ACA open enrollment has been renewed for a second season in spite of all efforts to cancel it, repeal it, axe it, kill it, behead it, stone it, stomp on it, demonize it, hate it to death, draw and quarter it, deport it back to Kenya, embalm, cremate, and bury.
Thief, Thief, Thief! Obamaggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!
This week's episode of open enrollment got started with a bang, specifically
100,000 Obamacare applications in first weekend. Joan McCarter is thrilled.
How many more Republican head explosions will we get this time, along with Christmas TV specials before Thanksgiving and even more retailers making employees work ever-longer holiday hours? Hey, you have to take the good with the bad. Or, of course, you could join the workers on strike on the holidays, or whatever other protest actions and organizing floats your boat. But no naysaying or handwringing.
Our esteemed brainwrap, aka Charles Gaba, has asked me again to write summary Diaries on Daily Kos starting from his posts at ACA Signups. I will also note for your enjoyment Front Page Stories and humble Diaries written by others on the same subject, and some of the news from the wider Internet.
What a first season that was! The pilot in Massachusetts did so well that it went national, in spite of terrible reviews all over the self-proclaimed Heartland. After all the hyperbolic publicity pro and con, all the drama, all the CT, could it even survive the first episode? What was this show, anyway? Thelma and Louise going over the cliff? Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with new horrors threatening our heroes with fates worse than death every week? House MD vs. the morons? Courtroom drama? Hospital soap opera? As the World Burns? The X Files mix of Conspiracy Theories and fantasy? Groundhog Day over and over and over and over…? No, no, I've got it: Game of Majority Leaders. Ah, but that was only this year. The words of House Republican are
Presidential primary season is coming
Arms, a belled cap and
marotte or des fous, on a field sable, semy of rhinestones
And you thought the War of Seven Kings and the Red Wedding were bad.
Yup, cliffhanger after cliffhanger episode up to the first season ender, the triumph of 7.1 million people insured on the exchanges, plus 8.0M Off-Exchange QHPs (Qualifying Health Plans), 11.0M Medicaid/CHIP, and 2.0M assorted others getting insurance. And yes, those who were supposed to paid their premiums. And yes, the rate of people without insurance or other coverage dropped significantly. And yes, enough young people signed up. And yes, more insurers are offering policies this year, and for many rates will go down. And no, Republicans still refuse to take Yes for an answer to anything.
The second ACA open enrollment season got started with a bang. The Web site, HC.gov, is actually working this time, as are the state exchanges. A Diary by brainwrap pointed out in Update x3: ACA Signups: No, 100K (probably) have *not* signed up on the 1st day, HOWEVER... the first announced figure is only for applications, not policies issued, which will be less, nor premiums paid, which will we less again. However, if you consider that an application can cover more than one person, and look at some other current numbers, carry the ten and take away the number you first thought of, it could all in fact mean that even a few more than 100,000 people will get coverage from those 100,000 applications. Maybe. We might even find out.
This season promises to be as exciting and confusing as the first. People still love the ACA and hate Obamacare. Millions more will sign up. Lives will continue to be saved. Some more Red states will grudgingly accept Medicaid, while doing everything they can think of to make it serve the poor worse. Some newly-elected Republican Governors might try to undo Medicaid expansion in their states. We are headed back to let the Supreme Court decide whether to gut the ACA once again on a technicality, maybe. But wait! If SCOTUS decides to play language games to cut the subsidies, we have another language game at the ready to restore them! All we have to do is explain that the states all do have state exchanges, even if they are hosted on the Federal site.
The 2016 Presidential clown car Republican primary campaign, which has actually been on for more than a year, officially opens this month. (Also Hillary is running on the D side.)
Cue circus music.
Can the Rethugs make Obama tearful?
Can they keep the population fearful?
Who's gonna do it?
Who can pursue it?
Will they, might they, can they, make themselves all cheerful?
Mitch McConnell's messing up the Senate,
Speaker Boehner's put the House right in it.
Cato is suing,
Ted Cruz pursuing,
Cuz he thinks he has a chance to win it.
Hey! We haven't even started the impeachment yet. Or the next government shutdown.