Pirate's Cove

The unilateral President has made yet another unilateral, possibly lawless, decision

(Washington Post) The Obama administration on Thursday night significantly relaxed the rules of the federal health-care law for millions of consumers whose individual insurance policies have been canceled, saying they can buy bare-bones plans or entirely avoid a requirement that most Americans have health coverage.

The surprise announcement, days before the Dec. 23 deadline for people to choose plans that will begin Jan. 1, triggered an immediate backlash from the health insurance industry and raised fairness questions about a law intended to promote affordable and comprehensive coverage on a widespread basis.

As Fox News notes, HHS head Kathleen Sebelius was asked point blank if there were any more surprises coming, and she refused to answer

“We asked Secretary Sebelius point blank what would be the next holiday surprise, and she was silent. Yet, here we are with another major policy shift. The sad reality is that when the law takes effect come January 1, more Americans will be without coverage under Obamacare than one year ago,” Blackburn said in a statement released Thursday evening.

Back to Washington Post puff piece

This second change, prompted by a group of Democratic senators — most of whom face tough reelection campaigns next year — goes substantially further in accommodating people upset about losing their policies. The latest rule will allow consumers with a canceled health plan to claim a “hardship exemption” if they think the plans sold through new federal and state marketplaces are too expensive.

So, basically almost everyone who has seen their insurance cancelled. Hey, didn’t Obama and all their peeps say that all those cancelled plans were “substandard“? That was the talking point for a couple weeks. The catastrophic plans themselves are barely less than the bronze plans, and are not eligible for any subsidies. Furthermore, the Exchanges are mostly not set up to offer the plans. Of course, said catastrophic plans must still, according to the text of the ACA, include all the same stuff all the other plans offer. You can see the difference between the new “catastrophic” plans and Bronze plans here.

Federal health officials estimated Thursday that, of all the people whose substandard health plans have been canceled, less than half a million have not chosen new coverage. But they acknowledged that they were not certain.

That’s cute how they the article includes the substandard schtick. More interesting, somehow HHS seems to have at least some data on how many have signed up. I don’t buy it at all. More than likely, there are still millions without plans. Of course, HHS considers those with a plan in a shopping cart as “signed up”.

This is a panic move, designed to protect vulnerable Democrat Senators who are up for re-election in November, made after receiving a letter from Democrats. And, really, is just about optics, since the catastrophic plans are, as previously noted, barely less expensive than Bronze plans, and are not eligible for subsidies. And are difficult to sign up for.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: 11th Hour Obamacare Exemption Allows Purchase Of Catastrophic Insurance »

Remember how Mr. Obama and so many other Democrats told us that people would love Obamacare as time went on? How’s that working out?

(NY Times) Americans who lack medical coverage disapprove of President Obama’s health care law at roughly the same rate as the insured, even though most say they struggle to pay for basic care, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Fifty-three percent of the uninsured disapprove of the law, the poll found, compared with 51 percent of those who have health coverage. A third of the uninsured say the law will help them personally, but about the same number think it will hurt them, with cost a leading concern.

The widespread skepticism, even among people who are supposed to benefit from the law, underscores the political challenge facing the Obama administration as it tries to persuade millions of Americans to enroll in coverage through new online marketplaces, a crucial element of making the new law financially viable for insurers.

One of the big problems with Obamacare, ie, the “Affordable” Care Act, is that having health insurance doesn’t mean one has health care. Why? Even if a person can afford the premiums, and even with subsidies (provided one is eligible) they can still be expensive, the deductibles themselves are high. Can your average person pitch out $5K, $6K, $7K, $10k or more for the actual care? And that’s just the tip of the Obamacare iceberg.

“I don’t understand it at all,” said Derrick Stapleton, 47, an independent from Peru, Ind., speaking in a follow-up interview. Mr. Stapleton, who is uninsured and out of work, said he planned to sign up for coverage before the March 31 deadline. But he added, “It sounds, from what I understand, that it might not be as affordable as they once thought.”

The heck you say! Those who wrote the bill, and Team Obama as they crafted the rules, decided that the best way to lower costs was to make sure no one could really afford to use the insurance.

Robyn Logan, 55, of Bowie, Md., is an uninsured Democrat who said poor past experiences with the health care system made her skeptical of the law’s potential. “I need to see a doctor and my fear is that even if I get insurance, I won’t be able to find one,” she said. “I was on Medicaid at one point and couldn’t find a doctor because no one would take me.”

The same will happen with the huge numbers of Americans pushed into Medicaid instead of “private” health insurance.

From the CBS story on the poll

Overall, by more than two to one Americans think the health care law will hurt them (34 percent) rather than help them (16 percent). While the uninsured are more positive than those with insurance about the law’s impact, more think the law will hurt (37 percent) rather than help (33 percent) them.

Ouch. Here’s a big point

You have a sweeping law affecting 1/6th of the US economy, touching on the lives of ever single American. It could be a light touch, it could be a heavy touch. Gobs of taxpayer money is being spent on this law. Democrats and their groups have spent gobs of money pimping it. Yet, overall, only 36% think Obamacare will make the health care system better than before. Which should tell you just how horrible this law is.

Crossed at Right Wing News

Read: Surprise! Majority Of Uninsured Disapprove Of Obamacare »