------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Insiders: Obamacare – The incompetence and denials keep coming
BY ED ROGERS, Washington Post

Two stories converge today to illuminate how the White House and the Democratic establishment are attempting to hide the next wave of Obamacare failures. Both Post stories reveal how the president and Democratic leaders at the state level are hiding problems with Obamacare instead of confronting and fixing problems.
First, Amy Goldstein of  The Post reveals that the appeals process guaranteed in the Obamacare law does not actually exist. The story outlines an almost comical process that requires citizens who seek a fair hearing to have an innocent, HealthCare.gov-generated mistake corrected to fill out a seven-page paper form that is then inexplicably shipped to Kentucky, where it is entered into a government database that isn’t actually connected to anything. It’s a digital dead end for those who dare to complain. Typical. As a result, 22,000 Americans who have submitted an appeals request remain without proper coverage and they have no recourse. And, according to The Post, in the latest show of non-transparency from this administration, officials have “not made public the fact that the appeals system for the online marketplace is not working.” There is “no indication that infrastructure . . .  necessary for conducting informal reviews and fair hearings had even been created, let alone become operational,” and administration officials are refusing to give any information as to when the appeals process might start moving. This is an administration that wants to hide things rather than fix things.
Next, The Post’s Jenna Johnson and Mary Pat Flaherty outline how Maryland state officials are trying to block an investigation into the debacle of the state health insurance exchange Web site, which has been plagued with operational problems since day one.  Some Democratic officials — including Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who is running for governor — don’t want a full investigation because such an investigation could have a negative impact on the upcoming state elections for Democrats. Remarkably, and presumably with a straight face, Sen. Thomas Middleton (D-Charles), the chairman of the Finance Committee, reportedly argued that a full investigation would “distract health officials from signing Marylanders up for health insurance before the March 31 deadline.”