HHS Secretary Sebelius: On Second Thought, You Probably Will Pay More For Health Insurance Under Obamacare… Now they tell us. Via WSJ: Some people purchasing new insurance policies for themselves this fall could see premiums rise because of requirements in the health-care law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Tuesday. Ms. Sebelius’s remarks come weeks before insurers are expected to begin releasing rates for plans that start on Jan. 1, 2014, when key provisions of the health law kick in. Premiums have been a sensitive subject for the Obama administration, which is counting on elements in the health law designed to increase competition among insurers to keep rates in check. The administration has pointed to subsidies that will be available for many lower-income Americans to help them with the cost of coverage. The secretary’s remarks are among the first direct statements from federal officials that people who have skimpy health plans right now could face higher premiums for plans that are more generous. She noted that the law requires plans to provide better benefits and treat all customers equally regardless of their medical claims. “These folks will be moving into a really fully insured product for the first time, and so there may be a higher cost associated with getting into that market,” she said. “But we feel pretty strongly that with subsidies available to a lot of that population that they are really going to see much better benefit for the money that they’re spending.” Ms. Sebelius added that those customers currently pay more for their health care if their plans have high out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles or exclude particular types of coverage, such as mental health treatment. She also said that some men and younger customers could see their rates increase while women and older customers could see their rates drop because the law restricts insurers’ ability to set rates based on age and gender. Most people who buy their own insurance policies will begin doing so this fall through new online marketplaces, which federal officials believe will force insurers to keep their prices down.
Can you imagine the outrage from Dave when his family heathcare costs go up dramatically under obamacare in 2014? Nah... he'll just blame it on Bush. :roll:
It is projected to raise healthcare costs in Ohio 80%. I would think they would feel a little stupid at that news.
Obama-Funded Electric Car Company Fisker Automotive Lays Off 75% Of Its Workforce, Bankruptcy Looms… Then again it’s only taxpayer money. Via Washington Examiner: Fisker Automotive laid off three quarters of its staff today to avoid bankruptcy while it seeks an angel with big bucks to help it become operational again. The maker of the luxury hybrid Karma says it has “at least” $30 million in cash, and $15 million more due after settling a claim this week with its bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems, according toReuters. But the company owes $192 million on a $193 million Department of Energy “green” loan. It was supposed to receive $529 million, but the DOE declined to pay the full amount in May 2011 after Fisker fell behind on its targets. Executives who kept their jobs are trying to renegotiate a $10 million loan payment due on April 22. The auto maker’s public relations team was part of the layoffs, but an outside PR firm said in a statement Fisker is still seeking a “buyer or strategic partnership” but couldn’t afford to keep on the majority of its workforce, according to Fox News. http://washingtonexaminer.com/fisker-lays-off-75-percent-of-workforce-as-bankruptcy-looms/article/2526429?custom_click=rss
Top White House Adviser Admits Obama’s Payroll Tax Hike “Is Hurting Americans”… Well done, Barry. Via Beltway Confidential: Dan Pfeiffer, one of President Obama’s senior White House advisors, explained why the payroll tax increase has weakened economic growth. “The end of the payroll tax cut is hurting Americans because it means there’s less money in their pockets, less money to spend on small businesses, less money to spend while they are shopping,” Pfeiffer said on Fox News Sunday today. “So, that does have an impact on the economy. There’s no question about that.” http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-advisor-payroll-tax-increase-is-hurting-americans/article/2526477?custom_click=rss
TOP TEN INDICATORS THAT YOUR EMPLOYER HAS CHANGED TO OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE PLAN: Home - by Cardigan - May 9, 2013 - 22:15 America/New_York - 19 Comments h/t Cracker Annie 100 Percent FED Up 10. Your annual breast exam is done at Hooters. 9. Directions to your doctor’s office include “Take a left when you enter the trailer park.” 8. The tongue depressors taste faintly of Fudgesicles. 7. The only proctologist in the plan is “Gus” from Roto-Rooter. 6. The only item listed under Preventative Care Coverage is “an apple a day.” 5. Your primary care physician is wearing the pants you gave to Goodwill last month. 4. “The patient is responsible for 200% of out-of-network charges,” is not a typographical error. 3. The only expense covered 100% is…. “Embalming.” 2. Your Prozac comes in different colors with little M’s on them. AND THE NUMBER ONE SIGN YOU’VE JOINED OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE PLAN: 1. You ask for Viagra, and they give you a Popsicle stick and duct tape! Read more at http://iowntheworld.com/blog/#Ql3OW1Q5I0lbeyYw.99
Obamacare To Increase Premiums By 88% In Ohio… Via Forbes: Democrats continue to try to dismiss the evidence that Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of insurance for people who buy it on their own. But on Thursday, the Ohio Department of Insurance announced that, based on the rates submitted by insurers to date, the average individual-market health insurance premium in 2014 will come in around $420, “representing an increase of 88 percent” relative to 2013. “We have warned of these increases,” said Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor in a statement. “Consumers will have fewer choices and pay much higher premiums for their health insurance starting in 2014.” The rates that Ohio reported are proposed rates; the Department of Insurance still has to formally approve them. “A total of 14 companies proposed rates for 214 plans to the Department. Projected costs from the companies for providing coverage for the required [by Obamacare] essential health benefits ranged from $282.51 to $577.40 for individual health insurance plans.”
Democratic Convention Organizers Inflate Cost Of Lost Electronics, Claim $500,000 How do we even know any electronics were even lost? Likely this is inflated for insurance report. Sounds like someone should go to jail for fraud and filing a false police report. Via ABC: The Democratic National Convention may be long over, but its organizers have not forgotten the almost half a million dollars worth of electronics they seem to have lost. Organizers of the Charlotte, N.C., convention have filed a police report for lost and stolen electronics, some of which they have valued at as much as 62 times the listed market prices. A reportedly stolen 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop? $75,537. The price listed on the Apple website is $1,199. A lost iPhone? $30,503. A lost Blackberry? $54,250. Other items reported to have gone missing at the convention included two iPads worth around $15,000 each, laptops listed at $40,000, $34,000 and $25,000 each, and other miscellaneous items worth far more than their list price. The report claims that 40 items were reported lost and one item – the most highly valued one, the $75,000 MacBook Pro – was stolen. The inflated prices were reported in May with the Charlotte Police Department by Kenneth Hardy, deputy in-house counsel for the Democratic National Convention Committee, on behalf of the DNCC Host Committee. The report was filed almost eight months after the convention, when the losses supposedly took place. The cost of the 41 missing electronics totaled $465,142.97, according to the police report. That averaged $11,344 per item. Calls to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for comment on the report were not returned. The DNC did not respond to request for comment. Attended by thousands, the convention is held every four years to nominate the presidential and vice presidential candidates and establish a party platform.
I'll sell them all the items stolen at half the price they valued them at - call it 250k. I'll don't mind sacrificing for the good of the country. :roll:
Obamanomics: First Quarter GDP Growth Revised Down To A Scant 1.8%… What a mess. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Uh-oh. The U.S. economy suddenly looks weaker, after the government revised its data for the first quarter. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — rose at a mere 1.8% annual pace between January and March, marking a sharp downward revision from the 2.4% pace reported by the Commerce Department last month. The government revises its GDP figures several times, but economists weren’t expecting such a dramatic change from the third estimate. “This was certainly unexpected and, I believe, rare,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, referring to the revision. The weaker figures came primarily from revisions to consumer spending, exports and commercial real estate.
Obamanomics: 54 Straight Months Of Unemployment At 7.5% Or Higher… And the jobs that are being created are crappy low-paying and part time work. (CNSNews.com) – Since January 2009, when Barack Obama was inaugurated as president, the United States has seen 54 straight months with the unemployment rate at 7.5 percent or higher, which is the longest stretch of unemployment at or above that rate since 1948, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics started calculating the national unemployment rate. Today, BLS reported that the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate for June was 7.6 percent, the same it was in May. In December 2008, the month after Obama was first elected and the month before he was inaugurated, unemployment was 7.3 percent. In January 2009, it climbed to 7.8 percent. In February, the month Obama signed what the Congressional Budget Office would later determine was an $830 billion economic stimulus law, the unemployment rate climbed to 8.3 percent. In the Obama era, the unemployment rate peaked at 10.0 percent in October 2010. It did not dip below 9 percent until October 2011, when it hit 8.9 percent. From August to September 2012, it dropped from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent—the first time during Obama’s tenure it went under 8 percent. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/54-months-record-stretch-75-unemployment-continues
Summer Of Recovery: Obama Embarks On Yet Another “Jobs Tour”… Apparently Dear Leader thinks endless speeches are the key to jumpstarting a floundering economy. WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit an Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Tuesday as part of his national jobs tour, according to the White House. As he tries to sell his economic proposals to the American public, the president will deliver a speech at the massive, 2-year-old facility to outline his “better bargain for the middle class.” A leading theme of the speech will be high-paying jobs. An Amazon fulfillment center is a logical venue for the president to talk about job growth. To meet growing demand, the company just announced that it would be adding 5,000 new jobs at its warehouses nationally, expanding on a current workforce of 20,000. But when it comes to the topic of job quality, any genuine discussion would require some scrutiny of the president’s host. While there are middle-class jobs to be found inside retail warehouses like Amazon’s, lawsuits and recent investigative reports have shown that there’s a good deal of low-paying and highly unstable temporary jobs, too. Like other major retailers, including Wal-mart, Amazon relies on temp workers inside its warehouses to keep labor costs down. Now common throughout the logistics industry, this practice has helped create a two-tiered work system inside the U.S. retail supply chain.
CBO: White House Delaying Obamacare’s Employer Mandate To Cost Government $12 Billion… The train wreck continues. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s decision to delay implementation of part of his healthcare reform law will cost $12 billion and leave a million fewer Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance in 2014, congressional researchers said Tuesday. The report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is the first authoritative estimate of the human and fiscal cost from the administration’s unexpected one-year delay announced July 2 of the employer mandate – a requirement for larger businesses to provide health coverage for their workers or pay a penalty. The analysts said the delay will add to the cost of “Obamacare’s” insurance-coverage provisions over the next 10 years. Penalties paid by employers would be lower and more individuals who otherwise might have had employer coverage will need federal insurance subsidies.