AND NOW IT BEGINS – AT 7:50 P.M. ET:  The first provisions of Obamacare are taking effect.  And the result?  Not quite what we were sold.  Reader Arley Ward refers us to this, from the Boston Globe:

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has notified customers that it will drop its Medicare Advantage health insurance program at the end of the year, forcing 22,000 senior citizens in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine to seek alternative supplemental coverage.

Wait, wait.  Weren't we told we could keep our current plans?  Am I missing something?

The decision by Wellesley-based Harvard Pilgrim, the state’s second-largest health insurer, was prompted by a freeze in federal reimbursements and a new requirement that insurers offering the kind of product sold by Harvard Pilgrim — a Medicare Advantage private fee for service plan — form a contracted network of doctors who agree to participate for a negotiated amount of money. Under current rules, patients can seek care from any doctor.

Wait.  Weren't we told we could keep the doctor of our choice?

“We became concerned by the long-term viability of Medicare Advantage programs in general,’’ said Lynn Bowman, vice president of customer service at Harvard Pilgrim’s office in Quincy. “We know that cuts in Medicare are being used to fund national health care reform. And we also had concerns about our ability to build a network of health care providers that would meet the needs of our seniors.’’

Wait, wait.  Cuts in Medicare are being used to fund reform?  I thought Medicare was going to get better?

COMMENT:  There's a kind of irony here.  The plan is called Harvard – ah, the president must be pleased – located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, home of Hillary's alma mater.  And things aren't going well.

Soon the American people will learn what Obamacare is really about.  Stand by for insurrection.

September 28, 2010