Go ahead and laugh at “Crazy Barry’s” infomercial this morning plugging ObamaCare (working just fine, thank-you) and offering up the telephone as a wave of the future. (Just dial *1-800-F1UC-KYO and see what happens.)
Conservatives have been put through the wringer in recent weeks, and God knows we need the laughs. But the truth is, the subtext of Obama’s ObamaCare speech is no laughing matter. Based on the president’s comments today, it appears he has no intention of delaying the Individual Mandate. Obama actually said that “the essence of the law is working “just fine”. In fact, “it’s exceeding expectations.” and “prices are lower than we expected.”
And he made sure to point out that people have plenty of time to sign up for ObamaCare using more “traditional” methods.
I want everybody to remember that we’re only three weeks into a six-month enrollment period when you can buy these new plans. (Applause.) Keep in mind the insurance doesn’t start until January 1st. That’s the earliest that the insurance can kick in. No one who decides to purchase a plan has to pay their first premium until December 15th.
And unlike the day after Thanksgiving sales for the latest Playstation or flat-screen TVs, the insurance plans don’t run out. They’re not going to sell out. They’ll be available through the marketplace — (applause) — throughout the open enrollment period. The prices that insurers have set will not change. So everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will get insurance, period. (Applause.) Everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will get insurance.
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Number four, while the website will ultimately be the easiest way to buy insurance through the marketplace, it isn’t the only way. Now, I want to emphasize this. Even as we redouble our efforts to get the site working as well as it’s supposed to, we’re also redoubling our efforts to make sure you can still buy the same quality affordable insurance plans available on the marketplace the old-fashioned way, offline — either over the phone or in person.
And by the way, there are a lot of people who want to take advantage of this who are more comfortable working on the phone anyway, or in person. So let me go through the specifics as to how you can do that if you’re having problems with the website or you just prefer dealing with a person.Yesterday we updated the website’s homepage to offer more information about the other avenues to enroll in affordable health care until the online option works for everybody. So you’ll find information about how to talk to a specialist who can help you apply over the phone or to receive a downloadable application you can fill out yourself and mail in.
Although Jay Carney seemed to imply today that the Regime could delay implementation of the Individual Mandate due to technological glitches, it looks to me like Obama wanted to send a signal to the masses that regardless of the temporary glitches on the ObamaCare website, people still need to sign up for health care insurance using the other methods that are available to them – or face the penalty fee.
Dan McLaughlin gives a good explanation as to why the Regime can’t easily extricate itself from enforcing the Individual Mandate, here.
*Seriously – are any of Obama’s “top men” going to do anything about that offensive phone number?
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