Since when did everything wrong become right?

Preacher Arrested for Calling Homosexuality a Sin

By Todd Starnes
An American evangelist said he was arrested and interrogated about his Christian faith after he was caught on a London sidewalk preaching that homosexuality is a sin.
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Tony Miano, a retired deputy sheriff and former chaplain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., was charged with “using homophobic speech that could cause people anxiety, distress, alarm or insult.”
Miano had been preaching on a London street corner during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships with a ministry group called Sports Fan Outreach International.

British police prepare to arrest American Evangelist Tony Miano.

He was preaching about immoral living – and cited homosexuality as an example of lifestyle choices that are contrary to biblical teaching.
“I never used any gay slurs,” he said. “You would never hear me using slang or discriminatory language against homosexuals or any other group. That would be contrary to my faith.”
At some point, the evangelist quoted I Thessalonians 4:1-2 – a passage of scripture that mentions sexual immorality.
“I talked about women addicted to romance novels, men addicted to pornography, people with lustful thoughts, heterosexual fornication and homosexuality,” Miano told Fox News. “When I mentioned that the Bible was clear that homosexuality is a sin, a lady walked by and she glared at me and hurled the f-bomb.”
Miano said the woman came back a short time later and began to videotape his sidewalk sermon. Then, she called the police.
“They were concerned about homophobic speech,” he said. “But I told them I don’t fear homosexuals. The language I used was not homophobic, as I was not promoting fear or hatred of homosexuals.”
Miano said he did not limit his remarks to homosexual acts.
“I did not speak solely about homosexuality as a form of sexual immorality but also about any kind of sex outside marriage between one man and one woman, as well as lustful thoughts,” he said. “All of these are considered mainstream Christian positions and have been taught and believed by Christians for thousands of years.”
Police took the retired deputy sheriff to a nearby jail where he was fingerprinted. Officers also took a sample of his DNA and then he was interrogated.
“It was very distressing to be arrested and interrogated for openly expressing my deeply held Christian beliefs,” he said.
According to a transcript of the interrogation provided to Fox News, the officers asked if he really believed homosexuality is a sin. He was also asked whether he would help a homosexual who requested a favor.

• READ A TRANSCRIPT OF THE POLICE INTERROGATION. CLICK HERE

“I was made to feel that my thoughts could be held against me,” he said. “The detective also asked me if I thought I was 100 percent right in what I had done. I said yes.”
Miano said he would gladly offer assistance to a homosexual.
“The Christian faith is dictated by the two greatest commandments – to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor,” he said. “As such, I am compelled to love all people. Had a gay come up and asked me for something to eat, I would have fed him.”
But what troubled Miano is the idea that a hypothetical situation could have been used against him in court.
“I was actually going to be tried for how I thought,” he said.
In an ironic twist, the officers made arrangements to provide the evangelist with a Bible to read in jail – the same book that led to his arrest.
“The same book I read from in public which resulted in my arrest, was now the same book the police were giving to provide me comfort,” he said.
Miano, who is a member of the Evangelical Free Church, has been open-air preaching for eight years. He said this is the first time he’s been arrested.
“It was a rather surreal experience,” the retired deputy sheriff said. “I’ve conducted many interrogations but I’ve never been the subject of one.”
Miano spent about seven hours in jail before he was released without explanation and without an apology.
Now back home in Southern California, Miano said he fears that what happened in Great Britain could soon happen in the United States.
“I believe that’s what our government is going to eventually do here,” he said. “I believe homosexuals or others who are sensitive to their point of view will be visiting churches to listen to what preachers say from the pulpit. And I believe that pastors will be arrested in their pulpits for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality and other sins.”
Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the British Christian Legal Centre echoed those concerns.
“It’s clear that there is already a clamp down on freedom of speech where people publicly express mainstream Christian views on sexual ethics,” he said.
Watch the sermon that got the evangelist arrested. Police arrive at approximately the 25:40 mark:

obamacare

Obama Scorecard

Obamacare Rule to Verify Income Levels Is Scrapped

The Obama administration has scaled back another of its key healthcare rules, delaying a requirement that verifies the income levels of those seeking taxpayer subsidies until after the 2014 midterm elections.

Instead, the new insurance marketplaces operated by states and the District of Columbia will take the consumer's word that they qualify for the subsidies, The Washington Post reported.

Editor's Note: Should ObamaCare Be Repealed? Vote in Urgent National Poll

The announcement came on Friday without fanfare with the Department of Health and Human Services publishing the notification in the Federal Register.

Verification plans for the taxpayer subsidies won't go into effect until 2015 for those earning about $45,000 to purchase health insurance, or earning $15,000 to qualify for Medicaid in the District and 23 participating states.

The move comes days after another Obamacare snag was announced on Wednesday when the administration delayed until 2015 the employer mandate that required businesses with more than 50 full-time workers to pay stiff fines for failing to providing insurance.

"As crunch time is coming, they're just muddling through and figuring out short cuts," said Ian Spatz, a senior adviser at Manatt Health Solutions, told The Post. "It might not be elegant, but this is how they're trying to make the law work."

Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and a consumer advocate, said it's not unprecedented for the government to use the honor system, and compared it to reporting cash tips to the Internal Revenue Service.

"An awful lot of the economy is a cash economy,” Jost said. "If we had to verify every statement that was made to the IRS, our economy would collapse."

The announcement on Friday -- at the end of the Fourth of July holiday – is a recurring tactic for the Obama administration to deliver information likely to be criticized by Republicans or the media.

Friday nights often became the preferred timeline for massive document dumps when Congress was investigating the Justice Department for the "Fast and Furious" scandal, Politico reported.

Editor's Note: Should ObamaCare Be Repealed? Vote in Urgent National Poll

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obamacare-income-levels-federal/2013/07/07/id/513650?s=al&promo_code=1413A-1#ixzz2YPZX9kkc
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!

A letter to America. We will never neglect you again.

My Dearest America,
I write to you today with great remorse but also unrelenting pride. Remorse, because of what we have allowed to befall you. Pride, because I know we as proud citizens will correct that which has allowed this.
Your magnificent splendor has awed us as no other nation in the world. From your snow-capped mountains to your fertile plains, you have been unselfish in giving of your bounty. From one grand ocean to another your beauty has been captivating and inspiring. Your unassuming nature has been humbling.
On that fateful fourth day of July 237 years ago, you were born under the proud and watchful gaze of 56 men who put Country before self. With their signatures they bestowed upon not only us, but the entire world, one of the most beautiful documents ever written on a single parchment. The Declaration of Independence stands alone as the direction of the free world.
From your infancy you struggled. As you grew you carried the burden of that freedom on your shoulders as no nation before or since, yet you never faltered or complained. A little more than 8 years later your burden was eased when 55 men once again joined to create the most revered Constitution in history. On a mere four pages they created the Supreme Law under which we have lived freely since.
A list of Rights was subsequently added and accepted not from men or Kings, but from our Creator. Embracing freedom you have proudly declared, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, to any and all people of the world.
Your Founding Fathers were common men of simple and honorable means. Their purpose was not fame or notoriety, they knew not what the future held for you, rather it was to forge the direction so needed back then. They did not wish you to be an egalitarian state nor did they want an all powerful government from which they initially fled. They were reverent yet not assuming, they were humble yet confident, they were the truest of Patriots.
They opposed, with dedication and strength, the pretended authority of intrusive government and accepted with trust the Creators guidance. All the while they defined and affirmed the legal basis of State Sovereignty.
These men bravely and honorably accepted their challenge and many made ultimate sacrifices during wars and revolution in order to preserve their beliefs for your legality.
Created as a Federal Constitutional Republic did not, however, prevent many from conspiring tyranny against you. Against many odds and obstacles you have survived. We now find ourselves at the doorstep of a “fundamental transformation” of your sovereignty. An attempt at socializing your justice and dissecting your individualism into a collective that breeches your very foundation is being deviously attempted.
 We The People have neglected our responsibility to preserve your unselfishness of Liberty, Justice and Freedom. We held these truths to be self evident yet we allowed them to be corrupted by the very people we honored with our most powerful weapon, our vote.
We have shown that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right ourselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. This is our tragedy and our shame. We have, over the course of many decades, allowed ourselves to become preoccupied with our own needs rather than preserving yours. We have become selfish, as you stood proudly against Despotism for centuries, and have allowed your freedom to be challenged. For this we beg your and God’s forgiveness.
We have realized the error of our ways. We realize now that those that we favored with preserving our Rights have been deviant in their intentions and advantageous in their benefit against our wishes. Our preoccupation of attaining your greatest gift to us, the ”American Dream”, has created a horrible disconnect with our true duty, the securing of your most important merits of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
We now prostrate ourselves before you and humbly deliver that we will never allow ourselves to neglect our solemn duty to you again. We have declared a movement, a revolution if you would, to once again restore you to your rightful and proper place as “The Shining City On The Hill”. A Nation that is not to be envied, but rather to be looked upon and replicated on other lands. Replicated because we have accepted it as the way every man, woman and child was intended to live, as free people, as directed by our Creator, not men.
We solemnly offer that we will return to the intended regard of social, moral and spiritual beliefs that created your magnificence. We will wrap these beliefs around our core values of Constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility and free market principles.
We understand these were, are and will be guaranteed not just to us but to our progeny as our Founders and ancestors demanded. We accept that many have suffered the ultimate sacrifice to maintain your freedom, we shall never allow that to be dismissed from your history and legacy. We promise to never again assume the power of our vote, but rather to cherish it as our Patriotic duty to restore our government to its intended purpose.
America, we will never neglect you again. Your exceptional place in the world must be maintained and we humbly submit our dedication to that cause.
We will not disappoint.
We will not falter.
You will survive.
God Bless You and all that you stand for.

Patriotically Yours,


We The People of the United States of America

Key Obamacare Mandate Delayed; GOP Renews Call for Repeal

The Obama administration’s move to delay until 2015 a requirement that employers offer health insurance or else face stiff penalties is yet another indication that the embattled law is a failure and should be repealed, Republicans and conservatives said on Tuesday.

"The president's healthcare law is already raising costs and costing jobs,” House Speaker John Boehner said. “This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the ‘train wreck’ will only get worse.

Obamacare: Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013

“I hope the administration recognizes the need to release American families from the mandates of this law as well,” the Ohio Republican said. “This is a clear acknowledgment that the law is unworkable, and it underscores the need to repeal the law and replace it with effective, patient-centered reforms."

“Obamacare costs too much and it isn't working the way the administration promised,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “The White House seems to slowly be admitting what Americans already know: Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced with common-sense reforms that actually lowers costs for Americans."

And Barney Keller, spokesman for the Club for Growth, called the delay “a transparently political ploy to help the Democrats who voted for it avoid the consequences at the ballot box in 2014. This just helps make the case that Obamacare should be completely repealed — period, exclamation point.”

On Tuesday, the White House made its most significant concession on the healthcare law since President Barack Obama signed it in 2010, delaying the requirement that medium and large companies provide coverage for their workers or face heavy fines.

The law requires companies with 50 or more workers to provide affordable coverage to their full-time employees or risk escalating tax penalties if just one worker ends up getting government-subsidized insurance.

Companies would have had to pay the Internal Revenue Service $2,000 for each full-time employee who did not get health coverage, beginning Jan. 1, when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was scheduled to take full effect.

Business groups have complained that the provision was too complicated.

"We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively," Treasury Assistant Secretary Mark Mazur said in a blog post. "We have listened to your feedback and we are taking action."

Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett cast the decision as part of an effort to simplify Obamacare’s data-reporting requirements.

Since enforcing the coverage mandate is dependent on businesses reporting about their workers' access to insurance, the administration moved to postpone the reporting requirement, and with it, the mandate to provide coverage, Jarrett said.

More broadly, however, the decision undercuts Republican efforts to make Obamacare and its costs a major issue in the 2014 congressional races.

Democrats are defending 21 Senate seats to the Republicans’ 14, and the GOP had already started to excoriate Senate Democrats who had voted for the health law.

“A delay — conveniently past the 2014 election — only adds to the uncertainty these job-creators face because of Obamacare," said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “The only reasonable recourse is to fully repeal this law.”

Tuesday’s decision underscores yet another problem facing the troubled healthcare law.

Obamacare: Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013

Just last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that religious-affiliated, nonprofit institutions must provide insurance coverage for their employees for birth control under Obamacare. The decision ensured more legal challenges to the rule in the future.

In fact, Sebelius herself has been under fire for soliciting donations on behalf of Enroll America, the group made up of Obama campaign loyalists seeking to promote the healthcare law.

Related: NFL Contradicts Sebelius on Help to Promote Obamacare

The IRS, which is charged with implementing Obamacare, remains under fire for widespread mismanagement and for the targeting of tea party, conservative, and religious groups in evaluating their applications for tax-exempt status.

And the American Action Forum, a Washington advocacy group, said that Obamacare had so far cost a total of $30.8 billion and 111.4 million hours for completing paperwork alone.

The group said 55,742 employees — working 2,000 hours per year — would be needed to process all the red tape associated with Obamacare.

While the employer mandate was delayed with Tuesday’s announcement, the individual mandate — which requires individuals to obtain health insurance — presumably remains on schedule for 2014.

The individual mandate was challenged — and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the healthcare law was constitutional since the penalty would be collected by the IRS and amounted to a tax.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration also still plans to open up a new marketplace for government-regulated insurance plans on Oct. 1, to take effect on Jan. 1. And a sprawling set of subsidies would also remain in place.

The delay of the employer mandate, though, raises questions about whether more elements of the law might be delayed in the coming months.

Even though Tuesday’s announcement came at the beginning of the Fourth of July week when Congress was on vacation, GOP legislators and conservative groups responded strongly to the decision.

“Obamacare's expense is killing jobs and is too great for businesses to handle,” said Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is a physician in Louisiana. “This delay in implementing the employer mandate acknowledges this while encouraging employers to drop insurance coverage for their employees. Taxpayers will pay more and deficits will increase.

“We must replace Obamacare with patient-centered reforms that expand healthcare access without destroying jobs,” Cassidy said.

Another physician, Georgia Rep. Tom Price, called Obamacare “too overreaching, too intrusive, too unworkable and too destructive to the American people.

“If they can't manage to enforce their own law after three years of preparation, what does this say about their ability to actually deliver health care?” Price asked.

“The employer mandate will destroy jobs, regardless of when it's implemented,” said Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “If anything, this decision exacerbates the confusion and uncertainty employers face.

“Jobs are already being lost and workers' hours slashed because of the president's healthcare law,” Kline added. “No amount of bureaucratic tinkering can ease the pain Obamacare is inflicting on our nation's workplaces.

“America's workers, families, and job-creators deserve permanent relief from Obamacare — not a one-year reprieve.”

And Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, told Newsmax: “It is increasingly obvious that the Obama Administration is nowhere near ready to deal with the countless negative consequences their own law creates.

“The delay amounts to an admission that forcing small businesses to comply with more onerous regulations only hurts jobs and slows the economy.”

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obamacare-delay-mandate/2013/07/02/id/513110?s=al&promo_code=140A9-1#ixzz2XyTA0hxw
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!

Devouring Paula Deen

Timothy Birdnow

The big "people" story of the news cycle is the firing of Paula "hiw wife could eat no lean" Deen, former doyen of the Food Network. Deen was fired ostensibly for making racial slurs in the past. I think the Paula Deen, the queen of non-lean, was really sacked because of racial profiling and her steadfast refusal to promote the modern Progressive diet.
First let us look at Deen herself (I might add I have never seen her except in the few photographs the media has run in response to this controversy, and I have never seen her show.)  An old white woman from the deep South, Deen is known as a devout Baptist - something guaranteed to raise liberal hackles. She is also unapologetic about her Georgian roots. To liberals, that means she is de-facto a foul person.

And she cooks with salt, sugar, and fat, lots of it, in the old Southern tradition.

This caused a major controversy when she admitted she was a diabetic.

Deen then monetized her diabetes, becoming a paid spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical firm that makes diabetes medicine. Deen continued to make her signiature dishes, which enraged the food Nazis.

Michelle Obama has made changing the American diet her signature issue, but this sort of thing has been going on for a long time. The Left has always hated the American diet because it illustrates our wealth and privilege, and because they want an international diet that all people will be forced to consume. See, what the Left is trying to do is weaken sectional cultures - particularly America's - and create a new world culture to bond the public to a sense of world citizenship. That is part of why they are so vigorous in promoting amnesty for illegal aliens; they want an internationalizing of America's culture. A big part of culture is cuisine.

I wrote about this a number of years ago at American Thinker. http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/wheres_the_beef.html

The venom against Mrs. Deen by the Left is proof-positive she is upsetting their carefully laid plans; when they all jump on board with a hate campaign against someone it is because that person is a threat to them. Paula Deen probably can't understand this; she doesn't know what she has done wrong. But it is because Mooch Obama has been moving ahead with plans to restrict America's diet (as Nanny Bloomberg has already done in New York City) and Deen's popularity and antiquated cooking style pose a direct challenge to their plans.

But they couldn't bring her down over the diabetes, nor over her success at making money off of it, so they had to find a plan B.

Now, Paula Deen is from the old South, where the N word was not abbreviated nor was it necessarily considered a pejorative. (In point of fact, blacks today call themselves that, and if anyone remembers Trayvon Martin called himself the "no limits N***er").  Had Deen NOT used that word on occasion she would have been quite odd, just as someone who calls doesn't call them "illegal immigrants" but invaders is odd today. After all, the word means dark, hardly a pejorative. It has become taboo as a direct result of the labors of the Progressives during the '70's. That she should slip up and use such a word is not surprising given her early life.

But you cannot violate a liberal taboo. The Left has made the foulest of sexual language acceptable up to and including calling someone a female parent copulator, and the most vile of profanity is considered merely colorful invective.

Change the language and you change the culture. The Left has successfully done just that. What was a racial description that some found offensive is now taboo, while what were taboo words reserved for sailors and prostitutes is now mainstream. Please notice; the coarsening of sexual language fits with the liberal free love/sexual revolution movement. To get people to accept any and all sex, public and private, they have removed the taboo of sexual language. But they have added a taboo; terms such as "queer" or "faggot" have now become taboo (unless you are Alec Baldwin).

The liberal sense of freedom is reserved for what they themselves seek to promote.

And so this older white woman handed them the tool to promote her destruction.

But why should that be? What she has done is certainly far less egregious than, say, the anal raping of a little girl, yet many on the Left pushed for amnesty for Roman Polanski, who did precisely that. So it is o.k. to rape a little girl but not say "n***er"?  They offer forgiveness for a degenerate like Polanski but not for a God-fearing woman?

This goes back to Saul Alinski rule number 4 "make your enemies live up to their own rulebook". Paul Deen didn't KNOW she was their enemy, but she has been mugged just the same, because she is a professing christian who may have fallen short. Not Polanski short, but short enough that the Left could crush her.

Consider the foul things that so many liberals have done and the Progressives have excused. Bill Clinton has been credibly accused of rape, and certainly used his authority to compel women to sexual favors. He also committed perjury and obstructed justice. No big deal!  Nothing to see here!  Consider Anthony Weiner, who is running for elective office in New York yet again and will probably win. Consider Barney Frank's live-in lover was running a house of ill-repute out of his home; no big deal!  Consider Al Sharpton, who has done all manner of evil things including his promotion of the Tawana Brawley lie and his part in numerous shakedowns and in stirring up violence in the black community; he is rewarded with his own television show. The list goes on and on.

Yet Paula Deen must be destroyed.

It’s all about Barack Obama’s promise of fundamental change; what we eat, how we live, who we idolize, how we speak, how we think - all must be fundamentally altered if we are to create the New Man, one fit for our socialist utopia.

The double standard is stark. When Barack Obama needs to get out the black vote his people find an obscure non-case involving a "white hispanic" shooting a "no limits N***er" after nearly getting his hand smashed in, and they run the poor man through a farcical trial. George Zimmerman will never be free of this incident, yet he clearly was the victim here, the victim of a thug who hated white people and enjoyed fighting "MMA style". But Zimmerman had a political role to play, and so was sacrificed on the alter of Obama. The same is true of Paula Deen, who stands in the way of Mrs. Obama's personal deification.

This is indicative of the Progressive mindset. They do not believe in God, or at least not in a God as we have traditionally understood Him. People are widgets, like the part of a car, and if they are inconvenient or defective they are simply tossed aside. It is a particularly materialistic view of individuals. Leftism begets the worst sort of Macchiavellianism, because ends justify means. Paula Deen unwittingly stepped into the lion's den, and is now being devoured.

That is our future, folks, should we not stop the relentless advance of the Left.

Read more from Tim and friends at www.tbirdnow.mee.nu

Five Things You May Not Know About Obamacare

The health insurance marketplace – particularly for individuals – will look markedly different after Jan. 1, 2014, when key provisions of Obamacare will take effect. With such a complex piece of legislation, there are myriad unknowns, and the government is trying to get the word out before Oct. 1, when consumers can begin shopping for coverage on state- and federally run exchanges. The Obama administration on Monday launched a helpline and revamped its HealthCare.gov site. The NFL and the NBA have reportedly been approached by the administration to help pitch health insurance to the young and uninsured, and advocacy groups are working to educate consumers on their options in 2014.

There’s no way to tell now how well reform will work, but there are some trends – both positive and negative – we’re seeing already and expect to see when the law’s remaining provisions roll out.
1. Young, healthy adults won’t buy coverage
The Obama administration aims to enroll at least 2.7 million young adults – a group that’s historically been uninsured at higher rates than other age groups – through the exchanges for coverage in 2014. But there are indications that 20-somethings won’t be buying in and will instead opt to pay the penalty. (The penalty is $95 per person for 2014 or 1% of yearly income, whichever is higher. In 2016 it increases to 2.5% of income or $695.) Bailey comment: you will be paying this amount for the lazy non working people to get free insurance.
An ADP Research Institute report published this week found that, while health benefits eligibility declined slightly in every age group since 2010, younger workers faced the largest decrease (which may indicate their jobs were less likely to offer benefits). But the report also found that, even when employees under 30 were offered benefits, only half participated in their employer’s health program in 2013, a figure partly explained by the provision that allows those up to age 26 to get coverage through a parent’s plan.

Another potential hurdle: young adults’ increased use of retail health clinics. According to a Rand study that examined more than 1.3 million retail clinic visits, young adults (ages 18-44) accounted for 43% of retail clinic patients, compared to only 23% of patients who visit primary care physicians. Patients are also less likely to have a personal doctor or to pay for care with health insurance, the study found.

2. Uptick in early retirement

With health costs in retirement topping $200,000, according to some estimates, many Americans find they have to keep working just for the employer-sponsored insurance (workers can’t sign up for Medicare until age 65). According to a January report from the Employee Benefits Research Institute, 19% of retirees said they had worked longer than they would’ve liked to in order to continue receiving employer-sponsored insurance.

Currently, if you’re between 55 and 64 and you decide to retire, you have to buy insurance on your own. And right now in 45 states, you could be denied coverage based on your health status, says Jean Abraham, associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), consumers can’t be denied coverage if they have a pre-existing condition. They also can’t be charged more: If you’re in a particular age bracket – say, 60 to 64 – your premiums cannot vary by more than a certain amount from those charged to the youngest adults, says Abraham. In other words, high health costs won’t be a factor in keeping older workers tied to their desks when they’d otherwise retire.

3. Some people won’t find their current plans on exchanges

Beginning in 2014 insurance sold to individuals and small businesses on an exchange must be at one of four “actuarial value levels”: 60% (bronze plan), 70% (sliver), 80% (gold) and 90% (platinum). This means, for example, the bronze plan covers 60% of medical expenses. The higher the actuarial value, the lower the out-of-pocket costs and higher premiums paid by the consumer. So platinum plans would have the highest monthly premiums and lowest out-of-pocket costs, but the plan will pay more of the costs if you need a lot of medical care.
Most employer-sponsored plans sit in the 80% range of actuarial value, while in most states you can now find plans with a 50% actuarial value – below Obamacare’s minimum, Abraham says. Those plans won’t be available on the exchanges in 2014, and for some, “there will be higher premiums because they’re getting more coverage... It will force them to modify their choices,” she says.
4. Better hospital food

Banana-nut pancakes and rack of lamb for your hospital stay, courtesy of Obamacare? A Kaiser Health News and USA Today report this week found that hospital administrators are paying more attention to food service in an effort to boost patient satisfaction ratings. Under the ACA, since last year Medicare began paying hospitals based partly on their these ratings, essentially tying patients’ assessments on everything from room tidiness to nurse availability to payments. Medicare has been publishing patient-satisfaction scores on its Hospital Compare website since 2008, but hasn’t used them to adjust payments.

One patient at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, N.C., cited in Kaiser’s report raved, “The food is amazing,” while about 84% of Rex patients surveyed said they’d recommend the hospital, compared to 71% nationally, the Kaiser report said. While Medicare's surveys don’t ask specifically about food, Rex administrators attributed their better-than-average satisfaction rates to improved food.
5. Surprise tax bills

A key ACA provision provides tax credits to low- and middle-income consumers to help them purchase coverage on the exchanges. The subsidies are available to those with incomes of up to four times the federal poverty level – which this year is $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four. The lower your income, the bigger the subsidy. A potential snag is that eligibility for a subsidy can change year to year if your income fluctuates.

Consumers must estimate their 2014 income this fall when they sign up for coverage; the exchange will look at your most recently filed tax return (2012 for most people) as one sign of what your earnings may be in 2014, says Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
If you or your spouse gets a raise and your family income jumps in 2014, you could end up with a bigger subsidy than you’re entitled to. If that happens, the law says you have to pay back at least part of the money when you file your tax return in the spring of 2015. If your circumstances change midyear – say, you get a new job – you can go back to the exchange and correct your information and adjust your subsidy accordingly. Says Pollitz, “A big part of the trick will be how well people are counseled about all of this, and how well they remember [or are reminded] to come back to the exchange to report midyear changes that affect their subsidy entitlement."