I'm still so busy I haven't been following any news.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

CBS Poll:

Just seven percent of Americans think the Affordable Care Act is working well and should be kept in place as it is. Far more, 48 percent, think there are some good things in the law, but changes are needed to make it work better, and another 43 percent think the law needs to be repealed entirely.

(Emphasis supplied.) Mend it, don't end it.

In terms of ObamaCare, my problems with the "market reforms" is a matter of record - I think the regulatory reform/exchanges/mandate is bad policy. I preferred the expansion of public insurance (such as Medicaid expansion, which is the piece of OCare that is unequivocally good and working. But we are where we are - ObamaCare is under fire and extremely unpopular. What do Dems do now?

ObamaCare is not changing any time soon imo. The President won't support any repeal and the GOP won't support any fixes. This means what to do next will necessarily be a 2016 issue.

Here's my modest proposal -- mend ACA as follows - replace the mandate with autoenrollment in Medicare for those persons who either do not qualify for Medicaid or do not have private insurance, using the existing tax credit/subsidy structure where applicable. Simple and effective imo. And politically feasible.

This would have the effect of providing insurance to as many as possible, improving the solvency of Medicare (improving the health of the Medicare pool will lower costs) and be politically popular.

My two cents.

Open Thread.

The Amato and Armando Show:

The picks (disagreements in BOLD John Amato (J), Armando (A)): (J) Buffalo Bills -1, (A) New York Jets -1, (A) Jacksonville Jaguars +8, (J) Arizona Cardinals -8, Cleveland Browns +6 over Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins +4½ over Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers -1½ over Miami Dolphins, (J) Atlanta Falcons -1½, (A) Tampa Bay Buccaneers -1½, (A) Green Bay Packers +6, (J) New York Giants -6, Chicago Bears -3 over Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos -8 over Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers +3 over Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks -13 over Minnesota Vikings, (J) Houston Texans -10, (A) Oakland Raiders (+10), Carolina Panthers -1 over New England Patriots, New Orleans Saint -3 1/2 over San Francisco 49ers.

Open Thread.

The picks (last week 15-5 ATS, +25 units): USC +4 over Stanford, Rice -16 over Louisiana Tech, Boise State -23 over Wyoming, Auburn -4 5 units over Georgia, Cincinnati +1 over Rutgers, Texas +3 over Oklahoma State, Iowa State +24 over Oklahoma, Ohio State -33 over Illinois, Michigan State -7 5 units over Nebraska, Navy -7½ over South Alabama, Kentucky +13 over Vanderbilt, Kansas State -10 over TCU, Houston +16 over Louisville, Indiana +24 over Wisconsin, Troy +28 over Mississippi, Purdue +22 over Penn State, West Virginia -7 over Kansas, Michigan +3 over Northwesten, Oregon -28 3 units over Utsh.

This week's Amato and Armando Show is a comedy of technological and other errors. You'll be laughing at us not with us:

Uh, Go Gators!?!

Open Thread.

Thread.

While the wonk created Rube Goldberg contraptions known as the exchanges goes through their problems, one aspect of ObamaCare has gone off without a hitch - Medicaid Expansion:

The underdog of government health care programs is emerging as a rare early success story of President Obama's technologically challenged health overhaul. Often dismissed, Medicaid has signed up 444,000 people in 10 states in the six weeks since open enrollment began, according to Avalere Health, a market analysis firm that compiled data from those states. Twenty-five states are expanding their Medicaid programs, but data for all of them was not available.

[...] The Obama administration plans to release October enrollment statistics this week, but publicly available figures already provide a contrast between a robust start for Medicaid expansion and lukewarm early signups for new, government-subsidized private plans offered separately under the law. "Medicaid is exceeding expectations in most places," said Dan Mendelson, Avalere's president. "It is definitely a bright picture in states that have chosen to expand."

The wonky proponents of the exchanges aren't particularly interested, but it does prove that the public insurance component of ACA is the superior part of the program.

Finally there is light at the end of the moving tunnel. I think I'm done with the major construction projects: Having a contractor come in and double hang closets and turn a small closet by the kitchen into a pantry with massive wood shelves strong enough to hold heavy appliances like the VitaMix, pressure cooker, and Cuisinart, and lots of canned foods.

My computer networks, TVs and phone lines are all finally running smoothly - the art is all hung, I have a microwave again and I've started selling things that won't fit here on Ebay.

What an ordeal -- it's taken almost four weeks. Since I didn't blog the last week or two before moving, it's been six weeks since I've been able to think about blogging -- and I haven't seen much if any news.

I've got a court hearing tomorrow and am still inundated with work, but blogging should return to normal by the weekend. For all of you who stuck around, thanks!

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Last month, I wrote a post titled The Problem With Obamacare: The Republican Stuff. Ironically, to make the Republican stuff work, folks had to be forced into the private insurance market. Ezra Klein indvertently explains:

The bill [Louisiana Senator Mary] Landrieu is offering [it would let folks 'who like their insurance, keep it'] could really harm the law. It would mean millions of people who would've left the individual insurance market and gone to the exchanges will stay right where they are. Assuming those people skew younger, healthier, and richer -- and they do -- Obamacare's premiums will rise. [...] "I think it would be a real substantive mistake to do the Landrieu bill," says MIT health economist Jon Gruber, a supporter of the Affordable Care Act.

(Emphasis supplied.) Of course this has been the fundamental problem with Obamacare - its Republican ideas need the government to force people to participate in the private insurance market, and not just any insurance market, but the ObamaCare exchanges. I t did not have to be this way. More on the flip.

Busy. More thread.

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