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Some residents praised Waters just because of her fighting
for poor people (as if!). Another lady, who had driven from Encino, announced
that the death panels were added after the US Senate reconciliation. A janitor
from Los Angeles Unified School District complained about his new, forced part-time
status, then shared concerns about illegal aliens getting health insurance for
free.
When it was my turn, I shouted:
“As far as I’m concerned, Obamacare can go straight to
hell!”
Waters wanted me to stay and listen to her justify the
program at length. I could not bear being lied to for so long, and I refused to
stay. I left under a cloud of boos.
Two years later, I realize my comments were merely premature.
Obamacare is going to hell, and Covered California is proof that I didn’t have
to help it get there. The Golden State’s Obamacare insurance exchange was
supposed to be the gold standard of government-subsidized healthcare, ending the
rise of uninsured Americans invading emergency rooms and costing the taxpayers
millions of dollars every year.
With
six state exchanges in disarray, including Hawaii saying “Aloha” to their
own multi-million dollar failure, California’s exchange is not getting the
exposure it deserves. Not because it is a resounding success, but rather an
unsound failure, already
slipping behind Florida in terms of enrollment numbers.
Covered California’s prospective clients with disabilities are
struggling to access health insurance:
Of the four
departments included in the audit, Covered California's website had the most
violations of Web accessibility standards. The audit reviewed 57 pages of the
exchange's site and found:
Despite these disturbing trends, this information is not
getting much needed attention. Columbia
Journalism Review examined the media coverage on Covered California, only
to find that the press is repeating the talking points, rather than bringing up
points worth talking about, i.e. people who have signed up but not paid; those
who signed up and paid for the first year, then dropped out; the rising number
of Medi-Cal recipients (people who are not paying much, and thus are floating
on someone else’s money entirely).
Breitbart summarized
some unnerving trends about the exchange:
The Daily Signal noted
that the media has not concentrated on the paucity of enrollees in Covered
California, which has leveled off at 40% of possible candidates, and only
increased one percentage point in 2015. Further, only 65% of Covered
California’s 2014 customers reenrolled in 2015. The Daily Signal also spoke
with current and past Covered California managers who asserted that Covered
California hid contractor waste, fraud, and abuse. Covered California denied
such accusations.
And of course, no one has discussed let alone dissected the
exorbitant costs of the state legislature bringing illegal aliens into
the state exchange.
How bad is this lack of media coverage for Covered
California, anyway?
The Los Angeles CBS affiliate has
reported nothing amiss after 2014.
KNBC Los Angeles documented that 100,000 households had to wait to file
their taxes because of bureaucratic paper-wrangling connected
to the Covered California subsidies. For the most part, however, NBC
4 seems more intent on selling the program rather than promoting it,
although tweets
like this one characterize the
rising frustration with the exchange. (But at least this
patient got gender reassignment surgery. That’s a good thing, right?)
Besides Breitbart and
Americans for Prosperity, Yelp has listed the state exchange with
one star. . . out of five. Pretty bad. At least Republican Congressional candidates
exposed the rampant failures of Covered CA. In 2014, former Republican
Congressman Doug Ose came out of retirement to unseat freshman Sacramento-area
Congressman Democrat Ami Bera. Narrowly losing the race, Ose campaigned
effectively on the ineffective Covered California program, including tweets like this one
highlighting the growing number of medical professionals not accepting the
Obamacare insurance. The same year, deputy district attorney Elan Carr, running
to replace Obamacare architect Henry Waxman, announced
that patients with Covered CA could not find doctors to care for them.
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For some good news, NBC affiliate KCRA, based in Sacramento
reported that individual consumers are feeling the not-so-Covered California
pinch. One customer, Carol James, acknowledged
that her premium costs decreased, but the number and cost on her medical bills
have increased, too. 150,000 people chose not to renew their plans, and in
spite of the President’s oft-repeated, now thoroughly debunked promises,
clients like James are paying more, rationing medications, and delaying medical
care out of concerns over cost.
Covered California spokesman Dana Howard attempted to paint
a glister on the tarnishing Golden State’s exchange, including the rising
premium prices:
"Increases are
just part of our everyday life," Howard said. "Every single year
prices go up." Howard added that some policy holders may receive enough
subsidy increase to offset a premium hike.
That qualifier “may” glaringly stands out, granting little
assurance over California’s failing health insurance exchange.
Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to make health care affordable,
bring down costs? During his first term, President Obama ensured the Affordable
Care Act with that promise: “If you like your doctor, you can keep it. Period.”
Sorry, Mr. President, that wasn’t true. Exclamation Point. Nearly
one million Californians have lost their health insurance, and hundreds
of thousands are paying more. Surprisingly,
a guest columnist in the uber-liberal Jewish
Journal, still a true believer in government health care, called out this
lie, after regaling readers with his own Obamacare horror stories.
With Covered California uncovered, the once-trustworthy standard-bearer
for Obamacare’s long-term success is turning up as another flop, and despite
Governor Brown’s brief
intentions of merging with the now defunct Cover Oregon, it looks as though
more Americans will discover that Obamacare didn’t care, and Covered California
isn’t.
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