This morning, Republican-appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote and five of his colleagues — Democrat-appointed Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan; and Republican-appointed Kennedy — agreed that: Section 18031 [of the Affordable Care Act–i.e., the ObamaCare Law–] provides that “[e]ach State shall . . . establish an American Health Benefit Exchange…” [But] if [a] … Continue reading »
Obamacare
Which radical ideas come true?
It’s 1974. Richard Nixon resigns the presidency; Barbara Streisand is singing, “The Way We Were” all over the radio (that music-playing thing before the internet); and you could buy a hand calculator that could only add, subtract, multiply, and divide for, in today’s currency, $100. Someone asks you: Here are three pretty radical ideas – which do … Continue reading »
Covered California: The Foundation of Obamacare, Success, Challenges, And The Road Ahead
As the end of the open enrollment period on March 31 draws near, the Covered California state health insurance exchange is engaged in a final push for enrollees that will bring it beyond its baseline enrollment goals, launching a new advertising campaign and resolving application issues caused by a software glitch in February. Throughout the … Continue reading »
Why you shouldn’t succumb to defeatism about the Affordable Care Act
Whatever happened to American can-do optimism? Even before the Affordable Care Act covers its first beneficiary, the nattering nabobs of negativism are out in full force. “Tens of millions more Americans will lose their coverage and find that new ObamaCare plans have higher premiums, larger deductibles, and fewer doctors,” predicts Republican operative Karl Rove. “Enrollment numbers will … Continue reading »
The NY Times uncovers conservative attacks, then prints one; both are on the front page
On Thursday (Nov. 21), the New York Times front page reported on the conservative attacks against the President Obama and the Affordable Care Act. On Sunday, the Times front page contained a conservative attack on President Obama and the Affordable Care Act mixed in with news stories. Here is an analysis of both. For decades, … Continue reading »
Sub par reporting on the ACA
In a story that purports to illustrate how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will hurt fast food businesses, Venessa Wong at Bloomberg News inadvertently shows how small those impacts are likely to be in reality. She gives the example of Firehouse Subs, which currently does not offer health benefits to anyone working 30 hours a … Continue reading »
Why the public’s growing disdain for the Supreme Court may help Obamacare
The public’s growing disdain of the Supreme Court increases the odds that a majority will uphold the constitutionality of Obamacare. The latest New York Times CBS Poll shows just 44 percent of Americans approve the job the Supreme Court is doing. Fully three-quarters say justices’ decisions are sometimes influenced by their personal political views. The … Continue reading »