Obama Administration Says More Than 100,000 Have Selected a Health Plan

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times


BREAKING NEWS3:30 PM ET
Obama Administration Says More Than 100,000 Have Selected a Health Plan


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com

[DesertFlower]

1. that's good news considering

the problems with the website.

[Swede Atlanta]

2. It is good news PERIOD....

Let's accept the following facts:

(1) 100K people who previously either did not have health insurance (not to be confused with healthcare) or who had sub-standard or unaffordable health insurance now have something they consider affordable

(2) The ramp-up to any new program of this magnitude takes time. Even without the glitches on the website, individuals will research, research some more, etc. before making a decision. This behavior is born out by Romneycare and Medicare Part D.

[JoePhilly]

5. Do people rush to decide which plan they'll sign up for?

I never have.

I review the plans that I can select from over a few weeks. I check costs and Rx info. The process is spread over a few weeks, and even then, I find myself rushing.

And then I do a final review on the day before I must decide.

Why does everyone think people will rush this decision?

[small D democrat]

3. The administration counts new enrollees as those who have “selected a marketplace plan.”

The verb does not match the antecedent noun.

[Iliyah]

4. Yep!

No worries tho, corporate media and Issa will cover every so called negative concerning Obamacare.

And thats right. Approx. 36 states refused to initiate Obamacare and Medicaid. GOPers and their health insurance allies are
doing everything they can to obstruct and misinform it.

It will succeed just like SSI and Medicare.

[JoePhilly]

6. +1

[AngryAmish]

7. In the history of success, this is the greatest success ever

By any standard this is mankind's greatest achievement.

Every American should be one their knees thanking President Obama.

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. My bf and I

are among them

[lostincalifornia]

9. The POS, lying, unethical media for the last two days have said it was 40K. Of course they are not

including those who are now covered under extended Medicaid, nor their systematic daily trashing of of the ACA.

One might almost think they would want it to fail?

and then yesterday Mr. Clinton decides to come out and tell the media what is wrong with the ACA, and what Obama should do. He cannot pick up the phone and tell him personally, he has to go through the medium that he personally deregulated into the disgrace it is today

[RobinA]

27. That's OK

My radio this morning was reporting the 100,000 number as "a disaster."

The media has been a mess on this, although I do fault the rollout for not only going live with nonfunctioning software, but with being terrible at damage control. We need an Obamacare rollout czar to figure out how to counter the rot that's getting spewed out there.

Here's a start - major initiatives like this take YEARS to shake out. At the very least, one cycle, which in this case is a year, to get just the major kinks worked out. Two months is nothing, and judging at this point is beyond meaningless.

[Psephos]

10. 100k enrolled, 5 million canceled.

So far. Lots more to come.

The first and indispensable tool to fix a problem is to admit there is one. Honest criticism will help far more people than cheer-leading a fumbled effort.

There's a sound reason we all said dissent is patriotic during the * years.

[RBInMaine]

12. And 5 million about to get BETTER PLANS at BETTER DEALS and not TOTAL SHIT "INSURANCE".

[Psephos]

13. Time will tell.

I lost my plan, which was perfect for me, and so far it looks like the alternative will cost me my doctor and a couple of grand a year.

I suspect I'm not alone.

[RBInMaine]

14. Why didn't your "perfect" insurance company meet the very minimal grandfathering requirements?

You should be pissed at your piece of SHIT excuse for a fucked up insurance company. If it really gave a damn about you and your business, it would have grandfathered the plan. How high were your deductables? How high were your co-pays? How long did you have the plan? Has the company offered an alternative? People are being FUCKED OVER by these CORRUPT insurance companies, not the ACA.

[SoapBox]

22. +1!

[Psephos]

23. You don't seem like the kind who's interested in discussion.

You sound more like someone who's angry and wants to use it as a bludgeon.

In a good discussion, each party listens to what the other says, without all the emotion. There is a mutual opportunity to learn and evolve positions in judgment-free discussion.

See, in this case your assumption was wrong. I did not have a "fucked up insurance company." I was covered under an enlightened county medical plan that gave me $5 doctor visits, $6 prescriptions, and wonderful care when I needed it from a doctor who took the time to know me personally. Over time, I had an MRI on a damaged shoulder, had a tumor removed from my groin, got nice eyeglasses, good dental treatment, and ongoing treatment for ADD. Emergency care for when I ripped up my face on a mountain bike. Antibiotics when I had an infection. Many thousands of dollars worth of care for $5 per incident.

Yes, that's right. A government plan dumped me. They were very apologetic in the letter, but said they must abide by the law.

It's clear I won't end up with anything as well-suited to my needs, and it's going to cost me plenty more. And the doctor who took the time to become my friend? Gone.

How many people across the country are on county plans? How many are going to be wandering their way through the Kafka-esque process of trying to get an unsatisfactory replacement? Do you know?

The problem with a one-size-fits-all approach is obvious. One size does not fit all.

[RBInMaine]

25. How come this plan was not "enlightened" enough to come into compliance with the ACA? Do you have

all the details here? If this was an enlightened plan, it seems it would be covering everyone, even those with pre-existing conditions, it would be covering about everything, ....???? So why was it not in compliance? Was it refusing to cover certain segments of the population? How was it not able to be grandfathered? Did they explain everything?

As to your accusation about me not being willing to listen and just wanting to bludgeon away, I personally experienced what it means to be screwed around with by a SHITTY bare-bones insurance plan and SHITTY service from it. So I for one am very pleased that this law is about correcting these SHITTY plans and getting people into real plans. The law deserves some time. The idea is that once we get the FORTY MILLION people without healthcare into the system both through subsidized, reduced-cost plans on the exchanges, and expanded Medicare, costs will come down across the board. We MUST get EVERYONE covered.

I sympathize with your situation, but am wondering why the county plans are having such a problem complying with the law. Perhaps you could enlighten me with the details.

I would be open to a bill that would extend plans such as yours, if it really was a decent plan, until these transitional bugs can be worked out. The thing is, without MEDICARE FOR ALL, which is what we really should have, we have all these different plans bumbling around, some better than others, many undeniably SHITTY and CRAPPY that changed all the time, didn't cover much, dropped people all the time, ... That is something that HAD to be FIXED. An insurance plan should be actual INSURANCE that COVERS THINGS without massive co-pays, deductables, can jack up rates at a moment's notice, kicks people off left and right, refuses to insure...THAT is the CRAP we are talking about and it was rampant across the country before the ACA with 40 MILLION AMERICANS WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE going to emergency room.

FINE, WE CAN TWEAK THE LAW AS NEEDED, BUT GIVE THIS LAW TIME. IT NEEDS A FAIR CHANCE TO WORK.

[madville]

16. Several Democrats are working right now

To help you get your old plan back if you want it, hopefully they can get something passed to help people in your situation out.

I have had individual BCBS plans in years past that suited me well, they would have been cancelled like your's was probably.

[RBInMaine]

18. And if you had a major claim, you would have paid tons out of pocket then gotten booted off.

[madville]

20. It was BlueOptions through Florida Farm Bureau

It was actually quite good, many farmers around here had their families on it. My son and I had it for years, $300 annual deductible, 80/20 up to $5,000 max annual out of pocket, $20 co-pays for office visits, ER visits 100% covered with no deductible or copay.

It ranged from $192-$240 a month during the time we had it. The only reason I dropped it was because I went back to work for the federal government and was back under FEHB.

[RBInMaine]

26. Then why can't they meet the basic grandfathering requirements of the ACA?

They didn't have to meet all requirements to be grandfathered. Just some of the basic ones. I would like to know why such plans couldn't meet grandfathered status. Something is very fishy.

[Psephos]

24. Thank you. I wish them godspeed.

And good luck to you.

[SoapBox]

21. Can you please provide specific details about your cancelled plan?

I'm sure others would be curious as well, about what kind of plan was good for you.

Myself, I want all the coverage on everything that I can get!

(...I actually get great coverage via my employer.)

[quadrature]

15. who decides what's crap for someone else?...nt

[RBInMaine]

19. Well, the insurance company already decided it was CRAP and then sold it to you.

[RBInMaine]

11. + 500,000 in Medicaid Expansion, + 800,000 in the PROCESS of signing up, + 20,000,000 INQUIRIES.

[Doctor Jack]

17. No, no we don't talk about those

All we should be talking about is the website, which didn't work well for a few weeks. Its all about the one aspect of thousands that didn't work for like 3 weeks but now pretty much does. In the grand scheme of things that is all that will matter.

The law is a failure! Our only option now is to go into the past and prevent Obama from ever being born (in Kenya of course!). That is the only way to stop the short term setback of a brand new law that will take years to fully implement!