Blame-Shifting? Nooooo...

The Times engages in a classic bit of wishful reporting as they cover Obama's shredding of the ACA for a quick political boost:

Republicans portrayed the policy switch as an effort to shift blame to insurance companies.

Republicans? Here is how the Orator-in-Chief explained this grinding of the gears at a very late date in the process:

And so what we want to do is to be able to say to these folks, you know what, the Affordable Care Act is not going to be the reason why insurers have to cancel your plan.

Normally insurance companies take months to set up plans, negotiate with network providers, get state insurance commissioners to sign off on the proposed rates, and then do a bit of marketing. Now they have until December 15 for customers whose plans are cancelled as of Jan 1. But hey, don't blame Obamacare! It has only been the law for three years now; if insurance companies really thought it would go into effect and acted accordingly, well, psych!

Maybe all the state insurance commissioners friendly enough to chat with the Times are also Republicans:

After the president announced the proposed changes, insurance regulators participated in a heated conference call, according to one regulator, where many expressed deep unhappiness about the proposal.

Some on the call felt “the president kind of threw us under the bus today,” the regulator said on the condition of anonymity because the discussion was supposed to be private.

FWIW, the Times editors are troubled:

President Obama has come up with a modest fix for a self-inflicted political wound: his repeated — and wrong — assertions that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance plans if they wanted to under the health care reform law.

The fix, which deals with the cancellations of individual policies, is far preferable to a destructive Republican bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the House on Friday and to a Senate bill sponsored by some Democrats. But it raises a few troubling questions, most of which cannot be answered quickly.

Among the questions apparently not troubling the editors is, how is this even legal? They are worried a little about the economicd and a lot about the politics:

It is not clear at this point how many insurers might be willing to reinstate the plans they have just canceled or how many state insurance commissioners might be willing to approve such reinstatements, or how many Congressional Democrats might consider the president’s proposal adequate to placate angry constituents and stifle Republican attacks.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, praised Mr. Obama’s move as an important step toward addressing the problem and pledged to do more, if needed.

The White House had no estimates on how many consumers whose policies were canceled might want reinstatement as opposed to buying something better, often with the help of subsidies. It is also unclear how the temporary fix might affect the overall goal of upgrading the benefits covered and keeping premiums affordable.

If a relatively small population of people get extensions, as some experts think likely, the effect on premiums in the overall health insurance market may be minimal. Even so, this disturbing reversal is caused by the incompetence of the administration in ushering in reforms that millions have been waiting for.

 

 

Comments

[hit and run]

Obama drove our health care system into a glitch.

[clarice]

I don't see how it could possibly be legal and the insurance commissioners of S C and Washington State just told President I don't know nothin' about no insurance to pound sand. If it weren't for all those people driven to near craziness by this moron and his posse, like Jonah Goldberg I'd be laughing out loud.

[Porchlight]

From narciso's Ron Fournier/National Journal link on the last thread:

Donald Kettl, dean of the University of Maryland’s Public Policy School and an expert in public administration, points to other mitigating factors in the health law’s struggles: the technological complexity of constructing online exchanges assigned so many tasks; the unexpectedly large number of states that refused to establish their own exchanges; and an unprecedented level of political resistance during implementation.

And yet even with those caveats, Kettl says no major federal initiative has failed so thoroughly upon its unveiling since the ballistic-missile program’s first years in the 1950s produced a succession of explosions and failures to launch. “The last time something blew up on the runway like this,” Kettl says, “things were literally blowing up on the runway.”

Unexpected.

Link again: http://www.nationaljournal.com/political-connections/obamacare-s-problems-could-haunt-democrats-for-years-20131115

[clarice]

America's own Norma Desmond weighs in:http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/house-democrats-obamacare-promise-99899.html?hp=l6

[narciso]

Actually that's Brownstein, Fournier is between brainslugs,

[Extraneus]

After all the references, I finally got around to googling Norma Desmond.

Uncanny.

[hit and run]

Look, cut Obama some slack. He's just finding out that insurance is complicated.

He got blindsided rear-ended with this insight, but give him time. He'll come around.

[narciso]

Isn't it, I cave Wallace the moniker, because the her fanciful tales to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, were just that, but as with Goodwin, they get rewarded for their deceptions.

[narciso]

That's Halperin and Heileman, for those without the Rosetta.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

TomM-- you read this drek everyday-- the Editors' first and last graphs-- isn' t that clear language that Obama the Incompetent has betrayed the Prog cause? Aren't the NYT editors throwing Obummer under Carlos Slim's Oligarch bus? Please translate for us.

PS: I think today's Upton vote is a huge tell of the current state of DC politics. I set the over/under at 12 Dems voting for Upton, b/c I think the total will be either 5-6 or 30. If Obummer still controls the Dems, they'll stick with his 'I feeex' figleaf; if the House Dems see survival as dumping on Obama, the 30 or so Dems in survival mode will vote Yes. Either way, today's vote is a huge tell.

[hit and run]

As soon as Obama gets up to speed on the complexity of health insurance, we're really just one, maybe two speeches away from everything being fixed.

If it takes three speeches, I'd be surprised, but Obama is up to the task if that's what it takes.

[narciso]

LOl, hit, that uptoncare logo is choice, might be a little NSFW, but you know, needs must'

[Account Deleted]

"his repeated — and wrong — assertions (lies)... the incompetence of the administration...

The Voice of the Progressive Bowel Movement has just judged the Nation's Top Progressive to be an incompetent liar.

It only took five years, which is quite remarkable, considering the very limited intelligence of progressives. Every progressive is a liar, of course, but some are less incompetent than the President.

The President told the absolute truth when he declared himself "different" from you and me. Unless your IQ <85.

[Extraneus]

President Obama has come up with a modest fix for a self-inflicted political wound: his repeated — and wrong dishonest — assertions that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance plans if they wanted to under the health care reform law.

What's so hard about that?

[narciso]

Of course, the Python 'how to do it sketch' is the guideline in these matters.

[hit and run]

Look, Obama told us for years that under Obamacare, anyone who liked his health care plan could keep his health care plan.

But that was before he discovered just how complicated health insurance was.

Having made this discovery, and only after a bunch of people lost their health care plans, Obama is going to make sure that the only reason that people are not allowed to keep their plans is because insurance companies are too chicken to defy the law on the books in favor of taking Obama at his word, as given in a speech.

[GMax]

Hey lighten up, its not easy to be green! Kermit was right.

[hit and run]

I mean, if you can't trust Obama's words as given in a speech, the terrorists have won.

[GMax]

Remember in the run up to the 2010 election, that Zero told the Democrats to "relax, you have me on the campaign trail". How did that work out?

Oh yeah.

And San Fran Nan was publicly proclaiming how the Democrats were going to take back the House in 2012. So pay no attention at all to anything out of her mouth, she like Pauline Kael does not interact at all with the average American voter.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

RickB/Ext/Gmax-- that's the way I read the NYT editorial, they've dubbed him Obama the Liar, Obama the Incompetent... they've concluded he's a danger to the Prog cause, and have thrown him under the Carlos Slim bus. Now, I admit I haven't been a NYT reader for 11 years, I'd like a translation from a daily reader like Tom M.

[GMax]

You know I grew up playing sandlot baseball, and when the umpire called a strike a strike or a ball, a ball there was little to comment about. Now when he yelled "foul ball" and the chaulk dust was flying six feet into the air, a fair amount of discussion ensued.

I guess if its news that the NYT is not a honest umpire, then perhaps a look in the mirror or a trip to the psychiatrist, is in order.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

The Republican mantra should be REPEAL. Over & over. REPEAL, REPEAL, REPEAL.

As this fiasco continues to unfold & people wake up...their first thought should be "repeal it".
That's the choice - Crap Obamacare or Repeal.
Repeal.
Repeal.
Repeal.

LIVs will get that....make it their first go-to choice for undoing the Obamacare fiasco. Short, simple - REPEAL.

[Extraneus]

The reason he talked about how complicated insurance is was to lay the grounds for backing off on the complexity of the web application.

One thing that we've discovered, though, that I think is -- is worth noting, a lot of focus has been on the website and the technology, and that's partly because that's how we initially identified it; you know, these are glitches. What we're discovering is that part of the problem has been technology, hardware and software, and that's being upgraded. But even if we get the -- the hardware and software working exactly the way it's supposed to with relatively minor glitches, what we're also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy. And another mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of costs and lot of different benefits and plans and -- and somehow expecting that that would be very smooth, and then they've also got to try to apply for tax credits on the website.

So what we're -- what we're doing even as we're trying to solve the technical problems is also what can we do to make the application a little bit simpler? What can we do to make it in English as opposed to bureaucratese? Are there steps that we can skip while still getting the core information that people need?

And part of what we're realizing is that there are going to be a certain portion of people who are just going to need more help and more hand-holding in the application process.

The website is being redesigned - simplified - in order to make the Nov 30 date. Because "insurance is complicated to buy."

[hit and run]

narciso:
LOl, hit, that uptoncare logo is choice, might be a little NSFW, but you know, needs must'

What was I thinking calling her "the new face of health care reform"? I mean, who's looking at her face?

[Extraneus]

The reason he talked about how complicated insurance is was to lay the grounds for backing off on the complexity functionality of the web application.

[Extraneus]

From the Krauthammer link:

For all his news conference gyrations about not deliberately deceiving people with his “if you like it” promise, the law Obama so triumphantly gave us allows you to keep your plan only if he likes it. This is life imitating comedy — that old line about a liberal being someone who doesn’t care what you do as long as it’s mandatory.

[Threadkiller]

Since this is the uncanny thread.

[Threadkiller]

.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

This is funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjBLdAyHP0

How Obamacare works.

[Jack is Back!]

NK,

I thihk your over/under cut-off is too low. There are 15 Blue Dog Dems currentlty in the 113th Congress. A number of them voted with the Republicans against the ACA in 2010. 34 Dems voted no to ACA in 2010. Also, I believe there are 17 Dems who represent districts that Romney carried in 2012,

I am going with 21 Dems.

[Threadkiller]

That second one was either Photoshopped or it was scanned using the Whitehouse Xerox copier.

[Stephanie]

Janet, like in rocket science and birth control, the proper term is

Abort.
Abort.
Abort.

The President told the absolute truth when he declared himself "different" from you and me. Unless your IQ <85.

Special snowflake status award. Bless his heart...

[Miss Marple]

Alas, my duties at the Food Pantry for my church call me.

I will check in this afternoon to see what fresh levels of insanity this administration has brought foroth.

You guys take good notes while I'm gone!

[AliceH]

NK/JiB: Both of you might want to up your count on Dems voting for Upton bill.

Per Chad Pergrem: 35 Dems voted to delay employer mandate in July 2013, and 22 Dems voted in July 2013 to delay Obamacare individual mandate.

[hit and run]

What we're discovering is that plumbing the depths of Obama's incompetence is complicated.

[Threadkiller]

The racial grievance industry, with the White House’s blessing, has a plan afoot to up the relative percentage of whites and Hispanics in America’s prisons by keeping young black men out.

This week Broward County Public Schools in Florida reached an agreement with the NAACP and local law enforcement to end what is sometimes called the “school-to-prison” pipeline.

These entities will end the pipeline not by addressing the social dysfunction that leads to crime but by refusing to put students in the pipeline until they commit their fifth criminal misdemeanor.

You read that right, fifth. 

For the first four incidents, “administrators are instructed to try and resolve the situation without an arrest” through counseling and other such nostrums.

http://www.cashill.com/zimmerman/affirmative_action_goes.htm

[Jack is Back!]

Janet,

That Conan vid is viscious. This is more than piling on - this is verging on a national embarrassment.

[hit and run]

I think we should pass comprehenisve immigration reform because Obama hasn't yet discovered just how complex it is.

[Stephanie]

Verging?

It's way past that.

[hit and run]

Look, the climate is a very, very complex thing. Obama couldn't possibly have discovered just how complex it is. We should pass a comprehensive bill to help get him up to speed.

[AliceH]

Posted on prior link, but really this is a great article by Yuval Levin - hits every point out of the park I think:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/364038/president-losing-his-plan-yuval-levin

[hit and run]

I mean, Obama thought that securing the Dem nomination would be the moment the the rise of the oceans would begin to slow. He has a lot to discover here.....

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Look, the climate is a very, very complex thing.

Great point, hit!

[fdcol63]

They're going to simplify healthcare and the complicated "insurance" problem, all right.

Their answer will be universal, gov't-run, single-payer, tax payer-subsidized healthcare ... no complicated exchanges or private insurance company plans.

[Threadkiller]

Incomplexetent.

[Stephanie]

Just last summer, Bryan Sivak, chief technology officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, told Alex Howard of The Atlantic that the healthcare website was “fast, built in static HTML, completely stable and secure,” and Howard declared: “HealthCare.gov is the rarest of birds: a next generation website that also happens to be a .gov.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/the-obamacare-fumble-99906_Page2.html#ixzz2kj9WFPfE

OMG...

[AliceH]

Waiting for link or other confirmation, but Phil Kerpen just tweeted Pelosi (PELOSI!!!) is calling for a 1 year delay.

[hit and run]

"HealthCare.gov is the rarest of birds"

The dodo.

[fdcol63]

If Pelosi thinks a 1 year delay will rescue her or other vulnerable Dems, that's even MORE reason not to give it to her.

[Account Deleted]

NK,

The NYT is signaling the progressive hivemind that Obama is now Emmanuel Goldstein. The fact they never actually turned on the Serial Rapist in Chief makes this move rather extraordinary, IMO. Progressives (pronounced "commies") have always known complete eradication of the axe maker mind is impossible but it's a canon of commie thought that the "change" in mental processes delineated by RSE can only be achieved if an entire generation sees only the "success" of its imposition.

Destroying BOzo will personalize the failure, again, leaving the progressive rot to continue until the "right vessel" for the implementation of Rainbow Unicorn Utopia is found.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

AliceH/JiB-- over-under? I think the Upton vote is a huge tell. If Obummer has lost control of the House Dems, there will be a stampede of 30+ Dems voting 'Yes". Yesterday's presser was accompanied with a statement to the House/Senate Dems, don't cross me-- or else. If Obummer's still in control, the House Dems will cast a no vote, if the House Dems see Obummer as a dangerous lame duck, they will go survival mode and vote Yes. Either way it's a big tell-- so IMO the vote won't be 12-15 Dems, it will be single digits or 30+. TBD.

[Jack is Back!]

NK,

Are you takikng back your 9:21 or 12 Dems? What changed your mind?

[AliceH]

WAPO now reporting Obama to meet w/ Insurance CEOs today.

It's still sort of vague who/how many will be there.

[henry]

"static HTML"?

is this 1996?

[Jack is Back!]

....of 12 Dems?.....

[jimmyk]

don't cross me-- or else.

Or else what? I'll give another speech? It's like the joke about the unarmed British cops: "Stop, or I'll ... ask you again!"

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

JiB-- 12 is the over/under I set yesterday... and remains. Per my 10:16 I set 12 yesterday, because my guess is single digits or 30+. The NYT calling Obama the incompetent, and SanFranNan apparently calling for 1 year delay this morning sure looks like 'over' is the right late bet -- there could be a Dem stampede for the ObamaCare exit!!

[Danube on iPad]

"This isn't about the duration of the war. The war in Afghanistan is over."

--Nancy Pelosi, June 2005

Why does anyone listen to anything she has to say?

[Marlene]

I'll be interested to see how our congressman,Michaud votes.He is running for governor against Lepage and Lepage vowed not to "lift a finger" for 0care and also didn't expand Medicaid. Michud probably planned to run against Lepage based on 0care. Ha,too bad!

[Stephanie]

LOL Henry. Whenever some government person starts talking geek, I picture them with some shiny words they have memorized and then trying to sound cool by regurgitating the lingo...

the mess on the floor looks like cat sick, but hey, it's cool.

[AliceH]

House dems introducing their own bill.. calling it "Landrieu lite" but then saying it's just what the President said in his speech yesterday. How it is any different than the Upton bill is not at all clear.

[jimmyk]

Obama to meet w/ Insurance CEOs today.

Perhaps they'll present him with a copy of this:

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

JimmyK-- if Obummer has become the unarmed Brit bobby, and the House Dems are Rasta ganga gangs with Uzis, then the ObamaCare collapse will be popcorn worthy.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

AliceH-- the House Dem plot thickens... maybe they will stall for a while before stampeding. TBD today... this is fun.

[Account Deleted]

AliceH,

I wonder if any of the fascist enablers will attempt to explain the level of indemnification they would require prior to flouting the law?

Can an explanation of indemnification be done with sidewalk chalk stick figures?

[Account Deleted]

AliceH,

I wonder if any of the fascist enablers will attempt to explain the level of indemnification they would require prior to flouting the law?

Can an explanation of indemnification be done with sidewalk chalk stick figures?

[Extraneus]

Pa. paper: Sorry for panning Gettysburg Address

The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, about 35 miles northeast of Gettysburg, retracted a dismissive editorial penned by its Civil War-era predecessor, The Harrisburg Patriot & Union.

The president's speech is now considered a triumph of American oratory.

The retraction, which echoes Lincoln's now-familiar language, said the newspaper's November 1863 coverage was wrong when it described the speech as "silly remarks" that deserved a "veil of oblivion."

The paper now says it regrets the error of not seeing its "momentous importance, timeless eloquence and lasting significance."

What will the MFM retract 150 years from now?

[Extraneus]

Rick, what is it about your computer set-up that causes the double posts? You only hit the Post button once, right?

[Same Old People, Same Old Gossip]

For the time being, and/or until a new issue arises, you've said all that can be said, and you're repeating yourselves. So give it a rest, or change the subject.

[Ignatz]

--if Obummer has become the unarmed Brit bobby--

Superfluous "b", missing "o".

Barry could be employee of the year at Hooters...if Hooters let its servers coerce its customers into buying food they didn't want because what they ordered was substandard....or if he liked to serve....or work.

TK can handle the "Brit" part. :)

[fdcol63]

SOPSOG, translation: "Move on, already!"

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

The subject will change when ObummerCare is repealed, when the Benghazi lies are confirmed and admitted to, when F&F indictments are filed, when Lois Lerner takes immunity and tells all about the WH ordering her to screw TP applications. Then, we can discuss how to grow the economy and give business owners reason to hire.

[Account Deleted]

Extraneous,

One click. The touch pad doesn't usually double post. I'm beginning to suspect the end is near for this 'puter, it's not just the mouse.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

virus?

[Thomas Collins]

"1 year delay"

If 404 announces a one year delay, Boehner should send two bills over to Harry: (i)comprehensive reform that guts 404Care, and (ii) a delay to November 3, 2014. Boehner should say that the GOP supports the reform bill, but is providing the other option because absent reform this year, the health care debate should be front and center in the 2014 elections. Boehner should also announce that the House is prepared to meet through October and November of 2014 to work on a bill. Senate GOPers should also agree to do this. Challenge the Dems to debate health care reform on the floors of the House and Senate during the heat of the 2014 election battle.

[Threadkiller]

;-)

[Threadkiller]

Ig:

http://mcclintock.house.gov/2013/11/time-is-running-out-for-the-sierras.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1L-NAcbKqI

[Extraneus]

How do you refresh the page after posting?

[Account Deleted]

URL bar or right click refresh. It doesn't seem to make any difference.

[Dave (in MA)]

How do you refresh the page after posting?

Browser button, ctrl-r or F5 on Windows. Not sure what the equivalent is on the Cupertino keypad.

[Dave (in MA)]

"We fumbled the rollout on this healthcare law"

And there's no Tuck Rule in presidentin'.

[hit and run]

jimmyk:
Perhaps they'll present him with a copy of this:

Jimmy wins p-shop idea of the day...

I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when Obama discovered that insurance is complicated.

[glasater]

The man who is the head of eHealth dot com was just on CNBC and said he wants ACA to succeed.

He may be angling for the business though.

[Ignatz]

If Barry is the QB does Reggie Love play center?
Or is he a wide receiver?
Split end?
Hah!

[AliceH]

Did he seem to blink unnaturally during the interview, glasater?

[Ignatz]

Barry just learned that dude and His Pet Goat are covered by ACA.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

As of 10:28ET, Dems not whipping No votes to Upton. Could very well be a 30+ stampede of Dem yes votes: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/364053/house-democrats-arent-formally-whipping-against-upton-bill-jonathan-strong

[Ignatz]

Thanks, TK.

[glasater]

Ha, Alice.

Didn't notice any unnatural blinking. He could have been a textbook example of what an executive should look like :-)

The reason I mentioned him is that Mr Ballard has used eHealth as an example if I remember correctly.

[Ignatz]

Doesn't the Upton bill amount to interrupting your enemy while he is making a mistake, a phrase I hope I'm not overusing.
Considering the state of of both national parties I'm not sure its even possible to overuse it.

[narciso]

They had the fellow who wrote the memo, Cutler on Greta, and he's as earnest as he can be, insisted the parrot is just pining
for the fjords, no matter what she said about the composition of the pools, the costs of the new plans, he's actually scarier then Emmanuel

Blue Gov says reversing 'retirement' I mean transition would be illegal,

[narciso]

Does one stop Taylor, before he puts his bloodied hand, on the crystal, setting off the the Cobalt bomb, yup.

[Annoying Old Guy]

Every time I see "David Cutler" with regard to this technology roll out, I have to remind myself it's not the David Cutler who built VMS and Windows NT. Those actually worked :-).

[Extraneus]

Doesn't the Upton bill amount to interrupting your enemy while he is making a mistake

I think the convential wisdom is that the Upton bill is what led Obama to make his hastily-conceived desperation mistake yesterday.

[windansea]

Obama drove our health care system into a glitch.

Posted by: hit and run

Excellent! Start making bumper stickers

[narciso]

So it would seem, I think the OS they used was Sisyphus,

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Upton is good tactics because it forces Dem votes in House and possibly the Senate. It will never become law, so it's not a substantive mistake. And yes it forced Obummer's 'keep your plan' nonsense yesterday, so it's already done some good.

[GMax]

Well the way I game this out, is that we value more Senate seats way more than we value more House seats at the moment. So once we get even one Democrat vote, its a bipartisan bill that says what the President repeatedly said, and ought to be taken up and voted on by the Senate. If they dont, and they probably wont without some further pain, we beat the living crap out of Hagan, Landrieu, Pryor et al for not forcing a vote in the Senate and joining in a bipartisan fix to flawed legislation.

Its all good from here.

I think we see a number that approaches 50 Democrats ( Nancy and Steny have signaled that whipping the vote will be counterproductive so that ought to tell you a lot). Fear of losing your cushy job with its many perks makes representatives quite prickly.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Conventional wisdom????

Aren't those the same people that have to suppress a gag reflex when they see an interracial couple?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

GMax-- gaming this out. It sure looks like a House Dem stampede of 30-50 voting YES on Upton. That proves Obummer has no push with House Dems in survival mode. The House sends Upton to the Senate... Reid/Schumer will either ignore it saying Obummer has already feexed 'Keep your plan', or play games and swap out Upton with poison pills and put that to a vote. Either of those plays are poison for Red/Purple State Senate Dems. This games out very nicely for '14 elections.