Obama and Health Care

 

Obama Approval drops to 37% as massive problems continue to plague health insurance exchanges

 

By Dave Andrusko
Last week I promised I’d only report periodically on the abysmal rollout of ObamaCare’s healthcare insurance “exchanges.” Here’s the latest.
President Obama’s administration is getting crushed by the same news outlets that can never find anything wrong with The One. Here is just a sample:

· CBS This Morning: “However, computer experts say the website has major flaws. ‘It wasn’t designed well, it wasn’t implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it,’ said Luke Chung, an online database programmer.” And, oh by the way, “No one knows how many people have managed to enroll because the administration refuses to release those numbers.” You will also run across stories about news outlets unable to find a single person who has successfully signed up!

· USA Today: Under the headline, “Exchange launch turns into inexcusable mess,” the newspaper (which supports ObamaCare) editorializes, “Alas, the administration managed to turn the experience for most of those visitors into a nightmare. Websites crashed, refused to load, or offered bizarre and incomprehensible choices. Even though the system was shut down for repairs over the weekend, Monday’s early reports continued to suggest an epic screw-up.” And in an admission they must have gritted their teeth to make, USA Today wrote, “[President Obama's chief technology adviser, Todd] Park said the administration expected 50,000 to 60,000 simultaneous users. It got 250,000. Compare that with the similarly rocky debut seven years ago of exchanges to obtain Medicare drug coverage. The Bush administration projected 20,000 simultaneous users and built capacity for 150,000.

“That’s the difference between competence and incompetence.”

· In one (of many similar) stories in the Washington Post, in this case the front page story in today’s paper, “Major insurers, state health-care officials and Democratic allies repeatedly warned the Obama administration in recent months that the new federal health-insurance exchange had significant problems, according to people familiar with the conversations. Despite those warnings and intense criticism from Republicans, the White House proceeded with an Oct. 1 launch. A week after the federal Web site opened, technical problems continued to plague the system, and on Tuesday people were locked out until 10 a.m., although some applicants were able to sign up as the day went on. Officials said they were working 24 hours a day to improve the system and that they were confident it would soon be able to meet the demand.”

As you would expect from a “mainstream media” which always has Republicans in the cross-hairs, this is all followed by assurances that Republicans will suffer for the incompetence of the Obama administration. In an Associated Press story, you are well into it before you run across this starting figure:

“Most Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job, the poll suggests, with 53 percent unhappy with his performance and 37 percent approving of it.”

“Most Americans” dramatically underplays how the President’s stock is falling. A better and more accurate way of saying the same thing is that of those who have an opinion, the negatives outweigh by the positives by a staggering 3-2 margin

Source: NRLC News