Obamacare

Obama Administration Forcing Insurance Companies To Keep Quiet About ObamaCare Problems

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– The Obama Administration is Forcing Insurance Companies to Keep Quiet About ObamaCare Problems (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Oct 30, 2013):

Just when you think the Obama Administration can’t stoop any lower they immediately come in and surprise you. In this incredible clip from CNN, we learn that insurance company executives are being threatened with retribution if they publicly criticize the rollout of ObamaCare, or inform the public about some of the most pressing issues with the disastrous healthcare plan.

In the most powerful part of the clip, Robert Laszewski, the President of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, LLC claims that healthcare executives warned the Obama Administration about severe problems with the rollout ahead of time, and that they were completely ignored. Our government in an inept mafia. Nothing more, nothing less.

I highlighted some of the issues with the plan back in June of last year in the piece: Thoughts on Obamacare from a Surgeon and Friend.

In Liberty,
Mike

Obama Administration Knew Millions Could Not Keep Their Health Insurance (NBC News)

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– Obama admin. knew millions could not keep their health insurance (NBC News, Oct 28, 2013):

President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

Read moreObama Administration Knew Millions Could Not Keep Their Health Insurance (NBC News)

RATE SHOCK: Obamacare Causing 539% Increase In Health Insurance Costs For Texans (See Proof)

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– RATE SHOCK: Obamacare causing 539% increase in health insurance costs for Texans (see proof) (Natural News, Oct 29, 2013):

It is crucial for the White House that the Healthcare.gov website continue to fail, because once the site actually starts functioning, Americans are going to be hit with such devastating rate shock that the Obama administration may never recover.

Obamacare is named the “Affordable Care Act,” after all, and the President promised the rates would be “as low as a phone bill.” But I just received a confirmed letter from a friend in Texas showing a 539% rate increase on an existing policy that’s been in good standing for years.

As the letter reveals (see below), the cost for this couple’s policy under Humana is increasing from $212.10 per month to $1,356.60 per month. This is for a couple in good health whose combined income is less than $70K — a middle-class family, in other words.

That’s a 539% rate increase!

$1,356.60 per month is not “affordable” health care. It’s monopolistic price gouging mandated by the Obama administration and enforced essentially at gunpoint. This isn’t health care; it’s highway robbery.

Read moreRATE SHOCK: Obamacare Causing 539% Increase In Health Insurance Costs For Texans (See Proof)

Legal Glitch ‘Has The Potential To Sink Obamacare’

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– Legal Glitch “Has The Potential To Sink Obamacare” (ZeroHedge, Oct, 26, 2013):

As if the technological problems facing Obamacare were not enough, a potentially major “legal glitch” could cause the healthcare law to unravel in 36 states. As the LA Times reports, The Affordable Care Act proposes to make health insurance affordable to millions of low-income Americans by offering them tax credits to help cover the cost. To receive the credit, the law twice says they must buy insurance “through an exchange established by the state.” But 36 states have decided against opening exchanges for now. Critics of the law have seized on the glitch. They have filed four lawsuits that urge judges to rule the Obama administration must abide by the strict wording of the law, even if doing so dismantles it in nearly two-thirds of the states. And the Obama administration has no hope of repairing the glitch by legislation as long as the Republicans control the House…“This has the potential to sink Obamacare. It could make the current website problems seem minor by comparison,” noted on policy expert.

Via LA Times,

…

President Obama’s healthcare law also has a legal glitch that critics say could cause it to unravel in more than half the nation.

…

Apparently no one noticed this when the long and complicated bill worked its way through the House and Senate. Last year, however, the Internal Revenue Service tried to remedy it by putting out a regulation that redefined “exchange” to include a “federally facilitated exchange.” This is “consistent with the language, purpose and structure … of the act as a whole,” the Treasury Department said.

…

But critics of the law have seized on the glitch. They have filed four lawsuits that urge judges to rule the Obama administration must abide by the strict wording of the law, even if doing so dismantles it in nearly two-thirds of the states. And the Obama administration has no hope of repairing the glitch by legislation as long as the Republicans control the House.

Read moreLegal Glitch ‘Has The Potential To Sink Obamacare’

Obama Administration Enforces Radiosilence On Obamacare Enrollment Numbers

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– Administration Enforces Radiosilence On Obamacare Enrollment Numbers (ZeroHedge, Oct 24, 2013):

During this morning’s Congressional hearing on the failure of Obamacare, one of the developer’s let slip a little too much truth:

While the self-proclaimed ‘most transparent’ administration fights off the French and the German over spying ‘lies’, and gags insurers from publicizing how many people have signed up for Obamacare, it seems the cover-up goes even further with everyone involved silenced (for now).

The CGI’s statement confirms more evidence of the administration hiding the truth as InForum noted recently:

Read moreObama Administration Enforces Radiosilence On Obamacare Enrollment Numbers

Healthcare.gov Deliberately Displaying False Pricing Information To Tick The Public

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– Healthcare.gov now deliberately displaying false pricing information to trick the public (Natural News, Oct, 25, 2013):

In mid-October, Forbes‘ Avik Roy, who has been writing regularly about the pitfalls and expected pitfalls of Obamacare, made a rather startling claim.

“A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing,” he wrote. “Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.”

In other words, he was saying that the Healthcare.gov website was designed to hide the true cost of insurance plans.

Roy’s story got some traction, but it largely went unnoticed. Now, however, thanks to information surprisingly uncovered by CBS News, it appears that Roy’s story was prophetic:

Read moreHealthcare.gov Deliberately Displaying False Pricing Information To Tick The Public

Healthcare.gov Exposed Harvesting Private Consumer Data And Turning It Over To The NSA

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FYI.

– Healthcare.gov exposed as data-gathering honey pot to shamelessly harvest private consumer data and turn it over to the NSA (Natural News, Oct, 25, 2013):

The pieces of the puzzle on Obamacare are finally coming together. Yesterday it was revealed during congressional testimony that the Healthcare.gov website contains a hidden disclaimer which reads, “You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or data transmitting or stored on this information system.”

This is an open admission that the site intends to share your data with other government entities. It also means the entire website violates federal law because it does not comply with HIPAA regulations for medical privacy. Click here to watch the astonishing video testimony.

But this isn’t the only evidence now emerging.

Read moreHealthcare.gov Exposed Harvesting Private Consumer Data And Turning It Over To The NSA

Charles Biderman Blasts Barack Obama’s Biggest Of The Big Lies … ‘Its All FUBAR’ (Video)

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– Biderman Blasts Barack Obama’s Biggest Of The Big Lies (ZeroHedge, Oct 24, 2013):

“Inherent in the nature of government itself is the fact that it is incapable of effectively providing services,” Biderman blasts, noting that “by ‘effective’, he means dollars and hours.” The TrimTabs CEO is breathless in his beration of “the biggest of the big lies,” that continues to be believed by most of America (“given their re-election of Barack Obama” he adds), that government can effectively provide services. The reality is “governments are not capable of getting anything done cost-effectively,” and Biderman, focused on Obamacare as a recent example, concludes “its all FUBAR.”

Some uncomfortable truths…

Just When You Thought ObamaCare Couldn’t Stoop Any Lower In Its ‘Sales Pitch’, It Does

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– Brosurance: A Keg Standing Ovation For ObamaCare’s Greatest Hit (ZeroHedge, Oct 22, 2013):

Just when you thought ObamaCare couldn’t stoop any lower in its “sales pitch”, it does.

and there’s more…

Read moreJust When You Thought ObamaCare Couldn’t Stoop Any Lower In Its ‘Sales Pitch’, It Does

Obama To Call Healthcare Website Glitches ‘Unacceptable’ As Fix Sought

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Other recent related posts:

– Obamacare’s Unintended Consequences: It’s Not Just A Technology Problem

– Obamacare’s ‘Success’ In Context (Humor)

– Obama Administration Caught In Blatant Software Piracy; Script Powering Healthcare.gov Ripped Off From UK Company

– Obamacare’s Epic Failure In One Chart

– Obama to call healthcare website glitches ‘unacceptable’ as fix sought (Reuters, Oct 20, 2013):

President Barack Obama will declare the glitches in a new healthcare website “unacceptable” on Monday and outline ways for consumers to sign up for insurance while his team scrambles to fix problems that have tainted the rollout of his signature healthcare law.

Fresh from two weeks of budget battles that have consumed Washington, Obama will hold an event at 11:25 a.m. (1525 GMT) in the White House Rose Garden with consumers, small business owners, and pharmacists who have been affected by the new law.

Read moreObama To Call Healthcare Website Glitches ‘Unacceptable’ As Fix Sought

Obamacare’s Unintended Consequences: It’s Not Just A Technology Problem

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– Obamacare’s Unintended Consequences: It’s Not Just A Technology Problem (Cyniconomics, Oct 20, 2013):

Ron Suskind’s Pulitzer Prize-winning account of Barack Obama’s first two years in office, Confidence Men, tells the inside story of the wheeling and dealing that culminated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to Suskind:

By the time it passed, almost no one could feel great about it. The process had been so ugly – and the end product so convoluted – that even its fiercest apologists would acknowledge that it was a bill that was only a start.

We’re now getting a good look at exactly what Suskind’s “start” means, most recently with the launch of the insurance exchanges. Based on the latest reports, it appears to mean:

  • Crony capitalism – see this report from the Sunlight Foundation (h/t Arnold Kling).
  • Government secrecy – see this Wall Street Journaleditorial.
  • Prioritization of election politics over policies – see this report in the National Review.
  • Inefficiencies and incompetence – see this article by Megan McArdle.
  • Alternative realities – see Jon Stewart’s interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on The Daily Show (more on this below).

Unfortunately, these aren’t the worst of our problems. The HHS’s amateur hour created quite a stir, but it will eventually pass. Whether in three months or three years, programmers will iron out the new system’s “glitches.” We’ll then be left with more threatening and far-reaching challenges, such as hiring disincentives and fiscal risks.

Read moreObamacare’s Unintended Consequences: It’s Not Just A Technology Problem

Obama Administration Caught In Blatant Software Piracy; Script Powering Healthcare.gov Ripped Off From UK Company

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– Obama administration caught in blatant software piracy; script powering Healthcare.gov ripped off from UK company (Natural News, Oct 18, 2013):

The Obama administration has been caught red-handed engaged in software piracy. Computer code used on Healthcare.gov was stolen (and then modified in an effort to conceal the theft) from a UK company called Spry Media.

To my best knowledge, this story was broken by WeeklyStandard.com in a blog authored by Jeryl Bier.

The computer code that was stolen is called DataTables, and it is exclusively provided under a GPL v2 license which requires anyone who uses the software code to keep the copyright notice visible in the code itself. This allows the original author of the code to receive attribution for creating it.

Read moreObama Administration Caught In Blatant Software Piracy; Script Powering Healthcare.gov Ripped Off From UK Company

Obamacare’s Epic Failure In One Chart

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– Obamacare’s Failure In One Chart (ZeroHedge, Oct 17, 2013):

Confirming our fears from a few days ago, the early numbers are in for Obamacare… and they are not good. Of course, listening to “bloggers” an be bad for your health, but it seems, very few of the million of “uninsured” have decided that it is as crucial as the “leader” has exclaimed. As Millard Brown Digital reports, fewer than 1% of those trying to register for health insurance under Obamacare have completed the enrollment process. The following inverted pyramid highlights the dismal reality of the Affordable Car Act so far…

Via Compete.com,

Over the course of Obamacare’s first week, 9.5 million people visited healthcare.gov, the federal government’s official healthcare website and the de facto exchange for residents of two thirds of the states. In addition, the 16 operational state-run exchanges combined to attract over 3.1 million visitors during the same period. In total, 11.3 million consumers visited the federal and state exchanges during their first week of operation. Unfortunately, what started as a fire hose of interest, resulted in only a small trickle of actual healthcare enrollments.

…

In the end, just 36,000 consumers, or 1% of all those who attempted to register for the federal exchange, successfully enrolled in Obamacare.


U.S. Government Spent $634 MILLION On The Obamacare Website – More Than It Cost To Build Facebook And Twitter – And It STILL Doesn’t Work

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– How the government spent $634MILLION on the Obamacare website – more than it cost to build Facebook and Twitter – and it STILL doesn’t work (Daily Mail, Oct 10, 2013):

  • Price tag is six and a half times higher than original $94million contact
  • Contractor CGI Federal built the site and demanded more money from the government as costs soared
  • Only a handful of Americans have been able to sign up for the health insurance exchanges on Healthcare.gov
  • Site still is issuing error messages when users try to sign in

The federal government has spent $634million on the Obamacare website – more than it cost to build Facebook or Twitter, it was revealed today.Despite the massive bill to taxpayers, the Healthcare.gov still doesn’t work properly ten days after it was launched – allowing only a handful of Americans to sign up for plans on the insurance exchange market.

And experts warn that the site is likely to continue to experience significant glitches for months to come as engineers work out the bugs they failed to to spot before the site went live on October 1.

The price tag for the broken healthcare site is more than six and a half times higher than what the government initially meant to pay.

Read moreU.S. Government Spent $634 MILLION On The Obamacare Website – More Than It Cost To Build Facebook And Twitter – And It STILL Doesn’t Work

Here’s How The October 17 ‘Debt Deadline’ Could Be Breached Even With A Last Minute Deal

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– Here’s How The October 17 “Debt Deadline” Could Be Breached Even With A Last Minute Deal (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2013):

With two days to go to until dreaded October 17 D-Day (on which incidentally, very little of note will happen, because as Goldman explained earlier today, that is simply the date past which the Treasury can no longer borrow, but still has some $30 billion in cash which could last to fund the Treasury’s needs as long as the end of the month if not longer) Washington is now openly playing with fire. Because for all the hopeful talk of an imminent deal on Thursday, then on Friday, then today, not only is there nothing substantive on the table, but Obama will not even meet with the Senate, let alone the House, until tomorrow morning. At that point there will be about 36 hours until October 17. But what is worse for all the end is nigh-ers, who are absolutely certain the world will end if Congress crosses the D-Day deadline (which, again, as Goldman said earlier “going slightly past the October 17 deadline is entirely possible“) is that as The Hill explains, Senate could still miss the debt deadline, assuming there is a debt deal in the first place. Which is a big if.

Here’s how someone (coughcruzcough) so inclined (and there are quite a few conservative someones out there) could delay the process so that the magical October 17 deadline is breached.

The Hill explains:

Read moreHere’s How The October 17 ‘Debt Deadline’ Could Be Breached Even With A Last Minute Deal

Power Mad Obama Offers Two Choices: Unconditional Surrender Or Default

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– Power Mad Obama Offers Two Choices: Unconditional Surrender Or Default (Economic Collapse, Oct 9, 2013):

Barack Obama is warning that if he does not get everything that he wants that he will force the U.S. government into a devastating debt default which will cripple the entire global economy.  In essence, Obama has become so power mad that he is actually willing to take the entire planet hostage in order to achieve his goals.  A lot of people are blaming the government shutdown on the Republicans, but they have already voted to fund the entire government except for Obamacare.  The U.S. Constitution requires that all spending bills originate in the House of Representatives, and the House did their duty by passing a spending bill.  If the Senate or the President do not like the bill that the House has passed, then negotiations need to take place.  That is how our system works.  And the weak-kneed Republicans have already indicated that they are willing to give up virtually all of their prior demands.  In fact, if Obama offered all of them 20 dollar gift certificates to Denny’s to end this crisis they would probably jump at that deal.  But that is not good enough for Obama.  He has made it clear that he will settle for nothing less than the complete and unconditional surrender of the Republican Party.

Why is Obama doing this?  Why is Obama willing to bring the country to the brink of financial disaster?

It isn’t hard to figure out.  Just check out what one senior Obama administration official said last week…

“We are winning…. It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result,” a senior Obama Administration official told the Wall Street Journal last week.

This is all about a political victory and crushing the Republicans.  Obama doesn’t really care how long this crisis lasts because he believes that he is getting the end result that he wants.

According to Obama, the Republican Party is just supposed to roll over and give him the exact spending bill that he wants and also give him another trillion dollar increase in the debt limit.

If the Republicans do not give him that, he is willing to plunge us into financial oblivion.

Read morePower Mad Obama Offers Two Choices: Unconditional Surrender Or Default

Obamacare Exchange Suffers Critical Account Failures, Asks Everyone To Change Passwords Or Register New Accounts

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– Obamacare exchange suffers critical account failures, asks everyone to change passwords or register new accounts (Natural News, Oct 9, 2013):

The online Obamacare exchange system has just performed a system-wide password reset. This is a sign that a critical failure has occurred behind the scenes: either a security breach has stolen passwords, or passwords have been lost. So now everyone is being required to create a new password, reports ARS Technica.

But that’s not even the worst of it: some users are being told they have to create new accounts all over again. “Individuals whose logins never made it to the site’s database will have to re-register using a different username, as their previously chosen names are now stuck in authentication limbo,” continues ARS Technica.

It goes on to explain, “Ars learned that changes made to profiles already within the system may not be saved either — a problem that is only indicated by a very non-descriptive error message.”

To summarize:

• All passwords are being reset across Healthcare.gov

• Many users are being told they have to sign up again under a new account name, because the account name they tried to register is now “in limbo”

• Edits to personal profiles are not being saved and are instead producing error messages

Nearly half a billion dollars spent on Healthcare.gov

Read moreObamacare Exchange Suffers Critical Account Failures, Asks Everyone To Change Passwords Or Register New Accounts

USA: Uncle Sam Is Dead!

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USA: RIP Uncle Sam

– USA: Uncle Sam is Dead (ToTheTick on Oct 8, 2013):

Isn’t it wonderful how the US believes (whether that be the citizens or the politicians) that the state will never default on its debt repayments? It’s the unfailing belief that your country will pull through and anyone that says otherwise is always either shouted down or told to go elsewhere. It’s all well and good having the belief that you will come out tops. But, the times of the US being at the top of the roost are well and truly over today. We should be playing the funeral march as Obama leaves office for all the debt that has been piled onto the country rather than the Star Spangled tune. The Stars just aren’t that spangled anymore, are they? Unprecedented debt, a budget that isn’t going to get passed, two sides that are playing a stand-off, a country that is held hostage, a debt rating that will be reduced and the Chinese and the Japanese that are now pointing the reprimanding finger.

When the US defaulted on their payments for their mortgages, they got called into the banks and had their houses repossessed back at the start of the financial crises. They were living on credit then and they still are. Obama should get the first plane to Tokyo and then fly on to Beijing. He will be needing to sign a few papers before he hands over the Good Old US of A to the Asians. Uncle Sam is dying a slow and painful death. A death by debt that has shot through the roof of the White House.

Uncle Sam is dead!

Stand-Off

Read moreUSA: Uncle Sam Is Dead!

Obamacare Exchanges Hit With Over 50% Fail Rate

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– Obamacare exchanges hit with over 50 percent fail rate; feds claim the worse the glitches, the bigger the success! (Natural News, Oct 2, 2013):

All across America yesterday, people were running into frustrating technical problems because the online Obamacare exchanges are full of glitches. Over fifty percent of the exchanges demonstrated critical failures, CNN reported. This is astonishing because CNN has long taken a pro-Obamacare stance.

“The CNN medical team branched out. We tried in about 20 different state states. In 12 of them we hit glitches,” CNN reported. “Sometimes it made it impossible to sign up. There were error messages or that little annoying kind of twirly thing.” (SOURCE)

The Obamacare websites are broken because people tried to use them

Read moreObamacare Exchanges Hit With Over 50% Fail Rate

T-Minus 15 Hours: The Complete Government Shutdown Summary

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Source: RanSquawk, Bloomberg

– T-Minus 15 Hours: The Complete Government Shutdown Summary (ZeroHedge, Sep 30, 2013):

Presenting the full summary about the only event the market is focused on today.

MAIN POINTS:

Today sees the Senate reconvene after yesterday saw the Republican-led House voted in favour of a modified continuing resolution (CR) which includes a one-year delay to Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act). The Senate is not scheduled to meet until 1400ET today meaning that if the new bill is rejected there is not enough time to create a new CR and pass it back to the Senate before the midnight deadline, leading to a government shutdown in which all non-essential government workers will stay at home. Expectations are now that it is likely there will be a temporary shutdown given that the White House signalled the new CR would be vetoed by President Barack Obama and Democrats in the Senate immediately said the legislation approved by the House yesterday is unacceptable.

Read moreT-Minus 15 Hours: The Complete Government Shutdown Summary

House Votes To Delay Obamacare By One Year; Checks To Senate Democrats – Shutdown ‘Inevitable’?

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– House Votes To Delay Obamacare By One Year; Checks To Senate Democrats – Shutdown ‘Inevitable’? (ZeroHedge, Sep 29, 2013):

On a rare Saturday session (now Sunday); in a not-too-surprising vote down party lines, the House has voted in favor of the continued-military-funding, medical-device-tax-repealing, Obamacare-delaying continuing resolution that keeps the government paid until December 15th…

  • *HOUSE PASSES 231-192 OBAMACARE DELAY IN U.S. SPENDING BILL
  • *HOUSE VOTES 423-0 TO FUND TROOPS IF GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN

Now it’s off to the Senate and Harry Reid’s ‘over-my-dead-body’ as the White House prepares for Government Shutdown.. (and/or veto) with little (or no) time to cobble together a last-minute deal.

Read moreHouse Votes To Delay Obamacare By One Year; Checks To Senate Democrats – Shutdown ‘Inevitable’?

Thanks To Obamacare, Employer-Based Health Insurance Is Becoming An Endangered Species

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– Thanks To Obamacare, Employer-Based Health Insurance Is Becoming An Endangered Species (Economic Colapse, Sep 28, 2013):

Barack Obama promised to fundamentally transform America, and when it comes to health care he has definitely kept his promise.  Thanks to Obamacare, health care spending is up, health insurance premiums are up, the number of hours Americans are working is down and employer-based health insurance is becoming an endangered species.  Of course employer-based health insurance will not disappear completely any time soon, but it has been steadily shrinking for over a decade, and Obamacare will greatly accelerate that decline.  If you go back to 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance.  That was pretty good.  Today, only 54.9 percent of all Americans are covered by employment-based health insurance, and now thousands upon thousands of U.S. employers are considering reducing the scope of the health plans they offer to employees or eliminating them altogether due to Obamacare.  If you are thinking that this sounds like a potential nightmare for millions of Americans families, you would be exactly right.

Read moreThanks To Obamacare, Employer-Based Health Insurance Is Becoming An Endangered Species

Obamacare Failures Begin: D.C. Health Exchange Prices Are Broken Until Mid-November

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– Obamacare failures begin: D.C. health exchange prices are broken until mid-November (Natural News, Sep 27, 2013):

Less than a week before the “official” roll-out of Obamacare and the system is in a shambles.

Americans remain fearful and confused about the new law. Benefits and pricing still hasn’t been worked out. And worse, some of the state and territorial exchanges called for under the law are already on life support.

Read moreObamacare Failures Begin: D.C. Health Exchange Prices Are Broken Until Mid-November