Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Latest NBC News "Investigation" Into ObamaCare. (Where Were They in 2010?)




* HE LIED.

But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under ObamaCare...and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

* THUS... OBAMA THE LIAR...

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC News that 50% to 75% of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the "standards" mandated by the new health care law.

* REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PLANS ARE "LIKED."

(*PURSED LIPS*)

One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80%.

* WELL... EVENTUALLY THE PLAN IS TO MAKE IT 100% SO AS TO USHER IN SINGLE-PAYER.

(*SHRUG*)

And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

* YEP...

* AND IF "YOUR" COSTS DO HAPPEN TO GO DOWN, IT'S BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS ADDED YOU (OR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY) TO THE OBAMACARE "WELFARE" ROLLS - MEANING YOU'RE BEING SUBSIDIZED... ADDED TO THE FINANCIAL BURDEN TAXPAYERS NOW CARRY... ADDED TO THE DEFICIT SPENDING THAT ACCOUNTS FOR WHAT... THIRTY-SOMETHING.. FORTY-SOMETHING PERCENT OF OPERATING BUDGET FUNDING...?

* SOUND LIKE A GOOD PLAN TO YOU, FOLKS?

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date - the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example - the policy would not be grandfathered.

* BAIT AND SWITCH. GRANDFATHERED DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN GRANDFATHERED.

Buried in ObamaCare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40% to 67%” of customers will not be able to keep their policy.

* SMOKING GUN, FOLKS! THEY KNEW THIS IN JULY 2010 FOR SURE AND SINCE IT TAKES TIME TO COME TO CONCLUSIONS IT'S A SURE BET THAT THEY KNEW LONG BEFORE THIS.

And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40% to 67% range.”

* NOT 5%... NOT 7%... NOT 9%... BUT BETWEEN 40%-67%. FOLKS... YOU WERE LIED TO.   

That means the administration knew that more than 40% to 67% of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.

* UH... YEAH... OBVIOUSLY THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS. (THUS "SMOKING GUN.")

Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”

* THAT'S BECAUSE OBAMA IS A LIAR.

“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either,” said  Robert Laszewski, of Health Policy and Strategy Associates...

* YES... WE'RE BEATING A DEAD HORSE... THEY LIED... THEY LIED... THEY LIED... DELIBERATELY SO.

Laszewski estimates that 80% of those in the individual market will not be able to keep their current policies and will have to buy insurance that meets requirements of the new law, which generally requires a richer package of benefits than most policies today.

* HEY FOLKS... YOU KNOW HOW EACH TIME YOU BUY A NEW CAR THEY TRY AND SELL YOU OPTIONS AND UPGRADES AND FINALLY AN EXTENDED WARRANTY? YOU'RE ABLE TO SAY NO AND YOU USUALLY DO, RIGHT? WELL... NOT WITH OBAMACARE!

The White House does not dispute that many in the individual market will lose their current coverage...

* THE COVERAGE THEY PROMISED THEY COULD KEEP IF THEY WISHED...

...but argues they will be offered better coverage...

* ISN'T "BETTER" IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER...?

* PLUS... "MORE" DOESN'T ALWAYS EQUAL "BETTER." FOR EXAMPLE... SINGLE MALES BEING FORCED TO BUY POLICIES WHICH PROVIDE PREGNANCY COVERAGE... 

(*SHRUG*)

* HELL... MENOPAUSAL WOMEN BEING FORCED TO BUY POLICIES WHICH PROVIDE PREGANCY COVERAGE...

(*SNORT*)

...and that many will get tax subsidies that would offset any increased costs.

* AND THIS IS GOOD...??? A GOVERNMENT THAT CAN'T COME CLOSE TO MEETING CURRENT OPERATING EXPENSES ADDING MORE UNFUNDED LIABILITIES TO ITS LEDGER IS GOOD...?!?!

"The consumers who are getting notices are in plans that do not provide all these protections – but in the vast majority of cases, those same insurers will automatically shift their enrollees to a plan that provides new consumer protections and, for nearly half of individual market enrollees, discounts through premium tax credits,” said White House spokesperson Jessica Santillo.

* TAX CREDITS ARE SUBSIDIES. "CREDITS" ARE DEDUCTIONS FROM THE FEDERAL COFFERS! AGAIN, FOLKS, THESE PEOPLE ARE BASICALLY BRAGGING ABOUT EXPANDING DEFICITS, EXPANDING DEBT, AND EXPANDING THE WELFARE STATE!

“Nothing in the Affordable Care Act forces people out of their health plans: The law allows plans that covered people at the time the law was enacted to continue to offer that same coverage to the same enrollees – nothing has changed and that coverage can continue into 2014,” she said.

* TOTAL BULLSHIT! IF YOU HAVE A PLAN YOU LIKE AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAYS IT'S GONNA BE ILLEGAL FOR THE INSURANCE COMPANY TO OFFER THIS PLAN FROM NOW ON... (*DEEP BREATH*)... THEN YOU'LL NO LONGER HAVE THE OPTION OF KEEPING THIS DISCONTINUED PLAN!

* FOLKS... WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REBEL AGAINST THESE PEOPLE?! WHEN WILL THE LIES, MANIPULATIONS, AND BETRAYALS PUSH YOU PAST THE BREAKING POINT?!

The Affordable Care Act will not affect most traditional employer-based plans...

* MEANING WORKERS WHO HAD INSURANCE... WHO DIDN'T NEED OBAMACARE!

...but many of those who purchased insurance policies on their own will see higher premiums.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... MARY AND I PAY $1,327/MO. NOW... WHAT WILL OBAMACARE MEAN FOR US NEXT YEAR? I FEAR NOTHING GOOD.

This is in part due to the 10 "essential" health benefits insurance providers are now required to include. NBC's Peter Alexander reports:

Individual insurance plans with low premiums often lack basic benefits, such as prescription drug coverage...

* WHICH MAKES PERFECT SENSE FOR HEALTHY PEOPLE WHO DON'T REQUIRE COSTLY REGULAR MEDICATIONS!

...or carry high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.

* WHICH IS WHAT I'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE BUT EVEN BEFORE OBAMACARE SUCH PLANS WERE UNABLE TO BE SOLD IN NEW YORK.

The Affordable Care Act requires all companies to offer more benefits, such as mental health care, and also bars companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions.

* THUS... WE'RE NO LONGER TALKING ABOUT "INSURANCE." YOU'RE ALREADY SICK! THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS FORCING AN INSURANCE COMPANY TO SIMPLY EAT A GUARANTEED LOSS RATHER THAN STEPPING UP TO SHOULD THE BURDEN OF SUCH PEOPLE DIRECTLY.

George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was "perfectly happy" with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But [last month], he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The "comparable" plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

And the best option he’s found on the exchange so far offered a ["mere"] 415% jump in premium, to $948 a month.

* CHANT IT WITH ME, FOLKS... O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

"The deductible is less," he said, "But the plan doesn't meet my needs. Its unaffordable."

"I'm sitting here looking at this, thinking we ought to just pay the fine and just get insurance when we're sick," Schwab added. "Everybody's worried about whether the website works or not, but that's fixable. That's just the tip of the iceberg. This stuff isn't fixable."

Heather Goldwater, 38, of South Carolina, is raising a new baby while running her own PR firm. She said she received a letter in July from Cigna, her insurance company, that said the company would no longer offer her individual plan but promised to send a letter by October offering a comparable option. So far, she hasn't received anything.

* NICE...

"I'm completely overwhelmed with a six-month-old and a business,” said Goldwater. “The last thing I can do is spend hours poring over a website that isn't working, trying to wrap my head around this entire health care overhaul."

* TOO BAD, HONEY... THE BORG ARE HERE... RESISTANCE IS FUTILE...

Goldwater said she supports the new law and is grateful for provisions helping folks like her with pre-existing conditions, but she worries she won’t be able to afford the new insurance, which is expected to cost more because it has more benefits.

* SHE... "SUPPORTS"... THE LAW. UH-HUH. OK...

(*SHRUG*)

"I'm jealous of people who have really good health insurance," she said. "It's people like me who are stuck in the middle who are going to get screwed."

* WELL... AT LEAST THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HER SEX DRIVE! (HEY... SHE ADMITS SHE SUPPORTS GETTING SCREWED!)

(*GUFFAW*)

Richard Helgren, a Lansing, Mich., retiree, said he was “irate” when he received a letter informing him that his wife Amy's $559 a month health plan was being changed because of the law. The plan the insurer offered raised his deductible from $0 to $2,500, and the company gave him 17 days to decide. The higher costs spooked him and his wife, who have painstakingly planned for their retirement years. "Every dollar we didn't plan for erodes our standard of living," Helgren said. Ultimately, though Helgren opted not to shop through the ACA exchanges, he was able to apply for a good plan with a slightly lower premium through an insurance agent. He said he never believed President Obama’s promise that people would be able to keep their current plans.

* SMART MAN!

"I heard him only about a thousand times," he said. "I didn't believe him when he said it though because there was just no way that was going to happen. They wrote the regulations so strictly that none of the old polices can grandfather."

* OR AT LEAST VERY FEW...

For months, Laszewski has warned that some consumers will face sticker shock. He recently got his own notice that he and his wife cannot keep their current policy, which he described as one of the best, so-called "Cadillac" plans offered for 2013. Now, he said, the best comparable plan he found for 2014 has a smaller doctor network, larger out-of-pocket costs, and a 66% premium increase.

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

“Mr. President, I like the coverage I have," Laszweski said. "It is the best health insurance policy you can buy."

* MAKE THAT "HE LIKED THE COVERAGE HE HAD. IT WAS THE BEST ONE COULD BUY."

* FOLKS... FRIGGIN' DISASTER...

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