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Amy Lynn Smith: Survey Shows The Newly Enrolled Are Happy About Their Health Insurance
A national survey conducted by PerryUndem for Enroll America provides some of the first insights into how people who got covered during the first Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period feel about their new insurance. Not surprisingly, they feel pretty darn good. The newly enrolled are four times more likely to say they are happy with their coverage than unhappy — 41% compared to 11%. 74% of new enrollees were very or somewhat confident they would be able to pay their premiums moving forward. The feeling that best expresses how the newly enrolled feel about having health insurance is “relieved.”
Although Republicans like Michigan Congressman Tim Walberg continue hunting for “horror stories” about the ACA, or Obamacare, they’re coming up empty-handed. Walberg asked about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the center and the physicians responded that with the expansion of Medicaid [under the ACA] more people are coming to the practice instead of the emergency room. With improved access to health care, the new patients are getting better care for improved health.
More here
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Steve Benen: Everything’s Coming Up Aces For The ACA
The news surrounding the Affordable Care Act has been so good this week, it’s almost hard to know where to start. We could start with the fact that private insurers who skipped the exchanges now want in … or we could go with the fact, as expected, consumers are paying their premiums … … or we could talk about “Obamacare” cutting the rate of uninsured in New Jersey by 38%, Minnesota by 40%, and Kentucky by 50%.*
In all, a little less than a third of the country supports repealing the Affordable Care Act – the position Republicans have spent years touting as smart policy and politics. Looking at all of the good ACA news last week, Simon Maloy said, “We’re only six days into June, and opponents of the ACA have already had a terrible month.” For the health care opponents on the right, June looks even worse this week.
More here
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German Lopez: 2 promising Signs For Us Health Spending
Health-care spending might not be growing so quickly after all. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis projected that health-care spending would massively increase in the first quarter of 2014. In the health wonk world, that inspired a lot of panic about the return of high health-care cost growth. Not only would that make health care more expensive for everyone, but it would further strain budgets at all levels of government. The good news is the latest federal data on health spending suggests that the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s initial estimates may have been wrong and could be revised downward. If that’s the case, health-care spending could still be growing at the same timid pace it has been for years.
For the federal government, the most promising news comes through Medicare. The latest data, as broken down by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, shows underlying Medicare growth, even after adjusting for temporary policies, is growing at just 2.5 percent. That’s more than a full percentage point below economic and beneficiary growth. Medicare, in other words, is growing slower as a percent of the economy and on a per-person basis. A percentage point might not seem like a huge deal. But if the trend holds, it could translate to billions of dollars in savings for the federal government.
More here
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Why insurance companies that said no to Obamacare in 2013 are changing their tune in 2014: advbd.co/1lgkYS2
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Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) June 13, 2025****
@joshtpm Meanwhile, in neighboring W-VA, rate of rise in enrollment is second highest in country washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-lin…
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Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 09, 2025****
Dan Diamond: In Every State So Far, More Insurers Are Asking To Participate In Obamacare
But the second year of Obamacare is bringing out more insurance carriers in New Hampshire. Not just one or two more—but four more. “New Hampshire residents have asked for options,” state Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny said last month, announcing the five plans that will participate in this fall’s enrollment period. “Choice is good for consumers and good for competition.”Sevigny may be the only state commissioner who gets to tout a 400% increase in the number of participating plans, but he’s hardly alone in seeing a surge on his state’s exchange. In every state that’s shared details thusfar, it appears there will be more choices in Obamacare, year 2: Michigan’s exchange is going from 13 participating companies in 2013 to 18 this fall. At least one additional carrier has filed to sell plans through Kentucky’s exchange.
Several more insurers may join the plans participating in Virginia, Washington, and Indiana’s exchanges. United HealthCare may jump into Georgia’s market. And the surge in carriers means that there will be many more actual options at the point of purchase, too. Peter Frost at the Chicago Tribune notes the number of companies competing on the Illinois exchange next year will inch up from six to eight—but the number of available policies will almost triple, from 165 to 504. Officials at HHS and the White House are thrilled by the growing turnout. “We are pleased to see an increase of insurers applying for state marketplaces,” a senior administration official told the Daily Briefing. “Where insurers compete for business, consumers benefit.”
More here
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White House.gov
1st!
Don!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats Don!
Second? It’s not your day, GGail :lol:
And you are doing a bang up job of pointing it out to me Chips!
Hush!!!
. Obviously someone thought it wise to have observers watching over the process to insure that the person that was first get credited with actually being first. Now I’m not saying that computer glitches don’t happen, and that the person that was first didn’t always get credited with being first. But nevertheless it is a good that to have more than one set of eyes on a particular thing.
:shock: Don, I have read your comment several times and I have no idea who you are talking to or about.
Are you tipsy? Celebrating the anniversary already? Or is it me? :-)
Are you supporting me, defending me, or teasing me?????
GGail, after I read what I wrote I realized how crazy I sound! I’m not making much sense today, its Monday.
Whew! Don, I’m so glad you replied like you did. I was seriously worried…about one of us :lol:
Don - You think you sound crazy. How do you think I feel? I understood every word you wrote to GGail. I could have replied “^^^THIS!” but I stopped myself. Ha! #Kidding
ROFL!!!
J’OB, you’re a hoot :-)
Right back atcha, GGail! :)
Congrats on 1st, Don!
Simply marvelous Obamacare thread, NW!! Thank you!!
Thanks, Bob.
Great posts today NW! So much good news. I love it. I haven’t checked my online sources of info yet, but ran across this GOP Iraq poster that I loved. Lindsey needs a better bra! LOL!!
“Although Republicans like Michigan Congressman Tim Walberg continue hunting for “horror stories” about the ACA, or Obamacare, they’re coming up empty-handed. Walberg asked about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the center and the physicians responded that with the expansion of Medicaid [under the ACA] more people are coming to the practice instead of the emergency room. With improved access to health care, the new patients are getting better care for improved health.”
Duh! It’s elementary my dear
Thanks NW for more good ACA news
What is happening is that people are only now finding out what an improvement the ACA is because of their direct experience with the benefits and patient protections it provides. Because the media didn’t do their jobs and present accurate information there are still too many people who would have qualified for subsidized plans and/or expanded Medicaid but were sure that they couldn’t afford it or that it would be some nefarious thing.
We here at TOD are all aware of how the Republicans set about to sabotage our President from his very first day in office but they would not have been able to get away with it were it not for a complicit media. The Republicans got a huge assist from the media who failed to educate about the Recovery Act, ACA-really everything that the President was doing to clean up the mess that the Bush administration and Republican Congress created. And then you had the critics from the supposed left like MSNBC and others who constantly pushed the disappointed meme and drove down enthusiasm and turnout in the midterm elections.
And it continues with the ridiculous coverage of Syria, Iraq, Bergdahl, etc. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills when I see polling that says that people don’t support PBO on foreign policy even though they agree with him on each particular decision. It reminds me of the polling on the ACA that showed overwhelming support for the individual provisions of the ACA even as they hated ObamaCare. It is maddening and the worst part is all the unnecessary suffering that has happened because of the 2010 midterm and 2012 Congressional elections. How many people will die because Republican run states refuse to expand Medicaid? How many seniors will go without meals on wheels? How many people will lose their homes because Congress won’t pass UI extension? How many kids and families will go without food this summer because of food stamp cuts? How many parents will miss work and how many children will enter school already behind because of Head Start cuts? How many of our brightest young people will end up with crippling debt because of failure to pass student loan reform?
The Republicans and corporate media are killing this country. This can’t go on and it falls to those of us who are informed to counter this. Each one teach one until we can free ourselves from this Republican/corporate media insanity.
O/T, but another squee moment. A patron just thanked me profusely for the book I recommended to her. She was just glowing.
And if you want to read it: John Berger, “Here Is Where We Meet”.
Hey, Palin and Rummy, how’s that “They’ll spread flowers at our feet in Iraq” hopey changey thingie going?
Right, flowers that are connected by tripwire to a bomb.
Yep, with a “Thanks for nothing, Bush” message painted on the bomb.
WTG, Don on snagging first place. Am loving all the positive ACA news. Saturday, June 28th is the anniversary of the SCOTUS decision upholding the constitutionality of the law. Roberts should NOT have made the expansion of Medicaid optional for the states, but otherwise, the decision was a big relief. The ACA will continue to help people and become even more successful over time as people realize all the benefits and protections.
On the other hand the govs in the red states who declined Medicaid expansion now have to face their constituents
Some of whom are just as dumb as they are.
LOL True, there is an endless supply of them!
They breed! (Yuck.)
The Medicaid Option is like a giant buoy for states ran by governors that were too stupid to get on board with Obamacare in the first place. Roberts simply gave Republican governors enough time to realize that resistance against Obamacare is futile.
In all this hoople about going back in Iraq, I have not heard a goddamn thing from Bush or Cheney, I wonder why? Maybe those two figured out a long time ago to get as far away from Iraq as possible. They aren’t going to touch Iraq with a ten-foot pole.
They’re hiding in the Texas Bunker
Maybe they’re still trying to figure out how to spin this: http://bobcesca.thedailybanter.com/blog-archives/2014/06/prosecutor-military-had-no-case-against-5-taliban-prisoners.html
Brig. Gen. Mark Martins said he concurred with a study conducted a few years ago that found prosecutors were unlikely to win convictions against about 200 detainees, including the five traded for Bergdahl. Republicans such as Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, have derided the swap, saying it will put U.S. troops at risk.
“I concluded there was not a successful prosecution to be made,” Martins said.
There you have it. Republicans lied. Again. Act surprised.
Thank you Toure—-“Spare the rod and save the child”.
True.
A little diversion :) OH MAN! This is Mississippi and the Cochran/McDaniel race….OMG. Tacky, low, misogynist doesn’t come close
http://www.juanitajean.com/2014/06/16/hell-yall-its-mississippi/
How are you doing, df?
Fine:) She’s still with me (Simi, my dog) and seems to be a little Energizer Bunny. (Is that what you were wondering?? :) ) Waiting for my son to drag his carcass out of bed so that we can go to Barnes and Noble together and maybe grab a quick bite before he goes off to work again. I never see him unless he’s leaving to go to work and I miss him. He loves his sleep…it would seem. Might have to go jump on him! How’re YOU doing, 57?
Yes, that is what I meant. I hate to ask outright.
Enjoy your time with your son.
Me? I’m okay. Arthritis is awful after working outside this weekend. I’m allergic to NSAID’s so there isn’t much I can do for the pain. I take supplements and I guess they help, but not so much today.
You get that kid out of bed yet?!?!
Give Simi a kiss from Aunt 57.
{{57}}} Thanks, love! I ALWAYS enjoy my time with my son:) I wish I could clone him so the entire world could know what I know and have what I have:) He’s a great guy…even though he loves to sleep so much…comes from working 2 night jobs…I really want him to change his sleep schedule though…too much is NOT good!
That arthritis doesn’t sound very good! I don’t have that, but my body sure does ache after my “fun in the yard with my pole saw” !! Cutting down tons of branches and piling all of them up for some guys to come over with a big ass wood chipper when I’m done! I thought I wanted a big yard….and then you have to take care of it when you don’t really have the time…..I’m rethinking the ” nice big yard” business, but it’s too late now! Anyway, NSAIDS aren’t good for livers and such, so maybe you could try some alternative medicine for your arthritis? Feel better. We’re not 20 years old anymore…sucks getting older, for sure:)
Enjoyed your insurance comment a couple threads back…thrilled that you FINALLY are able to have healthcare:) Thanks, PBO!
I bemoaned how small our yard was when we bought the house 27 years ago. Now I’m so grateful there’s so little to take care of! I miss doing real gardening, but my body just won’t let me do it anymore. Mr. 57 hauled some patio blocks that we already had and we put those down - not enough to make a full patio but I filled in the rest with a few step stones and a LOT of mulch. The doggies like the feel of the mulch over the nasty mud that was left over after the terrible winter.
We bought a lot of pre-planted planters and baskets this year and I planted some herbs. I’m just in soooo much pain. Hoped I could ‘work through it’ but that didn’t work.
I’ve tried every alternative medicine out there and nothing really works. We did run out of the good krill oil I was using, and that may be why I’m a lot worse than usual. I should try a chiropractor, I guess. Mr. 57 had a really good one.
The latest thing I’ve heard about is an anti-inflammatory diet: no sugar, no carbs, no bread, no alcohol, the right veggies, very little animal protein. I really do eat pretty healthy, but apparently the vino, the pot roast and the bread are working against me!
Getting old sucks.
Bc when this president stands at an average of 41% approval, the fickle American public likes to pile on.
I would be interested to know what Reagan’s approval was at this time in his tenure?
Also, the WH sees issues coming and tries to get out ahead of it all the time. It’s just that the media won’t let them.
Think about that?
So, UE is lower than Reagan’s at this time? But, Americans see the economy as failing?
Reagan was an actor, a salesman…,,,pitching and mesmerizing folks with his sunny and repeated propaganda talking jingles that the 3 Alphabet networks…..ABC, CBS and NBC were eager to join in and cheer.
Today too many well oiled messaging networks masquerading as News Media controlled by 6 rightie leaning owners are the reality. Then the DNC is Not out there touting their stories and achievements. Nothing has changed. The Dems have got to want to become salespeople to change the GLOOM…..by using facts and data. By challenging the media to be Fair and Balanced. By supporting the president and by being in the faces of the media just like Sen Reid does from the senate floor.
Times were very different as well: the Dems had been in power for a long time, inflation was high - people were willing to try something ‘new’. I never voted for him, of course, but I remember it crossing my mind that it was worth a try. And yes, he wrapped his hateful conservative views in a slick package.
There were very few people at that time who thought a complete conservative collapse of American Enlightenment ideals would be the result. That he would ‘tax and spend’ on the military, tripling our debt, while cutting safety net. And he was the first to join hands with the Christian Right, who arguably have taken their faux Christian/libertarian Hell and unleashed it on us.
And Dems kept laughing and calling them all crazy, not adapting to the new ‘reality’ as pontificated by Fox, RW talk, and a complicit media. Instead of standing up for American ideals, they got scared and moved ever-rightward. They still don’t know how to craft a message that touches the gut - they rely on PBO for all of it instead of building an infrastructure. Instead of being OUTRAGED each and every time lies are told. Outrage gets attention but we need the party to lead.
I think it’s the wife of Jimmy Carter who said this about Reagan: he just made people comfortable in their prejudices.
ghana won yet?
/sipping rum & coke (no, the other one)
A little OT, but I’ve been trying to catch up with all the fabulous previous posts, A grand thank you Chips, NW, BTs! Caught a little angst from those who endured tidbits of the Sunday shows. Uggh, I click them off! Anyway, this article by David Simon (creator of HBO’s “The Wire”) written 11/7/12 came to mind, particularly this paragraph:
“Regardless of what happens with his second term, Barack Obama’s great victory has already been won: We are all the other now, in some sense. Special interests? That term has no more meaning in the New America. We are all — all of us, every last American, even the whitest of white guys — special interests. And now, normal isn’t white or straight or Christian. There is no normal. That word, too, means less with every moment. And those who continue to argue for such retrograde notions as a political reality will become less germane and more ridiculous with every passing year.”
[Indeed!]
.
http://davidsimon.com/inevitabilities-and-barack-obama/
Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME????
I read this awhile ago and was glad to see the new tweet. It is TRUE.
The bastard said there were reasons that dog didn’t work out. Yeah, you didn’t need him anymore, you worthless sociopath.
GOP are all sociopaths. Every last one of them.
Look at it this way…the dog fared better without that little POS in his life.
The guy is wicked, period.
Obamas back home.
The King of Useless Information.
Finished first ‘leg’ of my trip shortly after 3:00. Resting in my room. (Roanoke, VA). Will need to find a place to eat in a little bit. My leg did as well as could be expected. I stopped every hour and stretched and walked. Trip on home tomorrow won’t be as long. Thanks for all the thoughts, suggestions and prayers. Please keep them coming.
Sending healing and positive energy your way…..
Glad you completed the first leg, TN. Get some much needed rest and a good sleep tonight. Pls let us know when you’ve made it home.
Good job Tn!
JohnCornyn ✔ @JohnCornyn
Sad but true @benshapiro: It took nearly 4,500 American lives to win freedom for Iraq. It took one president to lose it.
8:26 AM - 13 Jun 2025
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Are you effing kidding me?!?!?!?!?!
They all need shock therapy…….
Just being his usual POS! Let’s move along….
The Dems need shock therapy to effing vote!
Hmm?
John Cornyn is supposed to be bright? Not!
They’re so ignorant it boggles the mind. Or they know all about President Obama refusing to leave some troops in Iraq because the Iraqi parliament had refused immunity to US soldiers, and they’re just playing politics in the most cynical fashion.
Au :star: for Don, Yes!
>-I
Charles Johnson
@Green_Footballs
The Great Missing Email story collapses. Another huge right wing outragefest turns into a nothingburger in 2 days.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/16/heres-how-the-irs-lost-emails-from-key-witness-lois-lerner/ …
Dude in the blue T-shirt is Mohammad Nour — http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/15574-oops-sen-mccain-met-syrian-rebels-accused-of-kidnapping
Very ‘mavericky’ of him! He should have been censured
How many times have they done that Mark ?
I do not know why we keep seeing his useless tweets…
Because—-Obamas—-duh.
He will probably write a book titled ” Barack Obama….By the Numbers “
VP Biden has his with pictures too. If you can, please post his here too.
Got It :lol:
He needs to stop stalking our President and his family….it is creepy…
It is creepy! But his tweets keep getting posted…..
I like the photos. The only ones I would ignore is when he obsesses about their food, with a detailed menu list.
And even that is amusing—somewhat.
Then POTUS head to the Oval Office. Well Knoller he has work to do. He is the President, even though CNN piece of crap poll says Hillary out poll him in everything.
The Vitter man is saying what?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/david-vitter-gubernatorial-campaign-jindal-duck-dynasty
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is making one thing clear about his run for governor: it’s not meant to get him on the hit show Duck Dynasty, unlike Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R).
“I will lead. I’m not running for governor as a stepping stone…I’m not even running to gain a cameo appearance on ‘Duck Dynasty,'” Vitter said according to The Advocate of Louisiana on Monday. The comment was a clear jab at Jindal, who has been mentioned as a potential 2016 presidential candidate and recently appeared on the show.
The diaper man voted against ACA many times.
YES! They are home! Much love to my President and his lovely (most lively) wife!
Chat away!
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/06/16/world-cup-chat-away/