Obama Care Endgame: Are 7 Million QHP Enrollments by 3/31 Still Possible? Yes, but...

[BrentWil]

I don't know if you know about the website: http://obamacaresignups.net/ It has provided a very accurate tally of the signups for the ACA. With that they had a very interesting post on the possibility of getting to 7 million market place enromments.

ENDGAME: Are 7 Million QHP Enrollments by 3/31 Still Possible? Yes, but... .

If that goal was attained, I think politically, it would be pretty big. Would give a good offset to GOP attacks in 2014.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. But if not

We need to repeal it ASAP!

[BrentWil]

2. Well, long term we are good...

But 2014, it will either be a wash for us or it will hurt us. I don't see it helping in 2014.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Hopefully it will matter as much as it did(n't) in 2012

Although, people are actually beginning to see more of the benefits of the law whereas in 2010 and 2012 it was still more abstract. However OTOH I'm sure that Republicans are going to trot out all of the "horror stories" about people losing their junk insurance policies and smears about website security, etc. and most of the people whom believe such nonsense aren't going to bother doing any fact-checking and just believe that it's true- and more of them will probably come out to vote. Although, on Kagro (Daily Kos) the other day, one of the participants noted that the people that hate ACA have hated it since it was first being discussed. The Republicans have them and Democrats have the other people. The question that remains is whether or not the Republicans are going to bring some indies into the fold. I would like to think that, at some point, people are simply going to get tired of talking about all of the (non-)"horrors" of ACA and insist that we move on to talking about other things. ACA is law, it's not getting repealed anytime soon, the website seems to be fixed, people are signing up en masse now but the Republicans don't seem to be slowing down on attacking it day after day. You'd think that THEY would be getting bored with it by now.

[seveneyes]

3. Enrollment and payment

Is there a link to the percentage of enrolled that have actually paid for the coverage? It's one thing to sign up, the number of members that have sent in the money for their coverage would be a good indication of the actual success.

[BrentWil]

4. 80 Percent, according to the NYT

Which is fine. Everyone knew and knows some people aren't going to pay. Plus a good reason of the 20 percent have some sort of reason and will pay later.

[krawhitham]

5. They will extend enrollment on 3/30

For another month or two because of the website issues when it was launched. They will not announce the extension until the last possible moment because they do not want people to put off signing up. With another month or two they should reach 7 million easy

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. The Republicans will be furious

about another "Obama power grab"- that they can't (and won't) do anything about after they spend a few days spewing bile over it.

[gulliver]

6. Seven million matter less politically than one.

In the next few months nearly everyone is going to have a story in their life of someone they care about who has been saved by the ACA—medically, financially, or both. It's all over for the Republicans. We just need to refer to the experiences everyone will have had by election time. Most people don't care if seven million people they don't know are in the program. That number won't outweigh the intense and filthy Republican lying campaign we are going to face.

The Republicans will say "but...but...$700 million from Medicare...and...and...2.5 million jobs lost...and...and...magic beans grow into beanstalks...and...and...Paul Ryan ran a two-fifty-something marathon..." And we'll say to the voters, "One or more of your relatives or you, yourself, have been spared being denied insurance. One of them has been spared losing all of their assets or their life. One of them has gotten health care for the first time in years. And the Republicans lied to you about the whole damned thing and tried to shut down the government over it."