Tag Archives: affordable healthcare act

President Clinton Speaks Out About Obama Promise

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Life, My Thoughts

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

On Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton spoke out about the issue plaguing the American people regarding the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) aka Obamacare.  In an interview with the site Ozy.com, Clinton is quoted as saying “So I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,”

Now before all you Clinton fans go running off waving your flags, let’s look at it this way.  Did President Clinton do this for the good of the American people or the good of Hillary‘s probable bid for the presidency in 2016? Some analysts contribute Obama‘s win to Clinton, siting his ability to bring people in. But let’s face it, when it comes down to it, who gets the knife in the back?  Fact; whomever takes over the White House in three years will inherit the past president’s messes.  Every incoming president gets saddled with the previous administrations short comings.  There’s no way around it.  However, in this matter, Obama needs to correct this mess to save his own presidency.  Bill’s just wondering what it would be like to be first lady.

Image

Healthcare insurers have been rapidly sending out cancellation notices.  To rectify this, they would have to backtrack, back in the files they backed out, and reset policy holders.  Can you imagine what a mess this could create?  Providing this option takes place before the end of the year, the only thing the insurers would have to do is unflag those files currently awaiting cancellation as of 12/31/13.  A simple fix.  But Obama has to make the call now.  Waiting any longer will  set an even worse scenario for the healthcare of this country.

Healthcare.gov presently has this notation at the top of the site.  If you’re an insomniac, this won’t work for you:

The Health Insurance Marketplace online application isn’t available from approximately 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. EST daily while we make improvements. Additional down times may be possible as we work to make things better. The rest of the site and the Marketplace call center remain available during these hours.

While the president’s press secretary says the White House is looking for ways to offer relief to some, the only real relief is to cancel the plan until a time where it can be implemented, carried through properly AND be affordable for everyone.

Copyright 2013

dorindaduclos.com

All Rights Reserved

You’ve Been Canceled

07 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Life, My Thoughts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

How many of you are hearing these words on a daily basis?  Maybe it’s your neighbor telling his tale, or your co-worker who’s only part time and has to insure privately.  Maybe it’s you, finding out the healthcare coverage you had has now been taken away from you.  And not because of anything you yourself did, but because the Affordable Healthcare Act stepped in and replaced it.  Obviously, President Obama lied to you about your right to keep your current coverage. Welcome to Obamacare.

Image

I had a discussion with my mom last night.  I asked her if she had heard anything from her insurance company, specifically, Aetna.  She told me that she had received a letter from them last week stating that the healthcare plan she had would no longer be available and she would have to pick a new one.  The available plans were listed on the back of the letter.  Imagine her surprise when her plan, called the Value Plan, was listed on that letter.  Nowhere does it state that ‘she’ is not being offered the plan.  It’s a general statement and in my mother’s words “very poorly written”.  She then proceeded to check her Medicare booklet to see what plans they allowed.  Lo and behold, there was that Value plan in print.  It’s gets better.

A week later she received a letter from Aetna stating that she had not let Medicare know of her decision on medical & prescription plans and as such, her coverage with Aetna would terminate on 12/31/13.  Now, they gave her time to call to let them know if this had been a mistake.  Adding to this, she is going from a $0 deductible to $6700.  This is an out of pocket expense.  My mom will be 80 years old this month and now has to face an added expense in order to keep her current coverage.  I should also note that Medicare enrollment ends December 7th so why is Aetna canceling her now?

One of the major issues here is that insurance companies had limited time allowance to get information out to the people and in doing so have created even more confusion, only adding to the website debacle.  Obama likes to point the finger at the insurance companies who may have offered “substandard” plans, calling them “bad apples”.  The only bad apple here is the man who’s name is on the bill.

UPDATE: The first letter was correct, the Value plan is no longer available.  The only plan available is the Premiere.  Turns out, it all depends on what area of Northern NJ.  Now they’re basing coverage on location?  The deductible is, in fact $6700.  Mom said the woman she spoke to was wonderful and very caring.  I’ve heard horror stories from others who have been confronted with nasty agents.  Glad Mom didn’t have that experience.

Copyright 2013

dorindaduclos.com

All Rights Reserved

Original photo via www.whatdoesitmean.com

We Do Not Approve – President’s ratings drop amid healthcare debacle

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in Life, My Thoughts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services  Kathleen Sebelius testified on Wednesday about the problems with the Affordable Healthcare Act website, Healthcare.gov.  Or maybe she thought she did.  She really didn’t answer the questions being asked.  She appeared to stammer her way through at times and using “whatever” as a response when asked if President Obama was responsible for the mess.  She claimed the president had no knowledge of the problems prior to the launch, and that everything fell on her.  A sacrificial lamb?  The president is good with that.  Think Hillary and Benghazi.

“You deserve better. I apologize. I’m accountable to you for fixing these problems.”

ImageHer apology might have been believable if she hadn’t read it off a piece of paper.

It comes down to this.  The president is responsible for EVERYTHING the government sets out for the America people.  And yet he continually says he didn’t know, he wasn’t aware.  Is he that far out of the loop with his own staff?  How does one run a country like the United States of America if you’re always in the dark?  Or is he?  I don’t think so.

It’s very convenient to play dumb when it comes to the majority of the country you’re supposed to be leading, believes  you’re not worthy of your position.  In fact, the president’s rating is the lowest it’s ever been.  In a recent poll conducted by NBC/Wall Street Journal shows Obama’s approval rating is at 42%, down 5% from early October.  51% disapprove of the job he’s doing.  In a discussion on Facebook, regarding this information, Paul Pannone of ewednewz.com & www.pauljpannone.com said “Mirrors my poll exactly; 42% combined feel he is– or doing the best he can in a broken system.” President Blames Others For His Shortcomings

I believe at this point in his presidency, he hasn’t proven he can handle the job.  It’s been five years of disappointments.  My question is to the 42% of Americans who think he’s doing his job…What is it that you see that the majority of us do not?

Oh My Gov .com

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in My Thoughts

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OhMyGov.com – The web site boasts “Tracking the Influence of the Nation’s Most Influential” and “Dig into the social conversations making news and impacting policy.”

Image

Welcome to the government’s next step in mining your data.  By using a web site called ohmygov.com, they will be collecting data from social media sites like Twitter & Facebook regarding your medical postings.  While they claim the information they collect will remain anonymous, I’m pretty sure we all know what that means.  Lawyers have taken opposite approaches, with one claiming it’s a trust issue and as long as we are giving out that data, we shouldn’t expect it to be private.  Or in other words, if you don’t want it out there, stay off social media.  Another lawyer claims that she sees this as a major issue regarding  HIPAA and an invasion of privacy, especially if the information gets into the wrong hands.

For a mere $2500 a year and up you can have access to unlimited people and agencies you want to track.  Pick a plan! All plans come with a FREE TRIAL!  Too bad Obamacare doesn’t offer that option.

ImageWhat this chart suggests is that only information from public figures such as Congressman & Government Agencies can be accessed.  So where do we, as private citizens come into play?

It’s quite interesting to see who is, in fact, using this website to get information.  Companies like Microsoft, the National Parks Conservation Association, Georgetown University & Newsweek, just to name a few.  My question is, what exactly are they looking for?!

No information has been given as to whether or not your privacy settings on Facebook will have any effect on this data mining.  Only that it claims any information regarding your medical postings can be used.  I have my privacy settings set to friends only.  This is why I have them set that way.  I don’t want just anyone coming along and viewing my information.  If that were the case, Facebook wouldn’t need privacy settings or a button that says “Send a Friend Request”.   I can understand them being able to extract this information via Twitter.  There really is no expectation of privacy there, unless your tweets are protected, but even then, once you tweet, it’s out there.  Protecting tweets only means people (followers) you are not connected to can’t see what you’re saying if they try to view your wall.

So the questions still remain.  How does farming your social media medical postings impact policy?  Will it decide who gets funding and for what diseases or is it just another way for the government to keep an eye on you?  And is this really how we want our taxpayer dollars to be spent?

Copyright 2013

dorindaduclos.com

All Rights Reserved

miner photo via www.evrein.com

Dear Mr. President…

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by in My Thoughts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Mr. President,

Why?

Sincerely,

An angry citizen

Seem like a vague question?  It’s not.  It’s the viewpoint of many Americans , who continually ask why the president of the United States cannot answer their questions.  Why the man who promised transparency in government is shrouded in secrecy regarding such matters as national security, the attacks in Benghazi, and of course, his Affordable Healthcare Act, dubbed, Obamacare.

Image

If this were to occur in any other major corporation,  the CEO, CFO, COO would more than likely be voted out by board members.  Aren’t we the board members?  After all, didn’t he win a majority that landed him his second term, based on American votes?  Actually, no, he didn’t.  We, the people, have the right to vote, and yet we do not.  Instead, we have an Electoral College.  THEY are the ones who decide who becomes President & Vice President of the United States.  So what are we voting for?  I always thought it was because we had a voice, a right to be heard.  But we really don’t where this is concerned.  We have a voice on a local level, electing mayors, governors, senators, etc.  But on the most important level, where it really does matter who we refer to as our Commander in Chief, only a select few are allowed to decided for the millions of us who vote, who gets the honor of this prestigious title.

Regarding the Electoral College, Wikipedia gives the definition of an Elector as follows;

Electors are apportioned to each state and the District of Columbia, but not to territorial possessions of the United States, such as Puerto Rico and Guam. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members of Congress to which the state is entitled,[4] while the Twenty-third Amendment has granted the District of Columbia with the minimum number of electors permissible for a state, which is currently three. In total, there are 538 electors, based on there being 435 representatives and 100 senators, plus the three electors from the District of Columbia. 

It further says “A number of constitutional amendments have been proposed seeking to alter the Electoral College or replace it with a direct popular vote.” 

Now we’re talking!!  Why hasn’t this been brought to the front of arguments regarding the election of President & Vice President.  Who are these people who are allowed to speak for us?  And why do we flock to the polls every four years, hoping for change?