(Washington Post) Putting a statistic on disappointment, the Obama administration revealed Wednesday that fewer than 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance last month in the 36 states relying on a problem-filled federal website.
States running their own enrollment systems did better, signing up more than 79,000, for a total enrollment of over 106,000. (continue reading)
(Forbes) In the market for individually-purchased health insurance, more than 4.8 million Americans have received notices that their preexisting plans are soon to be illegal, and will be cancelled. Many more cancellation notices are imminent. (link)
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The latest Poll from Quinnipiac was released yesterday. [ AVAILABLE HERE ]Obviously the media headlines are filled with uncomfortable to report on catch lines about President Obama, their chosen one, polling with his lowest favorability 39%, and highest unfavorability 54%, of his entire presidency.
More people distrust President Obama 52%, than view him as honest 44%.
More people think he is “incompetent” 53%, than view him as capable 43%.
And surprisingly 51% to 43% say the media is not paying enough attention to what he is doing.
Many people reflect on these public opinions and ask what will Obama do to turn it around?
However, that’s perhaps directing the question to the wrong person. The real question should be WWDMD? What will Denis McDonough do? Or, What will Valerie Jarrett do? Together, they are the real decision makers.
Typically, their approach is to deflect attention quickly. However, the media is unable to ignore the millions of people impacted by Obamacare.
So, I ask you guys – what do you think Denis McDonough and ValJar will do? What direction do you think they will take? What narrative will they stimulate to create the needed diversion?
WASHINGTON POST – Software problems with the federal online health insurance marketplace, especially in handling high volumes, are proving so stubborn that the system is unlikely to work fully by the end of the month as the White House has promised, according to an official with knowledge of the project.
The insurance exchange is balking when more than 20,000 to 30,000 people attempt to use it at the same time — about half its intended capacity, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal information. And CGI Federal, the main contractor that built the site, has succeeded in repairing only about six of every 10 of the defects it has addressed so far. (more…)
CALIFORNIA – Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California has agreed to a two-month extension of about 104,000 individual policies after failing to give the required 90-day cancellation notice.
The policies had been set to expire on Dec. 31 but will be extended until Feb. 28.
State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced the extensions Tuesday. He said the company notified the Department of Insurance that it failed to give enough notice because of a computer glitch.
Jones says more than 1 million cancellation notices have been sent to Californians as the Affordable Care Act begins allowing individuals to buy insurance through exchanges. The federal law requires policies to offer minimum levels of coverage, forcing companies to terminate many existing plans. (READ MORE)
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Two, not-so-dissimilar stories. To a semi-engaged electorate these might seem unrelated. To a Lo-Fo it’s “huh”? But to others the visible “Big Picture” ideology is self-evident: My way or DIE.
John Kerry, and White House Spokesperson Jay Carney, warns congress if they oppose a deal with Iran it will lead to WAR.
Vis-a-vi if you don’t agree with our decision to allow Iran to engage in nuclear production, our only option is to ATTACK them to stop it:
WASHINGTON DC – The White House Tuesday warned lawmakers mulling tougher sanctions on Iran that thwarting US diplomacy could leave President Barack Obama little option but to use military force against Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The American people do not want a march to war,” spokesman Jay Carney said, in a significant stiffening of US rhetoric towards opponents of a proposed interim agreement with Tehran on Capitol Hill. (read more)
Meanwhile – in Ohio, a 62-year-old Director of Animal Rights, Sandra Lertzman, decided to commit suicide. It’s not what she did, but how she did it. (more…)
Opportunism? From a Clinton?… surely you jest! LOL Hmmm ?
[…] the highest number of voters who’ve said the law will be bad for the country in regular surveying since February 2011,” said the pollster who headlined their survey, “55% Favor Repeal of Obamacare.”
The project manager in charge of launching the Obamacare website, Henry Chao, was blindsided to find out his boss, Tony Trenkle – CIO (Chief Information Officer for Healthcare.gov) had written a memo to top officials saying the site could not be secured until mid-2014 or 2015. Henry Chao was the launch approval project manager and shared to congressional committee he would not have approved if he knew.
The CMS Information Officer, Tony Trenkle, quit last week after his warning memo to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was revealed. The Trenkle memo revealed the details of the site security risk, and Mr. Trenkle warned not to launch site. His warnings were overridden by Ms. Tavenner.
SUMMARY: So it appears that Marilyn Tavenner and Kathleen Sebelius knew the site was not secure. Then, because of political fear, they kept Project Manager Chao in the dark, and told him to launch it regardless. He launched it thinking the site was secure.
(CBS News) WASHINGTON — CBS News has learned that the project manager in charge of building the federal health care website was apparently kept in the dark about serious failures in the website’s security. Those failures could lead to identity theft among buying insurance. The project manager testified to congressional investigators behind closed doors, but CBS News has obtained the first look at a partial transcript of his testimony.
Henry Chao, HealthCare.gov’s chief project manager at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in advance of this week’s hearing. In excerpts CBS News has obtained, Chao was asked about a memo that outlined important security risks discovered in the insurance system. (more…)
Coast to coast car salesmen are rejoicing, their paychecks are about to get massive increases as their sales commissions are about to skyrocket. According to new definitions stemming from the White House, and new regulatory definitions from President Obama and his regulatory team, a customer “test drive” will now qualify as a sale.
Yesssssir !! Lucky Day, Lucky Day.
It has yet to be determined what impact this might have to the share value for auto-industry stockholders, or quite frankly the financial divisions who actually make up the bulk of the profits, but that’s just a pesky detail to be worked out.
Here are the semi-full details so far: (more…)
An Op-Ed in the New York Times shows what happens when a Liberal speaks about a personal truth with fellow liberals. They go bat-sh!t crazy at her audacity to speak the truth.
The Emporer has a beautiful (invisible) cloak, and to say it’s a ruse (he’s naked) is just too much of an admission to bear…. Groupthink.must.be.maintained.
(Via New York Times Op-Ed) THE Anthem Blue Cross representative who answered my call told me that there was a silver lining in the cancellation of my individual P.P.O. policy and the $5,400 annual increase that I would have to pay for the Affordable Care Act-compliant option: now if I have Stage 4 cancer or need a sex-change operation, I’d be covered regardless of pre-existing conditions. Never mind that the new provider network would eliminate coverage for my and my son’s long-term doctors and hospitals.
The Anthem rep cheerily explained that despite the company’s — I paraphrase — draconian rates and limited network, my benefits, which also include maternity coverage (handy for a 46-year-old), would “be actually much richer.” (more…)
Back in August the New York Times reported a national energy “Grid Test” was scheduled for November called “Grid Ex II”. The pdf outlining the test has been removed/disabled (?). Can anyone confirm this is going to happen Wednesday the 13th? The Day after tomorrow.
WASHINGTON — [August 16] The electric grid, as government and private experts describe it, is the glass jaw of American industry. If an adversary lands a knockout blow, they fear, it could black out vast areas of the continent for weeks; interrupt supplies of water, gasoline, diesel fuel and fresh food; shut down communications; and create disruptions of a scale that was only hinted at by Hurricane Sandy and the attacks of Sept. 11.
This is why thousands of utility workers, business executives, National Guard officers, F.B.I. antiterrorism experts and officials from government agencies in the United States, Canada and Mexico are preparing for an emergency drill in November that will simulate physical attacks and cyber attacks that could take down large sections of the power grid. (more…)