Friday, April 4, 2014

The Real Stinkburger Blue Plate Special

As the former deadline for signing up for Obamacare passed on March 31st and the White House could claim that 7.2 million Americans started applications on Healthcare.gov, the Obama Administration sought to celebrate. The Obama White House requested a prime-time slot slot to trumpet this achievement, but were roundly rejected by the television networks.  It is surprising that the lackey Lamestream Media did not consider this Obamacare announcement to be, in the words our national treasure Vice President Joe Biden, "a big f***ing deal."  So President Obama shared the news of supposedly achieving the magic mark

Still, President Obama was feeling full of himself when speaking the next day before students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After giving kudos to himself for the Obamacare achievement, Mr. Obama went on to characterize House Budget Chairman Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) ten year budget as a "stinkburger".




What a way to win friends and influence people! President Obama is such a leader that he can denigrate and punish his political enemies in a charming slight.  Hope that he does not need opposition support to legally enact any legislative initiatives during the remainder of his term.

However, when the golden propaganda is not laden on the serving of public policy, it calls into question what really is the stinkburger.

For example, the Obama Administration is content that 7.2 million people enrolled in Obamacare. But there are two problems with relying upon those statistics.  Simply because one started an application does not mean that one will enroll.  This is why the deadline has been extra-legally pushed backto April 15th if you say that you tried signing up before March 31st.  How apt!

Yet one is not actually enrolled until your first month's premium is cashed and 20% of those supposedly signed up are eloping from their efforts at Healthcare.gov.   Then there is the nasty reality coming from a Rand Corporation report that only 23% of Obamacare enrollees previously had no insurance (or 858,298 people).   Moreover, only 53% of previously uninsured individuals have paid for their insurance.

The real question are ratios of Obamacare signees, about which the Obama Administration is less than forthcoming, unlike the website log-ins.  As of January, only 24% of Obamacare enrollees were "young invincibles" between the age 26-34, well below the 40% considered necessary to make the system initially sustainable.  There is also a question about Medicare sign ups, who will receive heavily subsidized coverage.  In the first month of Obamacare open enrollment, 10% of the enrollees were Medicare clients. 

These ratio questions will be of paramount importance as insurance premiums for the second year are calculated.  If there are too many heavily subsidized participants, or not enough young invincibles to compensate for older Obamacare enrollees who need more costly medical care, then insurance rates will skyrocket.  However, the Obama Administration has given itself a delay in reporting 2015 premium increases until after the mid-term elections.  Is this a coincidence or more politically convenient?

Radio personality Chris Salcedo has long resorted to calling Resident Obama's (sic) Obamacare initiative as a crap sandwich.  After the gild of Obamacare propaganda is picked away, there is little doubt who is serving up the real stinkburger.



h/t: A.F. Branco

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