Obama and ObamaCare - 2nd Term Blues

The White House: Here are some of the remarks by President Obama on ObamaCare, " ..the new website where people can apply for health insurance, and browse and buy affordable plans in most states –- hasn't worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work.  And the number of people who have visited the site has been overwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems....But before I do that, let me remind everybody that the Affordable Care Act is not just a website.  It's much more.  For the vast majority of Americans -- for 85 percent of Americans who already have health insurance through your employer or Medicare or Medicaid -– you don’t need to sign up for coverage through a website at all....But the problem has been that the website that’s supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody.  And there’s no sugarcoating it.  The website has been too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process.  And I think it’s fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am -- precisely because the product is good, I want the cash registers to work.  I want the checkout lines to be smooth.  So I want people to be able to get this great product.  And there’s no excuse for the problems, and these problems are getting fixed.

But while we’re working out the kinks in the system, I want everybody to understand the nature of the problem.  First of all, even with all the problems at HealthCare.gov, the website is still working for a lot of people -- just not as quick or efficient or consistent as we want.  And although many of these folks have found that they had to wait longer than they wanted, once they complete the process they’re very happy with the deal that’s available to them...we are doing everything we can possibly do to get the websites working better, faster, sooner.  We’ve got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address the problems.  Experts from some of America’s top private-sector tech companies who, by the way, have seen things like this happen before, they want it to work.  They're reaching out.  They're offering to send help.  We’ve had some of the best IT talent in the entire country join the team.  And we’re well into a “tech surge” to fix the problem.  And we are confident that we will get all the problems fixed....while the website will ultimately be the easiest way to buy insurance through the marketplace, it isn’t the only way.  And I want to emphasize this.  Even as we redouble our efforts to get the site working as well as it’s supposed to, we’re also redoubling our efforts to make sure you can still buy the same quality, affordable insurance plans available on the marketplace the old-fashioned way -- offline, either over the phone or in person.  And, by the way, there are a lot of people who want to take advantage of this who are more comfortable working on the phone anyway or in person.  So let me go through the specifics as to how you can do that if you’re having problems with the website or you just prefer dealing with a person.   Yesterday, we updated the website’s home page to offer more information about the other avenues to enroll in affordable health care until the online option works for everybody.  So you’ll find information about how to talk to a specialist who can help you apply over the phone or to receive a downloadable application you can fill out yourself and mail in.  We’ve also added more staff to the call centers where you can apply for insurance over the phone.  Those are already -- they've been working.  But a lot of people have decided first to go to the website.  But keep in mind, these call centers are already up and running.  And you can get your questions answered by real people, 24 hours a day, in 150 different languages.  The phone number for these call centers is 1-800-318-2596.  I want to repeat that -- 1-800-318-2596.  Wait times have averaged less than one minute so far on the call centers, although I admit that the wait times probably might go up a little bit now that I've read the number out loud on national television.  But the point is the call centers are available.  You can talk to somebody directly and they can walk you through the application process.  And I guarantee you, if one thing is worth the wait, it’s the safety and security of health care that you can afford, or the amount of money that you can save by buying health insurance through the marketplaces.  Once you get on the phone with a trained representative, it usually takes about 25 minutes for an individual to apply for coverage, about 45 minutes for a family.  Once you apply for coverage, you will be contacted by email or postal mail about your coverage status. 

But you don't have to just go through the phone.  You can also apply in person with the help of local navigators -– these are people specially trained to help you sign up for health care, and they exist all across the country, or you can go to community health centers and hospitals.  Just visit LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov to find out where in your area you can get help and apply for insurance in person.   And finally, if you’ve already tried to apply through the website and you’ve been stuck somewhere along the way, do not worry.  In the coming weeks, we will contact you directly, personally, with a concrete recommendation for how you can complete your application, shop for coverage, pick a plan that meets your needs, and get covered once and for all.

So here’s the bottom line.  The product, the health insurance is good.  The prices are good.  It is a good deal.  People don’t just want it; they’re showing up to buy it.  Nobody is madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed.   And in the meantime, you can bypass the website and apply by phone or in person.  So don’t let problems with the website deter you from signing up, or signing your family up, or showing your friends how to sign up, because it is worth it.  It will save you money.  If you don't have health insurance, if you’ve got a preexisting condition, it will save you money and it will give you the security that your family needs.

In fact, even with the website issues, we’ve actually made the overall process of buying insurance through the marketplace a lot smoother and easier than the old way of buying insurance on your own.  Part of the challenge here is that a lot of people may not remember what it’s like to buy insurance the traditional way.  ".

Lets Get Real:

After he leaves office in 2017 President Obama should not go in to advertising business, ObamaCare must be totally CRAP folks, this level of selling by the President of the United States shows how much trouble ObamaCare must be in, if they are admitting this level of disaster the real  story must look like the Titanic, AND Belfast did a better job at building the Titanic than the Obama Administration has done with ObamaCare.  Lets see how the liberal elite news channels play this story, will they be critical, like hell, what the political Gods give they take away, Obama could have the poll ratings of Bush 43 by 2017. 

ObamaCare and the individual mandate - 2nd Term Blues

Telegraph: Reports the following from the Obama White House, " The White House also refused to explicitly rule out the possibility that it could delay the January 1 implementation of the individual mandate - the tax penalty imposed on those who can afford healthcare but don't sign up - because of the website's problems. ".

Lets Get Real:

If President Obama was a better Chicago Pol he would have taken the Republican demand for a year delay in the individual mandate and used that time to FIX the problems with the ObamaCare website, have the political time to blame the Republicans for the delay, and then roll out a working ObamaCare scheme, if the problems with ObamaCare last in to December the Oval has a MAJOR problem going in to the 2014 Mid Terms, if US Citizens are getting charged by the US Government for something that is not their fault the political blow back for Democrats could be a disaster.    The fact that ObamaCare is not working helps the Republicans, it makes the Oval look out of touch and stubborn, a good Chicago Pol would have taken the Republican offer and ran out of the door with a big smile, the Obama ego can not allow that, thus this mess folks.  Lets see how the Obama polls look after this latest news from the White House. 

The NIGHTMARE of ObamaCare - 2nd Term Blues

Guardian: Reports the following from Obama press conference, " With his flagship domestic policy achievement in serious danger of being eclipsed by the three-week IT disaster...in the most candid admission yet that website glitches were preventing many from signing up, Obama confirmed that a team of outside experts had been brought in over recent days to try to tackle the problem. ".

Lets Get Real:

In other words folks if the Oval is admitting this level of disaster in public what is the REAL story, it must be a even greater disaster, folks advice from this blog, leave the ObamaCare website to fail, one can postulate that the Oval will be forced to delay the individual part of ObamaCare, how can you give an American a penalty if he or she can not get on to the website or through to the call centre, you know folks that there will be Court Cases, you can see this going back up to the US Supreme Court again, will the highest Court in the land allow US Citizens to be taxed for something that is not their fault.   It is the prediction of this blog that the ObamaCare will be a long term disaster for the Democrats, Obama is out in 2017, ObamaCare is about the Obama ego, who cares what he thinks when he is former President Obama, the Democrats if they are clever will dump ObamaCare once Obama is OUT in 2017, it is to much to defend, people never like taxes, even more so if its not their fault.    The political Gods are having fun with the Oval folks. 

The ObamaCare Nightmare - 2nd Term Blues

BBC News: Reports on the defence of ObamaCare by President Obama today, " In parts this sounded more like an infomercial than a speech...his main message was that "Obamacare" is more than a website - it is about giving millions of uninsured Americans quality and affordable care. ".

Lets Get Real:

In other words folks, the website is crap, but that does not matter because the message is more important than the product, if you buy that folks your fools.  If ObamaCare was a business and the big roll out had been this level of disaster the CEO would be out on his ear, but since Obama has never worked in the private sector he would not know how the real world works.   What happens and it will happen folks, if some is fined for not getting ObamaCare because they could not either get on to the website or get through the call centre.   The US has had revolutions for less folks.   Lets see at the end of the year how many younger and healthy Americans have joined ObamaCare, if the majority of the new applications are the above then the scheme can work, on the other hand if its older Americans with pre existing conditions then the scheme is in trouble.  One can even postulate that the Oval might end wishing it had agreed to a year delay, it would be ironic if the Oval had refused a way to save ObamaCare with a year delay to fix the problem, that is the problem folks when you allow politics run policy, its called a disaster.