printThe president’s proboscis grew a bit more today. Michelle Obama must be glad “Barack,” as she calls him, has a “Cadillac” health-care plan,” unlike his subjects, who are, shall we say, between plans. This allergy he suffers can develop into a serious condition. I’m talking about Obama’s allergy to truth.
In his December 20 news conference, President Obama said that “Since October 1st, more than 1 million Americans have selected new health insurance plans through the federal and state marketplaces, so all told, millions of Americans, despite the problems with the website, are now poised to be covered by quality affordable health insurance come New Year’s Day. …”
US media is so crappy, a correction is hard to come by, other than on FoxNews.com:
In claiming “millions” would be covered on Jan. 1, [Obama] was also likely factoring in the estimated 3.9 million people who the administration says have qualified for coverage under expanded Medicaid.
An estimated 4 million people, however, have seen their policies canceled. …… In response to people losing their insurance plans due to ObamaCare’s new standards, the administration announced Thursday that those who lost their coverage could skirt the law’s individual mandate — and could opt to purchase bare-bones policies if they want. Those so-called “catastrophic” coverage plans were previously available only to people under 30, but the administration is now opening them up to people who got cancellation notices. …
…”The health law is like a Jenga game — the administration keeps yanking out pieces, and ultimately nothing can keep it from collapsing,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said in response. As Republican lawmakers jeered at the news, insurance industry representatives warned that the latest decision could further disrupt the market. …
MORE.
UPDATE (12/21): HE CAN NO LONGER FAKE SUCCESS. “Mr. Obama is doing through executive fiat what Republicans shut down the government to get him to do.” Good article at the Wall Street Journal:
… the White House keeps treating the Affordable Care Act’s text as a mere suggestion subject to day-to-day revision. Its latest political retrofit is the most brazen: President Obama is partly suspending the individual mandate.
Individuals whose health plans were canceled will now automatically qualify for a “hardship exemption” from the mandate. If they can’t or don’t sign up for a new plan, they don’t have to pay the tax. They can also get a special category of ObamaCare insurance designed for people under age 30.
***So merry Christmas. If ObamaCare’s benefit and income redistribution requirements made your old, cheaper, better health plan illegal, you now have the option of going without coverage without the government taking your money as punishment. You can also claim the tautological consolation of an ObamaCare hardship exemption due to ObamaCare itself. …
… What an incredible political turnabout. Mr. Obama and HHS used to insist that the new plans are better and less expensive after subsidies than the old “substandard” insurance. Now they’re conceding that at least some people should be free to choose less costly plans if they prefer—or no plan—and ObamaCare’s all-you-can-eat benefits rules aren’t necessary for quality health coverage after all.
… the exemptions … belong to [BHO’s] larger pattern of suspending the law on his own administrative whim. Earlier this month he ordered insurers to backdate policies to compensate for the federal exchange meltdown, and before that HHS declared that it would not enforce for a year the mandates responsible for policy cancellations. Mr. Obama’s team has also by fiat abandoned the small-business exchanges, delayed the employer mandate and scaled back income verification.
“The basic structure of that law is working, despite all the problems,” Mr. Obama added. His make-it-up-as-he-goes improvisation will continue, because the law is failing.
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