Media outlets are eager to dig Team Obama out and help the Democrat initiative to turn this nightmare around. The Christian Science Monitor online had a story headlined "Is Obamacare on the rebound? Media turn to positive stories. Linda Feldmann uncorked this lede:
“Bit by bit, the media narrative around the travails of Obamacare and its main enrollment vehicle, HealthCare.gov, is starting to look up. Or to put it more precisely, it is no longer so crushingly negative.” Cheer up, Obamabots, “a competing story line is starting to emerge.”
Last week, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times touted a "surge" in enrollment figures, especially in states that have their own exchanges.
This week, a Washington Post story described almost an Obamacare nirvana - people in rural Kentucky lining up and getting coverage, some for the first time in their lives.
Part of this wave of positive stories may be a media effect: Reporters (and the public) get tired of all the wall-to-wall negativity, and to keep interest up, seek out happy stories for a change of pace.
What a load of cotton candy! Does anyone remember this line in the Bush years? “Reporters and the public get tired of the wall-to-wall negativity”? Feldmann noted that if the website isn't really fixed, the bad headlines will return. But on the bright side, "The daily report Tuesday from Kaiser Health News (KHN) was noteworthy for its positive stories":
“Health law may offer part-time workers better options,” said one headline. The story talked about “mini-med” plans – low-cost, low-benefit plans that are no longer allowable under the ACA – and cited the case of a woman with a serious health problem who is likely to get better, subsidized coverage on the exchange.
Another piece reported on Californians happy to have their insurance policies canceled. Some people, the story reported, had felt trapped with subpar plans but had kept them because of preexisting medical conditions. Now, under the ACA, people with health problems cannot be denied coverage.
A story out of Philadelphia, highlighted websites that have been set up that allow people to calculate their health-care subsidy without going on HealthCare.gov – and if they’re not eligible, allow them to buy coverage directly from the site.
Feldmann did not explain that Kaiser Health News comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which favored both Obamacare and before that, Hillarycare. So it's not exactly "news" that they're sounding positive.
