l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 by Jammie
They knew for months and did what they do best: They covered it up.
As far back as March, a top IT official at the Department of Health and
Human Services said the department’s current ambition for the law’s new
online insurance marketplaces was that they not be “a Third-World
experience.” Several provisions had already been abandoned in an effort to
simplify the administration’s task and maximize the chances that the new
systems would be ready to go live in October, when customers are supposed to
start signing up for insurance.
In April, several consultants focusing on the new online marketplaces,
known as exchanges, told National Journal that the idealized, seamless user
experience initially envisioned under the Affordable Care Act was no longer
possible, as the administration axed non-essential provisions that were too
complex to implement in time. (Read the story for some examples and
commentary.) That focus has intensified lately, as officials announced that
they would not be requiring employers to cover their workers next year or
states to verify residents’ incomes before signing them up for insurance.
Remember last week when Obama’s slobbering media sycophants told us what a
brilliant political move this was? Yeah, about that:
And whatever the bad politics of the recent announcements, a failure of
crucial systems next year would be much worse for the president and
Democrats running in 2014. “I continue to see the federal government
focusing on mission critical issues, and moving forward on them, and
jettisoning to the extent they have to the things that aren’t mission
critical,” says Joel Ario, a Managing Director at Mannatt Health Solutions,
a consultancy, and the administration’s former top exchange official. “I
have not heard anything that suggests to me that we will not move forward
with the main exchange functions in time.”
It’s gotten so bad that the floundering Obama may soon determine that his
popularity will increase if he scuttles this monstrosity altogether. He’s
always looking out for himself, so don’t be surprised if he proposes
postponing this mess until he’s out of office. By the way, what would the
media coverage had been like if President Romney postponed things?
“President Romney is openly defying the laws of the United States that
he swore an oath to faithfully execute,” said the leader of an umbrella
liberal interest group that was formed to promote the Affordable Care Act.
“Arbitrarily letting employers off the hook for providing health care is
not just illegal, but it’s deadly for Americans who are counting that
coverage.”
That umbrella advocacy group, several major national labor unions, and
14 smaller advocacy groups filed a lawsuit last week in the D.C. Circuit
seeking an emergency injunction forcing the Romney administration to enforce
the law. The groups are also staging a 24-7 protest in Lafayette Square
across from the White House under a large banner reading: “Romney Is Not
Above the Law.” A significant number of protesters are calling for the
president’s impeachment over the issue.
Refusing to back down, the Romney administration made a move to suspend
enforcement of other major requirements of the law late last week, this time
the verification requirements intended to ensure that only qualified
individuals receive affordability tax credits for the purchase of insurance
plans on the new Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges.
Eligibility will instead be on “the honor system.”
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act objected that the move would
benefit large insurance companies at the expense of vulnerable individuals
the law was intended to help. “These tax credits are paid directly to the
giant insurance companies, but if they are later determined to be erroneous
then individuals are on the hook to pay back thousands of dollars to the IRS
,” said a liberal interest group leader. “Without verification procedures,
the biggest corporations are reaping billions in subsidies but the regular
Americans this law was supposed to help can be pushed into bankruptcy.”
Democrats in Congress accuse President Romney of breaking the law. “The
Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, whether Mr. Romney likes it or
not,” said the House Democratic leader. “We are confident that the courts
will find the president’s lawless decision to let the largest employers off
the hook for paying even a portion of the health care costs for their
workers to be illegal.”
There would be nonstop media hysteria. But when their man Barack does it, it
’s deviously brilliant.
Harm to health care, interrupted health insurance, bigger federal
deficits, and brazen disregard for the law of the land sounds like a bad
idea. Why do it?
Politics. Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running
against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across
the land. Explaining away the mandate was going to be a big political lift;
having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better.
It helps with ObamaCare in other ways as well. The administration was
flailing to find high-profile allies (e.g., the National Football League) to
advertise the wonders of ObamaCare. In a single masterstroke it has given
every company a reason to explain its existence (“don’t worry, you’ll be
fine in the exchanges”) and created a de facto advertising campaign of
enormous scale and reach. Deviously brilliant.
Pathetically, now the White House is weakly claiming the postponement is the
right thing to do. Killing it altogether would be even more right. |
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