The Affordable Care Act....Check & Mate

Obamacare Enrollment Heading to 7 Million at Deadline
By Alex Wayne Mar 31, 2014 2:01 PM CT

A computer error stalled the federal government’s Obamacare enrollment site today as record numbers of visitors tried to sign up before a midnight deadline.

The first annual enrollment period under the health law ends today, with early returns suggesting the Obama administration may approach the 7 million sign-ups it expected before the U.S. health exchange website, healthcare.gov, faltered when it opened in October. Technology trouble returned about midday today, preventing new customers from starting the enrollment process as more than 100,000 people at a time tried to use the site to purchase a health plan.

“The issue has now been fixed,” Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an e-mail. “All functionality is back up,” she said in a Twitter post.

The rollout of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, has been under constant attack from Republican foes and faced a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed states to limit the expansion of Medicaid, the government program for the poor. The law targeted the nation’s 48 million uninsured, relying in large part on online marketplaces to sell individual and family health plans to people not covered at work or in a government program.

The federal website, which covers 36 states, suffered from myriad technical flaws that made it unusable for more than a month. Several states with their own websites also had technical issues that slowed enrollment.

Visits Triple

Traffic on the federal website site today was triple the volume on Dec. 23, the previous busiest day the government had seen, Peters said, adding that 1.2 million people had visited healthcare.gov by noon New York time. For a time today, visitors were met by a screen for a queuing system, inviting them to enter an e-mail to be contacted later when traffic subsides.

Under the law, enrollment ends at 11:59 p.m. New York time for the states served by healthcare.gov. Those who don’t sign up face a fine of as much as 1 percent of their annual income.

 

Again, you forgot to answer this!

 

So you Baggers and Righties gonna get rid of Obama Care if you take back the Senate? You are aren't, you? You've demonstrated how totally evil it is and it costs a lot and it kills babies. So you're going to get rid of it, right? No more of this safe empty symbolism which is what your House votes to defund are currently. Once you actually get control you'll vote to wipe it out and make sure the bill hits Obama's desk. And you'll do your best to override a veto. You will, won't you?

 

Who suggested your employees understate their income? Those who sign-up for insurance through the exchange do not receive reduced premiums. They receive a prebated subsidy (tax credit) from the US Govt paid directly to their insurance carrier. The amount of subsidy they are entitled to is determined based on their 2014 (current year) income. The amount they are prebated is estimated based on 2013 (previous year) income. Any over or under estimations will be reconciled when filing their actual 2014 income tax return next year in 2015. So understating income to recieve an increased subsidy now will lead to a large tax liability when they file their 2014 income tax return. Windfalls - such as raises, capital gains (selling of a home) and etc. which were not considered when estimating their subsidy could prove problematic when filing their income taxes. I could be wrong but that is the way I understand it.

I have seen estimates suggesting that almost 40% of the people signed-up through the exhange have understated their income.

 

Boom! Bitches.

Obamacare On Track To Hit 7 Million Sign-Ups On Deadline Day: Sources

​

WASHINGTON (AP) — Beating expectations, President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was on track to sign up more than 7 million Americans for health insurance on deadline day Monday, government officials told The Associated Press.
The 7 million target, thought to be out of reach by most experts, was in sight on a day that saw surging consumer interest as well as vexing computer glitches that slowed sign-ups on the HealthCare.gov website.
Two government officials confirmed the milestone, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of an official announcement.
Seven million was the original target set by the Congressional Budget Office for enrollment in taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance through new online markets created under Obama's signature legislation.
That was scaled back to 6 million after the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov last fall. Several state-run websites also had crippling problems.
Americans who rushed to apply for health insurance Monday faced long, frustrating waits and a new spate of website ills on deadline day.
"This is like trying to find a parking spot at Wal-Mart on Dec. 23," said Jason Stevenson, working with a Utah nonprofit group helping people enroll.
At times, more than 125,000 people were simultaneously using HealthCare.gov, straining it beyond its capacity. For long stretches Monday, applicants were shuttled to a virtual waiting room where they could leave an email address and be contacted later.
Officials said the site had not crashed but was experiencing very heavy volume. The website, which was receiving 1.5 million visitors a day last week, had recorded about 2 million through 3 p.m. EDT. Call centers have more than 840,000 calls.
Supporters of the health care law fanned out across the country in a final dash to sign up uninsured Americans. People not signed up for health insurance by the deadline, either through their jobs or on their own, were subject to being fined by the IRS, and that threat was helping drive the final dash.
The administration announced last week that people still in line by midnight would get extra time to enroll.
The website stumbled early in the day — out of service for nearly four hours as technicians patched a software bug. Another hiccup in early afternoon temporarily kept new applicants from signing up, and then things slowed further. Overwhelmed by computer problems when launched last fall, the system has been working much better in recent months, but independent testers say it still runs slowly.
At Chicago's Norwegian American Hospital, people began lining up shortly after 7 a.m. to get help signing up for subsidized private health insurance.
Lucy Martinez, an unemployed single mother of two boys, said she'd previously tried to enroll at a clinic in another part of the city but there was always a problem. She'd wait and wait and they wouldn't call her name, or they would ask her for paperwork that she was told earlier she didn't need, she said. Her diabetic mother would start sweating so they'd have to leave.
She's heard "that this would be better here," said Martinez, adding that her mother successfully signed up Sunday at a different location.
At St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del., enrollment counselor Hubert Worthen plunged into a long day. "I got my energy drink," he said. "This is epic, man."
At a Houston community center, there were immigrants from Ethiopia, Nepal, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and other conflict-torn areas, many of them trying anew after failing to complete applications previously. In addition to needing help with the actual enrollment, they needed to wait for interpreters. Many had taken a day off from work, hoping to meet the deadline.
The White House and other supporters of the law were hoping for an enrollment surge that would confound skeptics.
The insurance markets — or exchanges — offer subsidized private health insurance to people who don't have access to coverage through their jobs. The federal government is taking the lead in 36 states, while 14 other states plus Washington, D.C., are running their own enrollment websites.
New York, running its own site, reported more than 812,000 had signed up by Sunday morning, nearly 100,000 of them last week.
However, it's unclear what those numbers may mean.
The administration hasn't said how many of the 6 million people nationally who had signed up before the weekend ultimately closed the deal by paying their first month's premiums. Also unknown is how many were previously uninsured — the real test of Obama's health care overhaul. In addition, the law expands coverage for low-income people through Medicaid, but only about half the states have agreed to implement that option.
Cheering on the deadline-day sign-up effort, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius planned to spend much of the day Monday working out of the department's TV studio, conducting interviews by satellite with stations around the country.
Though March 31 was the last day officially to sign up, millions of people are potentially eligible for extensions granted by the administration.
Those include people who had begun enrolling by the deadline but didn't finish, perhaps because of errors, missing information or website glitches. The government says it will accept paper applications until April 7 and take as much time as necessary to handle unfinished cases on HealthCare.gov. Rules may vary in states running their own insurance marketplaces.
The administration is also offering special extensions to make up for all sorts of problems that might have kept people from getting enrolled on time: Natural disasters. Domestic abuse. Website malfunctions. Errors by insurance companies. Mistakes by application counselors.
To seek a special enrollment period, contact the federal call center, at 1-855-889-4325, or the state marketplace and explain what happened. It's on the honor system. If the extension is approved, that brings another 60 days to enroll.
Those who still don't get health insurance run the risk that the Internal Revenue Service will fine them next year for remaining uninsured. It remains to be seen how aggressively the penalties called for in the law are enforced.
Also, the new markets don't have a monopoly on health insurance. People not already covered by an employer or a government program can comply with the insurance mandate by buying a policy directly from an insurer. They'll just have to pay the full premium themselves, although in a few states there may be an exception to that rule as well.
Supporters of the law held their breath early Monday when the website was taken down.
In Oakton, Va., enrollment counselor Rachel Klein said she noticed the website was running slowly.
"We all came into it understanding that today was going to be challenging," said Klein. "We're all relieved that there's going to be a little extra time for people."
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said Monday that Republicans remain committed to repealing Obama's law.

 

We know, you've moved on to the next Fox talking point. We get it. If you knew anything about the details of the law, you'd know why this is a moot point. I will not explain it to you. But you'll figure it out some time down the road....eventually.....with a lot of help....and crayons.....and a brain transplant.....probably right after the federal government covers the procedure.....just after Republicans are designated as mental defectives by the AMA.....inevitably.

 

Oh no! It's working!!! Oops!
Sebelius: 80-90 percent of Obamacare enrollees have paid a premium

By Aaron Blake


Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that insurance companies estimate between 80 and 90 percent of the 6 million people who have signed up for Obamacare have actually paid a premium.
"What we know from insurance companies ... tell(s) us that, for their initial customers, it's somewhere between 80, 85, some say as high as 90 percent, have paid so far," Sebelius said on KWTV-TV. "Lots of companies have different timetables for when their new customers have to send their first payment."
The White House has said more than 6 million people have signed up for Obamacare. But reporters have had little luck getting the administration to provide specific figures when it comes to what percentage of enrollees have actually paid a premium, which Sebelius acknowledged is required before someone is officially enrolled.
"You are not fully enrolled -- you're absolutely right -- until you pay your premium," she said. "But we also know that millions of people now have health care."
If between 80 and 90 percent of the six million have paid premiums, the number who are fully enrolled would be closer to five million than to six million.
Previously, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that general estimates suggest about 80 percent of enrollees had paid a premium.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...t-of-obamacare-enrollees-have-paid-a-premium/

 

You missed something;

 

Oh, Sebelius says, huh? And Carney says, huh?
Now all we need is BO verifying their stories & it's a lock, right?
Sheesh!

 

Yep! And everyone can keep their doctor, right?

 

How do you not see what is in red? Partisan blindness? What a total moron. Let's go talk about Sheldon.

that insurance companies estimate between 80 and 90 percent of the 6 million people who have signed up for Obamacare have actually paid a premium.

Read more: http://www.partisanlines.com/threads/the-affordable-care-act-check-mate.50945/page-4#ixzz2xe05rEzu​

 

​

​

Why did you only provide a portion of the quote? Kinda telling, isn't it?​

 

What is telling is that you ignore that it was the insurance companies themselves that provided the estimates not Selebius.

 

So the insurance companies offered "estimates" that Sebelius then passed off as "facts", huh?
You you buy it? Wow.

 

And you ignore you own post's "real test";

 

OOPS!!!

 

Just keep changing the subject. It only shows how weak and shallow your pathetic complaints and whining really are. I find it so funny.

 

Same question in post #66 - my first post after your idiocy.
Same question in post #69 - my second post after your idiocy.
Same question in post #76 - my fourth post after your idiocy.
And I will ask again

My fifth post after your idiocy.

As for changing the topic, I really think some one has been doing that - to avoid answering the real question.

 

April 1, 2014
April Fool's Day ObamaCare Enrollment Numbers

Thomas Lifson

This is the perfect day to receive Obama administration claims of success in ObamaCare enrollment. "No one expected us to come back from the brink…but we have," claims Jay Carney, following a script that could have been written by one of the Hollywood screenwriters being massaged by Valerie Jarrett to propagandize their audiences on ObamaCare.

​

Politico offers the party line:

The first open enrollment season of Obamacare ended at midnight Monday, a day that saw millions of Americans click onto Obamacare sign-up portals, dial into call centers and stand in long lines at assistance sites nationwide. The huge surge made it increasingly likely that enrollment would hit 7 million, the finish line that seemed out of reach during much of the often rocky six-month period.​

​

Shortly after 10 p.m., the Associated Press cited two sources that said sign-ups were “on track” to hit 7 million. Administration officials wouldn’t confirm the number but said that signs were pointing in that direction.​

​

​

All of the numbers being delivered to us are soft as a grape. But for low information voters, they will do the trick. Hurray! Plucky little ObamaCare fought against the big bad Republicans who tried to sabotage it, and in the end, with a last minute surge powered by Americans desperate for the care that only a messiah like Obama could offer, compassion triumphed.

Debunking this tale requires a little hard analysis, and that is beyond the capabilities and attention spans of a large share of the public. Nevertheless, it can and must be done. Mark Thiessen of the Washington Post raises some of the key questions. How many of the people counted as “signed up” have actually paid? Nobody knows (or so we are told).

...the number that matters is not how many Americans signed up for Obamacare but rather how many previously uninsured Americans signed up for Obamacare. By that standard, Obamacare may be headed for an epic failure.​

​

Recall that between 5 million and 6 million Americans lost their health plans because of Obamacare last fall. If the administration now succeeds in signing up 5 million to 6 million previously insured Americans, it will have achieved . . .nothing. Breaking even is no great accomplishment.​

​

And let’s not forget: Many of those new Obamacare sign-ups are self-sufficient people who were previously paying their own way and now receive government subsidies for insurance. Creating government dependency is not progress — it’s a step backward.​

​

The stated goal of Obamacare was not to move millions of privately insured Americans into taxpayer-subsidized health coverage. The goal was to cover the uninsured. That was the justification for all the chaos and disruption Americans have experienced….​

​

Wynton Hall at Breitbart does some calculations based on the data so far released by the Obama administration:

McKinsey & Co. says that only 27% of those who have picked a plan through Obamacare were previously uninsured.​

​

Moreover, McKinsey says these individuals have an unusually high rate of failing to pay their first month's premium. "Only 53 percent of them had paid their first premium, compared with 86 percent of the previously insured," reports CNBC.​

​

Even conceding the White House its alleged six million enrollment figure (which, again, includes duplicates and incomplete applications), that would mean that just 810,000 of paying Obamacare customers were previously uninsured, a figure that represents 1.7% of America's 48.6 million uninsured people.​

​

So we have turned the medical care system of the United States on its head at the cost of billions of dollars (trillions in the course of a decade) , and all we got was 1.7% of the uninsured covered.

Given the political stakes for Democrats and the Obama administration, I don’t expect hard, reliable numbers to be made available any time before November. Maybe even November 2016.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/04/april_fools_day_obamacare_enrollment_numbers.html