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Tag: Affordable Health Care Act

  • Koch Brothers Ripped By Majority Leader Reid

    Apparently, if you don’t agree with ObamaCare, you are “un-America,” or at least that’s what U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thinks.

    The democrat blasted the billionaire Koch brothers for their involvement with television ads that are against President Obama’s healthcare law.

    Created by Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by David and Charles Koch, the ads portray patients discussing problems involving the president’s healthcare, including insurance cancellations and costs.

    Reid thinks these ads are fighting words, and let the public know when he spoke on the Senate floor about it on Wednesday.

    “Those tales turned out to be just that: tales, stories made up from whole cloth, lies distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines forming political advertisements,” Reid said.

    Reid is particularly perturbed about an ad that features a cancer patient stating that she will die without her medication, and saying she can’t afford the astronomical costs, now that her insurance company has dropped her because of ObamaCare.

    Reid even went to Twitter to show his distaste for the wealthy brothers:

    The brothers Koch, however, are ready to defend themselves. Koch Industries, the gas and oil company run by the brothers, released its own statement.

    “It is disgraceful that Senator Reid and his fellow Democrats are attacking a cancer victim as part of their campaign against Charles Koch and David Koch,” the statement said.

    Americans for Prosperity also had a little something to say.

    “Instead of admitting that the health care law is a bad deal for Americans, Senator Reid has chosen to attack the brave men and women who are sharing their personal stories about ObamaCare.”

    Yowza.

    But are the commercials telling the truth? Is the American public screwed under the Affordable Health Care Act? Not completely, says the Washington Post’s fact checker, Glenn Kessler, who gave the ads “two Pinocchio’s” out of a possible four.

    Kessler believes that higher out-of-pocket costs with a new plan could be offset by lower monthly premiums, and that the difference in the costs could well even out.

    Just like with most issues, it looks like it’s going to be the democrats versus the republicans on this one. Unfortunately, only a miracle worker could get both sides to agree. Maybe that’s covered by ObamaCare.

    Image via YouTube

  • HealthCare.gov – More Problems Ahead?

    HealthCare.gov – More Problems Ahead?

    With the shaky start-up of the new Affordable Care Act website, HealthCare.gov and many other problems this site has encountered since its inception, the Obama administration decided a different website developer/contractor was needed to get the site running properly.

    The problem though is that the administration is relying on the consulting firm Accenture to lead the continued construction and maintenance of HealthCare.gov, and they have a history of questionable ethical practices as well as performance problems.

    For example, last year Accenture was hired by the state of North Carolina to streamline their computer program for its food stamp program. The program worked so poorly, however, that it led to a backlog of food stamp distribution to NC’s needy.

    And this is just one example, which was detailed in a Washington Post report.

    Regardless of their sketchy past, the Obama administration granted Accenture a contract worth approximately $90 million to fix the problematic Affordable Care website.

    The University of Michigan is seeing students and faculty members protesting the school’s use of Accenture to help cut costs, after a report by a committee of alumni and graduate students that said the firm has “a disturbing pattern of problematic past performance.”

    The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General’s Office wrote recently, that Accenture had “demonstrated an absence of business ethics” and stated that the agency should consider terminating the firm’s more than $200 million in contracts.

    Accenture has agreed to pay the United States $63.675 million to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit, the Justice Department announced recently. The lawsuit alleges that Accenture was involved in false claims for payment under many contracts with agencies of the United States for information technology services.

    “Kickbacks and bid rigging undermine the integrity of the federal procurement process,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “At a time when we’re looking for ways to reduce our public spending, it is especially important to ensure that government contractors play by the rules and don’t waste precious taxpayer dollars.”

    Accenture will be in charge of not only improving the current site, but also preparing it for open enrollment next fall.

    “We are honored to be part of the team of technology and healthcare companies and government professionals helping the federal government meet the healthcare coverage needs of its citizens,” said David Moskovitz, the chief executive of Accenture’s federal services. “Accenture will bring deep healthcare industry insight as well as proven experience building large-scale, public-facing websites to continue improving HealthCare.gov.”

    One can only hope this information does not lead to further HealthCare.gov problems, and that the previous and present problems are remedied.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Obamacare Heroin: Someone’s Idea Of A Joke?

    Obamacare Heroin: Someone’s Idea Of A Joke?

    If you’re in the drug-trafficking business, usually there comes a time when you decide it’s not enough to call what you’re selling by its common name. In this case, heroin. The usual suspects (“Big H”, “smack”, etc.) aren’t working for you either. So why not come up with a unique reference that will make your illegal product stand out from the rest while at the same time showing just how “witty” you are?

    Of course, there’s no way of knowing that this is what 23-year-old Tyler Robenstein of Colchester, VT had in mind. What is known is that the cops who pulled him over on Friday morning were thrown for a bit of a loop.

    State Police Trooper Joseph Petty was in the midst of a traffic stop in the area of Route 91 in Northampton, MA when he says the suspect’s vehicle flew past him. Petty noted several violations (some drug traffickers aren’t that subtle when transferring illegal products), which resulted in a pursuit of the car.

    Petty ended up stopping Robenstein in Hatfield, MA. It was during the course of conversing with the driver and passengers that Petty found evidence of narcotics. After requesting a State Police K-9, law enforcement discovered roughly 1,250 bags of individual packets of heroin in the vehicle.

    Many of those packets had “Obamacare” stamped on them in big red letters. Obamacare is a common nickname for the Affordable Care Act. State Police Lieutenant Daniel Richard says it’s common for drugs to be stamped with words and numbers, usually to identify the product or seller. He does admit this is the first he’s heard of anyone using the term Obamacare for such purposes.

    Tyler Robenstein and his passengers 22-year-old Marquese Jones and 24-year-old Sherod Green, both of Newark NJ, are being held until their appearance in Northampton District Court. In addition to answering to charges ranging from speeding to possession with intent to distribute, maybe they will bother to explain why they named their drugs after the president’s health care bill.

    Image via the Massachusetts State Police Facebook

  • Obamacare Disapproval Drops as Website Improves

    Obamacare Disapproval Drops as Website Improves

    House Republicans’ government shutdown in October did no favors for a congress that hit new lows in approval this year. However, the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website also shifted Americans’ opinions against the very law that Republicans were protesting against.

    Now that the Healthcare.gov website is finally moving toward functionality it appears Americans are softening their opinions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, colloquially known as “Obamacare“).

    A new Gallup poll conducted this week shows that disapproval for the ACA is dropping at a consistent rate. From the high of 55% of Americans who said they generally disapprove of the Affordable Care Act in November, the rate of disapproval for the legislation has now dropped to the slim majority of 51%. Approval for the ACA, which dropped to 40% November, has not rebounded with only 41% of Americans this week saying they generally approve of the legislation.

    Perhaps surprisingly, approval of the ACA is is up among both Democrats and Republicans since late November. Democrat approval for the law has begun rising after the October dip and now sits at 75%. Republican approval ticked up only slightly to 10%. Independent approval for the ACA, on the other hand, saw a significant drop to just 31% from the steady 38% to 39% it had been throughout November.

    With less than a majority of Americans actually approving of the ACA, Gallup is predicting that the healthcare legislation will once again be a major campaign focus for candidates in next year’s midterm elections. However, with a bi-partisan budget now looking like a real possibility it seems that Americans will not have to deal with another government shutdown over the issue.

  • Kamala Harris Against Corporate Religious Claims

    Attorney General Kamala Harris is in the middle of the battle between corporations and their religious freedoms, and the administration and its Affordable Care act. She previously filed a request for the Supreme Court to review whether for-profit businesses can deny coverage for contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The cases of such businesses as Hobby Lobby, a biblically-founded family business, could have a huge impact on the course in which Obamacare continues to go.

    Approximately 40 companies have sued, according to Fox News, stating that covering all or even some forms of birth control would violate their religious freedom rights. The issue has completely divided the lower courts, and caused a huge bump in the road for the new healthcare law. A decision could be made as early as Tuesday after closed-door meetings between the justices take place to decide whether or not to take on the controversial topic.

    Should they decide to move forward with it, arguments could begin as early as March with a decision being made in June.

    The Obama administration is worried that the victory for businesses like Hobby Lobby, could be used as “a sword used to deny employees of for-profit commercial enterprises the benefits and protections of generally applicable laws.” Kamala Harris has been a major voice in the fight against employers who claim religious freedom violations in the new Affordable Care Act. She to Twitter last week to express her disdain for the situation.

    Four years ago, the Supreme Court expanded the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to enable corporations to invoke the same rights as individuals in religious freedom matters. Time will tell if that argument can stand up against the Obama administration.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Obamacare Starting To Look Like A Failure

    Obamacare Starting To Look Like A Failure

    Obamacare is starting to look like a big failure thanks to his own administration glitches and overblown promises.  The latest embarrassment  to the Obama administration came on Friday when 39 house Democrats sided with the Republicans to vote for a proposed fix to canceled insurance policies under Obamacare.

    The ‘fix‘ is seen by many analysts as a temporary solution to a problem that is bound to end in disaster. The Obama administration will now  allow insurers a one year extension to health care policies they had canceled for failing to meet the new healthcare law.

    President Obama has long insisted that, “If you like your plan, you can keep it.” However, this assurance is now becoming ‘a lie’ with each passing day and many people now think that the president may have made promises he couldn’t keep.

    As things are turning out, Americans will have to wait longer (or possibly never) to enjoy ‘The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ that is meant to ensure that over 94% Americans have access to quality and affordable healthcare that is fully paid for. Already, many are pessimistic. “I think people have lost confidence in the ability of this working,” said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger.

    Although it is all gloom and doom, Obama is the last person to give up hope of turning things around. At a news conference Thursday, Obama said, “I’m somebody who, if I fumbled the ball, I’m going to wait until I get the next play, and then I’m going to try to run as hard as I can and do right by the team.”

    Perhaps making sure that the shambled Obamacare website is up and running is Obama’s priority at the moment.

    (image via YouTube)

  • Obama Nominates Dr. Vivek Murthy as the Next U.S. Surgeon General

    On Thursday night, the White House announced President Obama’s nomination for the next U.S. Surgeon General.

    The ideal nominee, Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, is the co-founder and president of Doctors for America, a group that has been supporting and promoting Obama’s health care law.

    According to Reuters, the organization’s website states how “Doctors for America is a group of 15,000 physicians and medical students that has rallied behind Obamacare through participating in marches, filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case on the law, and even visiting the Republican National Convention to promote it.”

    Since his first election, Doctors for America has been Obama’s trusted partners for his health care initiatives. The group was originally called Doctors for Obama and assisted in campaigning the president’s election in 2008. In 2009, the group became an advocacy group for affordable healthcare and therefore, reinvented itself.

    Coincidently, Obama’s nomination has sprung up during a time of disapproval. The health care reform law has recently been facing adverse responses due to a few issues, in which the president addressed Thursday night.

    Murthy, who will replace acting general Boris Lushniak, holds his masters in business administration and doctors of medicine from Yale University. The doctor is currently a physician and instructor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard.

    In 2011, Obama selected Dr. Murthy as one of the members on his prevention advisory board under the law. If Murthy is elected, he will be serving a four-year term as the nation’s leading surgeon.

    Located below is a statement reported by Boston.com from the executive director of Doctors For America:

    “We congratulate Dr. Vivek Murthy on his nomination to be the next Surgeon General of the United States. He has a tremendous dedication and commitment to improving the lives and health of Americans. He has been a tireless leader in bringing together 16,000 doctors and medical students from all 50 states for the common cause of improving the health of the nation. He brings two decades of experience as a champion in improving health, building coalitions, and bringing diverse people together to bring better health to communities. We are confident Dr. Murthy will be an extraordinary leader for the nation and for improving the health of all Americans as Surgeon General.”

    Image Credit: LinkedIn, Vivek Murthy

  • Obamacare Glitches: Enrollment Pain Blow to Program?

    Obamacare sign-ups opened up last Tuesday, despite the government shutdown caused by the bickering over that very law. Floods of the uninsured hit the sites healthcare.gov, as well as the “exhanges”, excited to start getting the health coverage that President Obama promised would be less than $100 per month for 60% of the population.

    However, according to AFP,many visitors were greeted with, “We have a lot of visitors on our site right now and we’re working to make your experience here better. Please wait here until we send you to the login page. Thanks for your patience!” and “Online enrollment is coming soon! Sign up to receive an email notification when it’s available.” or simply,“Connection Refused”.

    “Whether you are for or against Obamacare, everyone seems to agree the government really dropped the ball on this rollout,” said independent technology analyst Jeff Kagan.

    “This is one of the largest and most complex things we have ever done. Typically, a company launches a project like this in a city, then a few cities,” said Kagan. “They figure out what doesn’t work right and they fix it before they roll it out nationwide. Why the government thinks it doesn’t have to follow the same rules of common sense is a mystery.”

    That says it all, doesn’t it?

    Unfortunately the glitches are not only online. The 500 “navigators” that were supposed to help people sign up, are apparently, hiding in crevasses somewhere. According to the New York Post, at some locations, staffers weren’t even aware of the program, and many navigators were still being trained and unavailable for service during last week’s “rollout”.

    Hilariously, anticipating a week of chaos, some health-care providers simply postponed enrolling people. LIke when the movie ends, and you remain in your seat until the mad rush is over. Many voicemails were not even returned at listed numbers for their site’s navigators.

    In a twist of irony, navigators who did work said they were unable to enroll people online because they were locked out of the state site due to other computer snafus.

    So, will all of these mistakes deal a blow to the messy terrain that already is Obamacare? That remains to be seen, but I know a few republicans who have their fingers crossed.

    Image via youtube

  • Health Care Decision: CNN Posts The Wrong Headline

    Whenever big events are brewing, it’s common for certain parties to prepare for all possible outcomes. Of course, most of the time we don’t see that, though. All we see is news organizations getting their stories up promptly and championship teams wearing their swag as soon as the game is over. We never see the headlines saying that Apollo 13 crashed. We never see the tshirts declaring the Kansas Jayhawks the 2012 NCAA men’s basketball champions.

    Except sometimes we do, and that’s what happened today. As you may have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act – a.k.a. Obamacare – in a 5-4 decision today. To the shock of many court watchers, Chief Justice John Roberts crossed party lines and voted in favor of upholding the law, including its controversial individual mandate, which requires that all Americans purchase health insurance coverage. When the decision was first announced, though, there was more than a little confusion in the ranks. You see, while most news organizations were saying things like this:

    CNN was singing quite a different tune:

    And the error wasn’t just on Twitter. It even made it to their main news page:

    Dewey Defeats Obamacare

    Of course, it didn’t take them too long to tweet out a correction:

    But by then the damage was done, and CNN had become the butt of countless jokes:

    Of course, some people were drawing the obvious comparison to the famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline, when the Chicago Tribune erroneously reported that New York governor Thomas Dewey had defeated incumbent President Harry S Truman in the 1948 election. Photographs of a triumphant Truman holding a copy of the paper (see the lead image above) circulated widely, making the incident a paradigmatic example of journalistic screwups.

    Interestingly, CNN wasn’t the only news outlet to misreport the decision. Fox News, often criticized for it’s conservative leanings, had its own problems when the decision was announced. Like CNN, they initially reported that the Supreme Court had overturned the act, though they quickly corrected it.

    Dewey Defeats Obamacare

    Neither CNN nor Fox News made much fuss about the change, apparently – and understandably – wanting to just quietly move along as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, it looks like we have this generation’s “Dewey Defeats Truman.”