Monthly Archives: November 2013

Negligence

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An Obama-administration official announced that the portion of the Healthcare.gov system that would allow users to pay insurance companies with marketplace subsidies will not be available for another two months.

And yet ObamaMart was rolled out 7 weeks ago, knowing this small component wasn’t ready.

A couple of possible outcomes: an insuree might show up at the doctor’s office—or hospital—and discover he owes full freight, even though he’d “successfully” signed up, subsidies and all.  Alternatively, an insuree might show up at the doctor’s office—or hospital—and discover he’s not covered at all, yet, even though he’d “successfully” signed up.

Indeed, Henry Chao, CMS’ Deputy Chief Information Officer, has already testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce that as much as 40% of the technical systems supporting ObamaMart aren’t even built.  That sample of missing parts includes security, in addition to this matter of payment.

Holy cats.

Some Lies of Obamacare

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It seems, now, that President Barack Obama’s administration knew of the potential for the ObamaMart failure as early as last March (but, no, not Obama himself; he only hears about things from the newspapers, not from anyone in his employ).  Then, apparently, they promptly lied about that potential ‘way back then.

Key administration officials at the White House and Department of Health and Human Services received briefings this past spring from McKinsey & Co, a private consulting firm that reviewed more than 200 documents and conducted interviews with HHS staff to identify potential problems before the Oct 1 rollout.

…including insufficient testing and evolving requirements. The report also warned that the program relied too heavily on outside contractors.

And

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Medicare Chief Marilyn Tavenner, and Gary Cohen, a Medicare and Medicaid oversight official, attended a briefing on the firm’s analysis on April 4[.]

Then

Sebelius testified at an oversight committee hearing two weeks after being briefed on the McKinsey report that the implementation of ObamaCare was on track[.]

The seeming lie nature of Sebelius’ testimony—certainly, problems identified in March could have been addressed by Rollout Date—is indicated by the fact that when Healthcare.gov ObamaMart launched, those problems, or problems very like those identified by McKinsey, remained in place, unresolved.

Mendacious Public “Service” Unions

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The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1028, which represents 1,300 employees of the Will County, IL, government, has taken its members out on strike.

The county offered to pay 90% of their health insurance costs along with a 14.5% pay increase.  This isn’t enough, though.  Anders Lindall, spokesman for AFSCME, objected: the pay raise is too little, and the 10% the union employees must pay for their health insurance is “double their current premiums.”

It’s “not fair.”

Cry me a river.

Free Speech, Progressive Style

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A day after he questioned President Obama’s decision to unwind a major tenet of the health-care law and said the nation’s capital might not go along, DC insurance commissioner William P White was fired.

White did acknowledge that the Deputy Mayor who fired him didn’t specifically lay the cause off to White’s reluctance to rubberstamp Obama, but the DM didn’t give any other reason, either.  And the timing of the firing is…curious.

In a statement White issued after Obama announced his ObamaFix, White said in part,

The action today undercuts the purpose of the exchanges, including the District’s DC Health Link, by creating exceptions that make it more difficult for them to operate[.]

A senior city official, carefully speaking only anonymously, said White’s statement should have been sent to Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins for prior approval first.  So, the DC Mayor reserves to himself the actions of DC Health Link and he reserves to himself authority for determining the validity and legality of insurance policies sold in the district—not the insurance commissioner’s office.

Yeah.  And if the political line isn’t toed, if the political, pre-written speech is not carefully recited, you’re out.

Hmm….

Free Speech, Belgian Style

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Didier Bellens, CEO of Belgacom (Belgium’s largest telecommunications company) has been fired.  He complained too much about government regulation and taxes.

As The Wall Street Journal described it,

Over the years, Mr Bellens has launched a number of broadsides against the government.  Friday’s dismissal comes after the latest attack, in which he asked a business club breakfast in the chic Brussels suburb of Uccle, “Who’s the worst shareholder?”  His answer: “The Belgian state.”

Yep.  The Belgian government owns 53.5% of Belgacom.  And the government disapproved of Bellens’ political—even business—speech.  Last Friday, Prime Minister Elio di Rupo fired Bellens, announcing

The repeated, accumulated outbursts have irreversibly damaged the confidence of the Belgian state in Mr Bellens[.]

There can’t even be an argument that Bellens hadn’t been performing up to snuff from a business perspective.  Stefaan Genoe, a telecommunications analyst at brokerage Petercam, had this about Bellens’ results:

Overall, Belgacom has evolved very well strategically during his tenure.  It has a very healthy balance sheet.

Dividends are still attractive, at 8 or 9%[.]

And the Progressives in our own government want to Europeanize us.

Hmm….