Thousands of Montanans are already on tap to lose their current health care coverage as a result of Obamacare, as Senate Democrats and President Obama appear determined to let the government shut down, despite a compromise offer to delay Obamacare by one year.
From Fox News First:
OBAMACARE ROLLS ON
WSJ: “Obama administration officials scrambling to get the health law’s insurance marketplaces ready to open on Tuesday keep hitting technical problems, while government-funded field workers across the country say they aren’t fully prepared to help Americans enroll in the program.”
“I think the exchanges are being held together right now with duct tape and chicken wire”– Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., on CNN’s “State of the Union”
The government has shutdown 17 times since 1976. Can anyone share personal stories of hardship caused by it? #MTPol #tcot WeWillSurviveThis
— Mike Miller (@MikeMillerHD84) September 29, 2013
Politico’s Morning Energy looks at what happens in case of a shutdown from an oil and gas standpoint:
Onshore oil and gas: Processing of oil and gas permits by the Bureau of Land Management comes to a halt. BLM will continue to monitor ongoing oil, gas, coal and other mineral operations. BLM will keep inspectors and enforcement personnel on the job for some activities, including overseeing some drilling operations and patrolling oil and gas fields ‘to make sure that theft of oil or condensate is not occurring.’ Alaska pipeline operations will also keep going because funding comes from non-federal sources and for health and safety reasons. And in case you were wondering, oil and gas companies still have to pay royalties during a shutdown.
Boehner To Senate Dems: If Government Shutdown Is Such An Emergency, Then Why Did You Take Sunday Off?… (headline from WeaselZippers)
Meanwhile, if you caught the news back here in Montana following Commissioner Monica Lindeen’s townhall meetings, here is just one report of a Montanan losing his insurance due to Obamacare.
From The Billings Gazette:
Charles Collier, an older resident, will lose his employer-offered health benefits because he works less than 30 hours a week, he said.
“I was here basically after information,” he said.
Billings Gazette video: Lindeen Explains Insurance Costs
From another report by Mike Dennison, notice how another 12,000 Montanans will also be losing their insurance as a result of Obamacare:
Webb Brown, president of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, said he’s not getting the sense that many Montana businesses will do that, and that they’d prefer to keep their employee coverage, if at all possible.
…the chamber likely will end its Chamber Choices plan, which covers some 12,000 people by offering a collective plan to smaller businesses. Brown said the law no longer allows such a plan to give special benefits, because similar products must be priced the same.
“The whole premise (of the law) was that this was going to be a lot simpler in the future, and I don’t think it’s going to be any simpler,” he said. “You just can’t take something this complex and wave a wand and make it easy.”
Comments
Al Smith
Monday, September 30, 2013 6:03 PM
Unfortunately Senator Baucus was correct when he said the implementation of his baby, Obamacare, was going to be a train wreck.
The unbending Senate Democrats and their leftest major media helpmates are set now to place all the blame on the GOP for the pending Government shutdown. GOP Representatives in the House think a postponement of Obamacare is necessary. And for good reason. It is a budget buster! It seems to me a one year wait to iron out the Obamacare mess would be entirely reasonable. It is for most thinking persons…obviously not for the Senate Dems however.
Ever wonder why the Democrats don’t ask themselves why a big majority of Americans do not want Obamacare? I do. And then I wonder why they don’t do what they were elected to do, represnt those of us who put them into their cushy high paying jobs. Jobs with perks most of us will only enjoy in our wildest dreams!
Please note that Mr. Obama and those in congress now pass laws that affect only us peons who inhabit real America. They conveniently exempt themselves will have nothing to do with laws they don’t personally want to abide by.
Folks, it sure sounds to me like while we weren’t watching our government switched from a Republic to an Aristocracy!
So I welcome you to Obama-land, the land of hopelessness and pocket change. How long do you intend to put up with this miserable situation before helping to restore our country? How long will you suffer in silence while your freedoms are being taken away? One day I pray you wake up mad as hell and shout to the world you are not going to take it anymore…and then you actually do something about it! Today consider calling or writing or emailing our two Senators, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the President to let them know where you stand.
As for me and my now very large extended family, we recently voted to not even pass through Nevada, let alone vacation there, unless and until they recall Senator Harry Reid. He, in my opinion, is a one man wrecking crew bent on helping the current administration carry out the total destruction of America as we know it.
Next time I post I’ll tell you how I really feel…heh!