I'm officially committing to keeping things going through the 2nd enrollment period, which runs from November 15, 2014 through February 15, 2015.
—brainwrap
Update: HHS and CMS reports are out! Much more tomorrow.
We have two ACA Signups Diaries from brainwrap yesterday, here on dKos, not just at ACA Signups.
ACA Signups: SHOCKER: GOP Committee Report is a Big Pile of Crap
But Republican lies now come pre-refuted.
ACA Signups: Thank You, What's Next and One More Thing…
It thanks everybody who helped out so far, including kos and his team, of course, and many other Kossacks, and many others not here on dKos, and me specifically.
Thank you to Mokurai, who has been writing excellent daily "ACA Signup Roundup" diaries on my behalf here at dKos…usually doing a better job of explaining the developments than I do over at the other site!
It's all part of the service. My son Certifiable Genius was struck by what a nice shoutout that was and remarked on it to me.
Also, if you can help Michigan, which is in particularly dire straits under a Republican Governor and legislative supermajority, brainwrap would appreciate that, too. More below.
Michigan
Michigan, where the labor movement began, is in particularly dire straits under a Republican legislative supermajority. They are trying to destroy all unions and the city of Detroit, and they made it illegal for regular health insurance to cover abortion in cases of rape. Normally, that is excellent GOTV for Democrats, but we shall see. Although for some reason unknown to me they sort of took Medicaid expansion, but with premiums and co-pays for the poor, and lots of people are signing up for it.
The Future of ACA Signups
Where Do We Go From Here?
Charles Gaba/brainwrap originally expected to run ACA Signups only until the end of Open Enrollment and the final reports from the exchanges. Say the first week in April. Then we got the extensions, mostly until April 15, and the reports that should have come out the next week, but still have not appeared. OK, so, presumably sometime here in early May.
Except that it turns out that
- There are more numbers coming, not only on enrollments, but on how many people have insurance, how good it is, and how public opinion is shifting.
- There are far more lies coming from Republicans, even though they now come pre-refuted.
- Democrats have started to campaign on the ACA/Obamacare, especially against Republicans wanting to prevent Medicaid expansion or take away existing coverage of all kinds.
- There will be a new Open Enrollment period starting right after the November elections, and scheduled to end on February 15.
There may come a time when I will not be doing ACA Signups Diaries. Maybe after we get to fewer that 5% uninsured. A straight-line projection says that that could happen in two years, at the rate we have been going, but we have to expect it to slow down as we seek out those harder to reach, and those traumatized by Republican propaganda. It depends on how we do with taking back Red states and expanding Medicaid, this year or after the 2016 elections. But I and others will continue to do Obamacare Saves Lives Diaries, and to talk about the coming Republican implosion.
Again, thanks to everyone for everything. It's been a hell of a ride so far. Where do we go from here? For myself, hopefully…eventually…single payer.
Until then, the ACA will have to serve as a gateway.
Lies
I can still highly recommend Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Al Franken. Also, my little library of explanations for social and political malice and lying, and how to overcome them. These are just the essentials. There is far more detail available on the history of animus in politics and what has been done about it.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, which explains that money is not wealth. Wealth is productivity plus fair distribution. Money without productivity equals inflation. Money without distribution equals misgovernment, and infallibly leads to financial catastrophes such as asset bubbles and crashes, and to further oppression.
- The Theory of the Leisure Class, by Thorstein Veblen, about the imperative to be richer and more important than others, and make sure they know it
- The True Believer, by Eric Hoffer, about the impulse toward Fascism
- When Prophecy Fails, by Leon Festinger et al., about Cognitive Dissonance
- The Evolution of Cooperation, by Robert Axelrod, about exactly what the title says
- Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control, by Christopher Peterson, Steven F. Maier and Martin E. P. Seligman, about how to create helplessness, and how to overcome it and immunize people against it
GOP House Committee report so full of crap I couldn't fit it all in one post (UPDATED)
Shocker: GOP House Energy Committee Report is Big Pile of Crap (UPDATED)
Only one pre-debunked claim, that only 67% of enrollees have paid their first premium, when not even that many payments are due yet, and the rate of payment when it is due is commonly 80-85%. We also know that most of those not paying have found a better option, or have had a change of circumstances such as taking a job with coverage, falling into Medicaid eligibility or the Medicaid Gap, or having a Qualifying Event that requires them to get a different policy.
We have so much data from so many sources on this question (including insurance companies) that brainwrap had to split his reply into two separate posts.
From slavery until the New Deal, it was Southern Democrats who were the lying racists. When Truman desegregated the military starting in 1948, Strom Thurmond bolted to form the Dixiecrat Party, and then joined the Republicans. The full-on Republican Southern Strategy did not take shape until the Goldwater campaign of 1964, when Goldwater hired Thurmond's campaign strategist, Harry Dent, Sr. But by 1952 the trend was already clear. Look at this total reversal.
United States Senator (1899-1911) Chauncey Depew (23 April 1834 – 5 April 1928):
If you will refrain from telling any lies about the Republican Party, I'll promise not to tell the truth about the Democrats.
As quoted in
If Elected I Promise …: Stories and Gems of Wisdom by and About Politicians (1969) by John F. Parker
Adlai Stevenson turned that around.
I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends… that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.
Campaign statement in Fresno, California (10 September 1952)
Numbers
Alaska: 4/15 Total: 13K Exchange QHPs, 2,700 Off-Exchange QHPs
Rhode Island: ACA-enabled Medicaid up to 70K
Illinois: ACA Medicaid Expansion adds up to 350K, plus another 80K Woodworkers
Minnesota Final Tally: 50.5K QHPs, 155.6K Medicaid, 1,300 SHOP
BCBS/WellPoint report big off-exchange QHPs & up to 95% PAID
The But How Many Have PAID? zombie meme continues its futile search for brains. Where is the Wizard of Oz when we need him?
Hawaii inches up another 150 QHPs w/4 days to go…
Today is the REAL Deadline for Open Enrollment in at least 39 States
The other states had already passed their deadlines, except, of course, for the relatively few exceptions such as people transitioning from a previous high-risk pool, specific rules for people stuck in various processes in Nevada, Colorado, and Massachusetts, and programs that have no deadline at all such as Medicaid and SHOP (employer-based coverage). Also, Native Americans have no deadline.