Obama Ignores Nullification, Says Federal Agents Will Enforce Obamacare

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

In a move that is reminiscent of the tyrannical actions of Abraham Lincoln that led to the War of Northern Aggression, Barack Obama says that he will not wait on states to enforce Obamacare. Instead his administration has announced its intent is to completely disregard the state’s Tenth Amendment rights to nullification of the Obamacare law, via their passed legislation and state constitutions. In fact, his administration has said that in states where they refuse to comply with federal healthcare mandates that agents from the Department of Health and Human Services will assume absolute control over the state’s health insurance industry.

Politico reports,

Insurance regulation is a huge responsibility that’s been closely guarded by the states. That’s why the Obama administration and those closely watching the rollout of Obamacare believe that even states that have sworn off the law’s coverage expansions will still enforce its new measures — including new benefit mandates, cost-sharing guidelines and rules on how insurers rate customers — to retain control over their health insurance markets.

But the feds will be overseeing the health care law in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming after those states told HHS they couldn’t or wouldn’t implement the new rules.

“We are enforcing because Oklahoma notified … that it has not enacted legislation to enforce or that it is otherwise not enforcing the Affordable Care Act market reform provisions,” Gary Cohen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, wrote to the Oklahoma Insurance Department on Friday. Officials in Missouri, Texas and Wyoming received similar letters, an agency spokeswoman said.

The enforcement letters come a little more than a month after a Commonwealth Fund report found just 11 states and Washington had started to adjust state laws to prepare for seven major ACA insurance reforms taking effect in 2014.

In a statement by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak he said, “It is unfortunate that health insurers are being forced into a system of dual regulation by the overreaching Obama administration. My position on this has never wavered, and I welcome every opportunity to try to overturn Obamacare.”

In a letter sent to Cohen, it was clearly stated that the Oklahoma Insurance Department does not have the authority to enforce federal law.

“The Oklahoma Insurance Department regulates the health insurance policies sold in the state and responds to consumer questions and complaints. Our consumer assistance team receives over 30,000 phone calls and our website receives over 1,000,000 visits each year,” the letter said.

“We will continue to serve these consumers by adhering to our duties under the State Constitution and Statutes. The consumers are the ones who are going to bear the costs of these unnecessary federal regulatory burdens.”

The Tulsa World reports:

Meanwhile, health insurance companies doing business in Oklahoma are receiving letters from Cohen telling them that enforcement of the law’s requirements will be handled by the federal agency. A state health insurance trade group said the additional level of regulation is troubling.

“The Oklahoma Association of Health Plans’ members are very concerned about the impact dual regulations will have on administrative expenses and premiums paid by our consumers,” said Executive Director Laura Brookins.

Essentially, health coverage that will be sold through a federally run health insurance exchange starting next year will be regulated by the federal government, but coverage outside the exchange — sold by the same companies — will face different rules, forms and officials.

“Unfortunately for everyone, this dual oversight process will result in increased costs for all Oklahoma health plans,” Brookins said.

Doaks warns that this additional level of regulation, or duplicate regulatory scheme will result in increased costs to the consumer. “Oklahomans should be alarmed,” he said.

Deputy insurance Commissioner Mike Rhoads says the two regulatory structures will simply make things needlessly confusing. “Since statehood we’ve been doing this and frankly we’re the … experts in the regulatory matters,” Rhoads said. “I’m not going to say that they can’t do it, but they damned sure can’t do it as efficiently as we can.”

Joe Wolverton at The New American writes,

When it was informed that Oklahoma would not — in fact, legally could not — comply with ObamaCare mandates, HHS was not deterred, proposing instead the establishment of a “collaborative enforcement arrangement.” This deal would permit the feds to force ObamaCare on Oklahomans while allowing the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) to ostensibly keep its hands clean.

As if that weren’t insulting enough, included in the cache of documents provided to The New American was the letter mentioned above that was sent to Oklahoma insurance companies from HHS informing them that since Oklahoma cannot or will not enforce the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), this responsibility has been assumed by CMS.

Furthermore, as part of its oversight, CMS demands in the letter that insurance companies “submit all group and individual health insurance policy forms, certificates, riders, endorsements, and amendments, as well as any other requested material pertinent to the market reforms of the Affordable Care Act to CMS for review.”

Then, lest insurance companies in Oklahoma doubt who’s in charge of healthcare in the Sooner State, the letter declares that “a filing with the Oklahoma Insurance Department does not constitute a filing with CMS for these purposes.”

In other words, the Obama administration could care less about the boundaries of the Constitution, the Tenth Amendment or anything else regarding the law. They believe they are above the law and will seek to force unlawful laws upon a law abiding people. This is a tyrannical Federal government that is seeking to usurp state constitutions and the will of the people in those states, including nullification legislation that has passed through state legislatures.

Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/03/obama-ignores-nullification-says-...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

The Unaffordable “Affordable Care Act”

March 29, 2013 By Roger Aranoff

The apparent costs of Obamacare are going up. And up, and up. How much additional cost will the average private payer see in the coming year? The Society of Actuaries, according to The Wall Street Journal, has issued a new report “warning that the cost of medical claims in the new individual-insurance market could rise by an average of 32% per person over the first few years the law is in place” with changes “very different depending on the state” (emphasis added). The Associated Press describes the study as a “political headache” for the Obama Administration rather than a headache for the average American.

With numbers like these it’s not surprising that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has finally owned up to the fact that the so-called Affordable Care Act may be producing something less affordable for U.S. citizens. However, she sells it as citizens purchasing a higher value product overall, which, for the poor, is subsidized by the government. In reality, government subsidies for health care mean that someone—usually from the richer side of the equation—ends up paying to cover for the poorer masses. “These folks will be moving into a really fully insured product for the first time, and so there may be a higher cost associated with getting into that market,” said Secretary Sebelius to reporters on Tuesday (emphasis added). “But we feel pretty strongly that with subsidies available to a lot of that population that they are really going to see much better benefit for the money that they’re spending.”

“Ms. Sebelius added that those customers currently pay more for their health care if their plans have high out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles or exclude particular types of coverage, such as mental health treatment,” reports Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal piece.

What Secretary Sebelius means by a “really fully insured product” is a low up-front cost plan where the true price of health care treatments are hidden from the consumer. Eliminating high deductibles in favor of a more indirect system exacerbates the economic effects that third-party payment has already had on health care, causing ballooning costs as customers purchase medical treatment irrespective of its true price.

“The people the law intended to help are actually being hurt,” Chris Self, owner of Pathway Health Insurance Experts, recently told Fox News. Yet some media outlets continue to champion the benefits of a law which belies its moniker. “In its third year, the Affordable Care Act will give Americans access to the health insurance they need,” reads the subtitle for oneUSA Today editorial by two Democrat representatives  “In the three years since it passed Congress, the health law has helped dramatically slow the growth in premium increases by requiring insurers to justify large rate hikes and spend at least 80% of premiums on health care,” write Representatives Sander Levin and Jim McDermott for USA Today. But not all the provisions of Obamacare are active yet. Again, Rep. Levin and Rep. McDermott further the notion that subsidies will offset the costs of predicted increases. “What’s more, many will be eligible for new subsidies to help keep the plans affordable,” write Reps. Levin and McDermott. Where does the money for these subsidies come from? From the American taxpayer, of course. Claiming that subsidies offset costs ignores the source of this funding.

This assertion that subsidies can override the effects of increasing health care costs due to Obamacare can, and should be, laid at the Administration’s doorstep. “The Obama administration challenged the design of the study [by the Society of Actuaries], saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law, such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick,” reports Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar for the AP. The AP article also claims that “if you have an employer plan, like most workers and their families, odds are you don’t have much to worry about.” But in fact, many companies are topping off the number of full-time employees at 49 because with 50 employees, they are required to cover their insurance or “pay a $2,000 penaltyfor each uncovered worker beyond 30,” leaving the part-timers to fend for themselves in the mostly unrealized state exchanges.

There was even one speaker at the Center for American Progress—a George Soros-funded, left-wing think tank which has heavily influenced the Obama Administration—who demonstrated that he gets it. “The problem is we don’t understand this is an industry where the entire incentives are wrong,” said Giovanni Colella, CEO and co-founder of Castlight Health, at arecent CAP event (emphasis added):

“They [hospitals] make money because they can command any price they want,” argued Colella. “If you’re a big medical center you can go to the insurance companies now and ask for any price you want and you’re going to make money.”

In fact, “It is estimated that by next year, about 50% of U.S. doctors will be working for a hospital or hospital-owned health system,” remarked Scott Gottlieb in a recent editorial for The Wall Street Journal. “A recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association shows a nearly 75% increase in the number of active doctors employed by hospitals or hospital systems since 2000, reflecting a trend that sharply accelerated around the time that ObamaCare was enacted.”

Plus, there is very little understanding of what the impact will be of the additional 20,000 pagesof regulations that have already been issued in the name of Obamacare, much less how companies will struggle to comply.

It’s not surprising then that few states want to participate in the high costs associated with Obamacare. To date, “At the state level, most Republican governors have refused to set up insurance exchanges, and many have refused to expand Medicaid, which is the primary vehicle for insuring those currently uninsured,” reports Ezra Klein for Bloomberg. Actually, the number is 34 states, accounting for “roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population,” according to Michael F. Cannon, writing for The Wall Street Journal. The “[Republicans’] slogan, ‘repeal and replace,’ has given way to ‘resist and annoy,’” asserts Klein.

“Unable to get rid of Obamacare, many have settled on a strategy of making it function as poorly as possible.” With effects like these, can you really blame them?

Read more articles like this one at AIM.org. 

Photo Credit: Fresh Conservative (Creative Commons)

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[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Mathew Staver, Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action

2nd Amendment Supporter,

President Obama has announced plans to take his “gun show” on the road to rally support for the gun control legislation making its way through Congress. He will target states where his message will likely have the strongest resonance with the public.   

Without doubt, the President plans to use the power of his “bully pulpit” to sway the debate and pressure fence-sitting congressmen.  

Obama’s Organizing for Action, the political activism group born from his reelection campaign, has also announced that it will hold over 100 events across the country to push for gun control measures.

As a side note, Organizing for Action is rapidly growing into being the biggest pro-socialist, pro-leftist group of radical activists to ever operate in our nation.  Their sole mission is to forward the far-left agenda – both during and after Barack Obama’s presidency.  

++The Left’s war chest is undermining the Second Amendment.

As you probably know, billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched a $12 million media assault in 13 key states through his organization, “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.”

Bloomberg’s selected states are those in which the organization believes it “can most influence the upcoming Senate vote” by targeting vulnerable Senators.

Bloomberg, known for initiating “Big Brother” types of laws in New York City, believes his group’s influence will ultimately drive the passage of the Senate bill.

Our Second Amendment rights are in the crosshairs of gun-grabbing liberal lawmakers, Hollywood elitists, and power-hungry Statists. Left unchecked, these radical activists will see to it that the Second Amendment is gutted and Americans are completely disarmed!

Under the cloak of various legal and legislative measures – including seemingly sensible processes like “universal background checks” – our Second Amendment rights are under fire today as never before.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can be counted upon to aggressively (and cunningly) push forward his gun control bill that expands background checks and enact tougher penalties for gun trafficking.

As I hope we learned during the all-out socialist push to pass ObamaCare through Congress, Harry Reid and his supporters will promise anything to get a deceptive bill passed.  

++This is the proverbial “camel’s nose in the tent!”

The expanded background checks in Reid’s bill would place the government squarely in the middle of every gun purchase, including private transactions.

Under Reid’s proposed new system, private sellers and buyers would be required to conduct their transaction along side a licensed dealer. There, the dealer would check the buyer against the federal database.

A record of the sale would be retained by the licensed dealer and the dealer would charge a fee for the recording service.

Harry Reid, the ATF, and other federal agencies say that the legislation will not result in the universal registration of all firearms and gun owners.

But do you believe them?  Have any similar “promises” of limited intrusion by federal entities been true?

The Obama administration’s track record of government expansion, intrusion into personal prerogatives, and blatant disregard for citizen liberties speak louder than words!  

At a minimum, the legislations will likely lead to expanded monitoring by the ATF which will place citizens at an increased risk of searches and seizures.  

Liberty Counsel Action is calling all patriots to rise up and stop the leftist assault on the Second Amendment!

“We the People” demand that our federal government honor the Second Amendment as an important component of the rule of law established by the United States Constitution!

When you sign Liberty Counsel Action’s “Stand Your Ground on the Second Amendment” Declaration, we will share your views – along with those of tens of thousands of your fellow concerned Americans – with our elected officials, government bureaucrats, the media, and those who care about the protections our Constitution affords to all American citizens.

We will also send you a complimentary “Stand Your Ground on the Second Amendment” bumper sticker to help amplify your voice on this key issue.

Please click here to immediately add your name to this vital petition and to see your free vinyl bumper sticker:  

www.lcaction.cc/672/petition.asp

The National Rifle Association (NRA) says Reid’s proposed bill will bring more government expansion and intrusion, and is “a step toward national gun registration” by the federal government that would take away the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

++Watch for the re-emergence of the “Assault Weapons Ban.”

Majority Leader Reid has suffered intense criticism from the Left for refusing to move Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposed “Assault Weapons Ban” (focused on the AR-15 rifle) to the Senate floor, citing a lack of votes for passage.  But an infuriated Feinstein has vowed to renew the fight.

This situation makes Reid’s bill all the more dangerous as he attempts to regain face with his leftist critics for embarrassing (some would say betraying) Senator Feinstein on her pet subject of gun control.

This proposed gun legislation is nothing short of a power grab, as we have seen Harry Reid do in so many other instances.  Reid can always be counted upon to forward the Left’s desire to fundamentally transform our nation and diminish our individual liberties.

This is yet another attempt to diminish our constitutionally protected rights while the government looks for more control over America’s citizenry!   

We are calling on every American patriot to join with Liberty Counsel Action today and tell Congress that you will “Stand your ground on the Second Amendment!”

www.lcaction.cc/672/petition.asp

Please sign our petition today.  Thank you for taking immediate action on this crucial issue! 

God bless you!
Mathew D. Staver, Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Obama Administration Seeks To Nullify The Nullifiers

Posted 19 hours ago by Philip Hodges

 

The federal government doesn’t like being told, “No.” If states try to nullify some unconstitutional federal mandate like Obamacare, the feds will first ignore them and try to force the mandate onto the state as planned, hoping that the state will just give up and comply. After all, the states are no match for the mighty feds, and as we all know, might makes right, so the states just need to stop their griping and complaining and fall in line like sheep to the slaughter to bow down to their federal overlords.

This is what the Obama administration hopes to get out of Oklahoma. As we posted recently, the Oklahoma House had passed a law that prohibited the Obamacare mandate from being implemented in the state of Oklahoma. It hasn’t been signed by the Governor, but if it is, the Obama administration will ignore it and continue to enforce their “one-size-fits-all” healthcare plan on every state including Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Insurance Commissioner John Doak has already gotten notification from the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), a division of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), stating that the federal government will proceed to take over the insurance industry in Oklahoma as planned, regardless of any state laws that contest it.

However, in a press release, Insurance Commissioner Doak stated that he won’t be giving up just yet:

“Oklahoma Insurance Department will not be participating in a collaborative effort with the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to enforce the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Oklahoma Insurance Department regulates the health insurance policies sold in the state and responds to consumer questions and complaints. Our consumer assistance team receives over 30,000 phone calls, and our website receives over 1,000,000 visits each year. We will continue to serve these consumers by adhering to our duties under the State Constitution and Statutes. The consumers are the ones who are going to bear the costs of these unnecessary federal regulatory burdens. In addition to adding new fees to health insurance products that will increase prices both inside and outside the exchange, the ACA requires plans to add expensive and often unnecessary coverage benefits. These costs will impact young adults most severely due to the law’s requirement that older Americans pay no more than three times the premium of young adults. A survey of insurers by the American Action Forum found that average premiums for young, healthy adults may triple going into 2014.”

 He’s not saying that the Affordable Care Act will make health care unaffordable just because he doesn’t like the Obama administration. Even the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that insurance premiums are going to have to go up under Obama’s mandate, but that it’s OK because people are “really going to see much better benefit for the money that they’re spending.”

I hope Oklahoma doesn’t back down. I just wish they had left those provisions in their nullification bill that would have required jailing any federal agents that attempted to enforce Obamacare on Oklahoma.

Read more: http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/03/obama-administration-seeks-to-n...

Obama Administration Seeks To Nullify The Nullifiers

Posted 19 hours ago by Philip Hodges filed under Constitution, Healthcare, Tyranny

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The federal government doesn’t like being told, “No.” If states try to nullify some unconstitutional federal mandate like Obamacare, the feds will first ignore them and try to force the mandate onto the state as planned, hoping that the state will just give up and comply. After all, the states are no match for the mighty feds, and as we all know, might makes right, so the states just need to stop their griping and complaining and fall in line like sheep to the slaughter to bow down to their federal overlords.

This is what the Obama administration hopes to get out of Oklahoma. As we posted recently, the Oklahoma House had passed a law that prohibited the Obamacare mandate from being implemented in the state of Oklahoma. It hasn’t been signed by the Governor, but if it is, the Obama administration will ignore it and continue to enforce their “one-size-fits-all” healthcare plan on every state including Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Insurance Commissioner John Doak has already gotten notification from the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), a division of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), stating that the federal government will proceed to take over the insurance industry in Oklahoma as planned, regardless of any state laws that contest it.

However, in a press release, Insurance Commissioner Doak stated that he won’t be giving up just yet:

“Oklahoma Insurance Department will not be participating in a collaborative effort with the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to enforce the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Oklahoma Insurance Department regulates the health insurance policies sold in the state and responds to consumer questions and complaints. Our consumer assistance team receives over 30,000 phone calls, and our website receives over 1,000,000 visits each year. We will continue to serve these consumers by adhering to our duties under the State Constitution and Statutes. The consumers are the ones who are going to bear the costs of these unnecessary federal regulatory burdens. In addition to adding new fees to health insurance products that will increase prices both inside and outside the exchange, the ACA requires plans to add expensive and often unnecessary coverage benefits. These costs will impact young adults most severely due to the law’s requirement that older Americans pay no more than three times the premium of young adults. A survey of insurers by the American Action Forum found that average premiums for young, healthy adults may triple going into 2014.”

 He’s not saying that the Affordable Care Act will make health care unaffordable just because he doesn’t like the Obama administration. Even the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that insurance premiums are going to have to go up under Obama’s mandate, but that it’s OK because people are “really going to see much better benefit for the money that they’re spending.”

I hope Oklahoma doesn’t back down. I just wish they had left those provisions in their nullification bill that would have required jailing any federal agents that attempted to enforce Obamacare on Oklahoma.

Read more: http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/03/obama-administration-seeks-to-n...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Obamavote: Healthcare application registers voters, too

The 61-page online Obamacare draft application for health care includes asking if the applicant wants to register to vote, raising the specter that pro-Obama groups being tapped to help Americans sign up for the program will also steer them to register with the Democratic Party.

On page 59, after numerous questions about the applicant's identity and qualification for Obamacare, comes the question: "Would you like to register to vote?" The placement of the question could lead some to believe they have to register to vote to get health care.

In the introduction of the document, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declare: "This document-the 'questionnaire'-represents each possible item that may need to be asked for successful eligibility determinations."

read more:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamavote-healthcare-application-regi...