Obamacare Deadline

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Monday, March 31, 2014 is the deadline for enrolling in Obamacare.  The next open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act begins in November.  Younger Americans, the coveted segment of society whose enrollment is necessary to carry much of the financial burden of the government sponsored healthcare law, rank among only about a quarter of the alleged six million that have enrolled.  The website still fumbles, after a disastrous launch, and the law is still a work in progress, having been modified unconstitutionally by executive order dozens of times.

Democrats admit that the roll-out of Obamacare was catastrophic, and many, with the mid-term election approaching rapidly, has signed on to bills that are designed to reform the law.  Republicans, in the meantime, largely support repealing the law, with the strongest support for getting rid of the law coming from the more conservative members of the Republican Party.

Recognizing that the process to enroll is long, tedious, and filled with numerous snares, the Obama administration has announced that they would "allow" people to finish the Obamacare enrollment process on HealthCare.gov past March 31, so long as they initiated the process before the deadline.

People who believe they are a member of the ruling elite, and that they are somehow above the average person loves that word, "allow."  Pretty soon they will be adding more emphasis to "mandate," and include terms like "dictate," and "force."

The goal, of course, if for the word "fear" to enter your vocabulary, regarding the big bad government.

In the meantime, the administration has been engaged in a last-minute push to get people enrolled ahead of the deadline. Some efforts -- such as a Buzzfeed "listicle" called "7 Reasons Why Vice President Biden Thinks You Should Get Covered By March 31" -- have been directed specifically at young adults, a key demographic.

An enrollment event in Texas, and likely other red States, is being attended by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who also, recently attended a similar event in Florida. The disparity between red State and blue State enrollment numbers serves as a reminder to the democrats that the less blue the State, the worse the numbers are. . . and we just can't have that.

If individuals are not signed up by the law promising to cover millions of people that could not afford to be covered, and if those people aren't paying their premiums, the loving government who just wants you to have the opportunity to be covered by health insurance will slam you with financial penalties.

Oh, and don't worry, more surprises and unconstitutional modifications to the law are coming, because these people not only wish to force you to be covered, whether you like it or not, but also, they have no clue what they are doing.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

The health law: Post-enrollment, 6 things to watch for - USA Today

On eve of deadline, health law remains work in progress... - CBS News

Unclear how aggressive govt will be enforcing insurance requirement, collecting op-out tax.. - New York Times