State Democrats forged ahead with legislation designed to fill out Covered California’s enrollment ranks with unlawful and undocumented immigrants. 

Following the state Senate, the Assembly has “passed a measure that would remove a critical barrier to Covered California and allow all Californians to access the state health insurance marketplace, regardless of immigration status,” as State of Reform noted. The legislation, introduced as Senate Bill 10 by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, “would authorize the state to apply for a federal waiver that would allow undocumented immigrants to buy unsubsidized health coverage through Covered California.”

“Currently, undocumented immigrants are barred from using the state marketplace under the Affordable Care Act even when using their own money and instead must go directly to a broker or health plan to purchase health insurance. During its April board meeting, a Covered California staff report gave the green light to pursue this waiver from the federal government, and is now awaiting direction from the Legislature and governor.”

Republican rollover

Despite massive Republican resistance to the implementation of Obamacare, with a “repeal and replace” approach adopted by elected officials at the state and federal level, California’s GOP quietly folded in the face of the expansion plan. SB10 sailed through both houses of the Legislature with bipartisan support, as the San Jose Mercury News recalled.

Prior to the vote, key Republicans tried to keep a low profile. Leaders “in both legislative chambers declined to comment on whether the bill has enough support to pass,” according to CALmatters. “But a Republican strategist said the California GOP might be more likely to support the measure than its national counterpart, to avoid ceding the state’s Latino vote to the Democrats.”

The ins and outs of the complex Affordable Care Act have lent some circumstantial evidence to the notion that, despite President Obama’s claims to the contrary, at least some enrollment by the undocumented was envisioned or prepared for. An ACA provision “called the ‘innovation waiver’ allows states like California to change portions of the law as long as the state makes coverage available to more people and as long as the federal government doesn’t get stuck footing the bill,” reported Fox News. And though the impact of that population on Covered California has not been fully estimated, it would be significant: Lara suggested nearly 400,000 unlawful immigrants “would be eligible to receive health insurance,” according to the channel.

Federal hurdles

But the political landscape has become uncertain enough at the federal level to create an extra layer of difficulty — and urgency — for Lara and his allies. “The proposal needs federal approval, an involved bureaucratic process that could be thwarted under a new presidency. So California advocates are acting swiftly to get their application to President Obama before he leaves office, and to do so must win support from at least a few California Republican lawmakers,” Capital Public Radio noted. “Lara put an urgency clause on the bill, which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass the Legislature. At least one Republican state senator has indicated his support” — Andy Vidak, R-Hanford — “a cherry grower in the Central Valley’s Kings County, which has a 53 percent Latino population.”

Even with adequate Republican support for urgency, however, SB10 could be stymied inside the Beltway. Public comment review requirements left some analysts skeptical that the new rules could be approved before a change in administrations, CALmatters reported. “And even if the proposal works its way through that maze and is reviewed by the Obama administration, he said, it may not be approved because of current federal guidelines. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has strict rules for modifying the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They might have been put in place to avoid creating a precedent that opens the door to future changes the current administration would deem” problematic.

California media has picked up on reports of invalid code assignments and unresponsive customer service. Amid the headaches, officials have been forced to extend deadlines and re-send key forms, keeping many consumers in a state of confusion and frustration.

Red tape

Thousands of Californians who had missed the deadline for avoiding Obamcare’s so-called “tax penalty” were granted a last-minute clemency by state exchange officials. “Peter Lee, executive director of the Covered California exchange, said Tuesday that since Feb. 23 more than 18,000 people have signed up for a private health plan and cited that reason for enrolling during the extended period,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Normally, obtaining a policy outside regular open enrollment, which closed Feb. 20, is reserved for people who experience a qualifying event such as divorce, having a child or losing employer coverage. That type of special enrollment is available year round.”

But even after correcting and re-sending some 120,000 tax forms, Covered California admitted last month that tens of thousands of residents were still waiting on proper documentation. The trouble concerned Californians’ ability to accurately indicate how large of a federal health insurance subsidy they received in 2014. Without that number, it’s not possible to file federal taxes correctly.

In response, the Times noted, “the U.S. Treasury Department announced that taxpayers who got incorrect information from state exchanges such as Covered California won’t be required to submit corrected returns if they have already filed their taxes. The Treasury had previously offered the same reprieve for people in the 37 states served by HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange.”

Though the move let California’s exchange officials off the hook, the broader tax consequences of Obamacare have yet to be felt fully in the Golden State. Already, the ins and outs of the complicated tax code have mixed with the ACA in hard-to-anticipate ways. The chaos has even extended to unlawful immigrants sheltered by president Obama’s recent executive action. As California Healthline reported, although they were exempted from the individual mandate’s tax penalty because they are ineligible to purchase health insurance through state exchanges, they have also struggled (along with tax preparers themselves) to understand whether or not the penalty applies.

Pension perils

Even those who clearly understand the changes, however, have found reason for worry. Not only individuals but large organizations have begun to brace for dramatic changes in the years ahead.

At a meeting last month, for instance, CalPERS’ Pension and Health Benefits Committee voiced dismay over the so-called “Cadillac tax” due to hit the kinds of coverage many of its beneficiaries have enjoyed to date. A cost report for staff warned that the excise tax, which takes effect in 2018, will impose “a 40 percent excise tax on the aggregate cost of health benefits that exceed $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage, indexed to inflation. Contracting agencies that offer health benefits through CalPERS are very concerned about cost impacts of the 40 percent excise tax.”

According to the report, “as part of exploring options for containing costs while maintaining high quality, the Board’s Pension & Health Benefits Committee directed staff to research the option of removing the broad networks in areas where narrow networks are widely available.”

At the same time, CalPERS recently announced that the Golden State “and its schools will increase their contributions to employee pension funds by 6 percent starting July 1,” according to Reuters. “The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, said the increases were driven by payroll growth, salary increases and retirees living longer.”

“Maybe the broken promises have turned people away,” Deane Waldman wrote in the Huffington Post Monday. “No doubt you know that the president’s ‘If you like your health plan, you can keep it,’ achieved the dubious distinction of becoming Politifact’s Lie of the Year for 2013. Similarly, he promised that you could keep your doctor. You know this to be another falsehood. With the government’s new reimbursement schedule, your doctor cannot keep you.”

Waldman appears eminently qualified to share her concern. Her bio on HuffPo reads:

“Deane Waldman MD MBA (“Dr. Deane”) is the author of newly released ‘The Cancer in Healthcare;’ Host of the free newsletter, The Hidden Enemy; a member of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; Adjunct Scholar for the Rio Grande Foundation, a public policy think tank; and Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Decision Science at University of New Mexico.”

The New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange “has a well-functioning, user-friendly website, in contrast to healthcare.gov. Our call center gets you a human to talk to inside of two minutes,” Waldman wrote in American Thinker today. “Our carriers’ prices are accurate and easily comparable, again unlike the FFM (federally facilitated market). Our increase in insurance premium costs is generally less than 10 percent higher than pre-Obama, in marked contrast to our one-over neighbor Nevada, where insurance prices have skyrocketed 179 percent.”

New Mexico committed and spent $50 million on the health exchange and outreach so far, the BizJournal in Albuquerque reported.

Covered CA spin

“Washington can spin the facts into pretzels and sow its disinformation. It can outright lie about consequences, such as Obama’s Lie of the Year for 2013 (per Politifact),” Waldman said. “They can hail Covered California — the ObamaCare Health Exchange in the Golden State — as a great success, even though seventy percent of California doctors say they will not accept patients ‘covered’ by Covered California because its reimbursement schedule is below their cost of staying in business.”

New Mexico technically did everything right. The computer system works, and outreach has been comprehensive and extensive. But even with a smooth implementation, unlike the rest of the country, New Mexico residents just don’t want Obamacare.

“Mr. President, we won’t buy Obamacare because we don’t like what you are selling,” Waldman said. “And when you try to force us to buy; when you condescendingly assure us that ‘Father Knows Best,’ we do what Americans have always done since 1776. We resist central control of our lives and most particularly, of our freedom to choose.”

Waldman added that “Americans are culturally programmed to resist” authority. “The harder a central authority figure pushes us, the harder we push back.”

Writing in the U-T San Diego, I explained why Covered California simply can’t be trusted:

“This spring, we had our first evidence. Covered California officials put out news releases and did interviews in which they offered variations on this theme: that far from premiums soaring in 2014 because of new insurance mandates, the state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act would result in ‘a home run for consumers.’

“This won the agency a wave of positive coverage. But when journalists and public-policy experts started digging, Covered California’s claims that nearly all residents would have access to readily affordable plans were found to be untrue.

“Many large subsets of the population face huge premium increases. The agency’s own experts forecast premiums would more than double for individually purchased plans for male nonsmokers 40 and under. The ‘sticker shocker’ suffered by so many residents this fall confirmed the deceit of Covered California’s spring claims.”

Spring deceit gives way to fall deceit

“Now the state agency has given new cause to worry about its honesty.

“In November, the agency reported it had signed up a nation-leading 30,000 people in October.

“Covered California had other good news as well. Because of costly premiums, experts feared that nearly all enrollees would only be low-income individuals eligible for heavy federal subsidies — a scenario that would be disastrously costly for taxpayers in the long term. But Covered California reported that 84 percent of its sign-ups were not subsidized — more than five out of six enrollees.

“Last week, however, officials said that the numbers were actually reversed, and that 84 percent of its October sign-ups were subsidized. They didn’t volunteer this fact; they only admitted it after a National Public Radio reporter asked about discrepancies in sign-up statistics between October and November. This makes the claims it was an innocent mistake less credible.”

200,000-plus signed up — but how many paid?

This slipperiness means journalists should be very careful about the latest happy talk from the state agency about a surge in enrollment.

“How many of the total 200,000-plus sign-ups are actually complete? How many have even paid for their policies? Is there a sustainable, healthy ratio between subsidized enrollees and unsubsidized ones?”

Good questions all.

“Covered California said Monday that two of the numbers it had released regarding October health insurance enrollment were wrong. The agency said it had mistakenly transposed the numbers in two categories: the people who bought plans with federal subsidies, and those who bought unsubsidized policies.

“The corrected numbers for October are 25,978 individuals who enrolled with a federal subsidy, and 4,852 individuals who enrolled without a subsidy.”

“KPCC raised questions about the numbers last Thursday after Covered California issued new data for combined enrollment in October and November. The numbers indicated that unsubsidized enrollment had gone from 84 percent of all enrollment in October to just 14 percent of the total for October and November combined.”

So the state agency initially said there were five unsubsidized sign-ups for every subsidized sign-up — and more than a month later, after the initial round of good reviews is in, it says, “Oh, wait a minute — it’s the other way around.” Five subsidized sign-ups for every unsubsidized sign-up is not impressive at all.

The tiny numbers of unsubsidized sign-ups makes it very likely that come Jan. 1, more people in California will have had their health insurance cancelled because of Obamacare than have signed up for Obamacare. The subsidized people are easy to attract, relatively speaking — not the unsubsidized people.

Not first time Covered California put out deceptive numbers

The explanation for this self-serving supposed screw-up?

“A spokesman had initially insisted the numbers were correct, and that the huge fluctuation was due to such things as cancellations, duplicate records and changes in eligibility. Covered California now says it discovered the error after further review of its data.

“‘It was an unfortunate error, and we apologize for any confusion,’ said Covered California Communications Director Oscar Hidalgo.

“The corrected data confirm that the number of people buying unsubsidized plans has been a small part of the overall enrollment picture since Covered California opened for business on Oct. 1.” 

Covered California’s dishonest streak has been evident from its very first press releases, which depicted its rates as cheaper than policies available to most Californians. They may have been cheaper than alleged experts “expected.” But that is not remotely the same thing as cheaper than the alternatives they were replacing.

So count me as completely unsurprised that a “mistake” was made on reporting of enrollment figures that made Covered California seem as if it was off to a better start than it actually was.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 365,000 Americans have signed up for health insurance through state exchanges under Obamacare, or signed up using Healthcare.gov.

“Since October 1, 1.9 million have made it through another critical step, the eligibility process, by applying and receiving an eligibility determination, but have not yet selected a plan,” the HHS agency said.  “An additional 803,077 were determined or assessed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in October and November by the Health Insurance Marketplace.”

But Healthcare.gov and state insurance exchanges are still not clear how many enrollees have actually paid for the coverage.

As I continue to warn in my news stories, columns and radio interviews, in order for the new Obamacare health coverage to actually take effect on Jan. 1, enrollees must pay their first month’s premium by Dec. 23, or Dec. 31 in some states.

The Dec. 23 deadline is only 10 days away. Insurance Business America is warning, “tens of thousands of the applications still need to be entered into the online system.”

“California is currently buried under more than 20,000 incomplete paper applications for health insurance through the Golden State’s online marketplace, Covered California,” Insurance Business America reported earlier this week. “Thanks to initial website glitches when the exchange opened Oct. 1, government officials directed certified producers to submit 32-page paper forms for clients.”

Merry Covered CA Christmas

“Californians may find something special under the tree this holiday season: the gift of health,” Covered CA reports on its website. “The ‘Give the Gift of Health‘ campaign launched today by Covered California seeks to empower family members, particularly mothers and grandmothers, in urging young adults to enroll in affordable and quality health coverage through the agency’s health insurance marketplace.”

“The campaign is attracting broad support,” Covered CA says.

Are you kidding me?

This is as absurd as the Obama administration encouraging family members to “Have the talk” at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Sketchy stats

“The federal figures released Wednesday also show that 181,817 Californians have qualified for an expansion of Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for the poor,” the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

“California’s enrollment accounts for 29% of the U.S. total. On Medicaid, California represents 23% of the national tally through November,” the Times said, trying to sound positive.

With 319 million people in America, and 38 million in California, these numbers don’t look very good.

In a new poll, Gallup estimates 17 percent of adults in the U.S. currently do not have health insurance, and  28 percent of the uninsured group are not planning to get insurance.

“…assuming they follow through on those intentions, that would mean a minimum of 5% of all U.S. adults would be uninsured, leaving the U.S. short of its goal of universal coverage,” Gallup reported Dec. 3.

On the Covered CA website, it is unclear just how many Californians have actually successfully signed up, versus those who have made inquiries.

“Overall, 364,682 people have enrolled in private health insurance in federal and state exchanges nationwide through Nov. 30,” the Times said. “In October, 30,830 people enrolled in private health plans in California. The pace of sign-ups more than doubled during November with 76,257 selecting a health plan then.”

Covered CA does not have November enrollment numbers available yet.

Covered CA instead reported website visits and call volume:

Enrollment backlog

Covered California is counting on insurance brokers to do much of the inputting client enrollment information into the health exchange computer system.

Thanks to initial website glitches when the exchange opened Oct. 1, government officials directed certified issuance brokers to re-submit 32-page paper forms for clients, Insurance Business America said.

“’It currently takes over 90 minutes to enter the information from the application due to the slow exchange system,’ said Bruce Benton of Genesis Financial & Insurance Services in Sherman Oaks, Calif,” Insurance Business America reported. “To have to go back at this late date and key in the data from paper applications I have already submitted to Covered California is extremely challenging and will take several days to process.”

“Obama and every senator/representative who voted for this ill prepared law should sit in their office completing apps for the folks,” an IBA reader wrote in a comment. “They voted to put us out of business and hang us and now they want us to furnish the rope.”

Another reader asked, “So, what are all the newly hired navigators doing???”

That’s a good question.

The Obamacare ponzi scheme is growing.

The problem is, for millions of Americans, it is not true. Millions of previously insured Americans have received cancellations from insurance companies. Doctor groups are not part of the exchanges.

And the problems are only getting worse — now you may not be able to keep your prescriptions.

“If you like your medicines, you may not be able to keep them under Obamacare,” health policy analyst Scott Gottlieb wrote in Forbes. “Health plans are cheapening their drug formularies — just like they cheapened their networks of doctors. That’s how they’re paying for the benefits that President Obama promised, everything from free contraception to a leveling of premiums between older (and typically costlier) beneficiaries, and younger consumers.”

The Affordable Care Act is one big ponzi scheme.

Doctors ‘just say no’

The system won’t work without doctors.

“An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state’s Obamacare health insurance exchange and won’t participate, the head of the state’s largest medical association said,” the Washington Examiner recently reported.

“California offers one of the lowest government reimbursement rates in the country — 30 percent lower than federal Medicare payments,” the Examiner said. “And reimbursement rates for some procedures are even lower.”

Doctors can’t work for free. Many doctors run small businesses. “We need some recognition that we’re doing a service to the community,” California Medical Association President Dr. Richard Thorp told the Examiner. “And we can’t do it at a loss. No other business would do that.”

One California doctor said Medicare reimburses a return doctor office visit at $76 in San Diego, California. The Medicaid reimbursement is only $24. Medicaid is government health coverage for low-income and welfare recipients.

Covered California has been secretive about its plan reimbursement rates, and doctors now say rates will be close to the Medicaid reimbursements. Doctor networks cannot afford to work for a fraction of the cost.

Another ‘glitch’ — Phishing for personal data

IT experts are now warning the Healthcare.gov Obamacare computer system directs users to fraudulent health care websites.

Some Healthcare.gov users are reporting they were told their user password was incorrect, and then the website directed them to a “forgot password” page — which asked for highly personal information.

Politico reported The D.C. insurance exchange where thousands of Hill aides are shopping has confirmed that an outside scammer is redirecting customers to a fraudulent website.

“Some shoppers are being directed from the insurance website to an outside site that appears nearly identical to the real exchange, officials confirmed Friday,” Politico reported. “The fraud is widespread enough that they’re considering adding disclaimers to its website to warn users against divulging their check card or PIN numbers.”

“Yes, we have heard of it. There is definitely a phishing scam from an outside source,” said Richard Sorian, a spokesman for D.C. Health Link.

A notice on the exchange’s website warns consumers against being “fooled by fake websites claiming to help you.”

How do you know if you are on a fake Obamacare exchange website? If it doesn’t crash.

“Helping You Navigate Federal Health Care Changes,” the website home page headline says.

The site, launched last August, provides information and an overview of the Affordable Care Act, and Covered California, the state’s Obamacare health exchange. It has links to information for people who already have health insurance, and for those who don’t. There is information provided for employers, and there is a link directly to Covered California.

The website has a very interesting list of the 18 separate tax increases under Obamacare,  and has information for younger adults, as well as a page dedicated to seniors.

And that’s it.

The website doesn’t look like Covered California, and does not purport to be the state health insurance exchange.

So what’s the problem? Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, said Democrats in Congress have been ginning up negative press on the website. “This was started by Congresswoman Janice Hahn because she’s embarrassed by her vote on Obamacare,” Conway said in a Dec. 4 interview with Fresno radio talk show host Ray Appleton. “Our website links to Covered California, and answers questions for our constituents.”

Conway added, “They’ve driven a lot of people to our website.”

The ‘unhelpful website’

Congresswoman Janice Hahn, D-CA, even sent out a press release earlier this week about the Assembly website: “I am appalled by the so-called civil servants who have stooped to confusing and misleading Californians who are trying to get health insurance,” she said.

“The unhelpful website seems to be little more than an attempt by Affordable Care Act opponents to undermine the law’s success and prevent people who need health coverage from getting it,” Hahn said in the press statement.

Those are strong words and accusations. So I called Republican Assembly communications director Sabrina Lockhart, and asked if anyone from Hahn’s office had called to discuss their concerns with the health care website. “They never once called us to find out more about it,” Lockhard told me.

Next, I called Congresswoman Hahn’s office and asked why they haven’t called Assembly Minority Leader Conway to discuss concerns about the website.  Spokeswoman Breelyn Pete said “I don’t know if a call has been made. I don’t know if our Chief of Staff or the member called.”

“Last month, Attorney General Kamala Harris shut down 10 fake ‘private health insurance websites that misled Californians by imitating Covered California,’” the San Francisco Chronicle Politics Blog reported. “The GOP website was not among those listed among the ‘imitation’ websites.”

Media blitz

But it’s far worse than just a little negative press; some of the press has been misleading. And some of the messages in social media are vile.

The Sacramento Bee reported, “California Democrats up pressure on Republican health care site.”

The Daily Kos reported, “California GOP creates fake health care website to discourage constituents from obtaining insurance.”

ABC News said, “California Republicans Defend Fake Obamacare Site.

MSNBC reported, “A bogus health care website, courtesy of the GOP.”

The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Rep. Janice Hahn calls on state GOP to take down ‘fake’ Obamacare site.”

Examiner.com said, “California GOP creates phony health care website to confuse residents.”

California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton said, “Republicans in California have no qualms about following their national party’s lead when it comes to spreading misinformation about the Affordable Care Act.”

Vile social media posts

Some of the really nasty Twitter comments aimed at Assembly Communications Director Sabrina Lockhart are below:

	Jim Sumstine (@CopyJim)
12/4/13, 5:15 AM Sabrina Lockhart and Zimmerman are GOP heroes, one just wants minorities to die and the other actually kills them

	Tim (@jefsauce)
12/5/13, 11:32 AM @SDLockhart Hope you’re having fun making it harder for people to get insured, you sick weirdo.

	Kate (@AKRNHSNC)
12/4/13, 4:46 AM @SDLockhart What a POS you are with your taxpayer-paid-for-benefits, trying to deprive others of getting healthcare that they will pay for!

	Seth Pierson (@mfpseth)
12/3/13, 5:20 PM .@SDLockhart How many ppl will die because of the faked health exchange site set up in YOUR name, Sabrina Lockhart? flickr.com/photos/drumsnw… David Valenzuela (@Yecora51) 12/3/13, 7:48 PM politicususa.com/2013/12/03/cal… if you want yo contact the bitch.Sabrina.lockhart@ams.ca.gov

This spring he claimed that California was in the middle of a roaring comeback. Has he ever been here? Read coverage of our Legislature? Read the Census Bureau’s declaration that the Golden State has the worst effective poverty rate of any state?

His blathering led to a harshly funny response from a professor who actually does know California because he lives here, Victor Davis Hanson, writing for National Review Online.

Now Krugman is at it again, suggesting Covered California is doing so well that it’s a confirmation of the glory that is Obamacare. And once again his blathering has inspired lots of sharp responses, this time including from other East Coast folks.

D.C.-based health-policy blogger Robert Laszewski, for example, notes that the Golden State is on track to have far fewer people covered by insurance than it did before Covered California began accepting applications.

“So, let’s summarize:

“–California has 5.3 million uninsured eligible to buy in the exchange with half estimated to be subsidy eligible.

“–California is cancelling another 1 million people of which Covered California has estimated hundreds of thousands will qualify for a subsidy they can only get if they go to Covered California. At least 80% need to act by December 23 to avoid losing their coverage.

“–The state is spending $250 million in federal money to get people signed up––dramatically more than any other state.

“–The Covered California goal is to sign-up 500,000 to 700,000 subsidy eligible people by March 31.

“Why should we be so impressed with Covered California because they have signed-up 80,000 people so far? Or, even that their goal is to sign-up 500,000 to 700,000 of the state’s 6.3 million people––half subsidy eligible––who are uninsured or having their insurance canceled?”

Two very good questions.

And here’s a funny point: California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, can’t think things are going well with the Obamacare rollout in her home state or she wouldn’t have endorsed this bill.

Obamacare and the Orwellian gap between promises and reality

Krugman declaring success for a state health insurance exchange that will lead to fewer Californians having health coverage isn’t the only example of the amazing rhetorical baloney-fest surrounding the Affordable Care Act.

We were told if you like your policy, you can keep it. Then we’re told if the president likes your policy, you can keep it, and if it was canceled, that’s because it was “crappy.”

We were told that it would sharply cut health-care costs for the average family of four. Now as reality demolishes this promise, the MSM rarely even bring it up.

We were told there wouldn’t be de facto “death panels” deciding what medical procedures would be denied to the very sick. Now even the MSM treats this as a given.

I could go on and on in this vein. But the larger point that needs to be made is this is Orwellian manipulation of the American public. The most profound policy change in the United States in decades was imposed by the narrowest of margins only after a sophisticated concert of lies.

And as for the people who compare this with George W. Bush/Iraq/weapons of mass destruction, the ACA Deceptathon is even worse. Bush 43 was a disaster in many ways, but at least he had foreign and U.S. intelligence agencies backing him up on WMDs.

Obama had his own administration telling him in 2010 that “if you like your policy, you can keep it” was just not true. But he kept peddling the lie until the cancellation notices made it impossible to keep asserting.

1) Isn’t doing that well signing up young people, who are essential to the economics of the Affordable Care Act, despite a heavy marketing campaign aimed at them.

2) Is having trouble signing up Latinos, who are a primary target of the ACA.

The story mentions that Kaiser Permanente has signed up 8,250 state residents. It doesn’t mention that Kaiser has cancelled the policies of 160,000 such residents. Nor does it mention that while 80,000 people have signed up with Covered California, more than 1 million Californians have had their policies cancelled.

The story has one anecdote about premiums, and it is a positive one:

“San Jose couple Rosario and Justine Consiglio, both 57, say they were surprised at how much they saved when they enrolled in a Gold-level plan from Blue Shield of California last week. Their monthly premiums will drop from $1,100 now to $850 next year, helped by a premium subsidy. And they will pay far less out of pocket for prescription drugs and other medical expenses.

“This is a much better healthcare plan than we had previously, and we’re paying a lot less,” Rosario Consiglio said. “I wasn’t sure how all this would affect us.”

What about the evidence that Californians in general will pay far more under Obamacare? It’s never mentioned.

And how does Chad Terhune describe this overall picture in the lead? He depicts Covered California as being off to a great start, a “bright spot” for the Obama administration nationally.

Sigh. This isn’t journalism. This is ideological cheerleading.