Sen. Rubio, Strong Opponent Of Obamacare, On The Defensive After Signing Up Family

Confronted by a reporter and camera crew from the Miami Herald on Monday, Republican Senator Mario Rubio defended himself over having signed up his family for the new federal health care coverage.
“I don’t endorse Obamacare,” Rubio said, responding to a statement by the Democratic former Florida governor Charlie Crist, saying, “Rubio’s endorsement of Obamacare for his own family should end the rhetoric” against the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s an [employer] contribution. It’s available to every employee of the federal government.”

- Sen. Rubio, of the $10,000 Obamacare subsidy

Rubio pointed out that, under the law, congressmen are required to register. “I much rather would have a vibrant private market where individuals like myself and others can buy health insurance from any company that will sell it to us,” he added.
Rubio, who voted against Obamacare and has aspirations for the 2016 presidential campaign, is also under fire for having registered via the congressional exchange rather than his home state’s exchange, in the process accepting a $10,000 subsidy that many conservatives are rejecting as a “special deal.”
“It’s an [employer] contribution,” Rubio told the Herald. “It’s available to every employee of the federal government.”
Others have shied away from the subsidy to insulate themselves from political attacks that Congress enjoys a special perk under Obamacare.
So far, about 10 senators – the bulk of them Democrats facing difficult re-election campaigns in 2014 - and a handful of representatives have rejected or avoided receiving the annual subsidy.
The most recent elected official to decline the subsidy was Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who issued a press release last week reading, “I don’t think members of Congress should get a special deal. Obamacare is being pushed on the American people and we should live under it just like everyone else.”

ObamaCare may hit smokers, obese

     A HEALTHCARE WORKERS union official says that people with conditions penalized by wellness programs, like smoking or obesity, may be forced by their employers to pay much more for their health insurance under ObamaCare.

GOP BUDGET CUTTER

Obama has yet to enroll in health insurance under Affordable Care Act

The White House said Monday that President Obama has yet to sign up for health insurance through a federal website created by his signature health care law.
“The president will purchase insurance on the exchanges,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “When we have an update on that, we’ll provide it to you.”
Carney, who has been asked about the president's plans at least once since enrollment in ObamaCare started Oct. 1, pointed out the deadline is not until March 31.
Obama is not required to enroll through an online exchange like members of Congress and staffers who want to keep insurance through their employer, the federal government.
Republicans and other critics of ObamaCare were quick to criticize the president, considering enrollment is behind projections, largely because of glitches on the HealthCare.gov and some state-run exchanges.
"It must be a technical problem, because surely the president can afford the higher costs he’ll have to pay," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

Thousands of ObamaCare web purchases not recorded, incorrect

The Obama administration acknowledged this weekend that the federal ObamaCare website failed to record insurance-policy purchases for as many as 15,000 Americans.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Saturday said the transactions were either not recorded or had errors and attributed the problem to “larger technical system issues.”
Agency spokeswoman Julie Bataille said the so-called “834 transaction forms” are processed by health insurance companies when consumers choose a policy on the site, which has been plagued by technical glitches since enrollment started in October.
“As the technical improvements to HealthCare.gov continue making a difference to consumers using the website, our attention remains on addressing issues with the more ‘back end’ parts of the system,” she said. “Our priority is working to make sure that every 834 form is accurate.”
The story was reported first by The Washington Post.
Bataille said the errors occurred from Oct. 1 to Dec. 5, such problems have been “significantly” reduced since last month and that officials are contacting every consumer who selected a plan on the site -- or marketplace -- to remind them to pay their premium and connect with their insurer.
Americans have until Dec. 23 to purchase insurance that kicks in Jan. 1.
The administration said it has fixed more than 70 software glitches over the past several weeks related to 834 forms.

ObamaCare enrollment effort moves to shoe stores, restaurants

  Bailey Comment: "They are getting tacky and desperate now".

District of Columbia officials are recruiting young residents this weekend to enroll in ObamaCare by showing up where they “party by night and shop by day.”
Officials on Saturday visited two Footlocker stores where Nike’s exclusive Air Jordan 12 “Taxi” sneakers were going on sale. And they are scheduled to visit two Denny’s restaurants from 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
“My motto is ‘Get them health care while you get them Jordans,” DC Health Links representative Vanessa Brooks told Fox News outside a Footlocker in the city’s downtown.
“Get some health care to go along with them taxis, OK?” Brooks told those at the store. “You got to have it. And you need it.”
The Obama administration and other supporters of the Affordable Care Act have worked hard since enrollment started in October to connect with young people, knowing their participation will help cover the cost of the elderly and others who need more medical care.
However, problems with the federal ObamaCare website and the 14 state-run sites appear to have made the tech-savvy generation wary of the entire program, combined with members’ general feeling they won’t get sick or injured, which has prompted Brooks and other D.C. Health Link officials to call them “young invincibles.”
Brooks and other so-called “assisters” plan to make contact this weekend with hundreds of young D.C. residents and encourage them to make appointments to enroll in insurance plans.
In California, the state with the largest uninsured population, most of those who have applied have been older people with health problems. In Kentucky, nearly three of four enrollees last month were over 35. In Washington state, about 23 percent of enrollees have been 18 to 34.
And in Ohio, groups helping with enrollment described many of those coming to them as older residents who lost their jobs and health coverage during the recession.
At the Denny's restaurants, the assisters will set up shop to provide information, answer questions and enroll residents.
Eligible residents have until March 31, 2014, to buy an insurance policy through the exchanges. Those who enroll before December 23 will be covered starting January 1, 2014.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services said signups increased in November after an abysmal October in which the federal site and some state-run sites crashed as the result of too much volume.
Enrollment statistics from the agency this week showed 364,682 people have signed up for private coverage as of Nov. 30 under the federal health law. Though that's more than three times the October total, it's less than one-third of the 1.2 million people that officials had originally projected would enroll nationwide by the end of November.
Crunch time is now for Obama's health care law, as consumers face the December enrollment deadline if they want to have coverage by next year.
Yet HealthCare.gov, the revamped federal website serving 36 states, continues to have issues. Just Tuesday there was an extended maintenance outage. And some states running their own web sites are also having problems.
That's created stress and uncertainty not only for the uninsured but also for consumers seeking to avoid an interruption in coverage in January. Those trying to preserve coverage include some or many of the more than 4 million people whose individual plans were canceled because they didn't measure up under the law, as well as hundreds of thousands in federal and state programs for people with serious health problems, from cancer to heart disease to AIDS.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy and Commerce on Wednesday that the signup trend is turning positive.
"I don't think there is any question that the flawed launch of the website put a damper on people's enthusiasm," she said. "Having said that, we are seeing very, very positive trends. We are seeing lots of people re-engage."
Sebelius also said another 1.9 million people have made it through the enrollment process, but have not yet picked a plan. Consumers must pay their premiums by Dec. 31 for coverage to take effect at the beginning of the year.

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Tea Party steps up war of words against Boehner over budget vote

Bailey Comment: You can just snap your fingers and Boehner will roll over and sat up. He is a very weak and bad Leader for the Republican Party.


Tea party activists are pushing back hard against Speaker John Boehner for attacking conservative groups that are opposed to bipartisan budget legislation approved this week by the House, claiming he has "declared war on the Tea Party" with his blunt criticism.
In a fundraising email to supporters, Tea Party Patriots referred to the Ohio Republican as a "ruling class politician" who only pretends to be a conservative while remaining a "tax-and-spend liberal," The Hill reported Friday.
The group, which supported efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act, accused Boehner of passing a "back-room budget deal which increases discretionary spending, does nothing to reform entitlements, and fully funds ObamaCare."
The organization called the deal "an out and out betrayal of the American people."
All three top Republican leaders were among 169 members of the rank and file in voting for the measure, which cleared the House on Tuesday on an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 332-94.
In advance of the vote, Boehner unleashed a stinging attack on conservative groups campaigning for the bill's demise, saying they lacked credibility. He also blamed them for leading the party into the partial government shutdown this fall.
Boehner's remarks appeared aimed more broadly at Tea Partyers who say true conservatives never compromise, and at groups that try to oust established Republicans seeking re-election.
House actions under his speakership, Boehner said, "have not violated any conservative principle, not once." He then dismissed the activist groups, saying, "I don't care what they do."
Overall, the bipartisan budget plan erases a total of $63 billion in across-the-board cuts in the next two budget years, and specifies $85 billion in savings over a decade, including the one relating to military retirement. The result is a net $23 billion cut in deficits through 2023, although critics argue the spending increases will happen first, and many of the savings years later, if at all.
By raising spending levels, the bill is also designed to eliminate the threat of another budget shutdown like the one this fall.
Groups such as Heritage Action, the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity oppose the deal. The Washington, D.C.-based organizations have also aided insurgent Republican challengers who vow never to compromise with Democrats, even if it means shutting down the government or defaulting on the federal debt.
Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said his group won't back down. When Boehner writes off the dozens of House members who won't compromise on tax and spending issues, it means "he's going to rely heavily on Democrats" to pass legislation, Holler said. That's bad for conservative principles, he said, and bad for GOP cohesion in elections.
Boehner's allies say the alternative is worse. When Boehner tries to placate the staunchest conservatives in his caucus, they say, the results are a government shutdown, a major loss on the "fiscal cliff" deal a year ago and other Republican embarrassments.
Steve LaTourette, a Boehner friend and former GOP House member from Ohio, said he is heartened by the stepped-up actions by Boehner, the Chamber and others frustrated by tea party tactics. He warned, however, that mainstream Republicans won't tame the tea party faction without huge amounts of effort and money.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced a test vote for Tuesday on the measure, which appears likely to command the 60 votes necessary to clear the Senate, officials in both parties told the Associated Press on Friday.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars joined the ranks of the bill's opponents during the day, citing a provision to reduce cost of living increases for military retirees until they reach age 62. The result could mean "a cumulative loss in retirement income of $80,000" for a sergeant first class who retires at age 40, the group said.
"Although Iraq is over and the war in Afghanistan is winding down, we can't allow Congress to dismantle the programs they created over the past 12 years," said William A. Thien, the VFW's national commander.
A short while later, Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they would oppose the measure unless the provision were changed. They said a 42-year-old sergeant first class retiring after 20 years would lose about $72,000 in income.