bmac32 Loc: West Florida

Democratic lawmakers have been instructed to use the holiday break as an opportunity to locate Obamacare success stories and “aggressively publicize them so that people can see the law is delivering on its promise.”

According to the Washington Post, the memo was produced by the Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, a messaging apparatus for Senate Democrats.

At the same time, Republican lawmakers have undertaken the opposite—and likely easier—task of locating Americans negatively affected by Obamacare.

Via Washington Post:

Acknowledging the pressure from that political fallout, Democrats are making a concerted effort to find people and places the law is working for in an effort to counter GOP attacks. Top Senate Democrats began asking rank-and-file senators this week to use the Thanksgiving recess to identify constituents benefiting from the new law in hopes of exploiting those examples when the Senate reconvenes in two weeks.

The political blowback from the troubled launch of the federal Web site has been especially concerning to Senate Democrats, who have been divided on how to deal with the implementation missteps. In addition to the functionality troubles of HealthCare.gov, millions of Americans have been getting cancellation notices about current health plans which fail to meet new standards set by the law. Those notices are a direct contradiction of the promise Obama made as the law was being debated in Congress and the country; he repeatedly said that people who liked the health insurance they had could keep it. The cancellations have been a political boon to Republicans.

Meanwhile, the White House is begging Obamacare allies to limit promotion of the Healthcare.gov website over the holidays to avoid a spike in interest, and web traffic, that would crash the website.

We want to make sure that those who are reaching consumers at scale know that this isn’t like you flip the switch and everyone can come back on the first day,” an administration official told Talking Points Memo.

Obama officials hope that a less publicized launch of HealthCare.gov next week when the site becomes fully operational will minimize attention to any problems that may remain.

TiredOne

The stories are many and not hard to find at all...

It is sensible to ask Democrats to seek examples as it is perfectly obvious Republicans are focused on finding anything at all to claim is a "train wreck"... If you dig into many of the so called "tragic cases" of cancellations, etc. you find that most of them aren't factual as reported. Many people receive cancellation notices with offers of new coverage at much higher premiums, but if those same individuals simply shop on the State exchanges, they most often will find superior coverage for less expense. Not always of course, but more times than not. If one side is going to make it their sole agenda to bring up every "negative" experience they can find, never actually vetting the story... why wouldn't it make sense to at least seek out the other side of the story?

I'm not suggesting at all that NO cases are well founded, but people acting all naïve about the rollout and constantly harping on "but you said I could keep my current plan" is less than genuine in my opinion...

I don't know how many of you get your insurance, but being employed by others, my insurance policy is in effect cancelled EVERY year... I have to renew each year, with a new set of coverage details and ever increasing cost to both myself and my employer. If the plans offered each year change (and they always do), it is very likely I'll have to change doctors as well. My experience to date is that changing doctors is not a frequent experience, but not a "shocking" one...

If people actually spend the time researching the many policy offers and carriers, it is entirely likely they will be able to find coverage that allows them to keep their same doctors, if that is what is most important to them. It may not be the least expensive choice, but if that is what matters most to them, they will typically have that choice available.

All most of you ever hear are the "horror" stories, because that seems to be what sells advertising and drives most media coverage. Apparently it is too "boring" to find happy people who are thrilled at the opportunities they now have available to them, many for the first time...

Why don't we all give this about 6-8 months and then see where we are at? I'm sick of all the haste to judge and the knee jerk reaction so prevalent today... Give it a rest...

OldSchool Loc: Moving to the Red State of Utah soon!

Keep drinking that Kool-Aid.

bmac32 Loc: West Florida

That's one hell of a lot of kool-aid, 1.1 million dollars.

Alicia Loc: NYC

Thank you for such an insightful input of Obama and the ACA. Initially he attempted to work toward a bipartisan government and was blocked by congress in every direction. He did push through the ACA in spite of them in the only way available.

The "other side" has been doing everything in their power to see this law fail. Does every plan work out perfectly? No, there is always work to do but the Reps are constantly searching for anything to go wrong.

I believe the insurance companies are intentionally doing whatever they can to make this law fail as it would cost them financially. Obama did say tht the people could keep their old plans if they were happy with them BUT if the plans had not been changed AFTER the law went into effect. I'm sure many of the insurance companies changed their plans specifically so that they would NOT meet up with the demands of the law.

Don't blame the ACA when it is the insurance companies that are to blame. They want it to fail!

I have read of stories that have already proven the plan is working. But still, reports are stressing the very few individual disappointments. Who's paying for this propaganda? You can bet it's been undersigned with the name Koch.

I've said this before, "Wake up America - check the source!"

bmac32 Loc: West Florida

Your full if it where was never bipartisan support, no republican was in favor nor was asked for any input.

The 'other side' is against it because it's unworkable, drives costs too high and costs way too much. This law has been give chance after chance with this delay and that delay, I expect door to door next. 5.5 million have lost their insurance and they can't even replace it because the web site fails.

Your right there was no way to work with the other side through closed doors, republican were not invited, actually they were told to stay away. Democrats own this loch, stock and barrel!

In the beginning one insurance company was behind this, United Health Care backed by AARP and some others joined as not be shut out of the market.

For three plus year Obama said you can keep your doctor, your plan, PERIOD! insurance companies change the policies to conform with the law, remember it's the law. Insurance companies had nothing to do with the law, they simple followed the law.

The fault belongs to Obama and the democrats whom are now putting space between themselves and this president.

TiredOne

In the revisionist version of history that it seems most "conservatives" live in, your view is widely held to be "truth", when nothing about what you wrote is in fact true.

The ACA was drafted by members of both Parties and was principally based on Republican free market approach to reform healthcare. This principal espoused by the Heritage Foundation and heralded by them and Mitt Romney when it was first implemented in Massachusetts, has been demonstrated to be a workable approach albeit possibly not the best approach. Republicans offered over a hundred amendments to the law, including the change that required Congressional members and their "official" staff to obtain their coverage from the respective State or District of Columbia exchanges.

I don't think the insurance companies are against the ACA. They stand to greatly expand their customer base under the new law. There clearly are some insurance companies trying to take advantage of the changes by being less than truthful with their current customers whose policies don't conform to some aspects of the ACA. It's a free market and they aren't breaking any laws to pad their bottom line during this transition period. Not very ethical in my mind...but not illegal.

It is true that not a single member of their Party has ever voted to support the new law...but it is not true to state they had nothing to do with it at all. Their united stance to vote against what in essence was their own free market alternative to single payer proposals like what Hillary Clinton proposed while FLOTUS is purely political and a continuation of their blind obstruction of everything "Obama"... So even when the President tries to compromise and adopt their own plan, they vote against it while making the most ridiculous attacks against it...

bmac32 Loc: West Florida

Winter Solstice Loc: Salt Lake City

As far as I can tell Obamacare is full of Anti-Success Stories. The little good it is said to have done is preexisting conditions and 27 year olds can be covered under "daddy's" coverage. Everything else is adding cost and control over all of healthcare (not a good thing).

TiredOne

I have no idea what those links are supposed to "prove"... For the most part they confirm what I have stated already, namely that the new law was arrived at through committee conferences... Those committees were staffed by members of both Parties... Just as I stated previously.

I know Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate during the time the law was being drafted and voted upon. Despite common references that Democrats held a "super majority" the first two years of the President's first term, the actual facts don't support that assertion.

I've made no comment to suggest the law wasn't passed almost exclusively with Democratic votes/support, what I stated is that Republicans have indeed participated in writing the new law and that the law overall is primarily based on Republican/conservative ideals.

Even the links you provided talk about the public option, which is what most progressives and liberals feel/felt was the best approach to actually reduce premiums and was never included in the final approved version of the ACA. That alone should prove the point that the law wasn't crafted purely by Democrats and "shoved down Republican throats" as I hear repeated day in, day out...

Take the time to actually read the history and facts of the new law and I challenge you to then come back and make claims the new law is purely a Democratic idea/approach.

When you see the polls suggesting a majority of Americans disapprove of the new law... keep in mind that a significant number of those are people who don't approve of the private healthcare insurance aspect of the new law and want a purely single payer/public option arrangement. Only a minority want the law repealed because they think it is a bad idea overall... And I believe personally even the majority of those who do truly dislike the law, don't really understand the law because of the incessant lies and distortions that have filled the airways/Internet/media since it's inception.

This is a time of desperation for conservatives... despite the fact the law is based on conservative ideas, I suppose because it is associated with President Obama, they just have to oppose it regardless. They have gone into overdrive trying to enrage the public with story after story telling about the "horrors" of the new law... I predict with time, people will come to realize that most of this is bogus nonsense... and I don't think it will fare well for Republicans in next years elections... Only time will tell of course and any number of turns and twists will occur over the next 11 months... but let's see how it plays out...

I personally have mixed feelings about the new law and wonder if it can actually hold down costs going forward. I've never expected it to truly reduce premiums, but if it can bring the rate of yearly increases more in line with income increases, it will have to be considered a success.

What I do clearly understand is that what we currently have prior to the ACA taking full effect is NOT working and is the reason we see an increasing number of Americans not being able to afford healthcare insurance.

The Republican stated position of complete repeal and start over from scratch is nonsense... They have tried to maintain this air of it was a completely partisan law, which is only true if you look at it from a votes for/against perspective. In every other regard, it's a Republican dream come true... maintain the private insurance market, expand competition, require everyone to participate (personal responsibility)... I don't know how it could get much more "conservative" than it already is...LOL...

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

My son gave up his employer's insurance when he feared they would drop it and has been very satisfied with his personal policy with Blue Cross but in the first week of October he received a letter from BC/BS that stated they had to drop him because his policy doesn't fit with ACA. Yes, those letters were on one line of his letter. When he went to the BC/BS website he saw what he was missing and got really unhappy. What was he missing. Why post and after pregnancy care along with pediatric dental care. He has no wife and doesn't have any children but he sees having to pay for those things amounts to paying for someone else.

He is not about to go to the Kansas exchange since there are only two companies in it, BC/BS and some unknown company that we haven't heard of.

You guys are making a lot of noise and really can't see that Dem Congress people are being told to get some anecdotal stories the opposite of mine. I guess that means they may come back with about 200 to 250 anecdotal stories.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

Read this story and get back to me about how well Obamacare is working for many people. This little boy needs a pile of money soon for his next chemo and you could send some money to them for him.

http://www.teaparty.org/boy-cancer-loses-coverage-obamacare-launch-31201/

Oh I forgot that we must check our source and you sure as hell won't like this one. Go ahead and read the story and then prove that it is not true.

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

Look at this story about pre-existing conditions and the loss of insurance because the kid isn't pregnant.

http://www.teaparty.org/boy-cancer-loses-coverage-obamacare-launch-31201/

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

I think you fail to remember those halcyon days of Democratness in 2009 when Dirty Harry and his people got together in his offices on the hill with a bunch of union bosses, some insurance wheels and not one single Republican, they were locked out and not invited, and one day out they came with that over 2500 page document. No that bill was not written by committees although it had been debated for some time in committees. Republicans were not allowed into those meetings and the worst thing about this is that the bill was a money bill, 21 new taxes and could not legally originate in the Senate but it had to do so since they passed before Nasty Nancy made her statement about passing it to find out what was in it. i am pretty sure that no Representative of either party read the thing before it was voted on by the House and not one minute of debate or reading of it was done in the House.

Come on and read the words in the Constitution about where bills about raising money have to originate. You people refuse to accept the fact that only the House can originate money raising bills, according to the Constitution. You can read that part of the Constitution in Article 1, Section 7, Clause1. Are you ready to throw away that Constitution for the same reasons Obama is? It sure looks like it.

Winter Solstice Loc: Salt Lake City

Let me think a minute. This link is another Obamacare Anti-Success Story. So what is now? What is wrong with America anyhow??