The words are Obama's, taken directly and word for word, from his presser, this morning. The text is continuous if read without my headers and bracketed notes ~ blog editor.
The Roll-out was tough
Switching gears, it has now been six weeks since the
Affordable Care Act's new marketplaces opened for business. I think it's fair
to say that the rollout has been rough so far, and I think everybody
understands that I'm not happy about the fact that the rollout has been, you
know, wrought with a whole range of problems that I've been deeply concerned
about.
Obama's spins a .3% of a percent sign-up rate
But today, I want to talk about what we know after these
first few weeks and what we're doing to implement and improve the law.
Yesterday, the White House announced that in the first month, more than a
hundred thousand Americans successfully enrolled in new insurance plans. Is
that as high a number as we'd like? Absolutely not. But it does mean that
people want affordable health care.
He does not see the failure in his own numbers
The problems of the website have prevented too many
Americans from completing the enrollment process, and that's on us, not on
them. But there's no question that there's real demand for quality, affordable
health insurance. In the first month, nearly a million people successfully
completed an application for themselves or their families. [Understand that 26,700 out of 1 million is a sign-up rate of is just under .3 of 1%]
He confuses 1.5 million people with 106,000 applications
Those applications represent more than 1.5 million people.
Of those 1.5 million people, 106,000 of them have successfully signed up to get
covered.
Another 396,000 have the ability to gain access to Medicaid
under the Affordable Care Act. That's been less reported on, but it shouldn't
be. [Less reported because Medicaid applicants do not pay the bills for ObamaCare but increases Medicaid deficit]
Obama uses fantasy numbers to make his case
You know, Americans who are having a difficult time, who are poor, many of
them working, may have a disability, they're Americans like everybody else. And
the fact that they are now able to get insurance is going to be critically
important. Later today I'll be in Ohio, where Governor Kasich, a Republican,
has expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and as many as 275,000
Ohioans will ultimately be better off because of it. And if every governor
followed suit, another 5.4 million Americans could gain access to health care
next year. ["if" is not reality but supposition, nothing more]
Obama includes Free Medicaid in his "success" numbers
So bottom line is in just one month, despite all the
problems that we've seen with the website, more than 500,000 Americans could
know the security of health care by January 1st, many of them for the first
time in their lives. And that's life-changing, and it's significant.
He is dressing up a pig
That still leaves about 1 million Americans who successfully
made it through the website and now qualify to buy insurance but haven't picked
a plan yet. And there's no question that if the website were working as it's
supposed to, that number would be much higher of people who've actually
enrolled.
So that's problem number one, making sure that the website
works the way it's supposed to. It's gotten a lot better over the last few
weeks than it was on the first day, but we're working 24/7 to get it working
for the vast majority of Americans in a smooth, consistent way. [what percentage of the 1 million decided NOT to buy a plan at all? Obama does not know. What percentage of the 1 million will be redirected to Medicaid? Obama does not know. What percentage of the 1 million are the indigent/poor and will add nothing to ObamaCare's ability to pay for itself? Obama does not know]
Obama pretends to understand the problem he has created
The other problem that has received a lot of attention
concerns Americans who've received letters from their insurers that they may be
losing the plans they bought in the old individual market, often because they
no longer meet the law's requirements to cover basic benefits like prescription
drugs or doctor's visits.
Now, as I indicated earlier, I completely get how upsetting
this can be for a lot of Americans, particularly after assurances they heard
from me that if they had a plan that they liked they could keep it. And to
those Americans, I hear you loud and clear. I said that I would do everything
we can to fix this problem. And today I'm offering an idea that will help do
it.
Already people who have plans that pre-date the Affordable
Care Act can keep those plans if they haven't changed. That was already in the
law. That's what's called a grandfather clause that was included in the law.
Today we're going to extend that principle both to people whose plans have
changed since the law too effect and to people who bought plans since the law
took effect.
So state insurance commissioners still have the power to
decide what plans can and can't be sold in their states,
A temporary fix is not a fix at all.
but the bottom line is
insurers can extend current plans that would otherwise be cancelled into 2014.
And Americans whose plans have been cancelled can choose to re-enroll in the
same kind of plan. [he only postpones the effects of his lie, "If you like it . . . . . . you can keep . . . . . period. About the time the cancelled policies are reinstated, they will be - again - canceled.]
He sets rules for his pretend fix.
We're also requiring insurers to extend current plans to
inform their customers about two things: One, that protections -- what
protections these renewed plans don't include. Number two, that the marketplace
offers new options with better coverage and tax credits that might help you
bring down the cost.
He loves calling the exchanges "the marketplace."
So if your received one of these letters I'd encourage you
to take a look at the marketplace. Even if the website isn't working as
smoothly as it should be for everybody yet, the plan comparison tool that lets
you browse cost for new plans near you is working just fine.
A fix is not a fix when it is not a fix
Now, this fix won't solve every problem for every person,
but it's going to help a lot of people. Doing more will require work with
Congress. And I've said from the beginning that I'm willing to work with
Democrats and Republicans to fix problems as they arise. This is an example of
what I was talking about. We can always make this law work better. [the fact of the matter is this: Obama refused to allow even one GOP amendment to this law, his pretense at bi-partisanship is only a lie. More than this, an administrative "fix" is not a fix at all. Legislation is the only path for "fixing" a legislated law . . . . . period]
When you read the following paragraph, know that there is no "individual market" as the result of ObamaCare.
It is important to understand, though, that the old
individual market was not working well. And it's important that we don't
pretend that somehow that's a place worth going back to. Too often it works
fine as long as you stay healthy. It doesn't work well when you're sick. So
year after year, Americans were routinely exposed to financial ruin or denied
coverage due to minor pre-existing conditions or dropped from coverage
altogether even if they've paid their premiums on time. That's one of the
reasons we pursued this reform in the first place. [ understand that when annual deductibles skyrocket to between $10,000 and $15,000, you have the foundation for continued bankrupcy due to healthcare costs. He has solved nothing in this regard for people who have money to pay for their insurance . . . . . nothing]
Whatever
And that's why I will not accept proposals that are just
another brazen attempt to undermine or repeal the overall law and drag us back
into a broken system. We will continue to make the case, even to folks who
choose to keep their own plans, that they should shop around in the new
marketplace because there's a good chance that they'll be able to buy better
insurance at lower cost. [He simply does not have the business experience to understand that ObamaCare, as is presently implemented, cannot pay for its service.]
He has only postponed the pain as he claims he has done everything possible to help complaining America as they work to understand what has happened to them because of ObamaCare.
So we're going to do everything we can to help the Americans
who've received these cancelation notices. But I also want everybody to
remember that there are still 40 million Americans who don't have health
insurance at all. I'm not going to walk away from 40 million people who have
the chance to get health insurance for the first time, and I'm not going to
walk away from something that has helped the cost of health care grow at its
slowest rate in 50 years. [by all reports, there will still be 30 to 50 million uninsured, after this law is fully installed]
Feigned financial security is predicted.
So we're at the opening weeks of the project to build a
better health care system for everybody, a system that will offer real
financial security and peace of mind to millions of Americans. [there is no financial security for those who inherit high deductibles and double or triple increases in co-pays. This is simply another monstrous lie].
He makes another promise that he absolutely cannot fulfill.
It is a complex process. There are all kinds of challenges.
I'm sure there will be additional challenges that come up. And it's important
that we're honest and straightforward in terms -- when we come up with a
problem with these reforms and these laws, that we address them.
But we've got to move forward on this. It took a hundred
years for us to even get to the point where we could start talking about and
implementing a law to make sure everybody got health insurance. And my pledge
to the American people is, is that we're going to solve the problems that are
there, we're going to get it right, and the Affordable Care Act is going to
work for the American people
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