Yes, this is a deja vu headline. The Associated Press in late October:
A month after Oregon’s problem-plagued online health insurance marketplace has failed to enroll a single person, concerns are mounting that some of the most vulnerable Oregonians may face a break in coverage if they don’t enroll within the next month and a half.
Oregonians were told state officials were making “significant progress.” It’s now mid-November. Back over to you, Associated Press:
With a reputation as a pacesetter in health care, Oregon laid out bold plans for complying with the federal overhaul. The state wouldn’t just create a health insurance exchange, a complicated undertaking in its own right. Oregon officials set out to build one of the biggest and best in the nation — a model that other states would want to copy. But more than a month after Cover Oregon’s online enrollment was supposed to launch, reality is lagging far behind Gov. John Kitzhaber’s grand ideas. The online system still doesn’t work, and the exchange has yet to enroll a single person in health insurance. Interviews with state officials and a review of public records by The Associated Press suggest Cover Oregon officials bit off more than they could chew and clung to their ambitious vision even when their risk management consultants raised alarms.
A few thoughts: (1) Just how proud should Oregon be of its healthcare “pacesetter” reputation? (2) The magnitude of Cover Oregon’s failure is extraordinary. Its website is under-performing Healthcare.gov, having signed up precisely zero people for coverage in six weeks. Oregon is governed by Democrats. They heartily embraced their Obamacare charge from day one, and they’ve failed. These facts blow a giant hole in the Left’s reactionary, ‘it’s Republicans’ fault!’ blamestorming premise. (3) Oregon is something of a case study: Its Democrats “bit off more than they could chew,” then “clung” to their big government ambitions, ignoring multiple warning flares. The governor’s “grand ideas” and the president’s big promises have given way to pathetic results and countless betrayals. This is the liberal project at work, America. Cold, hard reality has punctured the feel-good bubble. Leftism should be judged by its results, not its ostensibly lofty intentions or manipulative rhetoric. (4) Incredibly, Barack Obama has touted Oregon as one of Obamacare’s exemplars of success. Why? They’ve placed a bunch of new people into their empirically failing Medicaid system, a nationwide trend that threatens to crash the financial model of the entire law. And these numbers are cited as good news. Keep that in mind when the administration releases its intentionally nonspecific Obamacare enrollment figures this week. But who cares about these buzz-kill facts and figures, really? Think happy, crunchy thoughts:
Taxpayers spent millions on this ad, which promotes a broken website. ::starts slow clap::
This post was promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.
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