Forbes has released a previously-unpublished memorandum, from the Congressional Research Service, stating: “…the White House has missed half of the deadlines legally required by the ACA (Affordable Care Act). And some of those deadlines remain unmet to this day.”
Of the eighty-two deadlines identified by the CRS, the White House only finalized 32 of them on time. Seventeen deadlines were completed late, twenty-four were not completed as of May 31, 2013 and nine have not been completed at all, as of this date. By its own admission, Forbes’ estimate of the White House’s failure was overly optimistic. It isn’t half of the Affordable Care Act’s legal obligations that weren’t met; the true figure is almost sixty-two percent of them. Worse still, according to Forbes, the CRS document was an addendum to a previously published examination of the administration’s failure to adhere to its own legal deadlines: “The new CRS memo, dated June 5, 2013, is an addendum to a series of previous reports in which the agency examined missed deadlines during the law’s first two years.”
The Chicago Tribune published an editorial on Sunday: “How President Obama is Flouting Obamacare.” Despite being a paper that is firmly in The Lyin’ King’s house, The Tribune article begins:
Democrats strong-armed Obamacare into law three years ago. Now they’re busy flouting it.
The mandate that employers provide insurance next year or pay a penalty, as the law requires? Delayed for at least a year.
The law’s dictate that people applying for federal subsidies to buy insurance provide proof that they’re eligible for the government aid? Scaled back.
Sharp limits on Americans’ out-of-pocket costs for health care? Suspended for a year.
Providing members of Congress and more than 10,000 staff members with federal health care subsidies that the law does not allow? Done, via a deal brokered by President Barack Obama.
And on and on.
