By Charles Ornstein/ProPublica

When HealthCare.gov and some state-run insurance marketplaces ran into trouble with their websites in October and November, they urged consumers to submit paper applications. Now, it’s time to process all that paper. And with the deadline to enroll in health plans less than two weeks away, there’s growing concern that some of these applications won’t be processed in time.

The Associated Press reported last week that federal officials are now advising navigators – groups paid to assist consumers with enrollment – not to use paper applications anymore, if they can help it.

“We received guidance from the feds recommending that folks apply online as opposed to paper,” said Mike Claffey, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Insurance.

After a conference call earlier this week with federal health officials, Illinois health officials sent a memo Thursday to their roughly 1,600 navigators saying there is no way to complete enrollment through a paper application. The memo, which Claffey said was based on guidance from federal officials, said paper applications should be used only if other means aren’t available.

Federal health officials also discussed the issue during a conference call Wednesday with navigators and certified counselors in several states.

“They’ve said do not use paper applications because they won’t be able to process them anywhere near in time,” said John Foley, attorney and certified counselor for Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, who was on the call.

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Posted on December 13, 2013

By Charles Ornstein/ProPublica

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that nearly 365,000 Americans had signed up for private health insurance under Obamacare. The vast majority came from 14 states running their own insurance exchanges, while 137,000 came by way of HealthCare.gov, the much-faulted federal Web site that handles enrollment for the remaining states.

But amid the rush to enroll as many people as possible by the Dec. 23 deadline, there’s a huge caveat that isn’t getting much public attention: For coverage to take effect on Jan. 1, enrollees must pay their first month’s premium on time. (The deadline varies somewhat by state and by insurer.)

That’s slow going, according to consultants and some insurers, raising the prospect that actual enrollment will be far lower than the figures HHS is releasing.

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Posted on December 12, 2013

By Cora Currier/ProPublica

As ProPublica reported this fall, the Obama administration is rolling back limits on some U.S. arms exports. Experts are concerned that the changes could result in military parts flowing more freely to the world’s conflict zones, and that arms sanctions against Iran and other countries will be harder to enforce.
Now, some in Congress are seeking to add back some oversight mechanisms lost in the overhaul – over opposition from the administration.

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Posted on December 10, 2013

Plus: Royko On Mandela

Sun-Times editorial, July 18, 1986:

A top White House official this week told a reporter that President Reagan is unlikely to agree to economic sanctions as a weapon against South Africa’s apartheid policies because, among other things, the women of America might have to “give up their jewelry.”
It’s time.
It’s time for the president and his administration to exercise the moral leadership of the highest office of the nation that is supposed to embody the ideals found in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.
It’s time for the president and his administration not only to start saying the right things but doing the right things.
We have been strong supporters of Reagan’s policies toward South Africa, in the belief that constructive engagement would be the most peaceful, fair and effective way leading to the abolition of the hated apartheid policies.
We shared the White House’s stated concern that heavy-handed economic sanctions would most injure those whom we should be saving from the horrors of apartheid – the blacks of South Africa.
This latest blunder by a White House aide only makes us wonder: How well does this administration understand the frustration of an entire nation of people? How well does it understand the frustration of people of good will in our own nation who are trying to push stronger policies to end apartheid? What are the administration’s own motives and intentions?

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Posted on December 6, 2013

By David Morris

Schools have a lot to learn from business about how to improve performance, declared Bill Gates in an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal in 2011. He pointed to his own company as a worthy model for public schools.
“At Microsoft, we believed in giving our employees the best chance to succeed, and then we insisted on success,” Gates said. “We measured excellence, rewarded those who achieved it and were candid with those who did not.”
Adopting the Microsoft model means public schools grading teachers, rewarding the best and being “candid,” that is, firing those who are deemed ineffective. “If you do that,” Gates promised Oprah Winfrey, “then we go from being basically at the bottom of the rich countries [in education performance] to being back at the top.”

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Posted on December 5, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“It’s always about politics in Illinois and never about reform,” Phil Kadner writes for the SouthtownStar in the day’s must-read pension commentary.
*
“The vote on Tuesday came one day after the deadline for candidates to file to run for state office in next year’s primary, so legislators could know whether they faced a primary opponent,” the New York Times noted.
*
Tribune Editorial: Vote Was A Test Of Courage.
I guess they don’t read the New York Times – or Kadner.

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Posted on December 4, 2013

A Primer

Here are the talking points you need – not the ones the Obamas want you to have.
1. Why Care About The NSA?

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Posted on December 3, 2013