've gotten lost regarding the Obamacare website and forgot where I left off so bear with me in the waiting room, readers:
"Repaired health website promised by Nov. 30; Administration names new group to manage project" by Robert Pear and Sharon LaFraniere | New York Times, October 26, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that it would fix problems in the federal health insurance marketplace by Nov. 30, just two weeks before the deadline to sign up for coverage to replace health insurance policies being canceled because they do not meet new federal standards.
Well, another policy will be offered in its place, right? Right?
To help meet that schedule, the Obama administration, in an abrupt shift, named a “general contractor” Friday to fix the troubled website of the federal marketplace.
How about just delaying the f***ing thing for a year like what big business got?
Obamacare Nothing But a Ca$h Grab by Bankrupt AmeriKan Government
Oh, right. Creditors need to see that pile of money before they buy more debt.
Such a condensed schedule raises the question of how hundreds of thousands of people whose current policies do not comply with the health law will obtain new coverage in time.
Jeffrey D. Zients, President Obama’s troubleshooter on the project, said the general contractor, Quality Software Services Inc., a unit of the UnitedHealth Group, would “manage the overall effort,” like a general contractor on a home improvement project. Notably, that company had a role in developing one of the most troubled components of the marketplace, which helped verify the identities of those registering.
Related:
"As questions mount over the website’s failure, insider interviews and a review of technical specifications by the Associated Press found a mind-numbingly complex system put together by harried programmers who pushed out a final product that congressional investigators said was tested by the government and not private developers with more expertise. Project developers for the health care website who spoke on condition of anonymity — because they feared they would otherwise be fired — said they raised doubts among themselves whether the website could be ready in time. They complained openly to one another about what they considered tight and unrealistic deadlines. One was nearly brought to tears over the stress of finishing on time, one developer said. Website builders saw red flags for months."
And like the American people, they were ignored.
Also see: Obamacare Contractors Were Big Campaign Donors
Is that really a $urpri$e anymore in AmeriKa?
WTF are defense contractors doing writing health programs anyway?
Until now, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, led by Marilyn B. Tavenner, served as the quarterback, trying to coordinate the work of dozens of contractors.
Outside experts said the agency did not have the expertise or resources to be the “system integrator” for such a complex, ambitious project. Two people involved in the effort said the schedule for repairs was aggressive.
But Zients, a management expert who is in line to take over as the chief White House economic adviser Jan. 1, said, “By the end of November, HealthCare.gov will work smoothly for the vast majority of users.”
Moreover, Zients said: “The HealthCare.gov site is fixable. It will take a lot of work. A lot of problems need to be addressed. But let me be clear: HealthCare.gov is fixable.”
That isn't making me feel better. The piece of shit should never have been rolled out in the first place.
The website has frustrated millions of people trying to obtain insurance under Obama’s health care law.
In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have received notices from insurance companies saying that their coverage is about to end because it does not comply with the Affordable Care Act. For example, the policies may not provide “essential health benefits” like maternity care and may not cover as much of the medical costs as required by new federal standards.
A typical letter to about 25,000 policyholders from Independence Blue Cross in Pennsylvania says, “As a result of the health care law, your current health plan will be discontinued effective December 31, 2013.”
Related:
“Let me be exactly clear about what health care reform means to you. First of all, if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you.”
WHO told THAT LIE?
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida said it was informing about 300,000 subscribers that their current insurance policies did not meet the new benefit requirements.
And now the AmeriKan media puke will drop it like your coverage.
Zients said that a team of experts from inside and outside the government had found bugs in some of the software used in the website for the federal exchange. That finding differs from the original explanation of problems that have crippled the website. Administration officials at first said that the difficulties had occurred because the number of people trying to use the website far exceeded their expectations, and they played down other factors.
Hey, what's ANOTHER LIE from a LYING PIECE of $HIT PRESIDENT and his administration, huh? Remember when they tried to blame hackers?
The new law requires most Americans to have health insurance. People generally must sign up by Dec. 15 for coverage that takes effect Jan. 1. However, the open enrollment period continues to March 31. People who go without insurance after that date may be subject to tax penalties.
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And it only cost taxpayers more than $400 million (and counting) for a piece of $hit.
"Obama to use Faneuil Hall as backdrop to defend law" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, October 26, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to travel to Boston Wednesday to defend his mandatory health insurance program, a visit to the intellectual birthplace of the law as the White House attempts to recover from computer problems that have plagued the new marketplace website.
How do you defend the indefensible?
Obama will deliver remarks at Faneuil Hall, from the same spot where Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Obama’s rival in the 2012 election, signed the Bay State’s landmark health care law in 2006.
That is what cost Romney the presidential election.
“It is the Massachusetts experience that shows you what happens when people put politics aside and make sure that people are covered,” said David Simas, a White House deputy senior adviser who has overseen aspects of the health care rollout. “Faneuil Hall, and that historic setting, is a perfect backdrop to show Democrats and Republicans working together.”
Pffft!
Obama’s speech will come on the same day as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Honestly, I'm tired of the symbolic $hit of public relations imagery and illusion that comes with politics in the propaganda pre$$, thanks.
Obama will point to the success that Massachusetts has had in expanding health care insurance to nearly all of its residents. Obama is also expected to discuss some of the problems with HealthCare.gov, the insurance marketplace that was supposed to work like the Massachusetts Connector.
“Our focus 24/7 right now is just on fixing this website, throwing everything we have at it,” said Simas, who is a Taunton native and former aide to Governor Deval Patrick. “That’s what the president’s demanded, and that’s what’s happening.”
White House officials increasingly are citing the Massachusetts experience as an example of how consumers waited months before they enrolled in health care plans.
“When they began their open enrollment period, a grand total of 123 people signed up during the first month of open enrollment in Massachusetts,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday. “Obviously, the pace of enrollments increased dramatically as it got closer to the deadline. We expect to see a similar trend in those enrollment figures related to the Affordable Care Act.”
Administration officials expect to have the bugs cleared out of the system by the end of November. The enrollment deadline is March 31.
Why did it have bugs in the fir$t place?
Obama’s trip to Boston is part of a broader push to bolster public opinion and encourage people to sign up.
White House and Cabinet officials are traveling to the 10 cities with the highest rates of uninsured. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is going to Atlanta on Tuesday, and Cecilia Munoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, heads to Detroit Monday.
While in Boston, Obama will attend a fund-raiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises money for House campaigns around the country. The fund-raiser, which will also include House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, will be at the Weston home of Alan Solomont, Obama’s former ambassador to Spain.
And he ADDED THIS DAMAGE CONTROL OPERATION to his itinerary! That is why he was/is coming to Boston, as opposed to the implication of the deceptive headline!
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Globe still pushing it on the front page:
"In rural Maine, insurance program progresses slowly" by Chelsea Conaboy | Globe Staff, October 26, 2013
WHITING, Maine — Deb Shields is one of a handful of counselors in rural Washington County charged with finding people who will benefit from the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act and helping them sign up....
Did you try Texas?
Yet, the rollout of the federal program here has been slow....
Because of limited Internet access?
The Obama administration said Friday that it had identified dozens of flaws with the healthcare.gov site and selected a private company to lead repair efforts. A White House consultant predicted most of the problems would be fixed by the end of November.
Still, without state coordination a network of social service agencies, health centers, and statewide nonprofits are using federal grants to lead the outreach campaign. Enroll207.com, created by Maine Health Access Foundation, serves as a clearinghouse for information on how to get help.
Michael Gendreau, a spokesman for Maine Community Health Options, one of two insurers selling exchange plans in the state, said the company had not received enrollment figures from the government. Sign-ups may be low, he said, but phone calls and traffic to the insurer’s website indicate that interest is strong.
“A lot of people are window-shopping,” Gendreau said.
Or avoiding the pos altogether.
Shields said she would like to see the government take its website down and overhaul it, rather than allow people to make so many false starts.
“Letting everybody flounder like this is just making it worse,” she said. But Shields, well-known in the community for her gardening expertise, is optimistic: Like in the garden, she said, “stuff starts tiny, but it blooms into something phenomenal.”
Smells like $hit though.
Many Downeast people live by the calendar. They rake blueberries in summer. They fish during lobster, scallop, and sea urchin seasons. They make balsam fir wreaths at year’s end. The work rarely comes with health benefits, but the need is great.
Washington County residents are hospitalized for diabetes, asthma, and other chronic conditions more often than the average Mainer, according to a state public health assessment. More than 1 in 5 people lived below 2011 federal poverty thresholds — about $22,811 for a family of four — the second-highest rate in New England.
In the basement food pantry of a Seventh-Day Adventist church that sits along a stretch of Route 1 flanked by blueberry barrens ablaze in bright red foliage, interest in insurance talk last week was light. Shields filled a plate with zucchini casserole and chop suey and sat down next to Mona Denbow of Lubec, a nearby fishing village.
The 65-year-old was visiting the pantry with a woman she assists as a home health aide. Denbow is on Medicare, too. But, she told Shields, her relatives planned to skip shopping for coverage and instead pay the government penalty for being uninsured, which next year would be $95 per adult or 1 percent of income, whichever figure is higher.
Shields urged her to take some brochures. A woman listening in tucked a stack into her bag of just-ripening tomatoes.
“I think it’s going to be like Medicare was when it started,” Shields told Denbow. “People didn’t want it, but now people don’t want to give it up.”
Because when people don't know anything else they hold on to oppressive structures and think it is good and normal.
I'm sorry, folks, but I no longer believe in the "goodness" of the American government.
He has a point.
Denbow said later that she passed information to her daughter, who is uninsured. Before she spoke with Shields, Denbow said, she knew that the law required people to buy health insurance but she didn’t know it offered subsidies for those who couldn’t afford it.
“I don’t think there was enough education onto it,” she said.
Shields repeated a mantra: There is time. Enough to reach more people like Denbow and for the government to fix the website. Dec. 15 is the deadline to sign up for coverage to start in January, but those who enroll by the end of March will avoid the penalty.
That is when I start tuning them out.
Some counselors in the county feel a greater sense of urgency. Winter is coming, and seasonal workers are setting their household budget through spring, said Susan Farley, an insurance counselor with Washington Hancock Community Agency.
“They’re putting fuel in their tanks,” she said. “They’re trying to get ahead on their electric bills, if they can.”
Frustrated with the website this week, Farley started helping clients fill out paper applications to be mailed. But, she said, she does not know when they can expect a response.
Makes you sick, doesn't it?
The 25-bed Down East Community Hospital in Machias is one of two hospitals in Washington County. It provides about $2 million annually in free care to low-income patients and never receives payment for about $2 million more in services, considered bad debt.
Doug Jones, chief executive, said that bad debt might decline if patients who now have high-deductible insurance plans, which leave them with bills they can’t pay, sign up for better coverage.
Yeah, it's all your fault, patients.
Such plans are common in Maine. More than 1 in 3 sold in the individual market had a deductible of $7,500 or higher, according to a 2011 analysis. Some families may have to pay higher premiums for more comprehensive coverage. Others, such as Tom Alford, will see their costs drop significantly.
More are seeing costs double and triple than drop.
The 62-year-old retired from book manufacturing and moved last year from Michigan to Cherryfield, Maine. His health plan, with a $7,500 yearly deductible, costs $437 per month, or more than a quarter of his budget, drawn from savings.
“It’s killing me, is all I can say,” he said.
The deductible has kept him from seeing a specialist for hearing loss, he said. Alford expects his premium on the exchange to drop by at least half, and for better coverage.
He is going to be in for a rude awakening.
He plans to meet with an enrollment counselor this week who will guide him through the online application, if the website permits.
Does he know Obama removed the deductible caps for con$umers, 'er, patients?
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Related: Americans Losing Faith in Obamacare
I think some people need their heads checked:
"US ‘on the cusp’ of mental health advances, Biden says" by Chelsea Conaboy | Globe Staff, October 23, 2013
Calling the human brain “the only uncharted territory on earth,” Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday night that the United States is “on the cusp” of major changes in how mental illness is diagnosed and treated....
Translation: We will make people take more pre$cription pharmaceuticals.
Related: Yale, Harvard researchers aiming to recode genome
Pentagon agency to spend $70m on brain implant research
A Manchurian candidate may not be far off if he's not here already.
And Obama can budget $100 million to DARPA while food stamps are being suspended and cut? What does hunger do to mental health?
The forum, which includes a one-day conference Thursday, marked the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s signing of a law that funded mental health centers throughout the United States.
I suppose it was a different time, and everyone is entitled to mistakes.
Research into the genetic causes of mental illness and pending federal rules meant to push insurers to provide equal coverage of physical and mental health services will improve understanding of disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, and provide better access to care, Biden said.
This as insurers are dropping coverage.
He also called provisions of the Affordable Care Act that list treatment for mental illness and substance use disorders as essential health benefits that insurers must pay for.
Not if they cut your hours like so many of them are doing.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also lauded the federal health law as a boon for people suffering from mental illness.
Her appearance at the gala was criticized this week by congressional Republicans who wanted her to appear before a House committee hearing Thursday to answer questions about how the Obama administration has so badly botched the launch of a federal website that people in more than 30 states must use to buy subsidized health plans.
I guess she had better things to do.
Some, including a fellow Kansan, Senator Pat Roberts, have called on Sebelius to resign over the mishandling of the online insurance marketplace and the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.
“What a great room to be in tonight, for all kinds of reasons,” Sebelius said. “I can tell you it’s good for my mental health.”
Yes, sycophantic settings will do that for you.
She noted that the large majority of people with substance abuse problems do not seek treatment, nor do 60 percent of people with mental illness. The Affordable Care Act will make it easier to get care by providing coverage, she said.
“The new law is more than a website,” she said.
“It is an opportunity for more Americans to get mental and physical health services,” she added.
How if they can't f***ing sign up?
This is starting to drive me crazy!
The event was spearheaded by Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy and former representative for Rhode Island, who has been working with the Obama administration on the issue of mental health parity.
Kennedy said the effort to change and improve mental health care in the United States is “the civil rights movement of our time.”
I was told that was same-sex marriage.
“The tragedy is not in mental illness,” he said. “It’s in not treating mental illness.”
So how do we diagnose and treat psychopathic war criminals in charge of nations?
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Related: The Long Term Prognosis For Obamacare
Not good. Those premiums are also ri$ing.
I think your healthiest option is to avoid the AmeriKan medical e$tablishment at all costs.
