Report: Obamacare Exchanges Fraud Costs Taxpayers Millions
Posted: January 27, 2018 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Economics, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, GAO, Government Accountability Office, Health Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare Leave a comment
It seems an incredible waste to put tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of taxpayer dollars at risk through fraud on federal exchanges.
Christopher Jacobs reports: What do Obamacare and Haley Joel Osment have in common? They both see dead people.
On Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released another report into eligibility verification checks on the federally run Obamacare insurance exchange used by more than three dozen states. As with prior studies, GAO concluded that regulators still need to improve integrity efforts to ensure the federal government spends taxpayer funds wisely.
[Read the full story here, at thefederalist.com]
Among the report’s most noteworthy conclusions: A total of 17,000 federally subsidized insurance policies studied during the 2015 plan year—the most recent for which GAO had complete data at the time of its investigation—began or continued after the applicant’s reported date of death. In 1,000 of those cases, coverage began after the applicant’s reported date of death. In a further 2,000, the application was submitted after the applicant’s reported date of death—in most cases because the exchange automatically re-enrolled applicants without checking to determine that they remained alive.
GAO previously recommended that the federal exchange verify eligibility periodically, checking changes in circumstances that would affect the status of federal subsidies, such as death. However, to the best of auditors’ knowledge, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not implemented this recommendation, one of 18 relating to exchange integrity that remain open (i.e., not completed) from two prior GAO reports. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama Mocked Trump’s Political Ambitions. Trump Spent His First Year Dismantling Obama’s Legacy
Posted: January 21, 2018 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Deregulation, Donald Trump, Jimmy Kimmel, Obamacare, Title IX 1 Comment
As president, Barack Obama repeatedly mocked Donald Trump’s political ambitions, laughing at the idea of Trump ever winning the presidency.
Peter Hasson writes: Obama mocked Trump in 2011 for calling into question whether he was born in America. The state of Hawaii later released Obama’s longform birth certificate to put the matter to rest. Obama viciously mocked Trump for the controversy, before mocking the idea of Trump ever serving in the White House.
From the White House transcript of the event:
Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. (Laughter.) And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter –- like, did we fake the moon landing? (Laughter.) What really happened in Roswell? (Laughter.) And where are Biggie and Tupac? (Laughter and applause.)
But all kidding aside, obviously, we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. (Laughter.) For example — no, seriously, just recently, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice — (laughter) — at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team cooking did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didn’t blame Lil’ Jon or Meatloaf. (Laughter.) You fired Gary Busey. (Laughter.) And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. (Laughter and applause.) Well handled, sir. (Laughter.) Well handled.
Say what you will about Mr. Trump, he certainly would bring some change to the White House. Let’s see what we’ve got up there. (Laughter.)
(Screens show “Trump White House Resort and Casino.”)
WATCH:
A month before the 2016 election, Obama mocked Trump’s campaign on “Jimmy Kimmel.” Obama read a tweet from Trump saying that Obama “will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States,” before turning Trump into a punchline. “Really? Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president,” Obama said, dropping his phone on the floor for dramatic effect.
A year into the Trump presidency, Obama’s legacy is taking a beating.
Trump has overseen the dismantling of several of Obamacare’s most controversial aspects. The tax cuts package Trump signed last month included a provision repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate. Trump also rolled back the Obama administration’s contraception mandate, which forced religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide birth control for all employees, regardless of conscientious objections. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Reality Check: Health Care is Not a Fundamental Right
Posted: May 9, 2017 Filed under: Economics, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Health Care, Health Care debate, Hillel Neuer, Human rights, Human rights group, Kevin D. Williamson, Obamacare, Rights, United States Department of State, video 1 Comment
The ‘Right’ to Health Care.
There isn’t one.
Kevin D. Williamson writes: With the American Health Care Act dominating the week’s news, one conversation has been unavoidable: Someone — someone who pays attention to public policy — will suggest that we pursue policy x, y, or z, and someone else — someone who pays a little less careful attention, who probably watches a lot of cable-television entertainment masquerading as news — responds: “The first thing we have to do is acknowledge that health care is a human right!” What follows is a moment during which the second speaker visibly luxuriates in his display of empathy and virtue, which is, of course, the point of the exercise.
It’s kind of gross, but that’s where we are, politically, as a country.
Here is a thought experiment: You have four children and three apples. You would like for everyone to have his own apple. You go to Congress, and you successfully persuade the House and the Senate to endorse a joint resolution declaring that everyone has a right to an apple of his own. A ticker-tape parade is held in your honor, and you share your story with Oprah, after which you are invited to address the United Nations, which passes the International Convention on the Rights of These Four Kids in Particular to an Individual Apple Each. You are visited by the souls of Mohandas Gandhi and Mother Teresa, who beam down approvingly from a joint Hindu-Catholic cloud in Heaven.
Question: How many apples do you have?
You have three apples, dummy. Three. You have four children. Each of those children has a congressionally endorsed, U.N.-approved, saint-ratified right to an apple of his own. But here’s the thing: You have three apples and four children. Nothing has changed.
[Read the full story here, at National Review]
Declaring a right in a scarce good is meaningless. It is a rhetorical gesture without any application to the events and conundrums of the real world. If the Dalai Lama were to lead 10,000 bodhisattvas in meditation, and the subject of that meditation was the human right to health care, it would do less good for the cause of actually providing people with health care than the lowliest temp at Merck does before his second cup of coffee on any given Tuesday morning. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Nancy Pelosi Tries to Start a Chant at Save Obamacare Rally, Doesn’t Go Well
Posted: March 22, 2017 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Free Beacon, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, video Leave a comment
Today’s New York Post Cover: In First Congressional Address, Trump Pitches Ambitious Agenda
Posted: February 28, 2017 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News, White House | Tags: Congress, Donald Trump, Illegal immigration, Joint Session, journalism, media, New York City, New York Post, news, Obamacare, Tabloid 1 Comment
“The time for small thinking is over,” he said in the Capitol Hill speech. “The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts. The bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls. And the confidence to turn those hopes and dreams to action.”
“I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding ObamaCare disaster.”
Trump emphasized his effort to rework ObamaCare with a new plan he hoped would “expand choice, increase access, lower costs and, at the same time, provide better health care.”
“I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding ObamaCare disaster,” said Trump. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Ted Cruz vs Bernie Sanders Debate the Future of Obamacare
Posted: February 7, 2017 Filed under: Breaking News, Education, Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Bernie Sanders, Capitalism, CNN, Communism, Debate, Democrats, Free market, GOP, Health Care, Liberty, Marxism, media, Obamacare, Progressivism, Republicans, Rule of Law, Socialism, Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz vs Bernie Sanders Debate, video 1 Comment
Day One: Erasing Obama
Posted: January 20, 2017 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Daily Mail, Donald Trump, Drudge Report, Executive order, Obamacare, Oval Office, Regulations, Regulations Freeze Leave a comment
[Enlarge]
SOMETHING WORSE?
Posted: January 4, 2017 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Humor, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, GOP, media, news, Obamacare, Twitchy, Twitter Leave a comment
Source: twitchy.com
Flack #ProTip: Don’t put your boss in a camera shot making it look like they’re demanding to make America sick #FreeAdvice@AdvanceGuyNotes pic.twitter.com/UepvZWQLs4
— STEW 🇺🇸🐶 (@StewSays) January 4, 2017
[VIDEO] SUPERCUTS: A Look Back At Obama’s Scandal-Free Administration
Posted: January 4, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: 2012 Benghazi attack, Barack Obama, Fast and Furious, Free Beacon, Freedom of the press, IRS, media, news, Obamacare, scandal, Scandal-free, Spying, Supercuts, Valerie Jarrett, video Leave a comment
[VIDEO] Pelosi Threatens Grandmas Living in Spare Rooms if ACA is Repealed
Posted: January 4, 2017 Filed under: Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, United States Department of Health and Human Services Leave a comment
DNC Handbook: How to Avoid Accountability
Posted: January 1, 2017 Filed under: Comics, Entertainment, Health and Social Issues, Humor | Tags: ACA, Cartoon, DNC, GOP, Health Care, Obamacare 1 Comment
[VIDEO] OH YES THEY CAN: This Is How to Finally Repeal Obamacare
Posted: December 14, 2016 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Congress, Heritage Foundation, Obamacare, Reconciliation, Repeal, Senate Leave a comment
The Great Recession Enabled ObamaCare. Now the Law’s Failure Makes Reform Possible
Posted: November 30, 2016 Filed under: Education, Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: American Dream, Americans, Anthony Scaramucci, BBC, Donald Trump, Health Care, Health Insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, Paul Ryan, President of the United States, Repeal, Risk Pool, Tom Price Leave a comment
The Four Legs of a New Health-Care System
The new system should be fully consumer driven, empowering individuals to be the surveyors and purchasers of their care. Past reforms in this direction became stilted and ultimately incomplete, but the current moment offers a chance to truly rebuild from the ground up. If Messrs. Trump and Price want to make the most of this short window, they should keep four central reforms in mind.
1. Provide a path to catastrophic health insurance for all Americans. There’s ample evidence that enrollment in insurance doesn’t always lead to improvements in health—but access to health insurance is important nonetheless. A 2012 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found higher insurance enrollment from reforms in Massachusetts led to better results in several measures of physical and mental health.
[Read the full text here, at WSJ]
Health insurance is also important for financial security. The ObamaCare replacement should make it possible for all people to get health insurance that provides coverage for basic prevention, like vaccines, and expensive medical care that exceeds, perhaps, $5,000 for individuals.
Those Americans who don’t get health insurance through employers, or Medicare and Medicaid, should be eligible for a refundable tax credit that can be used to enroll in a health-insurance plan. The credit would be set at a level comparable to the tax benefits available to individuals with employer-sponsored insurance plans. The subsidy would be enough to make a basic level of catastrophic coverage easily affordable for all Americans.
2. Accommodate people with pre-existing health conditions. The price of insurance naturally reflects added risk. That’s why beach houses cost more to insure than a typical suburban home. Yet there is a reasonable social consensus that people should not be penalized financially for health problems that are largely outside of their control.
So as long as someone remains insured, he should be allowed to move from employer coverage to the individual market without facing exclusions or higher premiums based on his health status. If someone chooses voluntarily not to get coverage, state regulation could allow for an assessment of the risk when the person returns to the market. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Startling New Reality’: Media Meltdown
Posted: November 9, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, History, Mediasphere, Politics, The Butcher's Notebook, U.S. News, White House | Tags: 2016 Presidential Election, Apocalypse, Donald Trump, Global Panic, Hillary Clinton, journalism, media, Obamacare 1 Comment
[VIDEO] Warnings About Obamacare Are Coming True
Posted: November 6, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: ACA, Affordable Health Care for America Act, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Health Insurance, media, Nancy Pelosi, news, Obamacare, propaganda, Rate Hikes, socialized medicine, video, Washington Free Beacon 1 Comment
[VIDEO] REWIND: Best of Late-Night Jokes Mocking Obamacare
Posted: October 27, 2016 Filed under: Entertainment, Health and Social Issues, Humor, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, comedy, Health Care, Late-Night Talk Show, media, Mockery, news, Obamacare, Television, Washington Free Beacon Leave a comment
[VIDEO] Gruber: ‘Obamacare Is Not Imploding’
Posted: October 26, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: CNN, Jonathan Gruber, news, Obamacare, video Leave a comment
[VIDEO] Krauthammer: With Obamacare Insolvent, Democrats Want a ‘Single-Payer Government System’
Posted: October 25, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Charles Krauthammer, Democratic Party, Democrats, Insurance Premiums, media, news, Obamacare, video 1 Comment
Department of Corrections: Slate vs Slate
Posted: July 13, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: ACA, Democratic Party, Helaine Olen, Insurance, Insurance Premiums, journalism, Matthew Yglesias, media, Media malpractice, news, Obamacare, Progressivism, Slate, Socialism Leave a comment
Inspired by Stephen Miller, Twitter
Williamson in Wonderland: ‘The Supreme Court Has Firmly Established That It Does Not Matter What The Law Says Or Does Not Say’
Posted: June 29, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: Affordable Care Act, Alice in Wonderland, Ayatollah Roberts and His Sharia Council, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, NRO, Obamacare, Rule of Law, Same-sex marriage, SCOTUS, SSM, Supreme Court 3 Comments
Opening paragraph of “Ayatollah Roberts and His Sharia Council” by Kevin D. Williamson
Read Kevin D. Williamson‘s article about the SCOTUS rulings here, at National Review
MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber Had Bigger Role in Health Law, Emails Show
Posted: June 21, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Politics, White House | Tags: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Health And Human Services, Jeffrey Sachs, Jonathan Gruber (economist), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Matthew Ladner, Obamacare, Office of Management and Budget, Poverty reduction, The Wall Street Journal 2 Comments
Adviser whose comments on Affordable Care Act touched off a furor worked more closely than previously known with White House
“His proximity to HHS and the White House was a whole lot tighter than they admitted. There’s no doubt he was a much more integral part of this than they’ve said. He put up this facade he was an arm’s length away. It was a farce.”
The emails provided by the House Oversight Committee to The Wall Street Journal cover messages Mr. Gruber sent from January 2009 through March 2010. Committee staffers said they worked with MIT to obtain the 20,000 pages of emails.
They depict frequent consultations between Mr. Gruber and top Obama administration staffers and advisers in the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on the Affordable Care Act. They show he informed HHS about interviews with reporters and discussions with lawmakers, and that he consulted with HHS about how to publicly describe his role.
The administration has sought to distance itself from the MIT economist in the wake of his controversial statements in a 2013 video where he said the health law passed because of the “huge political advantage” of the legislation’s lacking transparency. He also referred to the “stupidity of the American voter.”
Republicans seized on the comments as evidence that supporters of the law purposely misled the public about its costs. Mr. Gruber received nearly $400,000 from HHS for his work focusing on health-policy computer models, according to public records.
The White House has described Mr. Gruber as having a limited role in crafting the law. President Barack Obama in 2014 said Mr. Gruber was “some adviser who never worked on our staff.” In testimony last year before Congress, Mr. Gruber disagreed with the widespread characterization of his role as the “architect” of Mr. Obama’s health-care plan.
“His proximity to HHS and the White House was a whole lot tighter than they admitted,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, (R. Utah), chairman of the House oversight committee. “There’s no doubt he was a much more integral part of this than they’ve said. He put up this facade he was an arm’s length away. It was a farce.”
[Read the full story here, at WSJ]
Mr. Chaffetz on Sunday sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwellrequesting information justifying the department’s sole source contract with Mr. Gruber for his work on the health law.
Mr. Gruber declined to comment. Read the rest of this entry »
Jindal: ‘Let’s call his remarks exactly what they are. He made the moral case for socialism.’
Posted: June 11, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, Think Tank, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Bobby Jindal, Conservative Political Action Conference, Democratic Party, Exploratory committee, Marxism, morality, Obamacare, Progressivism, Republican Party (United States), Socialism, Socialized Health Care 4 Comments
From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s response to a question on Mike Gallagher’s June 10 syndicated talk-radio show about the “moral case” made this week by President Obama for ObamaCare:
“Let’s call his remarks exactly what they are. He made the moral case for socialism. Let’s not sugarcoat it, that’s exactly what he believes. He doesn’t hide it, he doesn’t pretend, we shouldn’t either. This isn’t new. Those who favor socialism always make the moral case for it. The truth is, maybe they actually believe in it, but in the real world, socialism harms, it weakens the economies of countries that have tried it. It just does. Weaker economies hurt everybody in them. Socialism kills incentive, opportunity, freedom. It is the opposite of what America is all about. Look, socialism always harms the people it claims to help the most. It handicaps them, leaving them weaker, less self-determined, less free. We should have this debate out in the open. His “moral case” for ObamaCare is actually immoral. Spending money you don’t have is immoral. Borrowing more money than you can pay back is immoral. Lying to the American people is immoral, so it’s ironic he chooses to use the terms “moral case” or “moral imperative” to make the case for what I think is a very flawed law. The Supreme Court, I hope, rules the correct way. We need to repeal this, replace this. Mike, we cannot measure success by how many people are dependent on government. That’s what President Obama wants. That is the opposite of what America stands for.”
NYT Drafting Errors: ‘4 Words that Imperial the Affordable Care Act were All a Mistake’
Posted: May 26, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Errors, Jonathan Gruber, media, news, NYT, Obamacare, The New York Times, Twitter 2 Comments
DrudgeReport – Washington Post
With a Straight Face, Obama on the Affordable Care Act’s Fifth Anniversary: ‘It’s Working’
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Deception, Global Panic, Jonathan Gruber, Obamacare, Progressivism, propaganda, Socialism 1 Comment
President Obama had a simple message on the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act: It’s working.
Speaking in the Executive Office Building next to the White House, Obama argued that his signature health care law was “working better than many of us — including me — anticipated” at increasing health insurance rates and improving the quality of care.
“The bottom line is this for the American people: this law is saving money for families and for businesses,” he said. “This law is also saving lives, lives that touch all of us. It’s working despite countless attempts to repeal, undermine, defund and defame this law.” Read the rest of this entry »
Modern Good Samaritan
Posted: March 11, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Humor | Tags: Democratic Party, Good Samaritan, Health Care, Health Insurance, Individual mandate, Marxism, Obamacare, Progressivism, satire, Socialism 2 Comments
Hello? Hello?
Posted: January 14, 2015 Filed under: Humor, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, corruption, Drudge Report, Federal Government, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Matt Drudge, Obamacare, Obamaphone, United States 1 Comment
Federal Programs: Too Big Not To Fail?
Posted: January 14, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Economics, Mediasphere, Think Tank, U.S. News | Tags: Federal Government, fraud, Health Insurance, Medicaid, Obamacare, Reason (magazine), U.S. government, Waste 1 Comment
Children of the Common Core
Posted: January 5, 2015 Filed under: Entertainment, Health and Social Issues, Humor, Mediasphere | Tags: comedy, Common Core, corruption, Democratic Party, Horror, media, Obamacare, satire, Thriller, Twitter 3 Comments
Exposed: Jonathan Gruber’s Impressive Record of White House Endorsements
Posted: November 16, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Cadillac insurance plan, Jonathan Gruber, Jonathan Gruber (economist), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Obama administration, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Social media, The Daily Caller, Twitter 3 CommentsWhite House sent *SEVENTY ONE* emails touting Gruber’s work – a lot of emails for a guy Obama dismisses as a nobody. pic.twitter.com/uR7eTfUCUZ
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) November 17, 2014
“The fact that some adviser who never worked on our staff expressed an opinion that I completely disagree with in terms of the voters is no reflection on the actual process that was run.”
Michael Barone and The Mysterious Case of the ‘Democratic Dogs That Aren’t Barking’
Posted: October 30, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: Barack Obama, Dogs that aren't barking, Election, Foreign Policy, GOP, Michael Barone, Mid-terms, Obamacare, Sherlock Holmes, Stimulus Package, Taxes 1 Comment
Silence of the Dogs
Sherlock Holmes famously solved a mystery by noticing the dog that didn’t bark in the night. Dogs that are not barking at night — nor in prime time — provide some useful clues to understanding the significance of this year’s election.
Contrary to the disparagement of some liberal pundits, this election is not about nothing. But is not about certain, specific things they might like to hear.
[Michael Barone is the Senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner. Read the rest of Barone‘s article here]
President Obama recently said that Democrats in serious Senate and House contests this year back “every one” of his programs. But you hear very little 
about those programs in their ads.
Stimulus Package
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Higher Tax Rates on High Earners
Foreign Policy
The stimulus package, for example, is not mentioned much. Nor are proposals by serious Democrats like Clinton administration veteran William Galston for a national infrastructure bank. These dogs aren’t barking.
“As Holmes might deduce, the solution to the clue of the non-barking Democratic dogs is that most voters lack faith in government to solve problems, to make their lives better or even to perform with minimal competence.”
The reasons are obvious. The stimulus didn’t stimulate the economy the way the Reagan tax cuts did in the 1980s. As for infrastructure, as Obama sheepishly admitted, there is no such thing — given environmental reviews and bureaucratic torpor—as a shovel-ready project. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] HHS: Obamacare Cancellations Are ‘Invitations’ To Buy a New Plan
Posted: October 28, 2014 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Corner, Gehrke, Health Insurance, Insurance, Jeff McWaters, Maurice Jones, National Review, Obamacare, Twitter, Virginia, Virginia Beach, William Booth 1 CommentEnjoy this very special item from Joel Gehrke at The Corner, visually enhanced with some sass from Charles C.W.Cooke:
Gehrke writes: Insurance-policy cancellation notices issued as a result of Obamacare regulations ought to be perceived as “invitations” to purchase new plans, a Health and Human Services official told the Virginia legislature.
“If you got one of the notices that your policy was going to be discontinued because it didn’t adhere to the law, it meant that now you could go into the health-insurance marketplace…”
HHS’s Joanne Grossi told Republican state senator Jeff McWaters, adding,
“So, I just want to remind you that you weren’t losing insurance you were just using that insurance plan and were now being invited to go into the health insurance marketplace.”
Look at this person being invited to put his hands up. pic.twitter.com/7B6D6mY0T4
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) October 28, 2014
Pre-Ebola Pulp Fiction: ‘Prison Nurse: A Young Woman in an Underworld of Men’
Posted: October 27, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Mediasphere, Reading Room | Tags: Books, Crime fiction, design, Drug Addicts, Ebola, Global Panic, Illustration, Mystery, Noir fiction, Nurse, Obamacare, Paperback, Patients, pulp fiction, Thriller, typography Leave a comment
Judge: IRS Obamacare Rule Is ‘Arbitrary, Capricious, and Abuse of Discretion’
Posted: October 3, 2014 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, U.S. News | Tags: Congress, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Jim Inhofe, Obama administration, Obamacare, Oklahoma, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Scott Pruitt, Supreme Court of the United States Leave a comment
Currently, over a hundred lawsuits have been filed against Obamacare – and Obamacare has lost 91% of the cases decided to-date, (71 losses out of 78 decisions), according to the latest tally by The Beckett Fund.
“Today’s ruling is a consequential victory for the rule of law. The administration and its bureaucrats in the IRS handed out billions in illegal tax credits and subsidies and vastly expanded the reach of the health care law because they didn’t like the way Congress wrote the Affordable Care Act. That’s not how our system of government works.”
For CNS News, Craig Bannister
reports: In his decision, U.S. District Judge Ronald White concluded Tuesday that the IRS rule altering the Obamacare law and providing billions in subsidies is “arbitrary, capricious and abuse of discretion”:
“The court holds that the IRS rule is arbitrary, capricious, and abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.706(2)(A), in excess of summary jurisdiction, authority or limitation, or short of statutory right, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 706(2)(C), or otherwise is an invalidation of the ACA [Affordable Care Act], and is hereby vacated. The court’s order of vacatur is stayed, however, pending resolution of any appeal from this
order.”
“Today’s decision is a reminder that the President’s broken promises of affordable, accessible health care are the result of broken policy. The Obama Administration has tried to make the law work with waivers and exemptions, but the courts continue to confront the legality of this legislation...”
— Senator Jim Inhofe
In September 2012, Oklahoma was the first of several states to challenge the legality of an IRS rule that caused billions in subsidies to be paid out, despite Congress having never authorized those payments. Read the rest of this entry »
SMIDGEN REPORT UPDATE: ‘Please Delete HealthCare.gov E-mails with White House’
Posted: August 15, 2014 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Think Tank, U.S. News, White House | Tags: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Darrell Issa, Fred Upton, Marilyn Tavenner, MSNBC, National Review, Obamacare, White House 1 CommentJillian Kay Melchior writes: During the first week of HealthCare.gov’s troubled launch, Marilyn Tavenner, the chief of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told an agency spokesperson to delete an e-mail exchange with the White House and the Department
of Health and Human Services, according to new records released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Right on cue, when the going gets tough, the Obama administration proclaims it can’t find the documents.”
— Committee Chairman Fred Upton
This development comes just a week after CMS’s admission that Tavenner had probably deleted e-mails that may be public record — “in order to stay below the agency’s Microsoft Outlook email size limit,” wrote MSNBC, which broke the story on August 7.
But today’s letter from the House committee to Tavenner says: “One of the e-mails in this production shows that you directed a subordinate to delete an e-mail communication featuring a number of White 
House representatives. This e-mail is an October 5, 2013, communication in which you forwarded a discussion with White House representatives to the Director of Communications for CMS with the message: ‘Please delete this email- but please see if we can work on call script.’”
[Also see – SCRATCH THAT! IRS Tech Said Lerner’s Hard Drive WASN’T Damaged]
The committee concludes: “This contradicts the letter [CMS recently] sent to the National Archives, which explained that your practice was to instruct subordinates to retain copies of e-mails.” Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 