President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at Akron-Canton Regional Airport in North Canton, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Today (All Times Eastern):
**10:55 AM: President Obama delivers remarks on the Affordable Care Act at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland**
12:30: Jay Carney briefs the press
4:25: President Obama attends a DNC event
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adorablecareact.tumblr.com * @AdorableCareAct
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Justin Sink: President To Pitch ObamaCare Benefits As Sign-Up Approaches
In a speech at Prince George’s Community College, the president will explain what kind of benefits uninsured Americans — who will be able to purchase insurance on the exchanges — can expect to receive. He’ll also detail how much families and individuals can expect to pay for some of the plans and argue that ObamaCare offers unprecedented access to the health care system.
A White House official said Obama hopes to “speak directly, in plain and honest terms,” in a bid to “cut through all the noise coming out of Washington.” “The President will lay out exactly what consumers can expect when they visit these new online Marketplaces: the opportunity to comparison shop among plans that meet their specific needs, budgets and preferences,” the official said.
“He will explain how and when consumers can sign up for insurance – from October 1 through March of 2014 – and will detail the protections that are guaranteed forever under all of the health plans purchased through the Marketplace, regardless of which plan is chosen.”
More here
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https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/383020640434786304
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Washington Post: ObamaCare is getting really good local coverage
A week before Americans without health insurance can begin signing up for government-run pools, the Department of Health and Human Services rolled out new data showing just how much they would have to pay The Drudge Report and the Washington Examiner spotlighted bad news
But around the country, local papers loved the news. Check out the front pages in Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania, where the coverage bordered on glowing
More here
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Media Matters: Fox Hosts Anti-ObamaCare Activist To Rehash False Claims About Mammogram Rationing
Fox & Friends guest and conservative activist Dr. Kristen Held repeated discredited claims that a task force’s recommendation on mammograms mean that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will result in rationed care for breast cancer patients. In fact, the ACA specifically rejected the task force’s non-binding recommendation. ACA Rejected Task Force’s Recommendation, Funds Mammograms Starting At Age 40.
ACA covers mammograms for women starting at age 40 and ignored the task force’s 2009 recommendation. For women over 40, routine screenings every 1 to 2 years must be included in coverage plans without a copayment or co-insurance. The section of the law that deals with Medicare contains similar wording.
More here
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HHS.Gov: What The Affordable Care Act Means To Communities Of Color
Recently, I traveled to Oakland, California, to participate in a town hall about how the Affordable Care Act is improving health and strengthening communities – especially communities of color that have long faced disparities in health and health care. As the event was coming to a close, a woman in the audience stood up and asked if she could read a letter from her daughter. Her daughter hadn’t been able to attend the event, she told us, but wanted to share her story with everyone.
She had started college a few years later than most, at the age of 22. During her freshman year, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis – a devastating discovery. But there was one source of relief: thanks to the health care law’s provision enabling young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26, she was able to stay on her parents’ health plan, access the treatment that she needed, and continue her studies. And even though she has since turned 26, the opening of the new Health Insurance Marketplace – and the law’s ban on discrimination due to pre-existing conditions – will provide her with new opportunities to secure affordable coverage.
The last excerpt that the woman read from her daughter’s letter was directed to President Obama. Thank you, she wrote. The health care law had helped to save her life.
More here
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Caroline Humer: ObamaCare’s Average Monthly Cost Across U.S.: $328
Americans will pay an average premium of $328 monthly for a mid-tier health insurance plan when the Obamacare health exchanges open for enrollment next week, and most will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price, the federal government said on Wednesday. The figure, based on data for approved insurance plans in 48 states, is the broadest national estimate for the cost of coverage when President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law takes full effect next year.
Obama, who is facing a Republican threat to eliminate funding for the law or shut down the federal government next week, said the fierce opposition stems from the fear that Americans will embrace the program. “Essentially they’re saying people will like this thing too much, and then it will be really hard to roll back,” Obama said on Tuesday in a conversation about healthcare with former President Bill Clinton. “What we’re saying is, just look for yourself. Take a look at it, and you will discover that this is a good deal for you.”
HHS said the average price was 16 percent lower than its own projections on premiums. In addition, consumers who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $62,040 for a couple, will qualify for subsidies that will lower the price further.
More here
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Greg Sargent: If Obama Endorses His Own Impeachment, GOP Will Agree Not To Destroy The U.S. Economy
House Republicans plan to demand major perks for coal companies and Wall Street banks, alongside healthcare and social service cuts and a one-year delay in the implementation of Obamacare, in exchange for raising the debt ceiling until the end of 2014, according to a source close to the House GOP leadership. […]
So let’s say it again: This is not a standard Washington negotiation, in which each side is demanding concessions from the other. Democrats are not asking Republicans to make any concessions. They are asking Republicans to join them in not destroying the U.S. economy. House Republican leaders — who have themselves conceded not raising the debt limit would jeopardize the full faith and credit of the U.S. government — are asking Democrats to make a series of concessions in exchange for not unleashing widespread economic havoc that will hurt all of us. But agreeing not to destroy the economy doesn’t count as a concession on the part of Republicans, and no one should expect it to be rewarded with anything in return. Just because Republicans are trying to frame this as a conventional negotiation doesn’t mean folks have to play along with it.
More here
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Jonathan Chait: Someone Tell Ted Cruz The ObamaCare War Is Over
Last week, the Wall Street Journal editorial page compared Ted Cruz and his band of Obamacare defunders to kamikaze pilots. Today, as he neared the end of his long, weird diatribe against Obamacare, Ted Cruz thanked the staffers who “endured this Bataan Death March.” So now Cruz and his critics agree that the most apt comparison to Ted Cruz is the World War II–era Japanese military. The analogy does capture the defunders’ sheer obsessive determination to resist and utter inability to formulate a plausible strategy.
The Obama administration today released the final numbers on the premiums in the state health exchanges. This is the single most important piece of data we have to gauge the plausibility of the exchanges, which are the crucial mechanism of Obamacare. The premiums are not spin, they are the collective judgment of the marketplace. The conservative judgment of Obamacare has been a ceaseless litany of doom — rate shock, fumbling bureaucracy, unreasonable regulations. If that indictment were true, insurers would be charging higher rates than the administration initially forecast. Instead, the premiums are clearly lower than forecast — 94 percent of customers in the exchanges will have the chance to pay below-forecast premiums.
More here
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Bloomberg: Jobless Claims In U.S. Unexpectedly Decline To 305,000
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week, showing further progress in the labor market. Jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 305,000 in the week ended Sept. 21, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.
Fewer dismissals may be a sign employers are optimistic about the demand outlook in the U.S. Further gains in employment and improved income growth will be necessary to spur bigger advances in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.
More here
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The Obama Diary 
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