Obamacare Deadline Today
Deadline to enroll for coverage beginning Jan. 1. National Journal: "There are still another three months to buy coverage, but a lot of people need it on Jan. 1. It's an important deadline for people with pre-existing conditions who had been priced out or overtly locked out of the individual insurance market [and] for the millions of people whose insurance policies were [recently] canceled ... Administration officials said they might have to deploy the website's new queuing feature today, if the number of people trying to beat the deadline is more than the site can handle at one time. The system allows users to enter their e-mail addresses and notifies them when traffic subsidies."
Some tension between HHS and insurers over flexibility for enrollment. Bloomberg: "U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged the industry on Dec. 12 to be lenient with Obamacare customers who miss today’s deadline for enrolling in the program or are late with their initial payment. The request included honoring late sign-ups with retroactive coverage, letting people pay only part of their premiums and covering treatments for patients who go to out-of-network doctors and pharmacies ... Joe Mondy, a spokesman for Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna, said the company will abide by the Jan. 10 payment deadline and that 'we continue to review' the administration’s other requests."
GOP vs. Unemployed
GOP taking political risk in opposing extended jobless aid. HuffPost: "The left-leaning Public Policy Polling surveyed voters in four key congressional districts, as well as House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) district, to gauge support for extending unemployment benefits. The poll, funded by the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change, showed that voters across party lines were overwhelmingly in favor of extending the benefits, with 63 to 68 percent of voters in each district expressing support for preserving jobless benefits."
"The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Since the Depression" reports Mother Jones: "Currently, nearly 11 million Americans are unemployed. The unemployment rate stands at 7 percent. Both of those stats are improvements from a little more than four years ago ... However, there currently are more than 4 million Americans who have been unemployed for six months or longer. Not since the Great Depression has the United States experienced such massive and persistent long-term unemployment."
GOP yet to decide on hostage demands for debt ceiling increase. The Hill: "The GOP has not yet produced a specific list of demands, and outside conservative groups are signaling some flexibility ... But Republicans who looked to strike deals in last fiscal fights don’t see the debt limit being boosted without strings attached."
Tricky Trade-Offs In Climate Strategy
Energy Sec Moniz downplays methane leaks from fracking as climate concern. National Journal: "'We need more data [but] measurements of the methane concentrations in the atmosphere ... tell us ... carbon dioxide concentrations remain by far the biggest forcer of climate change,' he said in an interview that aired Sunday ... The comments are the latest sign that Moniz does not see methane leaks undercutting the climate advantages that natural gas holds over coal ... His department is part of an interagency group crafting a methane strategy under President Obama's second-term climate plan ..."
Carbon capture strategy which encourages oil production divides environmentalists. AP: "America's newest, most expensive coal-fired power plant is hailed as one of the cleanest on the planet, thanks to government-backed technology that removes carbon dioxide and keeps it out of the atmosphere ... To help the environment, the government allows power companies to sell the carbon dioxide to oil companies, which pump it into old oil fields to force more crude to the surface. A side benefit is that the carbon gets permanently stuck underground. The program shows the ingenuity of the oil industry, which is using government green-energy money to subsidize oil production. But it also showcases the environmental trade-offs Obama is willing to make, but rarely talks about, in his fight against global warming."
