ObamaCare's War On Marriage (Oregon Edition)

From Oregon, a story highlighting ObamaCare's War on Marriage:

PORTLAND, Ore. (CBS Seattle/AP) — One Oregon mother says that she is unable to afford health insurance for her and her 18-month-old son because it’s too expensive.

Kate Holly, 33, tells KOIN-TV that she originally championed President Barack Obama’s signature health care law because she thought it would help people in her situation.

“I’ve been a cheerleader for the Affordable Care Act since I heard about it and I assumed that it was designed for people in my situation,” Holly, a freelance yoga instructor, told KOIN. “I was planning on using the Affordable Care Act and I had done the online calculator in advance to make sure I was going to be able to afford it.”

Evidently she had to experience the bill to learn what was in it; had she been paying attention, she would have been forewarned that the bill imposes a huge subsidy cliff on working class married couples.

Pressing on:

Holly’s husband works for a non-profit organization that pays for his health care, but the couple is unable to afford to have her and their son covered under his plan. And she’s been told their combined income is too much to qualify for a subsidized health care plan under Cover Oregon.

“It wasn’t until I started the process and got an agent that I started hearing from them I wasn’t going to qualify for subsidies because I qualify on my husband’s insurance,” she told KOIN.

She will be eligible for subsidies or Medicaid once she finalizes the divorce. That suggests a new progressive bumper sticker: Get A Divorce - For The Children!

Meanwhile, Obama is no doubt focusing on the problems of the middle class.

Comments

[Beasts of England]

Roll Tide!

[Bob]

Anyone else impressed with a dude who gets insurance for himself but not his wife and child? They can't afford it? What are they not willing to give up to insure a baby? And he is a do-gooder for a non-profit but can't do good for his own wife and child and they expected the taxpayers to pick up the tab because they choose to be poor and work as a part-time yoga instructor (paid for her own workouts) and he schleps for a non-profit. Be a man and get a job that supports your family.

[Extraneus]

the couple is unable to afford to have her and their son covered under his plan

This seems odd. Adding family members to an existing employer plan is more expensive than separately insuring them?

[Ignatz]

Perhaps I'm being uncharitable but the fact that a "freelance yoga instructor" can make enough to bump any family over an income bracket is as sad a commentary on today's America as the passage of the Barrycare abomination.

[Account Deleted]

That should be Kate Holly, née Lackwitz. I doubt the single blow will be sufficient. True clarity is better achieved by monthly administration of kindling makers as the check is signed.

[MarkO]

I am troubled that the greatest act of fraud in American history cannot be redressed in the courts.

[Jeff Dobbs]

“Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer yoga instructor without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance."

"We see it as an entrepreneurial bill, a bill that says to someone, if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever yoga instructor, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care."
--stuff Nancy Pelosi advised Ms. Holly could do

[Bob]

I do not think media stories like this are going to do the trick. What entitles the putz husband to a job that makes him feel good about himself but not earn a living that supports himself and his family? And to presume that the public taxpayer is going to pick up the tab? And his wife can have a play job, stay home with the kid, support Obamacare because she did not read the fine print (even my recent college graduate kid knew that if access to employer health insurance was available you are NOT eligible for the exchange and subsidy). One or both of them need to get a job that pays the bills like adults since they have a child. Playtime and fake self-esteem are over.

[Bob]

Adding family members to an existing employer plan is more expensive than separately insuring them? Posted by: Extraneus

They believed it would be free. They thought if they made under a certain amount that they would get it for nothing. They thought they could game it. Tough tootles idiots.

[Bob]

stuff Nancy Pelosi advised Ms. Holly could do
Posted by: hit and run

Old Nancy was imagining the next Rembrandt or Chopin working away in a garret with no worries about inhaling too much linseed oil fumes or breaking their back lugging around a keyboard. But in reality it was about freeing the unambitious to string beads and show up for exercise class. Old Nancy is a genius.

[Account Deleted]

Bob,

The story does not go into detail but the odds are Ms Lackwitz had Babybyblow in tow (33-18=15) when she married Mr. Holly. Mr. Holly may never have accepted fiscal responsibility for Master Lackwitz.

[Account Deleted]

ERRATUM MAXIMUM

I read years for months and totally screwed up the last comment.

[bud and mike]

Thank God for the VA

[Danube on iPad]

Ol' Bob is en fuego today.

[DebinNC]

Last week's "Obamacare - Making Insurrance Affordable for Fitness Buffs" thread featured the WaPo extolling the "success stories" of 4 previously uninsured people. Politico followed with:

The White House, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations will launch a campaign this week to highlight real-life experiences under the Affordable Care Act — tales so compelling that they help drive up enrollment, marginalize Republican repeal efforts and erase memories of this fall’s HealthCare.gov debacle

Where is the much ballyhooed "success stories" tsaumani we should be seeing? Didn't BOzo do his part and leave word 12 days ago as he flew off to HI that it should happen?

[Publius of Idaho]

I am troubled that the greatest act of fraud in American history cannot be redressed in the courts.

I am more troubled that the greatest act of fraud in American history has been sanctioned by the courts.

[James D.]

Perhaps not surprisingly, the ad I'm seeing on this page right now is for Carefirst ("Great coverage plans starting at $3.12 a day)...

[Jack is Back!]

Rick,

18 months, not years.

Yoga instructor + non-profit + Oregon = naïveté (eligible for the bronze plan).

[Danube on iPad]

It is inherent in the structure of this monstrosity that there will be far more horror stories, and stories of rank unfairness, than success stories.

[narciso]

This was from the other thread;

http://therightscoop.com/ted-cruz-uses-dr-evil-to-push-for-repealing-obamacare

but it seems to fit, how much could she making as a freelance yoga instructor to hit the wall;

[narciso]

No it's more like the 'Earth Shattering kaboom' of the Iludium Q 36 explosive space modulator, Deb,

[Ranger]

how much could she making as a freelance yoga instructor to hit the wall

It doesn't look like she is blocked by wage level. It looks like she is blocked because her husband's plan will take her, and she doesn't want it. Subsidies are only available for those who don't have access to "qualifying" plans already and/or who have to pay more than 9% of their income on premiums.

There are a lot of people who are going to discover that they can't walk away from their employer's "carp" insurance and get a subsidy for a "better" plan.

[narciso]

They fired the full spread of torpedoes, then, Captain Tupolev would be proud.

[21_cathy_f_in_tripep@d_prison_98]

I suspect that his income alone disqualifies them for the subsidy.

To step back a moment, this is really more about the Democrat War On Math. They set up the subsidy amounts based upon premiums as a percentage of income, but they set up the subsidy brackets based upon income levels vs poverty. If premiums had stayed the same, the two functions might have more or less met. But these innumerates-in-charge had simply no clue that the things that they were doing would cause the premiums to go up.

Just a word from a math major: if you want a smooth continuous functionality the best way to do that is to use a smooth continuous function.

[DrJ]

cathyf,

if you want a smooth continuous functionality the best way to do that is to use a smooth continuous function.

Agreed. I was very surprise to learn that there are many step changes in the subsidies. Why not use a simple linear formula?

[narciso]

Well Sibelius wrote the rule, or one of her underlings.

[Extraneus]

Linear equations for people who can't figure out how to get a photo ID?

[narciso]

Bill Buchanan, has lost the plot.

http://twitchy.com/2014/01/02/smart-take-actor-james-morrison-an-early-frontrunner-for-stupidest-tweet-of-2014/

[DrJ]

Ext, it could be built into the web site easily enough. Heck, they could "make an app for that."

[Danube on iPad]

"Why not use a simple linear formula?"

Because they are clueless morons.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

This woman works for a division of Comcast, and is in charge of the 'news' content for that major information company. Read what she says carefully-- I can only think of 2 words to describe her attitude towards ObummerCare: SIG HEIL, SIG HEIL... THESE MEDIA FASCISTS DON'T EVEN HIDE IT ANY LONGER: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367403/nbc-chief-medical-editor-signing-obamacare-patriotic-duty-andrew-johnson

[matt]

The success stories will begin promptly on Monday morning when the dancing chimps are all back from their 2 week vacations in Stowe, Tahoe, and Gstaad.Colorado has also become a primary destination because of the weed and powder.

Some of them I am sure have been on the Journo-List coordinating strategy with Jay carney, Donna Brazile and the Iranian Hamster.

This morning, the LA Times got in its first salvo with a Michael Hiltzik fantasy piece on the two Americas of Obamacare; the states embracing it and those who don't. You know where he stands.

None of them are discussing th real problem going forward. The subsidies will run out in three years and then the states are on their own with an unfunded, massive mandate.

Obamacare is like the massive island of refuse in the North Pacific. It will slowly entangle every aspect of public life into a morass of incompetence, dim hallways, and a lower quality of life.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

The step formula for subsidies?-- IMO it games the system to reward favored parasites...hmm... I'll have to think about which ones.

[21_cathy_f_in_tripep@d_prison_98]

test? just had a brilliant post deleted

[narciso]

Well we can skip Hilzik's awareness of what he thought was in it;

"It's important that people realize this is a multi-year process," says Timothy S. Jost, a healthcare expert at Washington and Lee University. "I feel we're bottoming out this year in terms of the disruption of change." The hard work, he says, still lies ahead.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20131224,0,1425488.column#ixzz2pGi9Abil

[Jeff Dobbs]

It wasn't deleted, it was sequestered by the Typepad comment impediment.

[Jeff Dobbs]

matt:
Colorado has also become a primary destination because of the weed and powder.

They're snorting pot in CO now.

[henry]

Hit, do extreme munchies cause them to eat yellow snow?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Cheetos snowcones!

[Sue]

Hopefully we can rewrite her story with a happy ending when the employer mandate kicks in. Hang in there cupcake. You may qualify for my tax money after all.

[matt]

What makes it even funnier is that she's in Portlandia and probably has the piercings and tats to prove it. It has become the most precious city in the country.

[rich@gmu]

hit-

sounds like a winner right there. maybe on the dollar menu for the Taco Bell run...

>>>"I feel we're bottoming out this year in terms of the disruption of change." The hard work, he says, still lies ahead.<<<

Wreckovery Summer VI: It's Real and It's Spectacular.

[rich@gmu]

happy new years all.

[I R A Darth Aggie]

She likely voted for this sh!t sandwich several times in 2010 and again in 2012 - the presidential race, as well as Senate and House races. Yes, Wyden was up in 2010 so she had a Senate vote.

So, my advice dearie? shut up and eat your sandwich. I mean, it wasn't like there was anybody out there saying it wouldn't, couldn't work...oh, wait...

[Account Deleted]

"IMO it games the system to reward favored parasites..."

NK,

I'd turn that upside down. The selection of the median family income level as the break point is designed to create more parasites rather than reward existing parasites. A 50 yo couple at $63K picks up a subsidy of $3166 by cutting back to $62K, netting $2166 for taking an extra week off. If the income split is 65/35, they would be much farther ahead by divorcing, of course.

It's a prog twofer - cut the incentive to work and destroy families at the same time. Rainbow Utopia, here we come.

[Beasts of England]

Colorado has also become a primary destination because of the weed and powder.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[Beasts of England]

Remember when the sheep were bleating about ObamaCare reducing the inefficient use of the ER?

"In no case were we able to find any subpopulations, or type of conditions, for which Medicaid caused a significant decrease in emergency department use."

Yeah. Not so much.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/01/02/no-obamacare-wont-reduce-emergency-room#fold

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

RickB-- as usual a god pick up by you. MOAR parasites is always a favored class of the Prog Fascists. deBlasio is completely blantant about that.

[Single-pay only way]

Look! There's a weed almost every mile traveling down the Interstate.

Outrageous! Time to shutdown the Highway Dept.

[narciso]

Her rep might be Mr. Death Panels himself, Blumenauer, be sure to call it Carousel.

[Danube on iPad]

From AT:

"In 2004, NASA's chief scientist James Hansen authoritatively announced that there is only a ten-year window to act on AGW (presumably by transferring mass quantities of taxpayer funds to global warmist causes) before climate Armageddon destroys humanity.  Well, that window has now shut tight, and AGW is AWOL.

"Al Gore, the high priest of AGW theory, has closed all of his Alliance for Climate Protection field offices, and laid off 90% of his staff.  Contributions have all but dried up since 2008.

"Australia's conservative government has severely curtailed the country's climate change initiatives and is in the process of repealing its business-killing carbon tax.  A group of German scientists predicts dramatic global cooling over the next 90 years toward a new 'little ice age.'"

Simply delicious.

[Beasts of England]

More ingredients for the Schadenfreude Soufflé, DoT. Delicious, indeed.

[Account Deleted]

BoE,

Thanks for the Medicaid/ER usage link. Secretary Syphilis has found a solution to ERs swamped with Medicaid patients.

In Pennsylvania on Thursday, Gov. Tom Corbett's office cautioned that people who applied for health insurance through the federally run website and were found to be eligible or potentially eligible for Medicaid might not have coverage.

The federal website was supposed to send their applications to the Medicaid agency in their state. But that had yet to happen in Pennsylvania and the other 35 states relying on the federal insurance exchange.

ProleCull - your solution is waiting for you.

[MarkO]

1816

[narciso]

There's no part of this that isn't, what's the Yiddish word that applies,

[Bush Leaguers need not apply]

""They Won't Magically Turn You Into A Lustful Cockmonster": Chris Kluwe Explains Gay Marriage To The Politician Who Is Offended By An NFL Player Supporting It"

http://deadspin.com/i-was-an-nfl-player-until-i-was-fired-by-two-cowards-an-1493208214

Your children are safe. The pedophile profile is hetero, including Catholic clerics.

[narciso]

Except they don't, is he speaking Vizzini;

Those who enrolled during the exchanges' first three months, persisting through serious technological problems and jammed call center phone lines, are probably motivated to make sure they have a policy in place as soon as possible, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, which advocates for lower-income people and supports the federal health care changes.

[Ignatz]

A cooling earth equals lots of dead people, mostly the poorest of the poor.

Even if, contrary to the actual science, a warming earth raised sea levels many feet and caused colossal typhoons and other extreme weather the toll on humanity would be miniscule compared to even so small a cooling as the Little Ice Age.

If man does have any power to raise temps he should get to it, because a warmer, more CO2 rich earth means lots of living poor people who have a chance not to be quite so poor....or so dead.
As much as that disappoints our compassionate tolerant leftist friends.

[Extraneus]

I'll be happy when the confiscations are in full swing, starting with Algore being marched out of his house in his underwear.

[narciso]

So they are like IVAW;

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jakewallissimons/100248886/why-are-european-powers-and-oxfam-funding-a-radical-israeli-group/

[narciso]

'you shall not speak it, they are holy words;

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mike-ciandella/2014/01/02/frozen-out-98-stories-ignore-ice-bound-ship-was-global-warming-missi

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Narciso-- I always like that particular original Star Trek episode;

"E Plev Nista? I did not recognize the words... because you spoke them so poorly."

That episode also had a particularly hot Babe guest appearance.

[narciso]

Of course, that's why he's doing it;

http://therightscoop.com/bolton-waste-of-kerrys-time-to-pursue-peace-with-illegitimate-palestinian-authority/

[narciso]

You reminded me of that line, NK, you wait for the punchline, but it never comes, maybe because they don't sense the irony,

the turmoil of the late 18th and 19th Century is the subject of Winik's Great Upheaval, including
the bad harvest that set off the French Revolution,

[Danube on iPad]

Elizabeth McCaw:

"A hugely disproportionate number of male serial killers have been homosexual; figures run from 40 to 60% depending on definitions. Some of the most famous—John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Juan Corona, Wayne Williams, Dean Corll—certainly were. It is unlikely that the National Institutes of Health will fund research to look for a causal relation. 

"There are very few studies on personality differences, but bouncers report that crowds of homosexuals are much more peaceful than heteros. Lesbians are more masculine than hetero women and have much more masculine preferences for jobs and hobbies.

"Are homosexuals more likely to molest children than heteros? They say men who molest boys are not homosexual because they are not interested in adults at all and don’t even care whether they are molesting boys or girls. 

"The anti-sodomites naturally point out that a third of the children who are molested are boys—there is little dispute about that—and that men who molest boys are obviously homosexual. It is surprisingly hard to get to the bottom of this. It’s another question that does not seem to be drawing grant money."

http://takimag.com/article/the_straight_dope_on_homosexuality_elizabeth_mccaw/print#ixzz2pHEZ7DH7

[Beasts of England]

Another glitch in the ObamaCare fiasco, Rick? Unpossible.

[Danube on iPad]

New York bloody Times, no less:

"Supporters of President Obama’s health care law had predicted that expanding insurance coverage for the poor would reduce costly emergency room visits as people sought care from primary care doctors. But a rigorous new study conducted in Oregon has flipped that assumption on its head, finding that the newly insured actually went to the emergency room more often.

"The study, published in the journal Science, compared thousands of low-income people in the Portland area who were randomly selected in a 2008 lottery to get Medicaid coverage with people who entered the lottery but remained uninsured. Those who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the emergency room than their uninsured counterparts. The pattern was so strong that it held true across most demographic groups, times of day, and types of visits, including for conditions that were treatable in primary care settings.

"The finding casts doubt on the hope that expanded insurance coverage will help rein in rising emergency room costs just as more than two million people are gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act."

[narciso]

Apparently, not only the back end, doesn't work, but the front as well,

[JIB]

narciso,

Are you saying that 404Care is homophobic?

[JIB]

Cuomo is closing the LIE from midnight to 5am tomorrow.

[Account Deleted]

BoE,

It's an easy fix. They'll just step up the ProleCull bounties and have OFA volunteers step in to help fill out DNR toe tags until targets are met.

[maryrose]

BoE:
I like your new avatar.
Here in Ahia we have had a blizzard most of the day. The snowplows have benn unusually slow in clearing the streets.Being cozy and warm at home is a real treat.
Loved the Michigan State/Stanford game.
I can usually recognize Rick B and NK and JIB as well as Steph and c-cal. Iggy when he is making funny snarky comments and CH for his witty and fun posts.
Narciso-easy but more difficult TC and Jane and OL.

[Bela1]

I missed it, so Happy New Year to all JOMers!!!

[Miss Marple]

Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients leave without treatment

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532869/They-no-idea-insurance-active-not-At-Virginia-hospitals-Obamacare-confusion-reigns-frustrated-patients-walk-out.html

Brit reporters going to hospitals and interviewing people, unlike the US press, doing the job Americans won't do.

[JIB]

Getting ready to drive down to Cape Canaveral to pick up Frederick. His buddie's mom is driving up from Miami to visit friends there.

The house hasn't been the same and the two beagles are suffering severe separation anxiety with him not here.

Dinner at Milliken's Reef to any of you who know the area around the Port.

[Captain Hate]

I agree, maryrose; it's like the snowplow drivers are still hung over from New Years. Including the schnook who plows my driveway.

[Captain Hate]

Speak of the Devil and he will appear...

[narciso]

heck of a deak, Maverick, you wanted us involved with.

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/20607

[narciso]

We keep looking for the pony, we're running out of clothespins;

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/01/small-business-group-says-not-a-single-member-has-seen-health-care-costs-go-down-under-obamacare/

[Tom Maguire]

The White House, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations will launch a campaign this week to highlight real-life experiences under the Affordable Care Act...

After which they will introduce their new bumpersticker:

ObamaCare - It Doesn't Suck For Everyone!

C'mon, of course there are winners. But there are an awful lot of losers, too, which is hardly how this was sold.

[pagar]

"Linear equations for people who can't figure out how to get a photo ID?"

Linear equations for politicians who go to court and claim that people who can't figure out how to get a photo ID are the only ones they can get to vote for them in large enough
number for them to win a election.

How smart would a politician have to be to get people who weren't smart enough to get a photo ID for themselves to vote for a politician who would insult their voters by saying that the court should recognize that those voters weren't smart enough to get a photo ID.

[Miss Marple]

Tom, see the link I posted above from the Daily Mail, who actually sent reporters to hospitals. Looks to be mass chaos.

[Jeff Dobbs]

ObamaCare - It Doesn't Suck For Everyone!

But everyone must Embrace the Suck.

[Account Deleted]

Does anyone know how long BlueGovIns can sit on poisoned pool info before running afoul of SarBox? Is there an "adverse impact" percentage which has to be met and, if so, does it relate to the total business or to components?

[narciso]

Something San Fran Nan actually said, yikes;

[Sandra Fluke]

>>>But everyone must Embrace the Suck.<<<

Did somebody call?

[narciso]

OT, there's another miniseries, based on that Grimes book, on the hunt for Ames, that was reviewed in the Journal not that long ago,

[Captain Hate]

In case you're looking for a place to dump nuclear waste: http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2014/1/1/5263776/bill-obrien-didnt-get-it

[narciso]

the story gets more interesting:

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-diplomat-injured-prague-flat-blast-police-133952046.html

[Danube on iPad]

I dunno, Rick, but as with everything to do with this administration it will be pulling teeth to get any info they don't like. I guess FOIA request will have to be made, with followup litigation.

[Zionism must die a grisly death]

Just pull the freakin' plug already.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/02/ariel-sharon-critical-condition-doctor

[sbwaters]

I want to thank whomever it was that shoveled our sidewalk yesterday. I don't know who it was, but I can't lift more than 10 pounds until the hernia repair heals.

We must have some nice neighbors. I haven't a clue who did it. What a nice world we live in.

[Captain Hate]

the story gets more interesting

They should bulldoze over the pali embassy, preferably with the same Cat that flattened Saint Pancake.

[Captain Hate]

I shoveled my neighbor's sidewalk, sbw, but I don't think you're her.

[sbwaters]

CH, thank you, anyway. My compliments.

[narciso]

I know the Stasi had contacts with arab militants, including a relative of the 9/11 hijacker,s Jarrah, but I don't think the Stb had the same sort of connections,

[Captain Hate]

We have some nice neighbors with a snow blower who often do a number of peoples' sidewalks just as a gracious thing to do.

[matt]

So that's why Marrakech is so popular with gaycationers? The gay male obsession with physical beauty is, I would say, much greater than that of heterosexuals.

This would certainly include the temptation of young males who are then "converted". Wasn't "Gods & Monsters" about exactly this? There have been several other films on these themes, including Midnight Cowboy.

[Gaydar deficient.]

" There have been several other films on these themes, including Midnight Cowboy."

Yes. The animal magnetism makes the lifestyle too appealing for the average hetero to resist. Where do you morons get this shit from?

[pagar]

Read Miss Marple's 04:53 link and than realize that Washington State has a Democrat politician that says:

Dem Rep. Jim McDermott: Democrats “Very Proud” To Run On Obamacare In Midterm Elections…

http://weaselzippers.us/?p=166361

Democrats are proud how badly they have screwed up healthcare in America.
This is insane!