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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (1033041)	10/5/2017 8:23:38 PM
From: RetiredNow	1 Recommendation Recommended By FJB Respond to of 1575733

Good News: Trump Just Privatized A Piece Of ObamaCare 3:33 PM ET Reprints Health Care: What happened after President Trump decided to save taxpayer money by slashing ObamaCare's open enrollment ad budget? Private groups jumped in to fill the gap. It should serve as an example of how to cut countless other government programs. In late August, the administration announced that it was sharply cutting the promotional budget for ObamaCare as well as money spent on "navigators" paid to help people enroll when open enrollment starts on November 1. Both cuts were more than justified. The Obama administration nearly doubled ObamaCare promotional spending in 2016 to more than $100 million, only to see overall enrollment decline by 400,000 and the number of new enrollees drop by 42%. This year, the Department of Health and Human Services is slashing the ad budget to $10 million. The navigator program was an even bigger waste of money. HHS notes that the Obama administration dumped $62.5 million on navigators last year — who then managed to help fewer than 82,000 people enroll. That's $762 per enrollee. One navigator got $200,000 and enrolled one person. HHS is cutting the navigator budget by almost 40%. Not surprisingly, the cuts were treated by ObamaCare defenders as another effort by Trump to sabotage the law. But then something interesting happened. The private sector mobilized to pick up the slack. The Huffington Post reports that former Obama administration officials just launched a project — called Get America Covered — that has raised at least as much money from foundations and proviate groups as the feds were going spend. It's also established "partnerships with businesses, state officials and local media that will help spread the word." Co-founder Lori Lodes told Huffington Post that "It's a passion project. I believe so much that the marketplace can work, and part of that means getting new people to sign up and making sure that people have access to the information so that they can decide that getting health coverage through HealthCare.gov is right for them." Other private groups are organizing open enrollment campaigns, including Families USA, Indivisible, Young Invincibles and Community Catalyst. So what's the problem here? Why should taxpayers fork over hundreds of millions of dollars for dubious federal ad campaigns and to pay underworked navigators, when there are passionate people and plenty of money in the private sector to take on this job? It's a safe bet, too, that these privately run and privately funded groups are going to use their money more efficiently and effectively than the government ever could. Plus, they will be able to look with pride at their successes, rather than complain about how the government should do more. Instead of attacking Trump, these groups should be thanking him for giving them the opportunity to take on this challenge. As for the rest of us, this is a perfect example of how government programs can be cut without harming citizens. With any luck, there will be many more such examples in the years ahead.

To: bentway who wrote (1033041)

10/14/2017 3:40:14 PM

From: James Seagrove

1 Recommendation

Recommended By
Mick Mørmøny

Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 1575733

I always said you was all wet, Bentley.

To: epicure who wrote (244840)	2/17/2014 3:58:28 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) of 352331

When I was baptized I was expecting something to happen, like maybe God would let me in on the game. But, all I got was very wet. The church I went to did the full immersion thing, in a tank on stage. disciples.org I was also given a bunch of "homework" I was supposed to do before being baptized, but I didn't do any of it. They baptized me anyway. I'd already decided religion was a crock, but the baptism clinched it.