Thursday, October 24, 2013

The flood of bad Obamacare news is overwhelming, so it's time to revamp this blog...

When I started this blog about a month ago, my intent was to chronicle as many tales of the Obamacare disaster as possible, but now, thankfully, the ongoing and increasing flood of bad news about Obamacare is overwhelming my ability to keep this blog updated and timely, and in that regard it's great news!

I don't plan on letting this blog fade away, but I'm going to step back and see where the Obamacare train wreck is heading over the next several weeks and adjust things accordingly. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open and watch your back.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit challenging Obamacare subsidies

This could be big...

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/10/22/breaking-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-case-blocking-irs-enforcement-of-obamacare-n1729818?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm

HHS Secretary: Obama did not know about Obamacare website glitches

So HealthCare.gov is the linchpin of Obama's signature legislative project, but he didn't care enough to stay apprised of its progress?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/10/22/sebelius_obama_did_not_know_about_obamacare_website_glitches.html

Obama calling in private-sector help to get HealthCare.gov up and running

And you trust the government to provide your health care?

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/21/1-800-panic/

Obamacare installs new scrutiny, fines for charitable hospitals that treat uninsured people

How is penalizing charitable hospitals going to help those who are needy obtain medical care?

This, my friends, is the true face of Obamacare. And it's evil.

White House press secretary ducks Obamacare questions, walks out of press briefing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfr19EVkV8

The Hill notes that in addition to the phone prompt the updated site offers users the ability to preview plans and calculate eligibility online.

So the website, which is telling people to apply by phone because of ongoing website problems, also gives people the option to calculate their benefits online? Um, sure. Let me know how that works for you...

Reminder: The real problem with ObamaCare isn’t glitchy websites

The real problem with Obamacare is Obamacare:

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/21/reminder-the-real-problem-with-obamacare-isnt-glitchy-websites/#ixzz2iXAcaVpj

White House touts incomplete Obamacare applications as sign of success

You can't make this stuff up...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/18/white-house-touts-incomplete-obamacare-applications-sign-of-success/

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Commentary: Obamacare failing ahead of schedule

From The New York Times. Ouch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/opinion/sunday/douthat-obamacare-failing-ahead-of-schedule.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=rossdouthat&adxnnlx=1382433333-IfamvHVyWjlncGCYg8yYMw

Why Obama should be freaked out over Obamacare

http://www.nationaljournal.com/white-house/why-obama-should-be-freaked-out-over-obamacare-20131021

From the article:

Nobody expects the chief executive to be reviewing computer code or hosting East Room "hackathons." But this falls on him. The CEO of a corporation or country is uniquely responsible for making sure the team is on task, and he or she is ultimately responsible if it's not. In Obama's case, did he demand thorough updates on the progress of the site? If so, did he ask the right questions? Did he put the right people on the job in the first place?

Given the horrid first days of Obamacare, the answer to at least one of those questions must be "no."

Monday, October 21, 2013

Sean Hannity dials Obamacare call center; operator says nobody really likes it

With audio from today's radio broadcast:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/10/21/hannity_calls_obamacare_call_center_operator_says_no_one_likes_it_so_far.html

Commentary: Don't forget the doctors

Obamacare is driving out of business the very doctors that will be needed to provide medical services under Obamacare...

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/obamacare_dont_forget_the_doctors.html

Consumer Reports: ‘Stay away from HealthCare.gov’

And the longer you stay away from HealthCare.gov, the fewer problems you'll have. How many of us plan to not go there at all?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/21/consumer-reports-dont-even-bother-trying-obamacare/

Commentary: Why Obama has to get mad about his broken Obamacare websites

Given Obama's famous lack of emotional detachment, especially from things that put him in a bad light, this commentary is refreshing coming from Time Magazine, a publication not known for its conservative bent:

http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/20/no-more-apologies-why-obama-has-to-get-mad-about-his-broken-obamacare-websites/?iid=sl-main-lead

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Nancy Pelosi says Obamacare rollout glitches "unacceptable"

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/nancy-pelosi-obamacare-rollout-glitches-unacceptable/

Cry me a river, Nancy, YOU are the one who said that we have to pass the Obamacare bill so we can see what's in it!

Obamacare tax on medical devices takes toll on company

Only a government bureaucrat or a self-absorbed politician would fail to see -- if they even care -- that taxing companies specifically because they create medical devices will do absolutely nothing to bring about medical advances. But Obamacare isn't about efficient and effective delivery of medical services -- it's about control over Americans lives under the penalty of law.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20131020/ARTICLES/131019522/-1/news?Title=Tax-on-medical-devices-takes-toll-on-area-companies

Wall Street Journal editorial: Sebelius on the run--HHS secretary refuses to testify on Obamacare's rollout

Who could really blame her about trying to dodge the issue, given the magnitude of the Obamacare disaster?

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303680404579143343379804228

Sources: 476,000 Obamacare applications filed

Considering there have been some 19,000,000 visitors to HealthCare.gov, that's a pretty pathetic figure, the website's extreme dysfunction notwithstanding. But the bigger problem for the White House is that the number of applications is far bigger than the number of people ACTUALLY SIGNING UP for Obamacare. And unless they have at least 7 million people signed up for Obamacare within the first six months, the program won't be financially viable.

How's your signature program looking, Mr. President? What ~~great~~ ideas do you have next?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/19/sources-476000-obamacare-applications-filed/?intcmp=trending

For thousands, keeping your old health insurance policy isn't an option

But Obama PROMISED!!!!

Suckers.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/10/18/205847/for-thousands-keeping-your-old.html

Even Oprah isn't on board with Obamacare

Well, when you use your friends to accomplish your political goals and then discard them like yesterday's underwear, what do you expect?

http://nypost.com/2013/10/20/even-oprah-isnt-on-board-with-obamacare/

Friday, October 18, 2013

Docs worried sick over Obamacare

From the New York Post:

http://nypost.com/2013/10/18/doctors-worried-sick-over-obamacare/

Troubled Obamacare website wasn't tested until a week before launch

http://washingtonexaminer.com/troubled-obamacare-website-wasnt-tested-until-a-week-before-launch/article/2537381

According to the article, the federal government was acting as a control freak over the entire process of creating and testing the website, making major changes until four to six days before its Oct. 1 launch.

From the article:

“Normally a system this size would need 4-6 months of testing and performance tuning, not 4-6 days."

But the Obama administration was so determined to try to get its signature "accomplishment" up and running by Oct. 1 that it bet everything would go well because they were the ones in charge.

How's that working out for you guys?

Feds reviewed only one bid for Obamacare website design

So tell me again how many people have been able to successfully sign up for Obamacare on HealthCare.gov? How's that website working out for the rest of you?

http://washingtonexaminer.com/feds-reviewed-only-one-bid-for-obamacare-website-design/article/2537194

Obamacare woes widen as insurers get wrong data

This takes incompetence to a whole new level...

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304410204579142141827109638

From the article:

Insurers say the federal health-care marketplace is generating flawed data that is straining their ability to handle even the trickle of enrollees who have gotten through so far, in a sign that technological problems extend further than the website traffic and software issues already identified.

Emerging errors include duplicate enrollments, spouses reported as children, missing data fields and suspect eligibility determinations, say executives at more than a dozen health plans. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Nebraska said it had to hire temporary workers to contact new customers directly to resolve inaccuracies in submissions. Medical Mutual of Ohio said one customer had successfully signed up for three of its plans.

First Delaware resident signs up for Obamacare. Check out the first paragraph in this story...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/16/first-delaware-resident-obamacare/2993105/

I'm guessing very few people will put up with this much nonsense in trying to sign up for Obamacare. From the story:

She needed seven hours of waiting on the phone and sitting in front of her computer, but Janice Baker can claim something few people in the First State can at the moment: She has signed up for health coverage through Delaware's insurance marketplace.

"Seven hours of waiting on the phone and sitting in front of her computer." Anyone who is willing to waste that much time to comply with Obamacare probably won't see how badly they're going to be screwed until it's too late.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Obamacare flopping in Colorado, despite $21 million in marketing

And how many other states are flushing millions of dollars down the toilet because of Obamacare?

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/15/obamacare-flopping-in-colorado-despite-21-million-in-marketing/

Doctor choice in Obamacare? Not so much

Is this what Obama promised?

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/14/news/economy/obamacare-doctors/

Obamacare is free -- for Americans with a spare $34,000

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/15/5822109/obamacare-is-free-for-americans.html

From the article:

"These numbers show us that the Affordable Care Act has done more to ensure Americans are covered by health insurance, not necessarily that they can afford it. The U.S economy still lacks a stable job market and a source of safe, consistent earnings on savings," said Casey Bond, GoBankingRates.com managing editor.

"If the Obama administration would like to see more Americans with the financial means to buy insurance and remain healthy, it first needs to address the root of the problem — not the cost of health care, but the absence of opportunity to build wealth in the first place," she added.

The problem is that the Obama administration has NEVER INTENDED to give Americans the opportunity to build wealth, only the opportunity to let an unconstitutional and unrestrained government equalize everyone's misery.

One of the lamest pro-Obamacare letters I've read so far...

And I've read a lot of them.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131016/OPINION/310160342/-1/NEWSMAP

How much is Obamacare going to affect staffing at schools?

I ask that question more or less rhetorically, because there are thousands of school districts around the U.S., and likely all of them will see staff reductions because of the financial toll resulting from Obamacare. This article is one of those thousands of stories:

http://www.aikenstandard.com/article/20131016/AIK0101/131019559/1004/school-board-likely-faces-new-health-care-costs

How is your empty promise of health care coverage going to help the millions of students whose schools will lose staff because of the "Affordable" Care Act, Mr. President?

I didn't think so.

Study: Obamacare results in premium increases in 45 states

Is this what Obama promised?

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/kevinglass/2013/10/17/study-obamacare-results-in-premium-increase-in-45-states-n1726211

Obamacare website deliberately designed to keep people from finding out new health care premiums

If people can discover how much they'd be paying without actually having to register first, they would never sign up for Obamacare plans. Those who have been gullible enough to complete the registration process so far now have their personal financial and medical information in a government datebase.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/14/obamacares-website-is-crashing-because-it-doesnt-want-you-to-know-health-plans-true-costs/

Former official: Administration refused to bring in outside help for Obamacare website for fear GOP would subpoena them

And the HealthCare.gov disaster that has been unfolding has been nothing less than disastrous. The upside is that this fiasco is making signing up for Obamacare less and less convenient and appealing.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/17/former-official-admin-refused-to-bring-in-outside-help-for-obamacare-website-for-fear-gop-would-subpoena-them/

From the article:

Between this and the fact that HHS deliberately hid the price of insurance behind a reg wall on Healthcare.gov to reduce “rate shock,” the grand takeaway about the website’s failure is that O and his team made it much worse than it needed to be because they were terrified of transparency. And the reason they were terrified of transparency, both in the case of hiding the cost of the premiums from web users and hiding the site’s architectural problems from contractors who might be hauled before Congress, is because they know they’ve delivered a bad product. Put the premiums on the front page and the public, expecting “affordable care,” would recoil at the truth. Put the contractors at the witness table before Issa’s committee and the public, expecting that the government would “fix” health care, would recoil upon discovering that they can’t even build a website with three years’ lead time.

Washington Post columnist: The Obamacare implosion is worse than you think

A painful truth published in Obama's hometown paper, a publication which is deep in the pocket of the liberal establishment.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-the-obamacare-implosion-is-worse-than-you-think/2013/10/14/7efa4e74-34d7-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html

Obamacare may be less than 20 percent toward its enrollment target for October

And if they don't have 7 million people enrolled in the first six months, the program won't be financially sustainable.

Is there treatment under Obamacare for derisive laughter?

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/17/obamacare-may-be-less-than-20-percent-towards-its-enrollment-target-for-october/

Healthcare.gov source code reveals "no reasonable expectation of privacy"

Can you trust the government with your personal financial and health information?

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/healthcaregov_source_code_reveals_no_reasonable_expectation_of_privacy.html

As the article notes, the following excerpt is embedded in the site's source code but not plainly visible on the site:

You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. At any time, and for any lawful Government purpose, the government may monitor, intercept, and search and seize any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. Any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system may be disclosed or used for any lawful Government purpose.

Are you willing to sacrifice your privacy and security just for the sake of obeying an unjust and unconstitutional law?

Commentary: Obamacare nightmare just beginning

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/15/obamacare-rollout-disasster

Pregnant couple had to sell car, disconnect cable because of Obamacare

http://therightscoop.com/pregnant-couple-had-to-sell-car-disconnect-cable-because-of-obamacare/

And check out this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDHCJe6SACM

Commentary: Why is Obama hiding Obamacare enrollment figures?

Because he doesn't want Americans to know the pathetic state of the legislative "achievement" on which he has staked his entire presidency.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-obama-care/101113-674906-obama-is-hiding-obamacare-enrollment-numbers.htm

Only 36,000 of 9.47 million HealthCare.gov visitors completed signup in first week

And in my opinion the pathetic enrollment figures aren't going to get much better anytime soon, if the ongoing problems with the website are any indication.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/16/one-half-one-percent-obamacare-enrollment

Traffic to Obamacare signup site plummets

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/10/16/Interest-in-Obamacare-Drops-88-Percent-in-Two-Weeks

Whether the drop in traffic is because of a lack of interest or because people can't use the site is really irrelevant. If fewer than 7 million Americans sign up for Obamacare in the first six months, there will not be enough people paying into the program to keep it afloat. I'm sure that not even John Boehner would cry if that happened.

Meet the company behind the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/16/meet-cgi-federal-the-company-behind-the-botched-launch-of-healthcare-gov/

From the article:

Experience in similar types of projects is very important in getting federal contracts. CGI had done work in the healthcare arena, and not all of it good: Its performance on Ontario, Canada's health-care medical registry for diabetes sufferers was so poor that officials ditched the $46.2 million contract after three years of missed deadlines, the Washington Examiner reported. A spokeswoman for CGI says that both parties are bound by confidentiality agreements, but they're working on resolving the situation.

"Working on resolving the situation"? I'll believe it when I see it...

Ice cream factory blames company's closing on Obamacare

But thank you for free health care, Mr. President!

http://www.fox28.com/story/23688796/2013/10/14/bonnie-doon-ice-cream-plant-downtown-mishawaka-location-close

As Obamacare tech woes mounted, contractor payments soared

Pouring money into a dysfunctional system only makes it a more expensive dysfunctional system:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/insight-obamacare-tech-woes-mounted-contractor-payments-soared-050424822--sector.html

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Liberal blogger shocked at new health insurance quotes

A lot of you on the left have been salivating at the thought of government-run health care. Be careful what you ask for...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/30/1242660/-Obamacare-will-double-my-monthly-premium#

Commentary: The Affordable Care Act is making me sick

Amen.

http://thestatehousefile.com/affordable-care-act-making-sick/13469/

Affordable Care Act effect: Report reveals more doctors likely to retire early

Excuse me, Mr. President, how is this going to ensure better care for more people under your health care law?

Mr. President?

Mr. President??

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/story/affordable-care-act-effect-report-reveals-more-doctors-likely-to-retire-early/d/story/gAXa4jE7u0SGnwd3AHDPtg

Three nonprofit religious groups suing over Obamacare contraception mandate

If Obamacare is such a compassionate law, as its supporters would have you believe, why is this administration shoving morally objectionable measures such as abortion and contraception down the throats of religious Americans and telling them, in essence, that these mandates trump their religious liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment?

Former Obama press secretary: Botched health care rollout "excruciatingly embarrassing"

But of course nothing embarrasses Obama, otherwise every economic indicator the past five years would have him hiding his face.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/10/14/gibbs-obamacare-rollout-embarrassing/2981693/

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Canadian likes his "free" health care but flies out of U.S. to escape Canadian taxes

So tonight I struck up a conversation with a man at a restaurant, and he said he was in town on business but that he was flying back to Canada tonight.

From Canada, eh?

So I asked him if he'd heard about the launch of Obamacare here, and he said yes, and that it was great being from Canada, since the government provided health care for all of the citizens.

I asked him where he was from and he said he lived about an hour away from Toronto, but that he was flying into Buffalo, N.Y., and then driving two hours to his hometown. I was intrigued and asked him why he didn't just fly into Toronto. Well, he said, he flew in and out of Buffalo because the taxes were really high on airfare out of Canadian cities.

What's Canadian slang for "hope and change"?

There's your "free" health care, sir. Your flight isn't the only thing that's soaring into the stratosphere.

Obamacare sticker shock hits Obama's hometown

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/10/15/obamacare-sticker-shock-hits-obamas-home-town-n1723885

Tell me again why the people of Illinois did this to themselves by electing him to office...

Obamacare website security called "outrageous": How safe is it?

As I've been saying, those of us who refuse to sign up for Obamacare won't have to worry about our personal data being stolen through the Obamacare website. Then again, it's not like anyone can actually get through on the website to sign up for Obamacare.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/1014/Obamacare-website-security-called-outrageous-How-safe-is-it-video

Another day, more Obamacare disasters

Keep the popcorn handy, the show is just getting started...

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/carolplattliebau/2013/10/14/another-day-more-obamacare-disasters-n1723621

Obamacare might well be imploding

http://reason.com/archives/2013/10/14/obamacare-might-well-be-imploding

From the article:

The law requires every American to have coverage by sometime early next year, although the administration keeps changing its mind about the precise date. But failure to have coverage by whatever date it eventually decides would result in a $96 fine for individuals and $285 for families. But extracting fines without giving people viable purchase options will generate even more outrage against a law that a majority of Americans already dislike.

Given the technological problems alone since Obamacare's launch (if you can call it a launch), this program is heading for a monumental crash, in my opinion. I'd be willing to bet my Obamacare fine (since I'm not enrolling in the system and not going to pay the fine) that the tech problems, lack of actual enrollments and rising public sentiment against this will bring it down. And you better believe that the Obama regime will pull out every dirty trick in the book to keep this monstrosity alive.

Train wreck: Obamacare officials now resorting to paper applications as new flaws emerge

And if I'm not mistaken, the information of all of these paper apps will have to be entered into a computer database at some point. What delicious irony.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/10/14/trainwreck-obamacare-officials-now-resorting-to-paper-applications-new-flaws-emerge-n1723509

11,588,500 words: Obamacare regs 30x as long as law

I'm seriously thinking about buying a copy of the entire printed law and regulations and then burning them in a huge bonfire. I can't think of a better way to pay homage to this leviathan and this administration.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/11588500-words-obamacare-regs-30x-long-law

Monday, October 14, 2013

Two weeks later, reporter still can't sign up on Obamacare site

Just wait until people start lining up in person for the medical care they think they'll get...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/two-weeks-later-reporter-still-cant-sign-obamacare_762482.html

Does your Obamacare cost too much? Then make less money!

You can't make this nonsense up. Lowering one's income is actually being touted as a "solution" to lower taxes under the "Affordable" Care Act.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/13/does-your-obamacare-cost-too-much-make-less-money/

Here's the original editorial referenced at the above link:

http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php

An excerpt:

People whose 2014 income will be a little too high to get subsidized health insurance from Covered California next year should start thinking now about ways to lower it to increase their odds of getting the valuable tax subsidy.

We are living in a freaking cartoon...

Why divorce attorneys will love Obamacare

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/10/02/Why-Divorce-Attorneys-Will-Love-Obamacare

From the article:

Someone in the White House thinks marriage is a bad idea.

Earlier this year, The Fiscal Times showed that a high-earning couple, each with incomes of $400,000, would save about $27,000 annually if they divorced and filed their taxes separately. Now we learn that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is dangling a similar fate in front of middle income earners.

A typical 40-year old couple with two kids could save $7,230 a year by divorcing if one partner earns, say, $70,000 and the other $23,000. Sixty year-olds earning $62,041 each a year would save $11,028 annually if they broke up.

Do you love your spouse more than you're willing to comply with Obamacare?

Commentary: The "Baghdad Bobs" of Obamacare

For those of you who need a refresher on Baghdad Bob, he was the hapless Iraqi minister of information during the U.S. invasion in 2003, tasked with putting a positive spin on the disaster that was the Iraqi defense against the invasion. And given the painfully and increasingly obvious debacle that is Obamacare, the metaphor is fitting.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/10/baghdad-bobs-of-obamacare.php

Obamacare rates trigger more sticker shock

And the astonishment isn't because of lower rates that Obama promised us...

http://news.gnom.es/news/obamacare-rates-trigger-more-sticker-shock

Cabbies furious over Obamacare tax

How's that hope and change working for you, New York?

http://nypost.com/2013/10/13/cabbies-furious-over-obamacare-tax/

Video: IRS enforcement of Obamacare under fire

Not that I'd accuse this administration of competence, but you'd think they'd want to find a coherent way (not that there is one) to explain how putting the IRS in charge of our health care is going to help delivery of competent care services.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2739642229001/irs-enforcement-of-obamacare-law-under-fire/?playlist_id=928378949001

Obamacare wipes out health care plans in Alabama, New Jersey

But don't worry, Obama promised that you can keep your doctor...

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/11/obamacare-wipes-out-health-care-plans-in-alabama-new-jersey/

Obamacare: But it's the law!

Great piece from a great site, The American Thinker:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/obamacare_but_its_the_law.html

Obamacare effect? Nine companies exit Nebraska's health insurance market

I'm sure this will help people acquire coverage...oh wait, nobody has been able to actually sign up on the Obamacare website!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/11/obamacare-effect-companies-exit-nebraskas-health-insurance-market/

MAD Magazine spoofs Obamacare

This is awesome...

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/mad-spoofs-obamacare-98174.html

If Obamacare was a company, would you buy its products - or stock?

Obamacare is the Edsel of health care:

http://www.forextv.com/forex-news-story/if-obamacare-was-a-company-would-you-buy-its-products-or-stock

Obamacare enrollees become urban legend

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/13/3685595/obamacare-enrollees-become-urban.html

From the article:

Nearly two weeks after the federal government launched the online Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov, individuals who have successfully used the choked-up website to enroll for a subsidized health insurance plan have reached a status akin to urban legend: Everyone has heard of them, but very few people have actually met one.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/13/3685595/obamacare-enrollees-become-urban.html#storylink=cpy

Sunday, October 13, 2013

CNN's Wolf Blitzer says individual mandate should be delayed for a year

Coming from someone who is pretty friendly toward the administration, this should concern Obamacare's supporters:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/09/cnn-hosts-obamacare-comments-are-so-surprising-that-this-left-leaning-website-calls-them-startling/

Pennsylvania mom forced to choose between food and Obamacare

And for every story like this in the news, how many thousands of others are being forced to make this same choice because of Obamacare's mandates and penalties?

http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2013/10/11/pennsylvania-mom-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-obamacare/

Commentary: Obamacare compromises privacy

This is an issue that should concern both liberals and conservatives:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/10/11/18744711.php

Tech experts wary of more Obamacare glitches

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/obamacare-aca-tech-experts-glitches-issues-problems-98202.html?hp=t1_3

From the article:

Millions of people have already encountered error messages, delays, crashes and stuck accounts. Technology experts and Obamacare backers worry that each step ahead in the process — filling out applications, checking on subsidies and selecting a health insurance plan — creates a potential technology choke point. And that doesn’t even count any additional chaos when people try to use their new health insurance come January.

Prominent black doctor Ben Carson calls Obamacare the worst thing that has happened since slavery

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/10/11/dr-carson-obamacare-the-worst-thing-that-has-happened-since-slavery/

From the story:

“Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. It is slavery in a way because it is making all of us subservient to the government.”

Federal health exchange sending confusing enrollment information to insurers

The fact that this was published in the Washington Post -- arguably the biggest supporter and enabler of Barack Obama -- should raise a few eyebrows, in my opinion. This story doesn't do an PR favors for Obamacare.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-health-exchange-sending-confusing-enrollment-information-to-insurers/2013/10/11/a2f3ce2e-31ec-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_print.html

Thousands of Connecticut doctors fired by United HealthCare

And this is just one state. The story doesn't specifically attribute the job cuts to Obamacare, but the timing seems pretty coincidental, in my opinion.

http://www.wtnh.com/news/health/thousands-of-doctors-fired-by-united-healthcare

Saturday, October 12, 2013

GOP ally of HHS Secretary Sebelius calls on her to resign over Obamacare debacle

And I'd think Pat Roberts is one of very few friends Sebelius has among GOP lawmakers. Here's how the article begins:

Pat Roberts, R-Kan., says it's time for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to resign for "gross incompetence" over the rocky start to a centerpiece of President Obama's health care law.

It's not unusual for a GOP senator to call on a member of a Democratic Cabinet to resign, or vice versa. But when the senator and the Cabinet secretary hail from the same state, their families have long been friends, and the senator supported the secretary's confirmation, that's noteworthy.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/10/11/pat-roberts-kathleen-sebelius-resign-obamacare/2967941/

Sebelius visit fails to reassure as healthcare website glitches persist

12 days into Obama's signature achievement and they're still not getting it up and running...

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4855077-74/website-sebelius-health#ixzz2hXYklSGw

Friday, October 11, 2013

Commentary: One man's Obamawreck nightmare

And for every story like this in the news, there are thousands more...

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/michelle-malkin/1-800-t-o-t-l-f-i-l-one-mans-obamawreck-nightmare

1-800-T-O-T-A-L-F-A-I-L: One Man's Obamawreck Nightmare

- See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/michelle-malkin/1-800-t-o-t-l-f-i-l-one-mans-obamawreck-nightmare#sthash.VXvL5r6o.dpuf

1-800-T-O-T-A-L-F-A-I-L: One Man's Obamawreck Nightmare

- See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/michelle-malkin/1-800-t-o-t-l-f-i-l-one-mans-obamawreck-nightmare#sthash.VXvL5r6o.dpuf

Congresswoman says reading the 10,535 pages of Obamacare regulations "not my responsibility"

But it's the responsibility of the rest of us schmucks to know what's in it or face the full force of the law...

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/james-beattie/rep-johnson-reading-10535-pages-obamacare-regs-not-my-responsibility

Obamacare program repealed in January still advertised on White House website

But nobody noticed it on the White House website because you have to visit the website so you can see what's in it.

http://www.cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/dan-joseph/obamacare-program-repealed-january-still-advertised-white-house-website

Thursday, October 10, 2013

A pathetic start: Only 51,000 sign up on Obamacare site in first week

And since younger Americans are the ones who will be forced to finance the bulk of Obamacare (if it's to actually work) -- and since those younger people have little patience and a short attention span when it comes to clunky or otherwise nonfunctional websites (like the Obamacare site), I wouldn't be surprised to see an ongoing anemic rate of signups for Obamacare, followed by a frantic PR campaign by the Obama administration, followed by a growing chorus of Millennials asking not-so-rhetorically why they should get screwed out of their money for a system that doesn't work in general and won't really benefit them in particular.

Break out the popcorn and enjoy the show.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/10/report-a-mere-51000-people-signed-up-on-obamacare-site-in-first-week/

Contractor who built unworkable Obamacare website: No comment

Or at least we haven't been able to log on to HealthCare.gov to see what comments he has posted. **snicker**

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/10/contractor-that-helped-build-healthcare-gov-no-comment/

Left-leaning publication says Obamacare Armageddon hasn't hit yet, so hey, everything's peachy

First, the original story that this article refers to:

http://unaffordablecare.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamacare-has-raped-my-future-college.html

And now the followup fluff piece...

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/good-news-obamacare-raped-future-26-year-old/70397/

I had chicken pox when I was in middle school, contracted after a kid came back to school covered with scabs from the disease that apparently wasn't totally in remission. School ended a few days later, and my family proceeded to head out of state on vacation. Two days into our vacation, I came down with a low-grade fever, followed the next day by a widespread rash, followed a couple days later by the telltale sores that chicken pox is famous for. It took several days after I was exposed before I started showing symptoms of chicken pox, but once I was exposed to it, it soon took over my body.

We're just 10 days into the Obamacare mandate and its toll on businesses and individuals. Obamacare is already taking root across the country, but just because we can't see a lot of "symptoms," if you will, doesn't mean that the disease isn't spreading. We're barely into the first round of a long fight, and the extent of Obamacare's damage to our country won't be evident for some time, unless it can be mitigated. Only a fool would think we're in the clear at this point. And apparently, a few fools do. Stay tuned.

Commentary: Obamacare and the part-time economy

http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-351870/

Indiana sues over Obamacare as 60 local employers cut hours

I'd be willing to bet there will be other states to follow once the economic effects of Obamacare kick in.

http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/101013-674528-indiana-obamacare-constitutional-challenge-over-mandate-fine.htm

Obamacare technology problems could take years to fully fix

Gee, that makes me feel better about the medical care that won't be offered under Obamacare...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101100403

USA Today column: Obamacare data hub looms as privacy threat

This column was written by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/10/10/obamacare-exchange-federal-data-hub-column/2958681/

Commentary: Millennials are opting out of Obamacare because it's not insurance

And if we're lucky, Millennials' well-documented self-centeredness and desire not to get screwed out of stuff will keep them from signing up for Obamacare, which can't survive without Millennials' money.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/10/10/millennials-are-opting-out-of-obamacare-because-its-not-insurance/

Article: How Obamacare's exchanges turned into a Third World experience

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/09/now-we-know-obamacares-exchanges-are-a-third-world-experience/

Great paragraph from the article:

Remember that the exchanges sell a product that, thanks to Obamacare, nearly every American is now required to buy, on pain of a “tax penalty.” If the problems can get fixed within a month or two, it’s probably not a big deal. But if the delays go longer than that, we have a quandary: How do we force people to buy a product that Obamacare’s exchanges aren’t competent to sell?

Letter writer actually thinks Obamacare is creating new jobs

Maybe she didn't get the memo about businesses laying people off so they could afford to comply with Obamacare...

http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/10/affordable_care_act_adds_jobs_so_how_is_it_a_war_on_jobs_your_letters.html

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Editorial: Obamacare glitches are a sign of things to come

Hang on for a bumpy ride...or much worse if you actually drink the Kool-Aid and sign up for Obamacare:

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/100913-674490-obamacare-problems-are-not-traffic-related-.htm

Obamacare website looks "like nobody tested it," programmer says

If these "experts" can't even get a $634 million website up and running to administer Obamacare, can we believe them when they say that the actual "health care" program will work?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57606633/obamacare-website-looks-like-nobody-tested-it-programmer-says/

Obama’s "Affordable Care Act" causes Alabama family’s insurance to skyrocket 300 percent

And this is just one of thousands, perhaps millions of horror stories as a direct result of Obamacare:

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/10/09/obamas-affordable-care-act-causes-alabama-familys-insurance-to-skyrocket-300/

Want to read the 217-page instruction manual given to "Navigators" to assist with Obamacare signups?

Don't worry, the "Navigators" probably don't want to read it either...but it's official government policy. Knock yourself out:

http://www.healthreformgps.org/wp-content/uploads/navigator-SOP-manual-8-26.pdf

Obamacare has "raped my future," college grad says in now-viral letter

Article and screenshot of the letter at this link:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/09/obamacare-has-raped-my-future-college-grad-says-in-viral-letter/

Penalties for not signing up for Obamacare kick in right after Valentine's Day

You might want to scratch Barack, Joe, Nancy and Harry from your Valentine's Day card list...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Health-Overhaul-Penalties/2013/10/09/id/530156

Liberal commentators insist canceling Obamacare would be a blow to democracy

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/08/would-canceling-obamacare-be-a-blow-to-democracy/

Not that most liberals understand "democracy" since ideology trumps anything else.

The writer nailed it right here:

...(D)espite Friedman and the learned professors bringing up “democracy,” Obamacare, if implemented, actually will be beyond democracy — it will become another gargantuan bureaucracy implemented by faceless, undemocratic functionaries. The original implementing legislation in 2010 extended to 2,407 pages of unreadable governmentese. Here’s a screen shot of p. 2407. See if even this snippet makes any sense to you. And if a government act doesn’t make sense to regular voters — the demos – how can it be “democratic”?

Indiana plans to sue IRS to block Affordable Care Act employer mandate

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/indiana-plans-to-sue-irs-to-block-affordable-care-act-employer-mandate

The Affordable Care Act and a tale of two Constitutions

http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/10/the-affordable-care-act-and-a-tale-of-two-constitutions/

Snippet:

The “libertarian” Constitution endorses what can be called negative liberty. This notion embodies the view that limiting how governments can interfere with individuals will allow people to choose for themselves how to behave, and to pursue happiness in their own way.

The “progressive” Constitution, in contrast, focuses on what can be called positive liberty. Positive liberty views government as an enabler, not an obstacle, of freedom. Under this approach, the state is charged with ensuring that people have certain social securities. With these programs (don’t call them entitlements), the people can enjoy their pursuit of happiness. This reflects an inversion of the libertarian-Jeffersonian view of the Declaration of Independence.

Anyone else ready to get the government out of every corner of their lives?

Blog: Obamacare: "I was laughing at Boehner, until the mail came today"

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/obamacare_i_was_laughing_at_boehner_until_the_mail_came_today.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

This paragraph from the link above sums things up nicely:

"I really don't like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family's pocket each year, that's otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy."

Obamacare: A hill to die on

Stand strong, my conservative friends:

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/08/obamacare-a-hill-to-die-on/

25 unforgettable Obamacare quotes

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

http://www.politico.com/gallery/2013/07/25-unforgettable-obamacare-quotes/001172-016561.html

Credit scores impacting new Affordable Care Act insurance plans

But don't worry, Obama promised that you'll be able to keep your doctor. No, really.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/credit-scores-impacting-new-affordable-care-act-insurance-plans/-/1637132/22341034/-/l0jmq3z/-/index.html

From the article:

Anne Packham, one of many people licensed by the state to help people navigate the government's website, said on Tuesday that the credit check occurs so providers can make an educated decision about who to insure."If someone is defaulting on all of their bills they may not want to have them as part of their health plan..."

"No doctors are found" through Maryland's Obamacare signup site

Taxpayers will be forced to pay into the system, but good luck finding the care you're paying for...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/maryland-obamacare-exchange-no-doctors-are-found_762222.html

Obamacare marketplace: Personal data can be used for "law enforcement and audit activities"

What does this have to do with health care??

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamacare-marketplace-personal-data-can-be-used-law-enforcement-and-audit-activities_762237.html

Diocese of Erie files complaint against Affordable Care Act

The Obama administration doesn't care one iota about people's religious values or objections, as evidenced by the abortion/birth control coverage mandate under Obamacare.

From the article:

The diocese qualifies for the government's "religious employer exemption," under the act. However, entities of the diocese, like the St. Martin Center and Erie Catholic Preparatory Schools do not. Those entities will be required to comply with the government mandate or face steep fines, which they say could cause those agencies to close.

http://www.erietvnews.com/story/23641977/diocese-of-erie-files-complaint

Obamacare has veterinarians howling over medical device tax

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think our pets are covered under Obamacare...

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/dailydose/2013/10/08/obamacare-has-some-vets-howling/

Obamacare may cost businesses $200K or more in new taxes

This will tank the economy and lead to more layoffs, thus shifting people's health care coverage to a federal government with nearly $17 TRILLION in debt. Sounds like a workable plan, doesn't it?

http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/10/08/obamacare-may-cost-businesses-200k-in-taxes/

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Jon Stewart grills HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Obamacare

In Sebelius' defense...if that's possible...she's been hired to defend an indefensible law:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXQVlVJzWFw

Commentary: Problematic Obamacare unfair to young people, married couples

From The Crimson White, a student publication of the University of Alabama:

http://cw.ua.edu/2013/10/08/problematic-obamacare-unfair-to-young-people-married-couples/

Commentary: On Obamacare and much else, President Obama is now a lawbreaker

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/100713-674083-obama-has-seized-congress-powers-to-legislate.htm

The article above reminds me of this excerpt from Federalist 48:

The conclusion which I am warranted in drawing from these observations is, that a mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.

Obama is treading on very thin ice in disregarding the Constitution, but it's up to us to push back and demand accountability from him. If we don't start now, it may soon be too late.

Obamacare is turning us into a part-time nation

We're going to end up working less than Obama does. But we'll play fewer rounds of golf.

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/10/08/obamacare-turning-us-part-time-nation

Obamacare killing 66,000 jobs in Obama's home state

Obama is flipping off the voters who first elected him to office:

http://freebeacon.com/study-obamacare-costing-66000-jobs-in-illinois/

Obamacare changes mean thousands to be dropped from TennCare in Tennessee

The opening paragraph:

The Affordable Care Act is supposed to provide health coverage for people who desperately need it, but in Tennessee it's going to cause the opposite to happen for more than 28,000 people.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/23632151/obamacare-changes-mean-thousands-to-be-dropped-from-tenncare

Affordable Care Act gets pricey as income goes up

So does that mean it's not "Affordable" after all? Thank you, Mr. President!

http://journaltimes.com/news/local/affordable-care-act-gets-pricey-as-income-goes-up/article_3df21d70-2f42-11e3-bd68-0019bb2963f4.html

Monday, October 7, 2013

Restaurant posts sign saying it was "closed by Obamacare"

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/04/youre-going-to-want-to-check-out-the-sign-we-found-posted-at-a-recently-shut-down-restaurant-in-texas/

Sign posted at Carl’s Jr. location in Carrollton, Texas. (Credit: Jason Howerton/TheBlaze)

Beyond Obamacare glitches, some consumers face dramatically higher rates

Didn't Obama say your premiums would go down under Obamacare?

Suckers.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/1007/Beyond-Obamacare-glitches-some-consumers-face-dramatically-higher-rates-video?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily&utm_campaign=20131007_Newsletter%3ADaily_Sailthru&cmpid=ema%3Anws%3ADaily%2520Newsletter%2520%2810-07-2013%29

Say what? Obamacare’s menu-labeling requirement forces Dairy Queen to end homemade sauces

If you think that dictating menu options for restaurants is micromanagement, just wait until Obamacare tells you what medical services you can't have...

http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/15200-obamacares-menu-labeling-requirement-forces-dairy-queen-to-end-homemade-sauces

Commentary: Ignore the hype — Obamacare is an abysmal mess

From The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.:

http://www.theolympian.com/2013/10/07/2763220/ignore-the-hype-obamacare-is-an.html

Forbes article: Obamacare's onerous rules include a blacklist of America's doctors

Obama is making Richard Nixon's famous enemies list look like a hugfest...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ameshadalja/2013/10/07/obamacares-onerous-rules-include-a-blacklist-of-americas-doctors/print/

NY Post commentary: Obamacare sickening the workplace

http://nypost.com/2013/10/04/obamacare-sickening-the-workplace/

Obamacare’s low-cost premiums offer fewer health providers

Anyone with a basic knowledge of economics and history knows that artificially constrained prices will lead to a shortage of goods and services, because more people will demand those goods and services from producers who will only offer a certain number of things for sale at an artificially low price because they don't want to lose their shirts by selling too many items below cost. Anyone remember the photos of bread lines in the former Soviet Union?

Here's a good primer on the problem with price controls: http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Price_controls

Obamacare program raises ID theft risk

As I've stated before, it's a lot harder to get your ID and other personal information stolen if you refuse to sign up for Obamacare in the first place. Oh well, it's not like the signup site is working anyway.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/obamacare-program-raises-id-theft-risk/article_b96a244e-2f0a-11e3-89a5-001a4bcf887a.html

Obamacare seen straining clinics with Medicaid expansion

Decimate the incentives for doctors to stay in business, then flood the market with new patients. Brilliant.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-07/obamacare-seen-straining-clinics-with-medicaid-expansion.html

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dr. Ben Carson: Obamacare hurts just as healthcare 'Golden Age' emerges

Article: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ben-carson-obamacare-hurts-healthcare/2013/10/06/id/529546

And for those of you who haven't seen Carson's speech while he was just a few feet away from Obama, this is worth watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTdtL-hirRg

Dead people can sign up for Obamacare in Kentucky

You can't make this stuff up. This is just screaming for fraud to occur:

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/04/dead-people-can-sign-up-for-health-care-in-kentucky/

From the article:

Question 39 on the kynect: Kentucky’s Healthcare Connection printable application form for a single person health seeking either coverage or help paying costs, states: “If you are filling out this application on behalf of a person who recently passed away, enter the deceased person’s date of death.”

Treasury secretary stonewalls when asked how many have signed up for Obamacare

Poor Jack Lew has had a rough week defending the indefensible:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/treasury-secretary-stonewalls-when-asked-how-many-have-signed-obamacare_759310.html

Saturday, October 5, 2013

CNBC article: 99 percent of Obamacare applications hit a wall

I'm surprised nobody is blaming George W. Bush for this yet...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101087965

Obamacare cutting hours at Goodwill, Salvation Army?

This is going to have SUCH a positive outcome among lower-income folks that they should call the White House to thank them. No, really.

http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/100413-673893-obamacare-employer-mandate-list-rises-to-319-cutting-jobs-hours.htm

If you want to thank the president...for what, I'm not sure...the White House switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

Liberal activists say stopping Obamacare is a money-making scheme...wait, what??

More left-wing tripe. Of COURSE it's the Koch brothers who are behind the effort to stop Obamacare. It's not like us average schmucks want to keep more of our money, our privacy and our lives out of government control.

http://www.care2.com/causes/derailing-obamacare-is-a-money-making-scheme.html

Obamacare adds to hospital uncertainty

Tell me again how the hit that hospitals are taking BECAUSE of Obamacare is supposed to improve health care delivery UNDER Obamacare?

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20131005/NEWS01/310050004/Obamacare-adds-hospital-uncertainty?nclick_check=1

Priceless comments about prices on the Obamacare Facebook page

If you're not on Facebook, I'd almost suggest signing up for it just to read some of the comments on the official HealthCare.gov page:

https://www.facebook.com/Healthcare.gov

My favorite comment that I've seen so far:

Hey Nancy Pelosi,guess what? LOGIN : We have to get past it to see what's in it.

Happy birthday To Great Britain's increasingly scandalous National Health Service

Since Great Britain's National Health Service is held by some "progressives" as an example of what government-run health care does for (or to) people, this could give us a glimpse into the future under Obamacare:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottatlas/2013/07/05/happy-birthday-to-great-britains-increasingly-scandalous-national-health-service/

Here's a disturbing snippet from the article:

Access to medical care is so poor in the NHS that the government was compelled to issue England’s 2010 “NHS Constitution” in which it was declared that no patient should wait beyond 18 weeks for treatment – four months – after GP referral. Defined as acceptable by bureaucrats who set them, such targets propagate the illusion of meeting quality standards despite seriously endangering their citizens, all of whom share an equally poor access to health care.

Even given this extraordinarily long leash, the number of patients not being treated within that time soared by 43% to almost 30,000 last January. BBC subsequently discovered that many patients initially assessed as needing surgery were later re-categorized by the hospital so that they could be removed from waiting lists to distort the already unconscionable delays.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Audio: Neurosurgeon calls radio host Mark Levin about Obamacare

Unbelievable...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wsnHGI5K-E

The Obamacare Monopoly

Link: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/girl-center-right/2013/oct/3/obamacare-monopoly/

The last two paragraphs are spot-on:

Obamacare only benefits health insurance giants, specifically those which opt to be heavily involved with Obamacare. Government favoritism of companies which provide services through Obamacare exchanges equates to a government-sponsored monopoly. Only government has the resources to outcompete other companies in such an artificial free-market.

By giving special benefits to companies involved in Obamacare exchanges, government picks winners and losers in the health insurance industry. As is often the result of monopolies, one can soon expect decreased health insurance selection and coverage, diminishing quality, and higher prices, when buying health care...

Another example of Obamacare's trampling on Americans' religious rights

Article: http://global.christianpost.com/news/obamacare-still-forcing-family-businesses-to-ignore-their-religious-beliefs-says-aclj-105972/

I could make a comment about Obama himself being the only god (lowercase "g") he considers worthy of people's unconditional obedience...

Every religious person and every civil libertarian in this country should be marching on the White House to protest not just the rules and restrictions of Obamacare, but what Obamacare is forcing people to do in violation of their consciences. It wouldn't surprise me to see a large gathering of this sort in D.C. in the near future. It also wouldn't surprise me if Obama misses such a gathering so he can play at least his 36th round of golf this year. Constitutional rights such as the right to assemble are for little people.

Fox News article: How Latinos are being hurt by Obamacare, and why they should combat it

Link: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2013/10/02/aj-delgado-why-latinos-should-combat-obamacare/

According to the article, which I found quite interesting and informative because I'm not at all well-versed on Latino issues, Latinos are opening businesses at a faster rate than other demographic groups, Latinos generally have a higher unemployment rate than the average American, and Latinos as a whole are about a decade younger than the average American.

Who is getting hit the hardest by Obamacare's fees and fines?

Business owners and young people.

How will this help lower unemployment rates among said Latinos? Hello?

If some form of amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants gets passed by Congress and signed by Obama, there will be millions of Latinos getting fleeced in ways they never expected. I don't think this is an accident. I think Obama knows exactly what he's doing. And millions of Latinos should be furious.

Obamacare contraception mandate could shut down order of nuns who care for the elderly

Here's a snippet from http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-obama-care/092713-672999-obamacare-contraception-mandate-threatens-little-sisters.htm?ven=rss:

A group of nuns dedicated to caring for the elderly poor is suing to prevent an uncaring administration from shutting down their compassionate order over their refusal to obey the contraception mandate.

There is no clearer or sadder example of the Obama administration's war on the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty than the demand by the Department of Health and Human Services to violate their religious consciences or pay heavy fines.

HHS has ruled that if the Sisters don't offer insurance policies to their employees that include free coverage for sterilization procedures, artificial contraceptives and abortifacients, these vowed-to-poverty women will have to pay about $1 million in IRS fines, effectively making their work nearly impossible.

If there was any doubt about this "health care" law having nothing to do with health care and everything to do with wielding power over ordinary Americans, this article should erase that doubt. If this administration goes forward with a lawsuit against these nuns, the rights of every religious person in this country are threatened. Even if you aren't religious, what this president is doing to our Constitutional rights should make you furious. Your rights could be the next ones threatened.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

FEATURED POST: Younger generation's self-centeredness could doom Obamacare

I know the headline above sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out. Despite the alleged freebies being offered through Obamacare and Obama's constant pandering to everyone under 30, that generation's self-centeredness will not bode well for Obamacare's future.

Take a look at this link:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/how-obamacares-glitches-could-become-deeper-problems/article/2536782

From the article:

It’s important to keep in mind that experts believe that to be viable, an exchange needs to have 100,000 participants. If the glitches continue, it could discourage people from applying. The bigger question for the program’s sustainability is not just how many people apply, but who applies and how that could affect the risk pool.

Roughly 40 percent of enrollees in the exchanges will need to be young and healthy so that they can offset the cost of covering sicker patients and those with pre-existing conditions. Those with extremely high medical expenses are the most likely to endure whatever technical hurdles arise and keep trying until they’re able to successfully enroll. But those who are more ambivalent — the young and healthy with low medical expenses — could get discouraged. That would have disastrous consequences for the law.

Take a look at the second paragraph. A lot of us "old folks" (I'm in my early 40s) decry the selfishness of today's younger generation, but that same age group--the one that Obama has constantly pandered to since 2008--isn't going to deal well inconvenience, much less getting screwed out of their money, their jobs (oh wait, there aren't any jobs...) and their future.

You've probably seen news stories the past couple days about the utter disaster among various Obamacare signup websites that have been overwhelmed by the online traffic from people trying to sign up. As of this writing, I've had this image sitting dormant in another browser window for nearly three hours:

Today's under-30 crowd doesn't want to wait for commercials to end, much less sit around for three hours so they can give their health care dollars (remember, this age group as a whole has fewer health problems than anyone else) to the government with no obvious return on their money. I'd be willing to be a buck or two that this group will be the most likely to opt out because of the inconvenience and lack of return on their Obamacare dollars. And without them, the Obamacare train wreck will come to a much-deserved end.

Obamacare regulation on digital patient records is great news for identity thieves

Never mind the non-medical staff who will have access to your personal medical and financial information in the administering of Obamacare, forcing Americans' medical providers to put all patient information in digital form is just screaming for hackers and identity thieves to dig in:

http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/10/02/obamacare-reg-digital-patient-records-raises-security-concerns

Not that the number of Google results is an indication of the number of actual articles on the issue, but a Google search for both "Obamacare" and "identity theft" is bringing up 483,000 search hits at the moment:

https://www.google.com/#q=obamacare+%22identity+theft%22

Obamacare sign-up rules would reward people who lie about their income

Unless, of course, you refuse to sign up for Obamacare in the first place...

http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/092713-672853-obamacare-big-incentive-to-lie-about-income.htm?ref=SeeAlso

Concierge medicine as an alternative to Obamacare

I'd be interested in hearing from those of you who have already or intend to take this route. I currently have no health insurance and refuse to sign up for Obamacare.

https://www.google.com/#q=concierge+medicine

Rather appropriately, the national Obamacare signup number spells out an obscenity

You can't make this stuff up...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/03/need-health-care-coverage-just-dial-1-800-fuckyo-to-reach-obamacares-national-hotline/

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Even CNN says Obamacare could be facing major problems

How bad could things get if even a left-leaning news organization such as CNN is sounding this alarm?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/health/obamacare-doctor-shortage/

Article: 100 unintended consequences of Obamacare

I disagree with the article's headline, because I believe Barack Obama fully intended for all of these things and more to happen in his quest to "fundamentally transform America." Just as someone who loves their spouse has no desire to "fundamentally transform" them, I find it really hard to believe that someone who loves this country would want to alter it so radically as to render it unrecognizable nearly five years into Obama's presidency. So I believe that each of the items listed below, and so many more that we've seen already and that we will see between now and Jan. 20, 2017, when Obama will thankfully leave office, are intentional and meant to cause as much "change" as possible.

I'm not normally inclined to repost entire articles (and when I do, I attribute them to their original source), but I think that this article gives only 100 of countless other examples of the damage that this temporary but imperial occupant of the White House is doing to this country. So without further ado...

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/359861/print

Posted October 1, 2013 4:00 AM

100 Unintended Consequences of Obamacare: Companies, workers, retirees, students, and spouses all suffer from the law’s inflexible mandates.

By Andrew Johnson

Today, Obamacare’s October 1 launch date finally arrived. Ever since its passage, supporters of the law have made countless attempts to convince the American people of its viability, dismissing predictions of lost jobs, decreased hours, and rising costs, among others.
Yet from major corporations to local mom-and-pop shops, from entire states to tiny school districts, a wide range of companies and institutions have seen Obamacare’s negative impact on their workers, budgets, and production. Here are 100 examples of how Obamacare is falling short of what was promised.
(Note: Some items on this list came via Investor’s Business Daily and the Heritage Foundation.)
Corporations
1. IBM
Earlier this month, the computer giant, once famed for its paternalism, announced it would remove 110,000 of its Medicare-eligible retirees from the company’s health insurance and give them subsidies to purchase coverage through the Obamacare exchanges. Retirees fear that they will not get the level of coverage they are used to, and that the options will be bewildering.
2. Delta Air Lines
In a letter to employees, Delta Air Lines revealed that the company’s health-care costs will rise about $100 million next year alone, in large part because of Obamacare. The airline said that in addition to several other changes, it would have to drop its specially crafted insurance plans for pilots because the “Cadillac tax” on luxurious health plans has made them too expensive.
3. UPS
Fifteen thousand employees’ spouses will no longer be able to use UPS’s health-care plan because they have access to coverage elsewhere. The “costs associated with the Affordable Care Act have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost,” the delivery giant said in a company memo. The move is expected to save the company $60 million next year.
4. Caterpillar Inc.
In the law’s first year, the machinery manufacturer estimated before its passage, Obamacare would add more than $100 million in health-care costs. “We can ill afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors,” a Caterpillar executive wrote lawmakers, saying that the law would not meet the goal of providing good, inexpensive health care for all Americans.
5. SeaWorld
SeaWorld used to let part-time employees work up to 32 hours per week, but the company is dropping the limit to 28 hours to keep them under the 30-hour threshold at which it would be required to provide health insurance under Obamacare. More than 80 percent of the company’s thousands of employees are part-time and/or seasonal.
Medical-Device Tax
6. Stryker Corp.
Stryker Corp., a Michigan medical-device manufacturer, laid off about 1,000 employees earlier this year due to the Affordable Care Act’s 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices. The company estimated that the tax would cost it approximately $100 million next year. “Stryker remains significantly concerned with the upcoming medical device excise tax and its negative impact on jobs and innovation and will continue to work with Congress to try to repeal the tax,” said the company’s CEO.
7. Welch Allyn
The manufacturer announced that it will have to cut approximately 10 percent of its 2,750 employees, 275 in all, because of the medical-device tax. The company also plans to consolidate manufacturing centers, moving some operations from Beaverton, Ore., to its facility in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y.
8. Smith & Nephew
The British company informed nearly 100 employees at its Massachusetts and Tennessee facilities that they would be laid off “in order to absorb [the] cost burden” of the tax on medical devices.
Hospitals, Nonprofits
9. Cleveland Clinic, Ohio
One of the world’s best-known hospitals announced in September that it would slash jobs and up to 6 percent of its annual $6 billion budget in anticipation of costs associated with Obamacare’s implementation. A spokeswoman for the clinic announced that approximately $330 million would be cut, but she did not say how many of the 44,000 employees the clinic would let go. The Cleveland Clinic is Cleveland’s largest employer and the second-largest employer in Ohio.
10. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, North Carolina
Last November, the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in Winston-Salem, announced that 950 full-time-equivalent positions would have to be eliminated in order to make up costs from the health-care law.
11. Orlando Health, Florida
In that same month, the Orlando Health hospital system announced the biggest staff reduction in its almost century-long history, as part of a “broader effort” to manage the effects of Obamacare, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Orlando Health will cut as many as 400 jobs across the system, in areas ranging from administrative departments to children’s hospitals.
12. Louisiana State University Hospitals
In the same article, the Sentinel noted that LSU hospitals would cut nearly 1,495 positions in order to save $150 million, apparently because of expected reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments.
13. Delaware Hospice
Due to new interpretations of the rules for reimbursing for hospice services, Delaware Hospice, the Ocean State’s only not-for-profit hospice provider, had to let 52 employees go earlier this year. “It’s really health-care reform in action,” a spokeswoman said. “This is affecting hospices across the country. We’re working through dramatic changes in terms of the hospice-care benefits.”
14. Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, Connecticut
The New London hospital announced earlier this month that Medicare cuts programmed into Obamacare had led to the firing of 33 employees. “L+M and other hospitals are contending with massive structural changes that are happening very rapidly,” the hospital’s president and CEO said.
15. Clifton Springs Hospital, New York
Fifty-eight non-clinical employees were let go from Clifton Springs Hospital in Rochester as the hospital prepared for the changes spurred by the Affordable Care Act. “No one really knows what the impact will be because it really is a very new way for reimbursing for health care,” the hospital’s CEO told a local news station. “So I think everyone is trying to prepare for a change, and a change with less revenue.”
16. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, New Hampshire
The state’s only insurer approved to offer plans on the health-insurance exchanges in New Hampshire has cut the number of hospitals that will participate in the plan from 26 to 14 in order to reach “affordable premium levels,” according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
17. Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, California
The nonprofit, which looks after 1,100 pre-K children at its eight Southern California child-care centers, has had to reduce the hours of dozens of employees who used to work 30 to 40 hours per week. “We’re fearful it’s going to be hard to negotiate health care in any contract,” one local labor leader said. “Overall [Obamacare] is a positive step, but on a micro level it’s not all roses.”
18. Carnegie Museum, Pennsylvania
A Pittsburgh news station reports that the Carnegie Museum “reluctantly” scaled back the hours of 48 of its 600 part-time employees to less than 30 hours a week to sidestep the mandate to provide health-care coverage.
19. Fort Smith Area Agency on Aging, Arkansas
The nonprofit revealed that all of its health aides and drivers will work a maximum of 28 hours a week, and that the plan it would offer to its remaining full-time employees would be “bare bones.” To make up for additional Obamacare costs, the organization is asking employees to take steps to save money, such as changing vehicle oil after 5,000 miles rather than 3,000.
20. Emory Healthcare, Georgia
A news station in Atlanta reports that Emory Healthcare, the state’s largest health-care system, will lay off more than 100 employees, in part because of Obamacare.
21. CoverTN, Tennessee
Thousands of Tennesseans will lose their coverage under the state’s health-insurance program because it does not meet Affordable Care Act standards for yearly expenditure caps. CoverTN, which was used mainly by small businesses, had a $25,000 yearly benefits limit. “It was all I had,” one Nashville small-business owner said.
State and Local Governments
22. State of Virginia
In February the General Assembly affirmed Governor Bob McDonnell’s decision to limit the state’s part-time employees to 29 hours per week.
23. Township of Middletown, New Jersey
Middletown has also cut the hours of 25 part-time public employees. “Any of those expenses [for insurance] are going to be passed along to the taxpayers, and so in order to avoid having to do that, we chose to modify the work hours,” said the township’s administrator.
24. Brevard County, Florida
Brevard County’s insurance director told a local television station that the county’s 300-plus part-time employees will be “capped at something less than 30” hours to save the county about $10,000 per employee in health insurance.
25. Township of Berkeley, New Jersey
The Sandy-hit Jersey Shore town said it will “take a hard line” in union negotiations in limiting part-time employees’ hours, because additional health-care costs “are out of the question.” “If it came down to shaving hours to save substantial dollars, that’s something that would have to be considered,” the township administrator said.
26. Chesterfield County, Virginia
An administrator with this southern Virginia county told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that “several hundred” part-time employees could have their hours cut back to 28. Most of the employees affected would be from the Department of Mental Health Support Services.
27. City of Lynchburg, Virginia
About 40 percent of the city’s part-time work force saw cuts to their weekly hours to ensure that their totals come in below the 30-hour threshold, according to the local News & Advance. The city’s human-resources director said some departments do not have the financial resources to add employees or raise wages to make up for the lost work time.
28. City of Mason, Ohio
Cut hours for 200 part-time workers or take a $3.4 million hit: That was the decision the southwestern Ohio city faced when it started weighing Obamacare’s impact. It opted for the former. Part-timers had regularly worked more than 30 hours, but the city manager told the JournalNews that their weekly workload has been reduced to 20 hours.
29. Township of Toms River, New Jersey
Government workers in Toms River pushing the 30-hour threshold will be bumped down to “below 25” to ensure that they are considered part-time employees, according to the Asbury Park Press. “I think this was not very well thought out,” the township’s business manager said of the Affordable Care Act. “There was this fallacy that the law provisions didn’t apply to municipal government. It sure does.”
30. Lee County, Iowa
Lee County “could be out a lot of money,” a local newspaper reported a supervisor saying, if the county doesn’t stick to its new policy of holding part-time workers to 28 hours.
31. City of Faribault, Minnesota
Employees working 30 to 38 hours per week with the Minnesota city will be bumped down to part-time status to avoid penalties and costs associated with the mandate.
32. Kansas Turnpike Authority
Three eight-hour shifts per week: That’s the new maximum schedule for part-time toll collectors in Kansas. While the state’s turnpike authority previously had part-time employees who worked more than 30 hours a week, a new policy will limit them to the new schedule.
Education
33. University of Virginia
Because of an additional $7.3 million in health-care costs next year, the University of Virginia alerted some of its employees that it will no longer offer health insurance to their spouses.
34. Community College of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
The Pittsburgh-area community college informed about 400 part-time employees that they would see a reduction in their hours starting in January of this year to comply with Obamacare regulations. The school had to make this change a year before the law went into effect because Obamacare stipulates that the federal government must look back one year to determine an employee’s status.
35. St. Petersburg College, Florida
To avoid paying an additional $777,000 per year, St. Petersburg College told 250 adjunct professors that their hours would be cut back for upcoming terms. “I never thought it would impact me directly,” a math teacher told NBC News Investigations. “I was stunned when I got the email. . . . I love teaching at St. Pete College, but that is a significant cut.”
36. Hillsborough Community College, Florida
Hillsborough Community College may have to cut the hours of nearly 10 percent of its part-time work force, according to the Tampa Tribune. By keeping those employees under 30 hours per week, the college can avoid an additional $863,500 in total costs for health plans.
37. Hamilton Township School District, New Jersey
Substitute teachers will see their time in the classroom limited to four workdays per week, the cap set in place in June by the school district . The “strict limits” went into effect at the beginning of this school year. According to a report by the Trenton Times, other nearby districts also could consider similar provisions.
38. Purdue University, Indiana
Despite “pretty radical changes” to the university’s health-care plans for its roughly 27,000 employees, Purdue University still won’t be able to skirt $2.8 million in additional costs brought on by the Affordable Care Act.
39. Oneida Special School District, Tennessee
Most of the non-certified personnel in the Oneida Special School District, such as teacher assistants, janitors, and cafeteria workers, will not be allowed to work more than 29 hours a week.
40. Central Michigan University
Some of the 5,700 students hired as employees by Central Michigan University will be barred from working more than 25 hours a week. While students have said the new limits “will sting a little bit” and make it “increasingly harder” to pay for various expenses, CMU’s human-resources vice president told a local news station that the move would “align us with other schools” making similar adjustments. Without the limits, CMU would have to pay as much as a $5 million penalty for not offering student workers health-care coverage.
41. University of North Alabama
Graduate-student workers at this school in Florence, Ala., will be barred from working more than 29 hours a week.
42. Arizona State University
Associate faculty members will be limited to teaching six credit hours, or two classes, per semester as part of an effort to more clearly define full-time versus part-time faculty, according to the Arizona Republic. “It’s like getting a punch in the stomach,” said one religious-studies teacher. “For some people it’s a major financial setback.”
43. Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana
Ivy Tech Community College, where 60 percent of the professors work part-time, will limit its part-time professors to less than 30 hours per week.
44. Maricopa Community Colleges, Arizona
The Phoenix community-college system notified almost 700 adjunct professors and 600 other part-time workers of a new policy that will prevent them from working more than 30 hours a week. An adjunct professor said the changes would affect his personal finances, and he warned that “this is going to come back to bite us” because instructors won’t be able to fill in for one another due to the cap on hours.
45. Granite School District, Utah
Facing at least $14 million in additional health-care costs, the Salt Lake City–area school district, which operates 92 schools, reduced the hours of as many as 1,200 part-time workers. In a letter, the district warned that employees who violate the 29-hour limit for part-time work could be terminated.
46. Alpine School District, Utah
“I would have to look for another job, or we would lose our house,” a school-bus driver told Provo’s Daily Herald after the school district said hourly employees could no longer work more than 27.5 hours per week. “If they cut our hours to 27, we will be up the creek,” another driver said.
47. Fort Wayne Community Schools, Indiana
In May, 610 part-time teaching aides and cafeteria workers were informed by the Fort Wayne Community Schools that their hours would be cut to keep FWCS from having to provide health insurance to those employees. “It’s something that almost all employers with part-time employees are trying to resolve,” a district administrator said.
48. Papillion–La Vista School District, Nebraska
The Affordable Care Act would have added $2.5 million in new health-care costs — or $3.4 million in penalties — to the Papillion–La Vista school district if 281 part-time employees’ hours had not been limited to fewer than 30 a week.
49. University of Akron, Ohio
Already facing a budget deficit, the University of Akron will ask 230 of its part-time faculty members to accept a cut to their work hours to avoid having to provide health insurance.
50. Youngstown State University, Ohio
The university warned part-time faculty members that they will be fired if they surpass the new 29-hour-per-week restriction. “If you exceed the maximum hours, YSU will not employ you the following year,” the school said in an e-mail. “We will have no recourse.”
51. Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, Pennsylvania
In June, the district announced that it would have to “restructure hours” to avoid cost increases to health-insurance plans. A local newspaper detailed a handful of options for the district; almost all resulted in fewer hours for lower pay.
52. Southern Lehigh School District, Pennsylvania
The Lehigh Valley–area district reduced the hours of 51 part-time workers to comply with the 30-hour threshold. The cuts will affect employees across the district, including custodians, cafeteria workers, secretaries, health-services support-staff members, and special-education support employees.
53. Zionsville Community Schools, Indiana
One hundred instructional aides, coaches, and substitute teachers in the Indiana district saw their weekly workload restricted to 29 hours.
54. Spartanburg Community College, South Carolina
Adjunct faculty members taught more than half of the community college’s classes, and all but 23 of the 400 to 500 such faculty members will see their hours slashed to meet the part-time requirement. Otherwise the college would face the choice of paying penalties of up to $2,000 per employee to whom it didn’t offer health coverage or paying up to $1 million for insurance.
55. Finger Lakes Community College, New York
The upstate New York community college has set the maximum weekly work hours for adjunct faculty members at “under 30.”
56. Mount Ephraim School District, New Jersey
At a school-board meeting this year, the district announced that the cost of benefits will rise by 18 percent because of the Affordable Care Act, and the increase will be passed on to taxpayers.
57. Minocqua-Hazelhurst-Lake Tomahawk School District, Wisconsin
The northern Wisconsin school district took steps to ensure that its part-time employees work fewer than 30 hours per week, a local news station reported.
58. Rock Valley College, Illinois
As of July, the two-year Rockford school now hires new employees to work a maximum of 25 hours per week.
Big Labor
59. Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE HERE
The heads of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and UNITE HERE wrote to Democratic lawmakers in July to warn that Obamacare would “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work week that is the backbone of the middle class.” While the labor leaders acknowledged their past support for the law, they remarked that their decision had “come back to haunt us.”
60. AFL-CIO
In an interview with Al Jazeera America, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka conceded that the Affordable Care Act “does need some modifications to it” because companies are “restricting their workforce to give workers 29 and a half hours so they don’t have to provide them health care.”
Restaurants and the Food Industry
61. Cheesecake Factory
The chain restaurant’s CEO warned that while his company already covers its employees who work at least 25 hours, he expects the new law to “be very costly” for most companies. He predicted that if Cheesecake Factory has to expand coverage, the costs will be passed on to consumers with price increases or a lower level of service.
62. Papa John’s Pizza
After causing a stir among Obamacare supporters by suggesting possible price increases and/or cuts to jobs and hours, Papa John’s Pizza CEO reiterated: “It’s common sense. That’s what I call lose-lose.”
63. Buca di Beppo
Buca di Beppo employees across the country say managers told them in June that they would see their weekly hours reduced to less than 30. The founder of the company that owns the restaurants distanced himself from the comments, but employees insist that the Affordable Care Act is the root cause: “I guarantee you it has to do with what’s going on with our country and decisions being made with Obamacare,” said one worker.
64. Fatburger
The CEO of the burger-joint chain announced that franchises have begun making efforts to keep employees under the 30-hour threshold, including some franchises’ engaging in “job sharing.” For example, an employee at one Fatburger could work 25 hours a week at one location, and another 25 hours at a different location with a different owner, without falling under the Obamacare mandate.
65. Wendy’s
An Omaha Wendy’s franchisee alerted almost 100 non-management workers that their hours would be reduced to 28 per week in order to comply with Obamacare mandates.
66. Subway restaurants, Illinois
Employees at 15 Subway restaurants in central Illinois have begun to see a reduction in their hours. “We don’t like doing that,” the owner said. “But if we were to have to pay for everyone to have health insurance or pay the full penalties, we would be out of business.”
67. Subway restaurants, Maine
The owner of 21 Subway franchises in Maine told 50 of his workers that their hours would be reduced to a maximum of 29 a week. “To tell somebody that you’ve got to decrease their hours because of a law passed in Washington is very frustrating to me,” he told NBC News Investigations.
68. PoFolks restaurant, Alabama
The restaurant’s owner told a local news station that he will have to cut the number of full-time employees from 16 workers to four to meet the “great challenge” Obamacare poses to the company.
69. Joe Bologna’s, Kentucky
In order to limit employees’ hours and save money, a Lexington businessman has closed his restaurant on Mondays. He told a local news station that additional costs, which could be as high as $20,000, probably would have to be passed on to customers.
70. Five Guys franchises, North Carolina
The owner of eight Five Guys franchises in the Raleigh-Durham area said he will have to use all the profits from one of his eight stores just to cover “any added costs [that] are going to have to be passed on” by the health-care act.
71. Charco Broiler, Colorado
The Fort Collins restaurant informed three full-time employees that they would drop down to part-time work to keep the company under the 50-employee threshold, above which employers must insure all full-time employees.
72. Shari’s restaurant, Oregon
A Portland-area waitress told a news station that she has struggled to pay her bills after Shari’s relegated her status to part time due to one of the law’s mandates, cutting her schedule by almost ten hours a week.
73. Russ’ Restaurants, Michigan
Non-managerial employees are no longer allowed to work more than 25 hours per week.
74. Burger King, Washington, D.C.
“I’m not sure if Congress understood the devastating effect that this will have on businesses and on employment,” said a human-resources officer for the Maryland-based company that owns Washington, D.C.’s largest Burger King franchise. From the beginning of this year, the company has hired only part-time employees, who are “guaranteed no more than 29 hours per week.”
75. Taco Bell, Oklahoma
No employees at the Guthrie Taco Bell will be allowed to work more than 28 hours a week, resulting in a $200 reduction in one employee’s paycheck. “Several of the other people I work with, some of them are single parents, and we do the best we can, and 28 hours a week just isn’t going to cut it for the bills,” the worker said.
76. A Virginia Beach restaurant, Virginia
The owner of a Virginia Beach restaurant and catering company told Bloomberg that he has stopped hiring people to work full time and is even drawing back on part-time employees’ hours. “I can’t afford health insurance for everyone,” he said.
77. Jim’s restaurants, Texas
The San Antonio restaurant chain might be required to pay as much as $1 million more annually after Obamacare takes effect. In response, Jim’s, like many other companies, is considering a reduction in employees’ hours so it won’t have to provide them with insurance.
78. CiCi’s Pizza restaurants, Texas
Bob Westbrook owned the state’s three top-performing CiCi’s Pizza franchises but calculated that the costs of providing health care under the employer mandate would leave him about $78,000 in the red at the end of the year. Ultimately, Westbrook figured, it was most cost-effective for him to sell his franchises, after nearly 20 years.
Grocery Chains
79. Whole Foods Market
The CEO of Whole Foods may not know exactly what changes will take place when the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, but he’s sure it will negatively affect workers. While he would like his company to continue offering health insurance to its employees, he said there might have to be a tradeoff in the benefits equation: “That just means there’s less we can pay for wages.”
80. Trader Joe’s
Even though it has previously provided health-care coverage for its part-time employees, an uncommon practice in the industry, next year Trader Joe’s will give employees who work less than 30 hours a week $500 to purchase a plan in the upcoming Obamacare exchanges. With federal subsidies and possible earnings from other employment, the company said, workers can find coverage that will be just as good. One employee described her soon-to-be lost coverage as “one of the best parts about the job,” and her reaction to hearing it would be dumped was “pure panic, followed quickly by anger.”
81. Wegmans
The New York–based grocery chain announced in July that part-time employees will no longer receive health-care coverage due to Obamacare. Wegmans previously offered insurance to part-time employees working at least 20 hours a week.
82. Trig’s Supermarkets, Wisconsin
Sixty-five percent of the 1,100 workers at the Wisconsin supermarket chain will see their hours reduced to below 30 per week. “Doing nothing was not an option,” an executive with the company said. “Within a year, it would have put us out of business.”
83. Waldbaum’s, New York
At least one of the New York City–area supermarket chain’s stores has told employees that they will now be part-time workers, with some seeing a reduction of 20 hours or more from their usual weekly total. Some of Waldbaum’s 100 employees affected by the change are now seeking second or third jobs, according to a local newspaper.
84. Royal Farms, Maryland
The company’s 146 convenience stores in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are transitioning to an almost entirely part-time work force, reducing even full-timers to fewer than 30 hours a week.
Small Local Businesses
85. Southern Hearth & Patio, Tennessee
Health-insurance costs have more than tripled under the Obama presidency, said the owner of Southern Hearth & Patio in Chattanooga. He’s had to offer smaller bonuses and lower pay raises because of the Affordable Care Act.
86. Tsunami Surf Shop, North Carolina and South Carolina
A manager for Tsunami Surf Shop told a local news station that the company will “have to control the shifts” from now on in order to ensure that employees are working fewer than 30 hours a week.
87. Kerns Trucking, North Carolina
The family-owned trucking company had to cut insurance benefits for 81 workers to avoid having to pay an additional $100,000 under the law’s tax.
88. AAA Parking, Georgia
Next year, AAA Parking will move half of its 500 full-time hourly employees (out of a work force of 1,600) to part-time employment. “Our executive team has spent extensive time evaluating the impact of this mandate, and the financial impact for AAA Parking is dramatic,” a company memo explained.
89. Circle K gas station, Georgia
An employee at the Savannah gas station told a local news station that a supervisor informed workers that they would now work a part-time schedule due to the mandate.
90. Maritz Research, Missouri
The business-research firm informed its 300 employees in July that, starting next year, the company would have to “proactively manage average hours worked on a weekly basis” and enforce a 25-hour threshold.
Premium Rate Increases
91. California
Individual-market premiums in the Golden State could jump as much as 146 percent, according to an analysis of the state’s exchange program by Avik Roy of National Review and Forbes. For example, the cost for a nonsmoking 25-year-old in California who purchases the second-cheapest plan on the exchange would go from $92 to $205.
92. Colorado
Colorado’s cheapest health plans, which are generally geared toward younger people, are expected to rise dramatically in price next year, according to The Hill. Consider a nonsmoker under 30 years old. This year, this Coloradan could have purchased the cheapest catastrophic plan for $56 per month; next year, the cost is expected to climb to $135.
93. Florida
Florida regulators say the average premium for individuals will increase by 30 to 40 percent. For small businesses, the rates will be between 5 and 20 percent higher.
94. Massachusetts
According to a study by the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, well over half of the state’s small businesses will see a rate increase, with some prices potentially doubling.
95. New Mexico
In a study conducted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, by a team including our own Avik Roy, New Mexico was rated the state that would see the largest average hike in premium costs, at 130 percent.
96. Ohio
The cost of the average health-care plan in Ohio is expected to nearly double under Obamacare, according to state insurance regulators. The Hill reports that an 88 percent increase will ultimately mean the cheapest plan on the market after the law goes into effect next year will cost about $280 a month.
97. Oklahoma
In all but one of the insurance plans offered to Oklahoma state employees, premiums will go up by as much as 12 percent; the one plan that does not have an increase is the “cheapest, most basic health plan,” according to The Oklahoman. According to an administrator with the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services, a tax associated with Obamacare has led to an increase in the plans’ cost.
98. Rhode Island
According to the state’s health-insurance commissioner, the rate increase for large employers for 2014 will be about 10 to 12 percent, twice as high as the increase this year.
99. Washington
The analysis by Avik Roy and the Manhattan Institute indicates that Washington State residents across all age groups will see significant increases in their rates. Twenty-year-olds will see an average increase of 80 percent; 40-year-olds 50 percent; and 64-year-olds 59 percent.
100 Wisconsin
The state’s health-insurance regulators determined that “premiums will increase for most consumers” in Wisconsin when the law goes into effect in 2014. Young residents will see an estimated 125 percent increase, while seniors will pay as much as 45 percent more.
— Andrew Johnson is an editorial associate at National Review.