COVID-19 & Healthcare

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There has been some seriously "craptacular" reporting by conservative media about the alleged premium "rate shock" in insurance rates under "ObamaCare." Every time you see one of these reports about premium “rate shock,” make certain you note whether the reporting accounts for tax subsidies or not.

Adrianna McIntyre from Project Millenial reports, Most young adults on the individual market today will qualify for subsidies in 2014:

The Kaiser Family Foundation has a new report out that examines how people currently in
the individual market will be affected by the reforms taking effect in
2014. Premiums will change for  variety of reasons. You should read the whole issue brief, or Jon Cohn’s commentary here. As
Kaiser acknowledges, premiums will go up for some people and down for
others. They go a step further, though, and look at how many people in
the current market will benefit from the premium tax subsidies.

About half (48%) of
people now buying their own insurance would be eligible for a tax credit
that would offset their premium. This does not include over one million
adults buying individual insurance today who will be eligible for
Medicaid starting in 2014 (i.e., they have family income up to 138% of
the poverty level and are living in states that have decided to expand Medicaid under the ACA).

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A new ad from Organizing for Action (OFA) touts the benefits of ObamaCare, its third national ad as the administration readies to rollout healthcare reforms. Obama group’s new ad touts healthcare law insurance rebates:

The new ad from Organizing for Action (OFA), titled “Every Day,”
features a North Carolina family discussing the insurance rebate they
received under the healthcare law. The parents, Rebecca and Russell,
worried about how to pay for their son’s medical care in the face of
rising premiums.

“When the Affordable Care Act was passed we ended up getting a $350
rebate from our insurance company and then his premiums were going to go
down by $60 a month,” says Rebecca in the ad.

“ObamaCare is helping everyday families every day,” reads onscreen text.

 “It’s nice to see somebody looking out for the little guy,” says the father Russell. 

“The law works,” Rebecca adds.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

An important report on health care insurance "navigators" from the New York Times today. The Challenge of Helping the Uninsured Find Coverage:

Like many organizations across the country, Ms. Daily’s agency, Northern Virginia Family Service, is hoping to win a federal grant to help uninsured people in the state sign up for coverage under President Obama’s health care law.
With the money, she hopes to hire at least a handful of “navigators” — a
new category of worker created under the law to educate consumers about
new health insurance options and, starting in October, to walk them through the enrollment process.

Navigators are seen as crucial to the success of the law. As the Jan. 1
deadline approaches when most Americans will be required to have health
coverage or pay a fine,  navigators are supposed to explain away
confusion and fear among the legions of uninsured, helping them
understand how new health insurance markets will work and whether they
will qualify for subsidies to help with the cost of coverage.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

FAUX News "chickenhawk" Sean Hannity Tells GOP: Defunding Obamacare "Is The Hill To Die On" (great comment from "imbecile": Yeah, but these guys will go down as participants of Clusterfuck's Last Stand.)

But the GOP House leadership is backing off of the threat by Tea Party economic terrorists Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul over on the Senate side to take the country hostage again and to shut down the federal government and default on the national debt (shoot the hostage) unless Democrats surrender to their extortionary demands to defund "ObamaCare." The GOP House leadership understands that this fantasy the conservative media entertainment complex is selling the GOP crazy base will be political suicide for the GOP.

Ed Kilgore writes at the Political Animal Blog today,

Will “The Base” Stand Down On De-Funding Obamacare?

So the big buzz in Washington today is that House Republican leaders
have turned the corner in tamping down sentiment for a suicidal drive to
shut down the federal government unless the administration and Senate
Democrats suicidally agree to “de-fund” (or as some argue,
systematically delay) implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Karoli at crooksandliars.com takes aim at the "Kochtopus" and Tea Party front group FreedomWorks, and its congressional August recess campaign to defund and/or kill "ObamaCare" by taking the country hostage and forcing a government shutdown and defaut on the national debt ceiling at the end of September. Per usual from this right-wing organization, everything it says is a lie. FreedomWorks' Eight Outright Lies About Obamacare:

This was in my afternoon email today, along with this text:

You can just say NO to ObamaCare.

Just say NO to bureaucrats making your health care decisions. Say NO
to unconstitutional mandates. Say NO to socialized medicine.

Just say NO by burning your ObamaCare card here!

The truth is, ObamaCare needs millions of people like you to sign up.
If you don't, it collapses. The law needs your money to work. If you
refuse to sign up, you are “burning your ObamaCare card.” You are doing
your part to make sure ObamaCare crumbles. Forever.

If you do sign up for ObamaCare, the Progressives win. The program
gets the money it needs. The lobbyists and bureaucrats get the power
they want.

You lose your freedom. You may lose your doctor. And you certainly lose your money.

Just say NO. Burn your ObamaCare card right now.

Time is running out to stop the health care takeover.

How many lies are there in this short bit of text? Well, at least eight that I see right off the top.