Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,800. Obamacare’s Web site doesn’t work yet. Stop comparing them

I guess Ezra Klein started to realize that he was starting to lose credibility by simply reciting Republican talking writing off the ACA based on a website that was glitch in its opening month, particularly since the evidence is that the website has significantly improved. So, here is Ezra Klein thankfully not making a Katrina or Iraq comparison, but one that is actually in the ballpark.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/18/hurricane-katrina-killed-more-than-1800-people-obamacares-web-site-doesnt-work-yet-stop-comparing-them/

Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,833 people and damaged more than $80 billion worth of property. It was one of the deadliest, costliest storms ever to hit the United States.

Meanwhile, the Affordable Care Act's Web site isn't working very well yet. So of course the media is asking whether "this is Obama's Hurricane Katrina." I look forward to future coverage in this vein: "Is the failure of immigration reform Obama's 1906 San Francisco Earthquake?" "Are the 2014 sequestration cuts Obama's 1918 Influenza?"

The interest in comparing HealthCare.Gov to a lethal natural disaster is all the odder because the Bush years actually offer a ready analogue to Obamacare: Medicare Part D.

Like Obamacare, Medicare Part D was a massive health-care expansion. Like Obamacare, it was administratively complex. Like Obamacare, the Web site didn't work on launch. Like Obamacare, people who were supposed to be benefitting from the law found their plans upended and the supposedly superior alternatives inaccessible. Like Obamacare, the early months were, in the words of then-Majority Leader John Boehner, "horrendous."

CNN Plagiarism - Crowley Repeats GOP Talking Points on Obamacare Rollout and Immigration

CNN and the rest of the MSM might as well apologize to Rand Paul, since it appears that the MSM is simply plagiarizing off of the Republican Party. Frank Lutz should demand royalties.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/crowley-repeats-gop-talking-points

Isn't it amazing that somehow these Sunday show hosts all managed to come to the same conclusion that President Obama can no longer be trusted and that his presidency is now in peril due to the problems with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act? It's almost like they were all reading off of the same script.

Nicole already discussed the Martha Raddatz segment on This Week, where the audience was treated to a big heaping helping of the latest Republican talking points of the day. CNN's Candy Crowley took it one step further and threw in some of Eric Cantor's rhetoric on why it's supposedly impossible for the House to pass immigration reform. If you missed it over the weekend, go read this post from Think Progress: Cantor: We Can’t Pass Immigration Reform Because Healthcare.gov Is Having Technical Difficulties.

Then tell me who Crowley is carrying water for during the beginning of her show this Sunday:

* * *

CROWLEY: Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the president and with Republicans on an Obamacare fix. The bill goes nowhere from here, but it's the thought that counts and the thought is that the president's broken keep your health care promise is toxic. Hence, the direct message to voters.

OBAMA: I want them to know that, you know, their senator or congressman, they were making representations based on what I told them and what this White House and our administrative staff told them. And so, it's not on them, it's on us.

CROWLEY: Of the president's numbers collapsing beneath the roll out, this one weighs heaviest. Is Barack Obama honest and trustworthy? Just 44 percent of Americans think so, down 10 points since late September. It has prompted comparisons to George Bush's failed response to the deadly hurricane Katrina.

The situations are entirely different but politically trusted Bush and in the government fell and never recovered, undermining the rest of Bush's term. Without argument, this president is at the lowest political moment of his tenure and it is difficult to govern without trust.
OBAMA: I think it's legitimate for them to expect me to have to win back some credibility on this health care law in particular and on a whole range of these issues in general.

CROWLEY: Time is short. As some allies inch away, Republicans are circling.

REP. FRED UPTON, (R) MICHIGAN: Presidencies are often associated with one famous utterance. Ask not what your country can do for you. The only thing we have to fear, tear down this wall. And our current president will be no different. If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period.

CROWLEY: Poll numbers are snapshots in time and time moves on. For the president, days like this could become months or they could become different kinds of days entirely.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CROWLEY (on-camera): Joining me now, members of their party leadership, Democratic congressman, James Clyburn and Republican senator, John Barrasso. Gentlemen, thank you both for coming this morning.

I want to pick up first on the Katrina references with generally go to the idea that once a president falls below that 50 percent line when it comes to honesty and trustworthiness it makes it very hard to govern, but that really litigating George Bush and Katrina, Senator Barrasso. Do you buy into that argument that the president may be in a hole he can't get out of?

BARRASSO: He maybe, Candy. I'm a lot less concerned about the president and his legacy than I am about the lives of the people in my state in Wyoming and around the country who are being hurt by the policy of this health care law. They're losing their coverage, millions. They're being hit by sticker shock.

They can't keep their doctors. And what the president is proposing is basically a false fix. It's a political band aid, but it's not a permanent cure for the people that are being hurt by his policies so it's time to start over with trying to get people the health care that they wanted from the beginning which was affordable care from their doctor that they choose.

CROWLEY: Congressman Clyburn, it remains true, however, that a president who loses kind of the faith of Americans finds it hard to pass other things, immigration, all the other things that are on. It was a very ambitious second term agenda for this president. How does he win back trust? I'm assuming you think he can.[/div]

Healthcare.gov - Nov. 18 - "Progress Over the Weekend"

Reuters, but not most cable news, has reported that navigators assisting people with obtaining coverage under the ACA have noticed a significant improvement in website performance, and here is the latest from the Healthcare.gov website on the updates:

http://www.hhs.gov/digitalstrategy/blog/2013/11/progress-over-weekend.html

Over the past few weeks, we’ve made measurable progress to improve HealthCare.gov, addressing both software glitches and hardware upgrades–all of which will make a meaningful difference in the consumer experience.

I’m pleased to say that, as of today, we’ve cleared more items from our punch list that will have a direct, positive impact on consumers using the site. The pace and quality of execution on bug fixes and hardware upgrades intensified when QSSI came in as general contractor and thanks to their management and coordination with CMS leadership and our other contractors we made progress over the weekend implementing important fixes.

Nearly half of the fixes resolved issues specifically related to issues within the application and another set of fixes focused on improving Plan Compare shopping functionality.

Some of the most consumer-facing examples of improvements are:

•Issues that were preventing some users from proceeding through the income information of the online application have been fixed.
•Users can now select “weekly,” for the frequency they receive unemployment benefits.

In the Plan Compare shopping:

•When consumers choose a Catastrophic coverage plan, the available dental coverage for that plan now appears properly.
•When users save plan information in the Plan Compare section, those results now display correctly.

In addition to these software fixes that significantly improve the user experience, we also increased system capacity. This upgrade is part of an ongoing hardware improvement process that will help keep the system stable with growing volume, improving overall system performance.

We have a lot more work to do but as this work to date demonstrates, HealthCare.gov is getting better and improving performance and user experiences each week. We will continue to make improvements and we won’t stop working until every American who wants it gains access to new options for quality, affordable health coverage.

Health law helpers finding more luck on HealthCare.gov

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Healthcare workers assisting people to sign up for insurance on the HealthCare.gov marketplace on Monday told Reuters they had noticed improvement in the problem-plagued website.

* * *
"Saturday was the first day that I was actually able to get someone through the entire process on the website. That was pretty exciting. And I know on Saturday that wasn't the case for everyone on my team, but more and more consistently we're having success with it," said Rachel Udow, program director for MHP, a community-based organization focused on migrant issues in Weslaco, Texas.

The Obama administration has pledged that the websites would be working smoothly by the end of November, just two weeks before the December 15 deadline to purchase health insurance that starts on Jan 1.

"We've had more completed online enrollments in the last week or so than probably all the weeks before combined, and we're pretty excited about that," said Laura Line, corporate assistant director of healthcare at the Philadelphia-based Resources for Human Development.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/health-law-helpers-finding-more-luck-healthcare-gov-003241359--sector.html

According to a government official familiar with the new target, the 20 percent who are unlikely to be able to enroll online are expected to fall into three groups: people whose family circumstances are so complicated that the Web site cannot determine their eligibility for subsidies to help pay for health plans; people uncomfortable buying insurance on a computer; and people who encounter technical problems on the Web site.

TPM - "Beneath the Headlines on HealthCare.gov"

I read this on WaPo and I glad that TPM calls it out. Included in the 20 percent for whom the website does not "work" are people who refuse to use the website!!! Can you imagine saying that Amazon does not work for people who refuse to use it and insist on bricks and mortar stores? Under that definition, Amazon is probably not "working" for 20 percent of people.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/beneath-the-headlines-on-healthcare-gov

A few days ago I was speaking to some folks on the inside of the effort to get HealthCare.gov working. Their take on the much-discussed Post piece stating that the site was likely not to be ready by December 1st was that it mistook how any site works. Not that it was wrong per se but was too binary in its take. It's not like a car where you put your key in the ignition and it starts or it doesn't. It's an inherently incremental and iterative process - which at least as a general matter is true with any website, large or small, especially large.

* * *
But fairly far down in the article is this paragraph ...

According to a government official familiar with the new target, the 20 percent who are unlikely to be able to enroll online are expected to fall into three groups: people whose family circumstances are so complicated that the Web site cannot determine their eligibility for subsidies to help pay for health plans; people uncomfortable buying insurance on a computer; and people who encounter technical problems on the Web site.

It would clarify a lot if we knew a breakdown of these three categories within that 20%. But this is some pretty serious fine print and puts the 80/20 in a somewhat different light.

After all, getting the site to "work" for people who are unwilling or uncomfortable buying insurance on their computer seems like a pretty intractable problem and not what most people think of when they talk about the site 'working'.

Vance McAllister [R] wins 5th District congressional seat [Obamacare Win In Louisiana]

Source: Shreveport Times

BATON ROUGE — Vance McAllister, a political newcomer with the backing of the popular "Duck Dynasty" TV family, is Louisiana's newest member of Congress.

* * *

McAllister ran as a political outsider, capitalizing on voter frustration with politicians and Congress. Riser, a funeral home owner, campaigned on his experience in the Legislature and with the support of tea party groups.

Their strongest disagreement was on President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Both opposed the health overhaul, but Riser wanted only repeal. McAllister said repeal had no chance with Democrats leading the Senate, so he said Congress should work on improvements to the law.


Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/viewart/20131116/ELECTION/131116015/Vance-McAllister-wins-5th-District-congressional-seat-?odyssey=mod%7Cbreaking%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Roy Fletcher, a veteran Louisiana Republican political consultant who's also not affiliated with either campaign, agreed, calling the move a self-inflicted wound. He added that McAllister may be trying to position himself slightly to the left of Riser in a district where African-Americans make up about a third of the population.

Riser has earned the backing of both establishment and Tea Party wings of the Republican Party. Alexander, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Louisiana GOP Reps. John Fleming, Charles Boustany and Steve Scalise all endorsed him early in the campaign.

Recently, groups such as the National Rifle Association, FreedomWorks and the Tea Party of Louisiana also got behind Riser.

Huffington Post - Deborah Cavallaro, The Orly Taitz of Health Care, Remains A MSM Darling

Cavallaro is continuing to rail against the ACA even though it has been clearly showing that she would be able to get better coverage through Covered California than her current coverage and at a cheaper price. She shouldn't have any problem with the website, because California runs its own website. So, what is her excuse? She says "because she is concerned about the security of her personal information on the website. "I don't want to go on Covered California. I don't want Obama's plan. I want my doctors and my hospital, and I don't want to be providing all of my financial information on to that absurd exchange."

So there you have it. She admits that she is being willfully ignorant of her options and the MSM still features her on TV because she is willing to rail about she has been "harmed" by Obamacare. If this isn't Lazy journalism, I am not sure what is.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/15/obamacare-cancelations_n_4284630.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Turns out Cavallaro's story wasn't so simple. Hiltzik, the LA Times columnist, followed up with her and learned that she hadn't shopped for alternatives on Covered California. Cavallaro told HuffPost she still hasn't, because she is concerned about the security of her personal information on the website.

"I don't want to go on Covered California. I don't want Obama's plan. I want my doctors and my hospital, and I don't want to be providing all of my financial information on to that absurd exchange," Cavallaro said.

According to Hitzlik's interview, Cavallaro's current coverage carries a $5,000 deductible and a maximum out-of-pocket costs of $8,500. It covers only two doctor visits a year.

On the California insurance exchange, based on Hiltzik's interview, Cavallaro could get $200 in tax credits and spend $333 a month for health insurance that comes with a $2,000 deductible, a $6,350 out-of-pocket maximum, and slightly higher co-payments for unlimited doctor visits. Cheaper options are available for skimpier plans on Covered California, Hiltzik reported. Anthem's letter didn't mention there would be other products available on the exchange, according to Hiltzik.

LA Times - "Washington state is making health exchange work"

Here is a nice story discussing how WA has effectively implemented the ACA. Yet, the corporate media generally ignores such stories and numerous examples of how the ACA is helping people get coverage or improve their coverage in favor of simply reciting the right wing talking point of the day.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-washington-obamacare-20131113,0,4963580.story?track=lat-pick#axzz2ka7ss2Sb

TPM -"CBS Ran Misleading Story On HealthCare.gov Security Issues"

Another example of CBS getting caught simply pushing Republican talking points without any verification.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cbs-news-ran-misleading-story-on-healthcare-gov-security-issues

CBS News aired a misleading report on Monday about security issues concerning the federal health insurance exchange website based on leaked partial transcripts of a health care official's testimony, according to the Washington Post.

CBS reported that Henry Chao, lead project manager of Healthcare.gov at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had been unaware of two major security holes in the website that could lead to identity theft.

"CBS News has learned that the project manager in charge of building the federal health care website was apparently kept in the dark about serious failures in the website's security," the CBS report reads. "Those failures could lead to identity theft among buying insurance."

When questioned by Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) Wednesday at a House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearing, it became apparent that the security flaws that the CBS report discussed could not actually lead to identity theft.

"Obamacare Scare Stories Obscuring Fact That Many, Like Bob, Are Finding Better Coverage"

The MSM would probably just portray this as another example of someone "losing" their coverage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/obamacare-scare-stories-o_b_4260695.html

He could barely believe what he heard: he could get better coverage than the policy being discontinued -- and pay less -- thanks to Obamacare.

"The overall cost of the plans I'm considering is cheaper than the plan I am currently paying for," he wrote me this week. "My total cost for coverage now, including premiums and out of pocket costs, is about $9,800. Two of the plans I'm seriously considering for next year have total costs of $8,400. I'm shocked, but in a good way." So not only did Robert not experience the sticker shock he had been expecting, he will save $1,400 next year on health insurance.

The plan he is leaning toward -- a top-of-the line "platinum" plan -- will have a higher monthly premium, but he will still save on average about $117 a month because of the way his out-of-pocket costs will be calculated.

Robert is among many who are losing their current coverage but in the end will be better off. In fact, considering that many folks buying coverage on the individual market have at least one pre-existing condition -- which insurers can no longer take into consideration when pricing their policies -- it's likely that more people will get more for their insurance buck next year than less.