Sebelius: 80-90% Of Obamacare Enrollees Have Paid First Premium

[ProSense]

Sebelius: 80-90% Of Obamacare Enrollees Have Paid First Premium

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that between 80 and 90 percent of Obamacare enrollees had paid their first premium, the last step to formally initiating their coverage.

Sebelius made the comments, flagged by BuzzFeed, in an interview with KWTV in Oklahoma City.

Insurance companies "tell us that, for their initial customers, it's somewhere between 80, 85, some say as high as 90 percent, have paid so far," Sebelius said. "Lots of companies have different timetables for when their new customers have to send their first payment."

Sebelius gave the figure in response to a question about whether the 6 million enrollments touted by the Obama administration could later drop if some people don't pay their premiums. The administration has not released any formal figures; Sebelius noted that customers pay their premiums directly to insurers.

Previous outside estimates had placed the payment rate in the same range that Sebelius gave.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sebelius-obamacare-premiums-80-90-percent

[Walk away]

1. So what will be the next Right Wing talking point?

Don't they get tired of being wrong?

[ProSense]

5. I just can't get enough of this story

Ted Cruz
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024760560

[steve2470]

2. k&r nt

[leftstreet]

3. What percentage of enrolled are expanded Medicaid?

Anyone know?

[ProSense]

4. Medicaid is

"What percentage of enrolled are expanded Medicaid?"

...separate from the nearly 7 million enrollees paying premiums. The Medicaid numbers are an additional 5 million to 6 million.

[Walk away]

6. Another 5,000,000 may be eligible in non participating Red States but....

because their governors refused the expansion it is estimated that 7,000 of them will die from lack of health care this year.

Seven thousand American lives put to an end by 26 Republican governors. That's the real scandal!

[Motown_Johnny]

7. I hate to point this out but,

the truth is that by the time the election rolls around this fall, stories about people suffering from the lack of the expansion will be everywhere.

There may even be stories of people left to die because their state did not expand Medicaid.


PACs will pick up on these stories and turn them into ads.

I also expect to see ads from Hospital administrators who make the argument that they need the Medicaid money to keep providing services to the public.



I know that explaining how we can score political points from this makes me look like a bad person. I feel bad doing it, but the truth is what the truth is.


Also, those refund checks from the 80/20 rule start to hit mailboxes all over the country in July.

[ProSense]

8. Yes, and

"I hate to point this out but, the truth is that by the time the election rolls around this fall, stories about people suffering from the lack of the expansion will be everywhere."

...states are likely going to to feel increased pressure.

ACA Tide Turns: Protesters Arrested In GA, GOPer Schools Scottie
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695722

Medicaid expansion signed into law in NH
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024752890

"There may even be stories of people left to die because their state did not expand Medicaid."

Yup.

Charlene Dill was murdered by Rick Scott, FL republicans RE Medicaid funding ("donut hole" death)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024720662

GOP's Obamacare spite means death toll for red states
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024754281

More than 7,100 deaths likely from states' rejection of Medicaid expansion: Health Affairs Blog
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/january/more-than-7100-deaths-likely-from-states-rejection-of-medicaid-expansion-%C2%A0health-a

"I also expect to see ads from Hospital administrators who make the argument that they need the Medicaid money to keep providing services to the public. "

Yes, and it's imperative that people call out Republicans for standing in the way. Hospitals are also mandated to improve care.

Hospitals chart ways to boost care, funding under ACA

Alicia McElhaney

Patient satisfaction is high on the checklist.

Hospitals are getting creative when it comes to meeting tough new mandates in the Affordable Care Act to improve care and increase patient satisfaction...Under an ACA program, the federal government gives money to hospitals that deliver better care, rather than just paying them for procedures covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Called the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program, it aims to increase quality care and shrink the number of patients who die from mistakes.

As part of the program, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pays hospitals for infection prevention, successful surgeries, low readmission rates and patient satisfaction scores. The CMS bases funding on both achievement and yearly improvement.

Hospitals across the country are taking steps to improve and claim the extra funds.

<...>

Every year, 210,000 to 440,000 people die from avoidable hospital mistakes, according to a 2013 study published in the Journal of Patient Safety...mistakes cost the health care system nearly $7.3 billion in two years, according to a 2013 study by quality awareness company HealthGrades.

- more -

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/27/hospitals-improve-care-funding-creatively/5899835/

[Walk away]

10. I think you can be forgiven since the entire point is to get these assholes....

out of office so Dems can open the health care door to everyone who needs it. I was in tears yesterday when a friend of mine described a hospital in Tennessee called Erlanger. It's patients are the working poor and those on Medicaid. It is going to close and the state is doing nothing about it. All of those people will have no health insurance, and worse, no care at all.
Red States are becoming like Europe in the Dark Ages.

[stevenleser]

9. K&R nt