Carney: Obamacare enrollment hits 7 million

[WNYresident]

Carney: Obamacare enrollment hits 7 million

Washington (CNN) -- After a surge of sign-ups on the last day for open enrollment, Obamacare met the White House's original target of 7 million people signing up, White House spokesperson Jay Carney said.

To be exact, 7,041,000 people picked a plan on the government run exchanges.

"We surpassed everyone's expectations," he said at the White House daily press briefing.

President Barack Obama will address the milestone with a statement from the Rose Garden at 4:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/01/politi...html?hpt=hp_t2


How can you believe them? The whole package was campaigned on lies.

[Jeff]

Carney: Obamacare enrollment hits 7 million



http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/01/politi...html?hpt=hp_t2


How can you believe them? The whole package was campaigned on lies.

So how many people do you think signed up?

[buffy]

Well, if you keep moving the deadline you will eventually make your goal...

Next goal is to have 7 million people pay their premiums.

[WNYresident]

So how many people do you think signed up?

It isn't the amount that signed up... it is the amount that really didn't have insurance versus those who really did but then had it cancelled. They then went and signed back up.

I would also like to know how many people signed up that weren't legally in the states..

I would also like to know how many signed up that are having others pay for their insurance..

and so on.

[WNYresident]

and signing up but not paying for it means someone else is footing the bill. That ends up raising their cost of health care while covering the cost for others.

[steven]

So how many people do you think signed up?

RAND: Only One-Third Of Obamacare Exchange Sign-Ups Were From The Previously Uninsured

Today is March 31, 2014: in theory, the last day you can sign up for coverage under the subsidized Obamacare insurance exchanges. If you’ve been a regular reader of this space, you know that the numbers routinely paraded by the Obama administration regarding Obamacare website sign-ups don’t tell us much about the actual number of uninsured individuals who have gained coverage. A new study from the RAND Corporation indicates that only one-third of exchange sign-ups were previously uninsured.

The RAND study hasn’t yet been published, but its contents were made available to Noam Levey of the Los Angeles Times. RAND also estimates that 9 million individuals have purchased health plans directly from insurers, outside of the exchanges, but that “the vast majority of these people were previously insured.”

The RAND report appears to corroborate the work of other surveys. Earlier this month, McKinsey reported that 27 percent of those signing up for coverage on the individual market were previously uninsured.

If you apply that math to the RAND figures, you get this: of the people who have paid their first month’s premium on the Obamacare exchanges, and are thereby enrolled in coverage, 76 percent were previously insured, and 24 percent were previously uninsured.

What’s important to remember is that this is not how Obamacare was supposed to work. The Congressional Budget Office, in its original estimates, predicted that the vast majority of the people eligible for subsidies on the exchanges would be previously uninsured individuals.

Instead, the vast majority are previously insured people, many of whom are getting a better deal on the exchanges because they either qualify for subsidies, or because they’re older individuals who benefit from the law’s steep rate hikes on the young.

This is a problem that may get worse over time, as the cost of plans continues to go up. In the McKinsey survey, of those who had decided not to sign up for Obamacare, the most common reason was the “affordability” of the offered plans. Indications from insurers like Aetna and WellPoint is that the premiums on the exchange will go up substantially next year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapoth...sly-uninsured/

[Jeff]

Well, if you keep moving the deadline you will eventually make your goal...

Next goal is to have 7 million people pay their premiums.

From victims to deadbeats overnight. Well played.

[NY The Vampire State]

Not a big deal if 7 million LEGAL US citizens actually did sign up, they haven't paid for this monstrosity yet. Thats the measure of sucess. Get 100 million people to sign up, if you cant balance the books what difference does it make.

[FMD]

im applying for the hardship exemption

[WNYresident]

From victims to deadbeats overnight. Well played.

I don't think Buffy called anyone dead beats.

Here is thought.

What about the people who signed up that will have it completely subsidized? Don't you think people who don't have it subsidize have a hard enough time paying their own way besides subsidizing others?

And what if the people who are on the edge can't make the payments? Will the IRS go after them?

[Jeff]

I don't think Buffy called anyone dead beats.

Here is thought.

What about the people who signed up that will have it completely subsidized? Don't you think people who don't have it subsidize have a hard enough time paying their own way besides subsidizing others?

No I don't think that. Thats the entire point. For the record, I don't qualify for any subsidies. I don't need one. I don't complain about not getting one even though others do.

And what if the people who are on the edge can't make the payments? Will the IRS go after them?

Is the IRS responsible for collecting unpaid premiums for private insurers?

[steven]

Fact Checking:

As of March 22, the survey found that the percentage of Americans on Medicaid had increased from 7.7 percent in 2013 to 10 percent in 2014; with the survey’s margin of error of 2 percentage points, the percentage of Medicaid recipients in 2014 could be anywhere between 8 and 12 percent. Carmen said the Times calculated that the 2.3 percent increase would translate into 4.5 million people, but that’s not RAND’s calculation. With the margin of error, the numbers could swing dramatically. As an economist, Carmen said, she felt more comfortable sticking to just percentages.

In terms of numbers, a 4.5 million increase in Medicaid recipients would be a setback for the Affordable Care Act because the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 8 million people would be added to Medicaid in 2014. (Table B-2.) CBO also estimated that the number of uninsured would be reduced by 13 million, and the RAND survey indicates that estimate would also fall well short. “It is quite a bit lower than these other numbers,” Carmen said, referring to the difference between RAND’s calculations and the CBO estimate. (Note: the CBO’s estimates are for all of fiscal 2014.)

What percentage of the 7 million are “newly insured?” No one really knows at this point, though a reasonable, conservative estimate would be about one-third. That’s a little over 2 million people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-we-dont-know/

[Jeff]

Fact Checking:

As of March 22, the survey found that the percentage of Americans on Medicaid had increased from 7.7 percent in 2013 to 10 percent in 2014; with the survey’s margin of error of 2 percentage points, the percentage of Medicaid recipients in 2014 could be anywhere between 8 and 12 percent. Carmen said the Times calculated that the 2.3 percent increase would translate into 4.5 million people, but that’s not RAND’s calculation. With the margin of error, the numbers could swing dramatically. As an economist, Carmen said, she felt more comfortable sticking to just percentages.

In terms of numbers, a 4.5 million increase in Medicaid recipients would be a setback for the Affordable Care Act because the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 8 million people would be added to Medicaid in 2014. (Table B-2.) CBO also estimated that the number of uninsured would be reduced by 13 million, and the RAND survey indicates that estimate would also fall well short. “It is quite a bit lower than these other numbers,” Carmen said, referring to the difference between RAND’s calculations and the CBO estimate. (Note: the CBO’s estimates are for all of fiscal 2014.)



http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-we-dont-know/

People are just taking shots in the dark guessing at the numbers right now. It wasn't even a few months ago that news outlets and teabaggers were predicting that signups wouldn't even crack 1 million.

How many more people would have been enrolled in medicaid if more than 26 states expanded? Why do these states not want to help provide their citizens with additional health care options? I am hearing over and over many success stories about people getting access to health care that never had it before.

Ted Cruz posed a question on his FB page on whether or not people are better or worse because of the ACA. The overwhelming response, "YES". https://www.facebook.com/SenatorTedC...?stream_ref=10

Why does the right continue to attempt to repeal, instead of keeping what is good about the law and fixing what needs to be fixed? Do they really think pre-ACA we were better off? Where is there plan? They have had 5 years to come up with one.

Where is it? If it is more than 1 page long I'll be disappointed.

[WNYresident]

No I don't think that. Thats the entire point. For the record, I don't qualify for any subsidies. I don't need one. I don't complain about not getting one even though others do.




Is the IRS responsible for collecting unpaid premiums for private insurers?

Someone has to collect the premiums. That money will be needed to pay for the people who have their health insurance fully subsidized through the exchanges.

[steven]

People are just taking shots in the dark guessing at the numbers right now.

I wouldn't call a RAND survey a "Shot in the dark"

Ted Cruz posed a question on his FB page on whether or not people are better or worse because of the ACA. .

I find it more then a little strange that you doubt a RAND survey on the one hand then mention what is posted on a facebook page on the other hand

Where is there plan? They have had 5 years to come up with one.

Where is it? If it is more than 1 page long I'll be disappointed.

This is old news but since you didn't get the memo:

House Republican leaders craft their vision for an alternative to health-care law

The plan includes an expansion of high-risk insurance pools, promotion of health savings accounts and inducements for small businesses to purchase coverage together.

The tenets of the plan — which could expand to include the ability to buy insurance across state lines, guaranteed renew-ability of policies and changes to medical-malpractice regulations — are ideas that various conservatives have for a long time backed as part of broader bills.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...996_story.html