Secrets of Obamacare

Nancy Pelosi famously advised us that we had to pass Obamacare to find out what was in it, away from the din of political controversy. You yokels were just making too damn much of a fuss. The continuing revelations of Obamacare — its destructive effects, its gargantuan costs, its broken promises — create a din of their own.

If you’re paying close attention, it’s hard to keep up with the revelations. If you’re not paying close attention, they’re easy to miss. And we’re still seeking to get to the bottom of certain secrets.

The Obama administration — Queen Seeb — had previously professed a goal of seven million Obamacare sign-ups during the initial open enrollment period. Are they standing by it? Robert Pear reports in today’s New York Times regarding Sebelius’s testimony before Congress: “[S]he declined to say whether the administration was still committed to its original goal of enrolling seven million people in private coverage through federal and state exchanges by March 31.”

Pear adds: “Ms. Sebelius reported Tuesday that 4.2 million people had selected health plans through the federal and state exchanges from October through February.”

Of those 4.2 million, how many have actually paid premiums to take out coverage? She’s not saying.

And of those 4.2 million, how many were previously insured? She’s not saying.

As Peter Suderman observed this week: “Even if we knew how many of the sign ups were paid enrollments, that would not tell us how many previously uninsured people were gaining coverage thanks to the law. Survey data suggests that the number is much smaller than the overall sign-up totals, perhaps just a quarter of all people signing up for coverage. But the bottom line is that we just don’t know, because the administration is not systematically tracking that data.”

These are among the deep secrets of Obamacare. Democrats who voted for this engine of destruction should be asked the questions on every opportune occasion.

Queen Seeb appears to have redefined success downward. She now defines success as “millions of people having affordable health care” through private insurance and Medicaid. But that assumes that the millions counted among those who have “selected plans” didn’t have them before. Queen Seeb begs the question that needs to be asked on every opportune occasion.

Going at this question from another direction, Robert Tracinski asks: “What was a the point of Obamacare?” Tracinski looks at shards of evidence dropped by sources such as Ezekiel Emanuel and draws inferences regarding the deep secrets of Obamacare. We’re going to have to stay on the case.

Queen Seeb assures us that the policies offered through the Obamacare exchanges provide “affordable health care.” Do they?

The Federalist reports that at a Spanish-language town hall at the Newseum last week, el presidente was asked a question from a man who wanted to buy Obamacare for a family of three but couldn’t afford it. The individual said he makes about $36,000 per year, and the minimum Obamacare insurance price for the policy he needed was about $315 per month. “I think that’s too much for me,” the man said, according to an English translation of his question.

“Is the Affordable Care Act really affordable?” the moderator then asked Obama. The answer is obscure, seen as through a glass darkly. Obama messes with Texas (and Florida) and takes issue with with the poor choices made by citizens who value their cable television access and cell phone service more than Obamacare.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses