Hey, Washington! Where’s my waiver?

Video pokes fun at Obamacare

A coalition of conservative groups hopes to raise awareness of what it sees as hypocrisy by supporters of Obamacare, with a website called WheresMyWaiver.com aimed at increasing the heat on Health and Human Services Secretary Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Sebelius has granted 1,040 waivers on provisions of President Obama’s signature legislation that the groups consider to be the most harmful.

The groups point out more than 44 percent of the waivers have been granted to unionized workers in spite of the fact less than 12 percent of the nation’s workers belong to unions.

Unions have contributed more than $120 million to Democratic candidates in the past two election cycles.

“I think it is a good idea for average citizens to plead for the same sort of relief that the president’s and Harry Reid’s buddies seem to have been able to get,” said Let Freedom Ring President Colin Hanna. “The second point is we need to point out the stunning hypocrisy of so many of the bill’s supporters when the bill was going through Congress now turning into waiver applicants.”

The site is sponsored by Let Freedom Ring, Americans for Tax Reform, CWA, 60 Plus, Independent Women’s Voice and the College Republican National Committee. It allows visitors to e-mail Sebelius asking for their own waivers. Visitors can select whether they want to ask for exemptions from the law’s $500 billion in tax increases, taxpayer funding of abortion or the individual health insurance mandate, among others.

“This is a good way of throwing some good-natured humor at the administration and at the situation, and that certainly is what the video does at Congressman [Anthony] Weiner,” Hanna said. “The video is fun and engaging, and it’s been quite a hit. We put it up on Friday, and it’s had something like 35,000 views.

“We hope to accomplish showing people the remarkable inconsistencies in the bill and in the way the administration’s supporters are reacting to the bill – is, simply put, a bad bill.”

Wiener, a possible candidate for mayor of New York City, announced recently that he planned to apply to obtain a waiver for the city from some of the health care law’s Medicaid provisions.

The congressman, however, was among the biggest supporters of the health care law when it was making its way through Congress last year.

“Sometimes, when you can use the power of ridicule to make your point, you can make it as effectively, if not more effectively, than with data and sound reasoning,” Hanna said.

A spokesman for the federal agency – who declined to be identified – accused critics of misrepresenting Sebelius’ handling of the waivers. The waivers have been mostly granted to allow people to keep their current mini-med insurance plans that have high deductibles and low annual dollar amounts, according to HHS.

Beginning this year, without such waivers, the mini-med plans will not be able to remain in force unless premiums are dramatically increased. The spokesman said the waivers are a stopgap until 2014 when the health insurance exchanges kick in.
Wiener was unavailable for comment.

Obamacare itself is under attack in numerous venues. In the federal courts at least two judges have declared it unconstitutional, and it appears en route to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, numerous state legislatures are considering state legislation that simply would exempt their state’s citizens from its requirements. One state had a proposal to make it a crime to try to enforce Obamacare provisions.