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The U.S. Digital Service, comprised of a small team of digital experts, will collaborate with federal agencies to make websites more consumer friendly, to identify and fix problems and to help upgrade the government’s technology. Mikey Dickerson, the former Google engineer who helped fix HealthCare.gov after a disastrous launch will be the administrator of the U.S. Digital Service and deputy federal chief information officer. Specifically, the team will try to bring the government’s digital services in line with the private sector, collaborate with agencies to identify gaps in designing, developing and operating services and providing accountability at agencies. The administration...

Today EJ Dionne wrote an article long on whining and short on logic about the conflicting decisions regarding Obamacare: By effectively gutting the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, two members of a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals showed how far right-leaning jurists have strayed from such impartiality. We are confronted with a conservative judiciary that will use any argument it can muster to win ideological victories that elude their side in the elected branches of our government. Strayed from impartiality? Say what? Then Dionne jumps off the cliff: The extreme judicial activism here is obvious when...

Liberals wanted a national enrollment system under Obamacare. They might just get it. Right now, 36 states rely on HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange, to enroll people in health coverage. At least two more states are opting in next year, with a few others likely to follow. Only two states are trying to get out. That’s precisely the opposite of the Affordable Care Act’s original intent: 50 exchanges run by 50 states. The federal option was supposed to be a limited and temporary fallback. But a shift to a bigger, more permanent Washington-controlled system is instead underway — without preparation, funding...

Given the myriad boons to gay rights we’ve seen this decade, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the Affordable Care Act is brimming with new regulations that directly benefit LGBTQ Americans. Indeed, I consider it to be one of the most important pieces of gay rights legislation ever passed. new story out of Florida further confirms my suspicion. The Huffington Post reports that two Florida insurance companies are under fire for discriminating against patients with HIV, slapping them with a 40 percent co-pay on each of their HIV drugs, plus a $1,000 deductible per drug per month. (The new...

In theory, open enrollment ends tonight. No longer can individuals without any excuse whatsoever wait to purchase health insurance policies on the Exchanges that will be in effect during 2014. I very much expect we will hear numbers over the next few days such as 6.5 million or 7 million bandied about as “enrollment figures.” Many supporters of the ideas behind the original ACA who have managed to tolerate its metamorphosis over the past year will herald those numbers as signs of success. And, indeed, those numbers are considerably better than many had feared. I, for one, am prepared to...

When any politician speaks before an audience,gloating of all of his success,giving the details/facts of his latest policy,wouldn't you expect him to take candid questions from the press that seats before him?,Well,we all watched Obama make his victory speech this afternoon.But with 25/26% approval of the Affordable Health Care Act,can we assume that 75% of those who saw it were either laughing/talking back,"Yah Right,7 Million Enrollees,My(Fill in the blank).Never the less,being our President refused to take any questions,makes anyone rather suspicious regarding the facts behind this debacle.

Healthcare.gov, the troubled website set up to help Americans choose and enroll in a health care policy, crashed early Monday morning, on the final day to begin the process to apply for health insurance. According to a CNBC story, the website crashed around 3:20 a.m. (ET) Monday. It was  still down as of 7:40 a.m.Monday is the deadline to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act -- commonly called Obamacare -- before facing a fine.According to the White House, more than 6 million people have signed up since the enrollment period began on Oct. 1. According to...

We have encountered many physicians and friends who don’t recall or recognize just how many interesting coincidences had to fall into place for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pass both houses of Congress and gain President Obama’s signature (March 23, 2010). This post serves as an informational overview – a reminder – as to how it all happened and is not meant in any way to be a judgment on the process – however convoluted – or on the final product.

March 26, 2014 10:44 AM Read the Complete List of Obamacare Delays By Alec Torres The Obama administration will announce its tenth Obamacare delay later today, this time extending the March 31 enrollment deadline for people who say they’ve been unable to enroll in health plans in the federal marketplace by the deadline. The extension applies to the federal exchange operating in three dozen states and is expected to last for two or three weeks. Can’t remember what all the delays have been? Politico provided a helpful history of Obamacare delays from most to least recent: March 25: Final enrollment...

The Obama administration has decided to give extra time to Americans who say that they are unable to enroll in health-care plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the March 31 deadline. Federal officials confirmed Tuesday evening that all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension. Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. This method will rely...

For Democrats Obamacare is the train wreck that keeps getting worse. For Republicans, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Obamacare premiums are expected to nearly double later this year. Keep in mind premiums already rose 50-400% compared to the old “junk” policies people had and liked before Obamacare. A massive price increase latter this year will more or less collapse Obamacare. We might know more about Obamacare enrollment in the next few weeks, though while the administration claims 5 million have signed up they claim not to know how many have paid. If you haven’t paid, you aren’t covered....

"The product is good and people want it," President Obama said, touting his health insurance plan to an audience at DreamWorks Animation in November. Yet, for being such an illustrious product, the Obama Administration sure seems desperate for people to get on board. Here are 15 ways the White House, state exchanges, and supporters have tried to sell Obamacare. 2. Quickly followed by Hoe-surance: 3. With a "geek" selfie: These geeks are covered ... are you? #geeksgetcovered Send us your #getcovered stories http://t.co/MMo1RXlWK3 pic.twitter.com/b9BSAGU2hN — The White House OSTP (@whitehouseostp) March 13, 2014 4. With a message from Lebron...

“No, absolutely not,” Democrats should not shy away from supporting the Affordable Care Act, even though Democrat Alex Sink lost the special congressional election in Florida on Tuesday, says House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Sink’s Republican opponent, David Jolly, campaigned against Obamacare, but that’s not a winning strategy for Republicans, Pelosi told a news conference Thursday. …

Cultural trends are often said to “jump the shark” when they go too far and become laughable or obsolete. The White House is in this territory with its desperate—desperate—marketing of Obamacare. Today, Lance Bass—a member of the boy band *NSYNC, which was popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s—tweeted that he was “entering the White House to meet w the President to discuss health care reform.” He added a website address: “HealthCare.org.” Politically active Twitter users quickly mocked this high-level meeting and the fact that the pop star of yesteryear didn’t even know he was supposed to be pointing...

March 12, 2014 4:35 PM Sebelius Won't Promise No More Obamacare Delays By Josh Encinias “There are 37 changes to the law,” Republican representative Dave Reichert said today at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, noting that HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius had promised the American people during a Fox News appearance there would be no more changes to the law. “Can you make a promise to the American people that there will be no more delays to the so-called Affordable Care Act?” Reichert asked the secretary. Sebelius responded, “We will continue to put out regulations to the policies as...

The Obama administration will not delay ObamaCare's individual mandate or the March 31 deadline for enrolling in the new healthcare law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.Sebelius offered the assurance during testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee, where Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) noted the administration has made dozens of other changes or delays to the law. ADVERTISEMENT Given problems caused by ObamaCare's faulty website last year, Brady asked Sebelius directly if delays to the individual mandate or enrollment deadline were next.“No sir,” Sebelius responded on both counts.

This will undoubtedly appear in everyone’s timelines today as we approach the deadline to avoid the tax consequences of ObamaCare’s individual mandate. After several months of cratering in the polls, CNN reports today that its approval rating is “rebounding slightly.” How slightly? It doesn’t even get outside the margin of error — or crack the 40% mark: According to the poll, 39% of Americans say they support the health care law, up from 35% in December, a record low in CNN polling. The uptick of four percentage points is within the survey’s sampling error. Fifty-seven percent of those questioned say...

**SNIP** “The House Republican agenda feels like déjà vu all over again. As if the first 49 votes were not enough to satisfy the Republican fixation on undoing health reform, the Republican leadership is prepared to make yet another attempt – their 50th try – to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act. Americans deserve better. “On the same day that Republicans gathered to discuss an alternative to the health care law, five years later, the proponents of repeal still can’t help themselves. This latest Republican proposal would drive up premiums for millions of Americans. All the while, Republicans ignore...

Barack Obama: You can call it ‘Obamacare’ By: Jose DelReal February 17, 2014 09:38 AM EST It may not be polling well, but President Barack Obama isn’t too worried about the Affordable Care Act’s nickname, Obamacare, or the health care law’s impact on his legacy. “I like it. I don’t mind,” the president told former NBA star Charles Barkley in an interview that aired Sunday about the term Obamacare. “And I tell you, five years from now, when everybody’s saying, ‘Man, I’m sure glad we got health care,’ there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don’t...

For those uninsured, apparently the thing that was keeping them from getting health insurance was the fact that President Obama did not make a cat-pun in order to pitch the Affordable Care Act. Or, as the President likes to call it, the "Adorable Care Act." On President Obama's personal (and verified) Twitter account, the Commander in Chief posted a picture of kittens. To the right of the kittens, a text box reads: "Treat yourself right this Valentine's Day. Get pamPURRED with health care. ADORABLE CARE ACT" There are also hearts on the card. Here is a screen shot from the...