Why Obamacare Is Failing

It's not for the reasons you may think.

Many may have heard in four or fives states the rates for payers may go up to 50% or more. What you may not have heard when all of the states are averaged together it's only a 11% increase. The other night I watched as one news host argued, that may be nice but what about those people in those four of five states?

That is a valid talking point but so too the reason why they're getting hosed. The architects who designed the program already anticipated there would be some states who would have more sick people sign up then healthy creating deficits for insurers offering Obamacare.

So What Went Wrong?It's when Republicans in Congress kicked the financial stool out from under the program in 2015 . "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) led a group of Senate and House Republicans having sought to prevent additional billions in funding for the so-called risk corridor program. It could also help cripple the national health insurance program Republicans have vowed to repeal and replace. Indeed, the tactic is having an effect as roughly half of the 23 non-profit insurance plans created under the 2011 Affordable Care Act at a cost of $2.4 billion have announced they will close their doors by the end of this year, largely because of inadequate compensation for unexpected losses."

And they're not done yet. "While GOP leaders have made threats in the past to use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare, Ryan is making it clear he plans to use it when it counts. If Donald Trump is elected president and Republicans hold onto Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan is bluntly promising to ram a partisan agenda through Capitol Hill next year, with Obamacare repeal and trillion-dollar tax cuts likely at the top of the list."

In short Congress sabotaged Obamacare by deliberately starving the program by not funding it the way it was designed. This because Congress (not the president) has the final say on the budget regarding who gets paid what. The previous Congress, president or any federal agency can pass anything they want, but if there's no funding provided all their actions become meaningless. Or as Newt Gingrich back in his day once said about the Social Security program, "let it whither on the vine".

Something to keep in mind since the next Congress could do the same thing to any program or agency they didn't like. For example The Department of Education, EPA, Medicare, Social Security, the Postal department, FDA or any of the other so-called entitlements many expressed disfavor with. All of these could be on the table. Some current off the wall representatives even suggested cutting off funds to the Whitehouse in opposition to Obama.

Some of this may sound too bizarre to happen but given today's politicians, the political climate and some of the way out comments made I wouldn't be too sure.

FINAL THOUGHTSPolitics at it's worse. Obamacare has had many wrinkles to be sure. But rather then cooperating to make it work the path chosen was to force it into failure. Before Obamacare many of these 11.7 million current enrollees didn't have any medical insurance at all. Does anyone seriously believe if Obamacare is taken away they somehow magically will? Who do you think is going to end up picking up the tab for the uninsured? The hospitals and doctors aren't going to eat the costs that's for sure.

Congress refuses to look for ways to reign in the cost of drugs. How much insurance can charge both to doctors & patients while still being able meet their profitably margins. Liability and other legal reforms. The medical device manufacturers and in a host of other areas which could lead to cost containment. They instead are taking the cowards way out by choosing to throw all of this back on us. It's crazy to think by forcing people to pay for themselves it will somehow bring down costs. It's didn't before Obamacare, why would it now?

Obamacare Facts.com
"A full repeal means doing away with all the reforms, not just subsidy spending"

Yahoo Emails Scanned For U.S. Intelligence

Yahoo secretly scanned customer emails for U.S. intelligence '
Joseph Menn | Reuters

"The company complied with a classified U.S. government demand, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI, said three former employees and a fourth person apprised of the events."

DUH !Does anyone really believe all providers don't. Nothing new to see here.

I can take you back the 40's or 50's when there were only five overseas cables. Western Union and the telephone providers were accused of monitoring them as well. There's nothing new about this.

No one should think for a minute anything they do via electronics in any form (smart TV's, cordless/smart phones, any of the social media sites etc.) whatsoever isn't being watched and hasn't been watched for decades.

Many moons ago I use to be a scanner and shortwave radio enthusiast. I subscribed to Bob Grove's magazine "Monitoring Times". Briefly stated he began by monitoring the FBI radios which brought the FBI to his home for questioning about his activities after a neighbor reported him. As he explained in one of his articles, anything that goes out over the airwaves as RF is susceptible to eavesdropping. All of this was long before the internet. Even though his magazine has ceased publication I'm certain what was said of wireless broadcasts could be equally applied to what the internet has become today.

When it comes to electronic communications it should be assumed where there's a will to eavesdrop there will always be a way. I don't think anyone should assume when they use any form of electronic communication their business is completely private. There are hackers who do it just for the hellva of it. Government enforcement who has their own concerns, legitimate and some not so legitimate businesses looking to make a buck.

So I see no reason why Yahoo users should get their panties in a bunch like this should come as a shock. There's nothing I ever emailed, posted or communicated that I didn't have this awareness in mind. Nor should anyone else who should be aware anything they say or do is vulnerable to those who are so inclined.

Throughout history anything written down or communicated in anyway whatsoever always has been vulnerable.

NO BIG DEAL.

Never Allow Direct Bill Pays

I've posted about this before. Never ever allow anyone direct payment access to any of your accounts.

L.A. Times:
Her DWP bill sent her to the emergency room"Bills from the LADWP usually run in the $500 range every two-month billing period But in July, she got one on steroids. It came to $12,836.31, and DWP included a notice along with the bill. If she didn’t pay up, her water service could be cut off.... In September, she got another surprise from DWP. This time the damage came to $16,988.62... nearly 12,000 gallons a day."

I've read another person wasn't aware her former wireless provider (she hadn't had for almost a year) continued to bill her credit card. The card was set up to auto pay. A few months ago a electric company was auto paid over $1,500 for a month's worth of electricity the family never used.

To make matters worse each of these incurred $30 fees for the overdrafts from the bank, another $30 by the companies plus assessed late penaltie$ because of the overdrafts they created. Some it took months, years. For others never at all to get things straightened out.

Ironically many of these same companies require extensive passwords to visit them luring people into believing this will somehow make them secure when it comes to viewing their own bills. I mean really, if someone wants to log into one of my bill providers to pay my bills for me go right ahead. It's another matter entirely for bill providers wanting to gain complete access to my private money funds. I remain dumbfounded why anyone would grant authorization to gain access to their accounts. Sounds an awful lot like a set of double standards to me.

I'd even go so far as to remind people of the well known phrase about a fool and their money. Only a dope would drop off a stack of signed blank checks putting them into someone else's hands. By authorizing auto pays it's doing the same dumb thing. Why anyone does this is beyond me.

To my way of thinking it's a money trap waiting to happen.

Emmaus Bans Candy Thrown In Parade

This is a good idea. I can't tell you the number of times I've held my breath when kids ran up all too close to the wheels of floats and other moving vehicles in a parade.

It's one thing for walkers who accompany these units to hand out stuff along side the curbs. Another to toss them off moving vehicles.

Kudos to Emmaus. Let's hope others will follow their example.

Not to be a party pooper, but could we kill these deafening sirens and air horns too?

They were designed to overcome blaring car radios and closed windows. Not blowing people's eardrums out ten feet away. Scares the crap out of some of these little kids too. Wouldn't a bunch of flashing lights be enough to entertain them?

Think About Getting A Flu Shot

It's that time of year again. Today I went to the CVS pharmacy for two shots. One for the flu. The other for pneumonia.

The CDC recommends flu shots not be given before October so they'll hopefully last the entire season. Neither which cost me under Medicare coverage.

When I called my doctor's office they told me they wouldn't do the one for pneumonia and prefer I do them both at the pharmacy. Now I know why. These vaccines are a bit more complicated when it comes to getting the right one.

Prevnar 13 is the one given to me today because I never had a shot for pneumonia before. After one year there's another called PPSV23 which covers a wider variety of pneumonias. Next year after that one is administered the CDC says it will last for five years.

Different strengths of flu shots vary with age. Higher doses of Fluzone is recommended for those over 65.

Hence not all doctors or public freebies may offer what's best recommended for certain age groups, individuals with other health conditions or those under 65 because of the various costs involved in the stocking each.

I'd highly recommend people get them at a pharmacy. Not only because of the lower cost outside of a doctor's office, but pharmacies can provide the exact one you need.

Either that or you can skip them and see how it goes for ya dollar wise depending whether or not ending up in a hospital.

Philippines Duterte to Obama: 'Go to Hell'

VOA News-- "The comments were in response to Western criticism of Manila's anti-drug campaign that has killed more than 3,000 people in three months... Duterte has repeatedly threatened to scale back his country's longstanding military cooperation with the U.S., saying he will move closer to Russia and China."

New York Daily News-- "... furious that the U.S. hasn’t helped in his mission to kill drug dealers and users. “So you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell.”... "Hitler massacred 3 million Jews,” he said Friday. “There's 3 million drug addicts. There are. I'd be happy to slaughter them."

I Say, Right Back Ya A-hole!I realize the civilian population may not feel this way, but they need to shut this guy up or pay the consequences. According to one set of figures in 2012 we gave the Philippines almost $200 million that year. For over 25 years we lent them money to buy military equipment (almost $66 million in 2016). According to Forbes.com-- "He didn’t name the countries but added that his defense secretary and “technical people” in the armed forces would visit China and Russia to “see what’s best,". This is the thanks we get !

I'm all for turning the other cheek but this is ridiculous. United States shouldn't let this jerk push us around while he sells out his country to the highest bidder over fears Russia or China will end up with this piece of dirt. No doubt many world leaders being called "the son of a whore" or being told to "go to hell" wouldn't stand for it. Neither should we.

I'm not saying we should go to war over it, but we sure as hell should cut them off immediately both financially and diplomatically until they apologize. I can't help but believe every other world leader watching this play out will think they too can kick our ass around if we don't react. If this guy thinks he'll get a better deal from Russia or China, go for it. See how that works out. When it doesn't don't come knocking on our door

We are the nation that recognized your independence and sovereignty since 1946 when we relinquished our rights to both of these. Ever since that time sending tons of money and support. Are we supposed to continue sending money while standing by saying nothing as this leader slaughters thousands of his people while insulting us? What kind of message does this send to other countries?

This ungrateful bastard needs to be sent and very clear message we won't stand for it. There's only such much mud we should allow to be rubbed in our face Hell knows we have our faults but in this case for all we've done for this country we don't deserve this kind of disrespect. If this doesn't trigger a reaction, what will?

This Blogger Not Just A One Trick Pony

Over the last several days I've posted a bunch of political stuff. In between I've paid attention to a bunch of other stuff which drew my interests.

I few weeks ago the family went on vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey.

Even though it's now into October on weekends a bunch still visit.

I've been checking out the live webcam feeds along the Jersey shore. While Ocean City still seems to remain quite active among tourists Wildwood, New Jersey not so much.




Another area of interest I have from time to time is in regards to near death experiences. Here's one of the more interesting ones I've read entitled Sixty years in heaven, thirty minutes earth time-- "... something else that might be hard to comprehend is that there is no such thing as time! Your life is happening all at once, meaning your past/ present/ future are all one bubble. It's our brain (filter) that makes this so-called time linear."









Before anyone is too quick to dismiss the idea there is a article entitled Quantum Experiment Shows How “Time” Doesn’t Exist As We Think It Does. And another entitled There is No Such Thing as Time - Never Was and Never Will Be: Time does not actually exist and Quantum Theory proves it.. Here's video concerning this...




Of course there's always my favorite YouTube music video playlists I'm constantly updating.





I'm also following Muhlenberg College's football season since the star quarterback and a few of his teammates are living next door. They're having a good season.


There's simply too many things that interest me to endlessly get bogged down with this political nonsense. Of course you wouldn't know it judging by my last few posts. To be quite frank, for the time being, politics has exhausted my focus on the importance of them. That's why I decided to post this to let everyone know you can't assume what I'll post about next.

There's simply too many other things worth paying attention to I'd like to get into. Hopefully you will stay tuned and come back to visit and see what they will be. Thanks.