Iraadaa vs. Nateeja

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Note: My snide comments are in italics.

The Emerging Obamacare Truth Is Disarray By Scott Gottlieb A remarkable truth about Obamacare is how many aspects of its initial programs and initiatives are already in disarray. The Obama team is woefully behind its own schedule for implementing features of the legislation. The critical regulations outlining what the Obamacare insurance benefit will look like was supposed to be out more than six months ago. Now it looks like this regulation won't be dropped until after the election. This is just one key aspect of the program that is way behind the administration's own timeline. These facts alone should give proponents of the law pause. But the early experience with the elements of Obamacare that have already kicked in is downright dismal. The core of Obamacare doesn't get started until 2014, when state-based exchanges are supposed to be formed as places for consumers to buy the legislation's tightly regulated, subsidized coverage. But early features of Obamacare are already failing. ŽÂ· The temporary "high risk" pools that Obamacare created, to provide a way for those with pre-existing health conditions to get insurance immediately, are undersubscribed yet way over budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the $5 billion allocated to these pools could enroll 200,000 consumers. They envisioned enrollment growing to more than 400,000. But only 77,877 have signed up as of July, yet the program is way over its budget. More than a quarter of these state-based risk pools are short on cash.(Note that the CBO can only predict based on numbers provided by the government. Garbage In Garbage out ) ŽÂ· The CLASS Act, which was supposed to provide consumers government-financed long-term care insurance has been abandoned, blowing an $86 billion dollar hole in Obamacare's cost estimates. The CLASS Act was never financially viable. Its costs would have outstripped revenue as soon as it was in full operation. But since it took in money five years before it started to pay out benefits, budget gimmickry let Mr. Obama capture that revenue and use it to finance Obamacare. In abandoning the measure, the President's own health secretary called the scheme "unsustainable." But then again, Kathleen Sebellius can't do much math anyway ŽÂ· The crown jewel of Obamacare's effort to contain healthcare costs, the creation of Accountable Care Organizations, is so unwieldy that major provider groups have said they won't participate. kyaa baat haiThe idea is to consolidate doctors, turning them into employees of large systems, and then pay these systems lump sums of money to take care of groups of patients. A letter from 10 major medical groups that previously ran similar programs said, "it would be difficult, if not impossible" to accept the financial design created by Obamacare. In another rebuke, an umbrella group representing premier medical organizations said 90 percent of its members wouldn't partake. ŽÂ· New regulations Obamacare puts on insurers have been so unworkable that the Obama team has had to dole out 1,231 waivers. (Wah bhai wah!) These exemptions are granted when the Obamacare rules are projected to raise healthcare premiums more than 10 percent, or create a "significant decrease in access to healthcare benefits." These waivers haven't been doled out consistently. Entities winning the preferences are over-represented by plans offered by unionized businesses and other administration allies.(I scratch your back, you scratch mine. ŽÂ· Obamacare can't even settle on an affordable definition to the term "affordable" -- creating the prospect that millions of middle class families will get priced out of coverage. According to a recent editorial in the New York Times, "the people left in the lurch would be those who had lower incomes but were not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid." Because of the way Obamacare defines what's "affordable" to these families, many working-class people would be unable to afford family coverage offered by their employers, and yet they would not qualify for subsidies provided by the law. Probably out of recognition of this poor track record, the President points largely to the insurance reforms he passed when he is stumping for Obamacare. The story isn't much better here. Some of these new rules cost insurers money, such as regulations ending lifetime limits on medical claims. Others, such as enabling young adults to remain on their parents' policies, can be downright lucrative. But these popular changes, which Mr. Obama touts as a success, have also been badly implemented. We're in a terrible economic climate, where medical utilization trends are way down. The cost of healthcare coverage should be falling as well. But premiums have risen far faster than overall inflation or GDP growth since Obamacare's passage. The regulations kicked in with no offsetting incentives to get people into the insurance pool to help absorb the costs. If the President wants to take credit for these costly insurance market reforms, he also has to accept blame for the rising costs. So what's left for the President to tout? Not much. Obamacare isn't even in full swing, and at every turn, the program is crumbling. The President's team is banking on a second term to try and right all of its fiascos but there's an emerging truth that the scheme is simply unworkable.

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2012/09/19/the_emerging_obamacare_truth_is_disarray_99890.html

[punjabi_khota]

Last we all heard from Flip-flopney, their camp couldn't decide on what parts of Obamacare they will keep, and what they will not keep. Flip-flopney was claiming to cover pre-existing conditions and children coverage upto 26 years without the mandate. I am sure if the plan is bleeding now, THAT will balance the books. http://www.americablog.com/2012/09/romney-flip-flops-4-times-on-health.html

[Lurker]

Damn the retarded world that we live in. Discussions between smart people are now rendered by accessing websites, like realclearmarkets.com and americablog.com! Websites one has never heard, or missed. But do carry on dames :D

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Damn the retarded world that we live in. Discussions between smart people are now rendered by accessing websites, like realclearmarkets.com and americablog.com! Websites one has never heard, or missed. But do carry on dames :D

Oh come on, Lurkerbhai ... just because you haven't heard of realclearpolitics and its sister sites does not make them inferior sites. Conversely just because everyone has heard of Jon Stewart does not make him an expert in healthcare economics. Here are the author's credentials. Take it FWIW: Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a practicing physician, has served in various capacities at the Food and Drug Administration, including senior adviser for medical technology; director of medical policy development; and, most recently, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Dr. Gottlieb has also served as a senior policy adviser at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Experience Clinical Assistant Professor, New York University School of Medicine, 2011-present Editorial Board, Food and Drug Law Institute's Policy Forum, 2011-present Board Member, Keystone Center, 2010-present Editorial Board Member, Value-Based Cancer Care, 2009-present Editorial Board Member, Cancer Commons, 2009-present Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, 2005-2007 Author, Forbes-Gottlieb Medical Technology Report; Columnist Forbes.com, 2004-2005 Director of Medical Policy Development, Food and Drug Administration, 2004 Senior Adviser to the Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2004 Senior Adviser for Medical Technology to the Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, 2003-2004 Resident Fellow, AEI, 2002-2003 and 2005 Staff Writer, British Medical Journal, 1997-2005 Senior Editor, "Pulse," Journal of the American Medical Association, 1996-2001

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Last we all heard from Flip-flopney, their camp couldn't decide on what parts of Obamacare they will keep, and what they will not keep. Flip-flopney was claiming to cover pre-existing conditions and children coverage upto 26 years without the mandate. I am sure if the plan is bleeding now, THAT will balance the books. http://www.americablog.com/2012/09/romney-flip-flops-4-times-on-health.html

[Lurker]

Oh come on, Lurkerbhai ... just because you haven't heard of realclearpolitics and its sister sites does not make them inferior sites. Conversely just because everyone has heard of Jon Stewart does not make him an expert in healthcare economics.

Oh I don't doubt for a moment that his credentials are impeccable. But that still does not make him a journalist of repute. For a controversial topic like this give me a well respected journalist on a well respected website instead of a no-namer on a no-name website. I am not picking on you CA, maybe it is just my frustration to see modern day debates being directed by websites. Heck I would argue you can do a better job if you wrote freely on the subject. Maybe you can try that sometime :winky:

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Oh I don't doubt for a moment that his credentials are impeccable. But that still does not make him a journalist of repute. For a controversial topic like this give me a well respected journalist on a well respected website instead of a no-namer on a no-name website. I am not picking on you CA, maybe it is just my frustration to see modern day debates being directed by websites. Heck I would argue you can do a better job if you wrote freely on the subject. Maybe you can try that sometime :winky:

I am not sure I understand. While I get your frustration, I don't think this specific author or article fits with your premise. The guy is a medical professional with extensive experience in issues related to health economics policy; he has access to data and has parsed them well. This is not something a "journalist" can do well - it is an expert opinion provided by a professional. I'd rather have a professional like him than some well-known "journalist" posing as an expert on a well-known website like yahoo news or msnbc or a well-known TV channel like ... ahem ... comedy central.

[punjabi_khota]

You posted an article. Where were your arguments anyways ? All you had were snide comments. IF flip-flopney had a better healthcare plan, we would have seen it. But the way his group is changing their own opinions obviously means they are full of shyte, have no idea what they want to do to healthcare EXCEPT REPEAL OBAMACARE OMG, or they are hiding something. Romney claimed he liked parts of Obamacare. Any objective analysis would tell you Obamacare=Romneycare in MA. He couldn't answer simple questions about what he liked and what/why he would do to fund those portions. So repubs got NO LEGS to stand on against Obamacare.

[Desi Cartman]

^ he has some awesome plans its just that no one knows about them (including Mitt).

[Sachin=GOD]

Last we all heard from Flip-flopney, their camp couldn't decide on what parts of Obamacare they will keep, and what they will not keep. Flip-flopney was claiming to cover pre-existing conditions and children coverage upto 26 years without the mandate. I am sure if the plan is bleeding now, THAT will balance the books. http://www.americablog.com/2012/09/romney-flip-flops-4-times-on-health.html

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

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You posted an article. Where were your arguments anyways ? All you had were snide comments. IF flip-flopney had a better healthcare plan, we would have seen it. But the way his group is changing their own opinions obviously means they are full of shyte, have no idea what they want to do to healthcare EXCEPT REPEAL OBAMACARE OMG, or they are hiding something. Romney claimed he liked parts of Obamacare. Any objective analysis would tell you Obamacare=Romneycare in MA. He couldn't answer simple questions about what he liked and what/why he would do to fund those portions. So repubs got NO LEGS to stand on against Obamacare.

The point of the OP was that Obamacare itself has no legs to stand on. It is turning into another well-intentioned disaster. Show me otherwise. When all you could do was attempt to show that the Repubs have a crappy plan or none at all, you clearly did not address the issues brought up in the OP. Hence, a strawman.

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^ he has some awesome plans its just that no one knows about them (including Mitt).

Like the Dems didn't know what was in Obamacare when they passed it? Admittedly: hV-05TLiiLU

[Desi Cartman]

Like the Dems didn't know what was in Obamacare when they passed it? Admittedly: hV-05TLiiLU

obama vs Mitt .. tell me honestly who has and knows about it and can disclose policies ?