News:

And we're back!

Main Menu

Obamacare and you

Started by Jacob, September 25, 2013, 12:59:55 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

What's the impact of Obamacare for you (and your family)? Assuming it doesn't get defunded or delayed, of course...

I live in a state that's embracing Obamacare and it looks like I'm set for cheaper and/or better healthcare.
9 (14.1%)
I live in a state that's embracing Obamacare and it looks like I'm going to be paying more and/or get worse coverage.
5 (7.8%)
I live in a state that's embracing Obamacare and it looks like I'm largely unaffected by Obamacare, other than the effects of the general political theatre.
6 (9.4%)
My state is embracing Obamacare, but I have no clue how it will impact me personally.
1 (1.6%)
I live in a state that's rejecting Obamacare and it looks like I'm set for cheaper and/or better healthcare.
0 (0%)
I live in a state that's rejecting Obamacare and it looks like I'm going to be paying more and/or get worse coverage.
1 (1.6%)
I live in a state that's rejecting Obamacare and it looks like I'm largely unaffected by Obamacare, other than the effects of the general political theatre.
7 (10.9%)
My state is rejecting Obamacare and I have no idea how Obamacare is going to impact me.
1 (1.6%)
The American health care system doesn't affect me, but I'm watching how the whole thing plays out with interest.
20 (31.3%)
The American health care system doesn't affect me and frankly I don't care.
8 (12.5%)
Some other option because the previous 10 were not enough...
6 (9.4%)

Total Members Voted: 63

Admiral Yi

I see the makings of another Democratic fable similar to the California electricity/Enron fable.

CountDeMoney

 LOL, the "Enron fable".  Must be up there with the "Iraqi WMD fable".

frunk

Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 18, 2013, 11:59:18 AM
Hacktivism doesn't have to be supported by a party to be politically motivated; hell, look at Anonymous.

So?  You don't think there's a difference between ideologically motivated hackers attacking a government website and political party backed hackers attacking a government website?

As far as I can tell these attacks are the former (non-story, who cares).  If it was in any way the latter then this is an issue.

CountDeMoney

Quote from: frunk on November 18, 2013, 01:10:33 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 18, 2013, 11:59:18 AM
Hacktivism doesn't have to be supported by a party to be politically motivated; hell, look at Anonymous.

So?  You don't think there's a difference between ideologically motivated hackers attacking a government website and political party backed hackers attacking a government website?

As far as I can tell these attacks are the former (non-story, who cares).  If it was in any way the latter then this is an issue.

I sincerely doubt Rinse Grevious at the RNC is ordering hacker attacks upon all things Obamacare, if that's what you're asking.  Happy now?

derspiess

"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

CountDeMoney

I can never spell that asshole's name correctly.

Admiral Yi

Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 18, 2013, 01:04:38 PM
LOL, the "Enron fable".  Must be up there with the "Iraqi WMD fable".

Comparable to the Cheney/Haliburton fable.

frunk

Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 18, 2013, 01:13:55 PM
I sincerely doubt Rinse Grevious at the RNC is ordering hacker attacks upon all things Obamacare, if that's what you're asking.  Happy now?

I agree, this is a non-story.

Ed Anger

Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

Razgovory

Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 18, 2013, 01:04:38 PM
LOL, the "Enron fable".  Must be up there with the "Iraqi WMD fable".

All those Democratic fables. :D  I like Yi's cognitive dissonance.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Razgovory on November 18, 2013, 01:42:32 PM
All those Democratic fables. :D  I like Yi's cognitive dissonance.

:face:

KRonn

The hackers are probably from the NSA....   :ph34r:

Razgovory

Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 18, 2013, 02:00:03 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on November 18, 2013, 01:42:32 PM
All those Democratic fables. :D  I like Yi's cognitive dissonance.

:face:

You really need to stop hitting your head like that.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

derspiess

"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

garbon

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/us-usa-healthcare-oregon-idUSBRE9AJ0ML20131120

What a cock-up.

QuoteOregon healthcare exchange website never worked, has no subscribers

Oregon, a state that fully embraced the Affordable Care Act, is enduring one of the rockiest rollouts of President Back Obama's signature health care law, with an inoperative online exchange that has yet to enroll a single subscriber, requiring thousands to apply on paper instead.

Unlike most other states, Oregon set an ambitious course to make its insurance exchange, dubbed Cover Oregon, an "all-in-one" website for every individual seeking health coverage, including those who are eligible for Medicaid.

But instead of serving as a national model, Oregon's experience has emerged as a cautionary tale, inviting comparisons to technical glitches that have plagued other state-run portals and the federal government's website for those states lacking exchanges of their own.

Oregon's online exchange has remained inaccessible to the public, requiring the state to sign up applicants the old-fashioned way, using paper forms. This has made comparison shopping more difficult for consumers and severely slowed the enrollment process.

"Oregonians have questions," said state Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat, in a written statement on Tuesday. "What went wrong with the rollout? How are they going to fix it? When are they going to get it right? Is the website contractor doing everything it can? Our people need to know."

Courtney urged state lawmakers to "ask the hard questions" of officials overseeing the state's healthcare exchange, and the Oregon Health Authority, at a pair of legislative hearings on the program scheduled for Wednesday.

With its online insurance marketplace out of commission and unavailable to the public indefinitely, the state has resorted to urging would-be subscribers to fill out applications that are between nine and 19 pages long by hand, said Michael Cox, a spokesman for Cover Oregon.

In the meantime, the program has hired about 400 temporary workers to help process those applications before January 1, when the new plans are due to take effect, Cox said.

As part of that effort, staff members from his office are fanning out to hotel conference rooms and other venues across the state over the next week to help prospective enrollees complete the forms, he said.

Nearly 25,000 individuals and families have so far submitted hard-copy applications, Cox said, with nearly two-thirds of those applicants eligible for Medicaid, a federal-state healthcare plan for the needy.

But none of those applicants has actually been enrolled, with manual processing of the paperwork slowing the process dramatically.

Separately, about 70,000 residents have signed up for Medicaid by responding to letters sent by the state to more than 200,000 people deemed eligible for the program by virtue of their receiving food stamps, Cox said.

By comparison, Oregon's neighbor to the south, California - with a population 10 times larger - enrolled about 31,000 people in an Affordable Care Act plan last month, and added 29,000 in the first 12 days of November.

California had much farther to go, with an estimated 7.3 million adults and children lacking insurance in 2011, compared with 560,000 counted as uninsured that year in Oregon.

Jesse Ellis O'Brien, a healthcare advocate with the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, which pushed for the exchange, said he is "surprised and frustrated" by its ongoing woes but hopeful that they will be resolved within the next month or two.

"Once the website is functional it will provide a lot of valuable tools for consumers to make informed comparisons between plans," he said.

A spokesman for Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, a Democrat and medical doctor who supported the Affordable Care Act, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Greg Leo, chairman of Oregon's Republican Party and an avowed foe of the 2010 healthcare reform law, said its troubled rollout in Oregon underscores his view that patients would be better served by a system managed by the private sector.

"I don't take any joy in this," he said. "This creates a lot of harm for citizens in Oregon and nationally. It's a tragedy, and it further erodes people's confidence in government."
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.