The Thursday edition of the Morning Jolt features analysis of last night’s gubernatorial debate in Virginia, some distinctively intolerant thoughts from the left about relationships, and then these additional train wrecks of Obamacare:
Three More Obamacare Train Wrecks Come Careening Off the Tracks
Because Monday’s edition went so well, here are a few more train wrecks from the Obamacare implementation, in progress . . .
Reuters informs us the online health-insurance exchanges aren’t working.
The District of Columbia’s online health insurance exchange — one of 51 set up under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law — will be unable to perform two key functions when it opens on Oct. 1, exchange officials announced on Wednesday.
The District joins Colorado and Oregon on the list of “Obamacare” exchanges hobbled by problems with information technology (IT), contributing to expectations that Obama’s signature domestic achievement will get off to a slow start when the exchanges go live next Tuesday.
The “DC Health Link” web-based marketplace, where residents of the nation’s capital who do not have other coverage will be able to purchase policies, will lack the ability to calculate whether someone is eligible for Medicaid. It will also be unable to calculate the size of federal subsidies, if any, that a customer qualifies for.
Kaiser Health News informs us that the Obama administration’s definition of “affordable” is probably going to be significantly more expensive than the general public’s sense of what’s “affordable.”
Michelle La Voie wants health insurance, but as a single mom making $38,000 a year and supporting two teenagers, she’s not sure she can afford it — even with a subsidy through the federal health law known as Obamacare.
Experts say that moderate-income Americans like La Voie, who will be eligible for subsidized coverage but who must still pay between 6 percent to 9.5 percent of their income toward monthly premiums, are likely to have the hardest time affording the policies.
That’s because the share someone must contribute toward coverage rises with their income, starting at 2 percent for those earning the least and rising to a maximum of 9.5 percent for those earning as much as 400 percent of the poverty level, or up to $78,000 for a family of three.
And of course, despite the promises of Obama and every lawmaker that passed it, the law is turning into a mass-murderer of full-time jobs:
According to an April survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 41% of 603 small business owners said they have delayed hiring because of the federal healthcare law. One in five already cut hours, while 20% have reduced payroll.
Mercer, a human resources consulting company, said its own survey found that 12% of all U.S. employers reported plans to reduce workers’ hours as a direct result of the Affordable Care Act. The impact was more pronounced in the retail and hospitality industries, with 20% of employers saying they will cut part-time hours.
Most recently, theme-park operator SeaWorld Entertainment revealed that it reduced its cap on weekly hours for part-timers to 28 from 32.
Obamacare: Come for the promises, stay for the shrapnel! Actually, you’re going to come because you’re legally required to have insurance now, or pay an additional tax that everyone involved insisted wasn’t a tax when the law passed.