Theatre of the bizarre known as DC continues......
The White House mounted a general defense of the Affordable Care Act in its statement, arguing the law will improve healthcare for millions of Americans.
"The [GOP] bills, taken together, would cost millions of hard-working middle class families the security of affordable health coverage and care they deserve," the veto threat stated.
"Rather than attempting once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which the House has tried to do nearly 40 times, it's time for the Congress to stop fighting old political battles."
House Republicans have attempted to repeal, dismantle or defund ObamaCare more than 35 times since its passage.
Wednesday's votes were announced last week as a response to the administration's decision to delay the employer mandate.
That policy requires that larger businesses offer healthcare coverage to their workers.
Obama officials said the deferral responds to the private sectors' desire for more time to comply.
Republicans have argued that if businesses won't have to offer health coverage in 2014, individuals should not be required to carry it that year either.
The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the GOP's individual mandate delay bill would cut the deficit but cause health insurance premiums to rise.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/obamacare-rollout-will-the-all-the-state-exchanges-launch-on-time-by-october-1.html
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President threatens to veto GOP's ObamaCare bills to delay mandates
- 07/16/13 05:48 PM ET
President Obama is threatening to veto Republican bills that would delay the healthcare reform law's employer and individual mandates.
Obama declared the employer bill "unnecessary" — the administration announced the same delay on July 2 — and said the individual bill is harmful to consumers in a Statement of Administration Policy issued Tuesday.
The measures will see House votes on Wednesday, but are unlikely to pass the Senate.
Obama declared the employer bill "unnecessary" — the administration announced the same delay on July 2 — and said the individual bill is harmful to consumers in a Statement of Administration Policy issued Tuesday.
The measures will see House votes on Wednesday, but are unlikely to pass the Senate.
"The [GOP] bills, taken together, would cost millions of hard-working middle class families the security of affordable health coverage and care they deserve," the veto threat stated.
"Rather than attempting once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which the House has tried to do nearly 40 times, it's time for the Congress to stop fighting old political battles."
House Republicans have attempted to repeal, dismantle or defund ObamaCare more than 35 times since its passage.
Wednesday's votes were announced last week as a response to the administration's decision to delay the employer mandate.
That policy requires that larger businesses offer healthcare coverage to their workers.
Obama officials said the deferral responds to the private sectors' desire for more time to comply.
Republicans have argued that if businesses won't have to offer health coverage in 2014, individuals should not be required to carry it that year either.
The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the GOP's individual mandate delay bill would cut the deficit but cause health insurance premiums to rise.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/obamacare-rollout-will-the-all-the-state-exchanges-launch-on-time-by-october-1.html
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013
ObamaCare Rollout: Will the All the State Exchanges Launch on Time, by October 1?
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Lambert here: My own blog, Corrente, is holding its summer fundraiser. 27 31 45 62 73 donors have already contributed; I’d like to break 100. In case readers don’t know: Blogging is not a sideline for me: It’s my job. It’s what I do to pay the bills, and if I can’t pay the bills, I can’t blog. Here’s what Corrente is all about, and a history of some of the campaigns we’ve done, going back to 2003. The PayPal and WePay buttons are in the right hand sidebar. Like NC, Corrente is not part of any political tribe or faction. That makes us unusually dependent on contributions from individual readers. Your help is appreciated, and thanks to Yves (“Donate to Lambert’s Fundraiser…Now!”) for giving me the opportunity to ask for it.
“Let’s just make sure it’s not a third-world experience.” –Henry Chao, HHS, of the ObamaCare Federal Exchange
Will the state Exchanges launch on time? Even if the Exchanges (now also called “marketplaces”) will only cover 7 million of the 56 million uninsured in 2014, this answer to this question is still important to some; and the political fortunes of the Democratic nomenklatura are not necessarily their first concern.
[T]his implementation issue is not a trivial thing. Many, many, many people are counting on it. They expect to have access to health insurance and for that health insurance to give them access to actual health care. I repeat: This is not trivial. It is not a game.
The answer given by administration officials is “Yes!” Just this week:
“The marketplaces [note plural; she includes all the states] will be ready,” Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters said Thursday in a typical statement. “We are on schedule with the testing that began in October 2012. Any discussion to the contrary is pure speculation.”
In fact, there’s not even a Plan B. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, back on April 12:
“No,” Sebelius said when asked whether there’s a backup plan in case that deadline slips. “We are determined and on track to meet the Oct. 1 deadline.”
But then they can’t say anything else, can they? Given that Obama nailed his colors to the mast of the October 1 launch date in his April 30 presser: “We will implement it.” So, no matter what, we can expect — the ObamaCare rollout being, after all, an off-year employment opportunity for campaign operatives — a ribbon cutting ceremony, a public relations campaign, happy “consumers,” parades, ponies, rainbows, and so forth. Maybe even cute videos and some apps! Something’s going to go up at healthcare.gov, no matter what and come what may. But what? How, at this point, do we verify any of the claims the administration is making? I mean, some of us need to know whether we’re going to be mandated to spend thousands of dollars or not! Even if employers did catch a break and won’t have to.
If ObamaCare were a multibillion fighter plane I’d expect fly-bys, glamour shots of pilots and cockpits, YouTubes of aeronautical maneuvers, and plenty of breathless stenography in the fan press. Even if the aircraft was years late, over budget, and not up to spec! But from ObamaCare, none of that. It’s a remarkably secretive program:
It’s still unclear just how ready these digital systems will be on Day One and how much is already being done to mitigate the inevitable glitches. The administration has remained tight-lipped about the operational details. That has frustrated states and insurers, both of which need to connect to the new under-construction system. “From where I sit, it’s hard to monitor their progress on the data hub, because it is a black box until it either works or doesn’t work,” says Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health and a former official at the Office of Management and Budget.
I continue to be puzzled by the way the Obama administration is developing the federally run Exchanges in the 35 states in which they will have to run them. …. [W]hy all of the secrecy? … Last week Washington was abuzz with detailed reports in the Washington Post about how personal phone and computer records are being monitored by the federal government. It’s notable that more is now known about that national security enterprise than exactly where HHS is on “ObamaCare” implementation! Why is the implementation of “ObamaCare” by the Obama administration a top-secret enterprise?
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