Is Obamacare Dying a Quick Death?

“FULL PANIC MODE”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Dec. 21, 2013) — On Friday, political pundit Dick Morris said on his website that “Obamacare died” because of the rescinding of the individual mandate for the millions of Americans whose health care plans were canceled as a result of the Obamacare law.

Since the summer, the regime has made at least 14 delays or changes to the provisions of the law without any action from Congress.  Some constitutional scholars see Obama’s actions as overreaching and possibly impeachable offenses.

In its latest move, the regime declared that people seeking new insurance after having lost their plans will qualify for a “hardship exemption,” which shields them from the fine which the law imposes for uninsured Americans and allows them to purchase catastrophic-coverage-only plans previously reserved for people under 30.  The justification for the hardship is “if they cannot afford a better one on the law’s health exchanges.”

In response to the newest change, The Weekly Standard wrote that “The wrecking ball swung again toward the crumbling Obamacare edifice yesterday. Ironically, it continues to be the Obama administration that is operating the heavy machinery” and “The law is falling apart before our eyes.”

Obama was described as being in “panic mode” when he urged a group of college students to purchase a health care plan through their state exchange or Healthcare.gov, the federal website which has been plagued with problems since its launch on October 1.

There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution which allows a government department to make or alter law, nor is there anything which allows the executive branch to mandate anyone to purchase anything.  However, in late June of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law after re-interpreting it as a tax rather than as a penalty, as it was argued to the court.

Prior to the launch of Healthcare.gov, The Huffington Post indicated that the regime knew there would be serious problems but advised “Nobody panic.”  Later in the article, however, the writer stated, “You couldn’t be blamed for concluding that Obamacare just might be unworkable after all.”

“Panic” over Obamacare was reported by The Washington Post as early as July 19, 2013 amidst the statement that even then, “Obamacare is falling apart.”

After Healthcare.gov was launched, its lack of readiness and security became apparent, to the anger and frustration of many Americans.  Congressional hearings ensued during which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was asked to tender her resignation, which she has refused to do.  Some reports state that an estimated $1 billion will be spent on building and repairing the website.

As early as last May, it was predicted that Obamacare would not work.

On July 3, in discussing the elements of the bill which he believes produced a “compromise,” left-leaning Mother Jones writer Kevin Drum wrote that “People who currently have insurance they like wanted to be sure that they wouldn’t be forced into some strange new system.”  Today, as many as 6,000,000 Americans have been forced off of health plans that they “liked.”

The law was signed by Obama on March 23, 2010, to much fanfare by Democrats and no Republican support whatsoever.  Thereafter, Obama had promised the public that “if you like your plan, you can keep it,” which was a lie.  Many Americans with serious illnesses, injuries and medical conditions are now having to look for new insurance because their current plans will no longer be offered effective January 1, 2014.  Those seeking new plans on a state or federal exchange have found considerably higher deductibles and premiums than they were paying before as well as coverage options which they will never use.

In some cases, state health insurance exchanges are served by only one insurance company, which limits the choices offered to consumers.  Some states have actually had no enrollees since the implementation on October 1.

While enrollments increased during November and December, the numbers reportedly are only a fraction of what the regime had expected.  Forbes reports that the regime “obfuscates when it comes to Obamacare enrollment results.”

On Friday, Forbes described the latest Obamacare change as wreaking “utter chaos” on the insurance industry.

As of December 11, one report stated that “only 15%” of those enrolled in plans through Obamacare had paid their premium, and Healthcare.gov was reported to have mishandled the transfer of payments to the insurance companies, perhaps because as of mid-November, the payment feature had “yet to be built.“

Obama denies that he lied about people being able to keep their insurance plans if they liked them.  Some have suggested that because of his dishonesty, Obama has a mental or psychological condition which should have prevented him from accessing the Oval Office while a former Black Panther has described Obama as “fraudulent” and someone who does “not know what truth means.”

Republicans, who have always opposed the law and attempted to repeal it 40 times in the House of Representatives, have criticized the latest change, with Rep. Marsha Blackburn stating that it indicates that “the White House seems to be in full panic mode.”

On November 14, NBC’s Chuck Todd reported that “Right now you have Democrats on Capitol Hill in a full panic. They have been nervous about this rollout, they’ve been upset about the website. But now it’s a full out panic.”  Three days earlier, The Wall Street Journal had described an emerging panic over Obamacare on the part of Democrat senators embattled over their support of the law.

On December 6, CNN reported that an “Obamacare suicide” was “playing out” after Obama had said three days earlier that “there was no going back.”

Morris contends that the regime has initiated a “retreat from the individual mandate” and that “nobody wants what Obama is selling,” quoting from a New York Times poll which revealed that “77% of those who are currently uninsured do not approve of ObamaCare and have no intention of signing up.”

A Fox News poll published on Wednesday showed that a majority of those questioned want Obamacare delayed and/or repealed.

On Friday, a Bloomberg editorial claimed that “At this point, allowing people to avoid the mandate only because they think their new options are too expensive is an unnecessary concession. If the new exchange plans are truly good for consumers, the requirement to carry insurance should apply to everyone equally.”

Democrats insist that the law means “affordable, accessible care for every American.”  A website established by an unknown party or parties states that “The Affordable Care Act expands the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protections, regulations, subsidies, taxes, insurance exchanges, and other reforms.”  The website reported Friday’s update as:

Hardship Exemption Update December 20th, 2013: If you had your plan canceled in 2014 due to the Affordable Care Act you now qualify for a hardship exemption in 2014. That means you won’t have to pay the fee if you decide to go without insurance and will qualify for a low premium, high out-of-pocket catastrophic plan on your State’s health insurance marketplace. This change does not affect your ability to get subsidies or purchase other marketplace plans. Remember to buy insurance through your State’s Health Insurance Marketplace by December 23rd 2013 for coverage that starts January 1st!

Published as this article was being prepared, TIME Magazine, heretofore a reliable supporter of the Obama regime regardless of the issue, said of the latest delay, “This time it’s about fairness.”  Quoting left-leaning Ezra Klein of The Washington Post, TIME writer Kate Pickert cited the example of the uninsured failing to qualify for the special exemption while those who have lost their insurance will receive the benefits of the exemption.

Klein also wrote that “This puts the first crack in the individual mandate.”  “…if congressional Democrats use this ruling as an excuse to delay or otherwise de-fang the individual mandate for anyone who doesn’t want to pay for insurance under Obamacare, then it’ll be a very big problem for the law,” Klein contended.

Pickert maintains that the latest unilateral edict “creates just the kind of uneven playing field Obamacare was supposed to eliminate with a total reset of the individual insurance market in 2014.”  Pickert states that the previous 13 changes were made “in the name of fairness,” but that the latest one which creates a new category of exemption, is “something else.”

The Post & Email compared the newest Obamacare alteration to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the rules were changed whenever and to whatever would benefit the pigs, who made all of the decisions in operating the farm.

Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, warned that the insurance industry could collapse if the Obama regime continues to “keep yanking out pieces” of it.

On Friday, House Republicans contended that “All Americans Deserve an Obamacare ‘Hardship’ Exemption” and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has been doing Obama’s bidding in regard to the health care law, ended up in the hospital.

Morris concluded his report:

With the president in full retreat and the individual mandate eroding, the end of ObamaCare is in sight!

Obama was quoted as having said, while in “his native Hawaii” for his sixth consecutive 17-day, taxpayer-funded end-of year vacation, that “The end of the year is always a good time to reflect and see what can you do better next year. That’s how I intend to approach it. I’m sure that I will have even better ideas after a couple days of sleep and sun.”

If Obama is showing signs of panic over the failed launch of his health care plan, what will he do when the proof of the forgery of his long-form birth certificate and Selective Service registration from is made fully public?