INFORMATION DECK ABOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE: damage

Showing posts with label damage. Show all posts

Thursday, October 24, 2013

White House steps up damage control on healthcare rollout

U.S. President Barack Obama stands with Affordable Care act registrants and beneficiaries as he speaks about healthcare from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington October 21, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

By David Lawder and Mark Felsenthal

WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:18pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House sought to limit the political damage from the troubled rollout of the government's healthcare website on Wednesday as Republicans increased the pressure to delay parts of President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy.

Obama administration officials held a closed-door briefing for Democrats in the House of Representatives and a private session with insurance company executives to discuss efforts to fix the Healthcare.gov website.

Republican critics in Congress demanded a delay in a requirement of the healthcare law that uninsured Americans must purchase insurance or face a tax penalty and said they would intensify their investigations into the launch of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as "Obamacare."

"It is our job to hold them accountable, and when it comes to Obamacare clearly there is a lot to hold accountable," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner told reporters on Wednesday.

The administration is trying to preserve Democratic Party unity on the issue, which showed signs of fraying. The head of the Democratic National Committee, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, told MSNBC the administration should be willing to extend the open-enrollment period for people to sign up for insurance. It ends on March 31.

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat, criticized the website for forcing consumers to provide private information before deciding what kind of health insurance plan they want to buy.

"I've talked to too many people who tell me before they ever get around to figuring out what it is they want to buy, they're having to answer questions that they don't feel they should be answering," Clyburn said.

Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that he hopes to meet with other committee members in the coming weeks, but said he would wait until after the website is repaired.

Republicans are not waiting. The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday will hear from the top contractors responsible for the program, including website developer CGI Federal.

'WORKING HARD TO FIX THE PROBLEMS'

Online exchanges, or marketplaces, were designed to be the main way for millions of uninsured Americans to research and buy health insurance plans under the law, but the October 1 debut has been marred by technical glitches that have kept many from signing on and making purchases. Those unable to sign up online can call a toll-free telephone number as an alternative.

The administration has so far declined to disclose the number of enrollments, either online or by telephone.

A prolonged delay in getting Healthcare.gov to work could jeopardize White House efforts to sign up as many as 7 million people in 2014, the first full year the law takes effect. The administration this week began what it called a "tech surge," bringing in experts led by the administration's top economic aide Jeffrey Zients to analyze and fix the problems.

"I think what we learned is they're working hard to fix the problems," Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said after Wednesday's briefing.

The Health and Human Services Department will begin regular news briefings on Thursday to provide updates on "the progress that's being made and on the efforts that are being undertaken, both to address the technical problems and to make the whole experience for American consumers better," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

House Democrats said there was no discussion in the briefing about whether the problems should lead to a delay of the individual requirement that every American have insurance or pay a tax penalty. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated a delay would reduce enrollment significantly.

REPUBLICANS DEMAND DELAY

Republicans, who have fought the healthcare law as an unwarranted extension of the federal government, said the requirement should be delayed until the problems with the rollout are resolved.

"With so many unanswered questions and the problems arising around this rollout, it doesn't make any sense to impose this one percent mandate tax on the American people," House Republican Leader Eric Cantor told reporters on Wednesday.

Republicans have repeatedly tried to derail or delay the healthcare law since taking control of the House in the 2010 elections. They demanded more answers on Wednesday about the scope of the problems.

Three committees in the Republican-controlled House have announced investigations of the law's rollout, which Cantor described as "nothing short of a debacle."

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been the focal point of criticism and Republicans have demanded she step down, but so far the White House has rallied around her.

Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, told the New York Times on Tuesday that Sebelius "has the president's confidence. And she knows that."

In the same article, an unidentified White House aide also appeared to try to distance Sebelius from the website troubles, and was quoted as saying, "Kathleen has the title, but she doesn't have the responsibility or in many respects the kind of wide authority and access to the president that she really needs to make a difference."

Sebelius, who will testify to Congress next week, and McDonough attended the session with insurance company executives. They included the chief executives of WellPoint Inc, Humana Inc and Aetna Inc among others.

WellPoint raised its 2013 membership and profit forecasts in part to reflect coming market changes under the law, its chief executive, Joseph Swedish, said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker, Richard Cowan, Roberta Rampton and Susan Heavey in Washington, Caroline Humer in New York; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Fred Barbash, Karey Van Hall, and Grant McCool)

View the original article here

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Rains once more cause damage at Apple's Fifth Avenue NY store

Rains once more cause damage at Apple's Fifth Avenue NY storeGet the lowest prices anywhere on Macs and iPads with exclusive coupons: Apple Price Guide updated May 25th. (Get the lowest prices anywhere)

HomeReviewsBackpagePrice GuidesNew MacsMacs with AppleCarePrevious MacsiPadsApple Wireless DevicesBid on New & Used Apple ProductsFollow UsTwitterFacebookGoogle+RSS Feeds & QriusiPhone AppTip UsSend us a tiptip us anonymouslyContact us by e-mailForumsAAPL: 445.15 ( +3.01 )Never miss an update Follow AppleInsiderFollow @AppleInsider –A+
Friday, May 24, 2013, 02:31 pm

Rains once more cause damage at Apple's Fifth Avenue NY storeBy Kevin Bostic

Weather woes continue at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City, as rain is once again seeping into the retail location, and now Apple's SoHo location is said to have been suffering from the same problem.

leak

Reports of further leakage popped up on Friday when tipsters sent in pictures and video of the problem to Gothamist. One image shows a ceiling panel in one location dramatically deformed due to the continued leaking.

Apple employees reportedly rushed to move sensitive electronics out of the way of the leaks, while other employees set about placing a large receptacle under the leaking area.

Apple's SoHo retail location was also reported to have been suffering leakage problems, but employees at the store expressed no knowledge of such a problem when AppleInsider called.

The latest leak marks the second time in as many weeks that the iconic Fifth Avenue store has suffered water damage. Earlier in May, heavy rains breached the location, causing employees to rush to mop up the damage. Tags:Apple RetailJump to comments (17)Categories:General(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Pin It

On Topic: GeneralGoogle's Motorola issues second appeal of dismissed ITC case against AppleSouth Australia's first Apple Store draws line hours ahead of opening [update: photos and video]Rains once more cause damage at Apple's Fifth Avenue NY storeSteve Jobs's family has been giving money away anonymously for more than 2 decadesJudge says evidence will likely show Apple culpable in e-book price fixing caseToday's' HeadlinesNo news headlines yet todayRelated ArticlesHeavy rains in Manhattan breach Apple's flagship Fifth Ave storeLight leaks causing camera issues with Apple's white iPhone 4 - rumorVideo, pictures from iPhone 5 launch at Apple's Fifth Ave storeiPhone 4S launch draws crowds at Apple stores around the worldFirst look at Apple's revamped SoHo retail storePrevious Comments View Allsuddenly newton2013/05/24 02:33pm

Better pop that ceiling zit.

gazoobee2013/05/24 02:34pm

This whole article just amounts to "it isn't fixed yet." So what?

If they had fixed it and then the "fix" broke, that would be a mildly interesting page 500 kind of story. This isn't even that. This is literally no story at all.

bobringer2013/05/24 02:35pm

I work about 5 blocks from there.

When I tell you it was raining yesterday... my god. You don't see that every week...

logic3682013/05/24 03:07pm

That rain was amazing... i couldn't walk a block without getting soaked... it brought people together, all huddled under whatever we could find!

starbird732013/05/24 03:15pm

We had some heavy rain a couple weeks ago.

Radio Shack had a few leaks, as did the grocery store next to it.

Can I get a shout out for this tip?

michael_c2013/05/24 03:19pm

Quote:Originally Posted by bobringer?

When I tell you it was raining yesterday... my god. You don't see that every week...We got caught in the rains yesterday - nothing trivial with the amount coming down - noticed, this morning, lots of mud filling paths in Central Park. Thought we saw the "arc" on 59th :~).

drwam2013/05/24 03:37pm

As a west coast guy, NYC always impresses me with the degree to which things are run down and broken. And I love NYC.

multifoiled2013/05/24 03:53pm

Quote:Originally Posted by drwam?

As a west coast guy, NYC always impresses me with the degree to which things are run down and broken. And I love NYC.
Being from the NYC area and now living outside of SF, I can tell you that is so because NYC has harsh weather year round. We don't have that issue around these parts outside of some rain in the winter.

rot'napple2013/05/24 03:58pm

That looks like my stomach after Thanksgiving dinner!

marvin2013/05/24 04:04pm

Watergate...

... and the circle is complete. Nobody can use something-gate for anything else.

Making Apple products waterproof sounds like a pretty good idea now I bet.
Quote:Originally Posted by logic368?
That rain was amazing... i couldn't walk a block without getting soaked... it brought people together, all huddled under whatever we could find!
It's a good idea to have an umbrella just big enough for two to share with cute girls who don't have one. When the not-so-cute girls get near, just pretend it's not big enough. Reduced visibility adds some challenge to the extend/retract timing.

View all commentsLogin to Comment

Have an opinion? Sign Up to share it.

Latest Apple Headlines article_thumb