November's top shows: Kanye West, Charli XCX, Laura Mvula and more
Four Things Josh Barro Gets Wrong About Health Insurance
insurance (Photo credit: Alan Cleaver)Josh Barro writes that ObamaCare isn't the departure from the status quo ante that you might think. And that, in a nutshell, is the main problem with ObamaCare.
Our health care sector is a mess - prices are too damn high and quality is too low - thanks to mandates, subsidies, and price controls imposed at both the state and federal levels. ObamaCare doesn't do anything to reduce the underlying cost of medical care, or improve the quality of care, or make access to care more secure. It just doubles down on those failed policies.
Barro argues that private health insurance in the United States is largely a government program. He's correct, in that the exclusion of employer-paid health insurance premiums from federal income and payroll taxes, coupled with various regulations on employer-sponsored insurance, have converted 90 percent of the market for 'private' health insurance into a government-directed enterprise. We call the tax exclusion for ESI a tax 'break,' but when you think about it, it operates more like a tax hike. It coerces (Barro's word) workers into handing control over $11,000 of their earnings to their employers, who then choose the workers' health plans for them. Does that sound more like a free market, or a government program? Before you answer, remember that we're being coerced into buying an odd species of health insurance - ' crappy,' in the parlance - that disappears when you get sick and can't work anymore. Would you buy that kind of health insurance if you weren't being coerced? Employer-based insurance further operates, as Barro notes, under the yoke of government price controls that prohibit premiums from reflecting individual risk. Employer plans are therefore vulnerable to adverse selection, which results in the further crappification of 'private' insurance by forcing employers to make their plans less attractive to sick people.
But Barro stumbles when he claims the remaining 10 percent of the private health insurance market - the so-called 'individual market,' where consumers buy directly from an insurance company - is also essentially a government program. Allow me to quote him:
Individually-purchased health insurance is usually a one-year contract. But these insurance policies are subject to a federal policy called 'guaranteed renewability.' Once an insurer covers you, it has to offer you renewals as long as you want them, and it's not allowed to raise your premium based on new information about your health.
This rule, created by the bipartisan Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), is basically rent control for health insurance. It benefits the sick by obligating health insurers to write policies at a loss; they make up the difference by charging more to the healthy.
Barro is correct that guaranteed renewability means your insurer won't jack up your premiums to reflect the fact that you got diabetes or cancer. Everything else here is just wrong.
Guaranteed renewability (GR) is not rent control or any other type of price control. It is insurance. As John Cochrane explains, GR is a separate type of insurance that protects you against the financial risk associated with developing a long-term illness that causes your premiums to jump. Cochrane calls GR a form of 'health-status insurance,' but you can also think of it as 'premium-increase insurance.'
Nor does GR 'oblig[e] health insurers to write policies at a loss.' Insurers don't write GR policies at a loss any more than they price any other type of insurance at a loss. Mark Pauly and Bradley Herring have shown insurers cover the cost of GR the same way they cover the cost of all insurance: by charging people a risk-adjusted premium before the insured-against loss occurs. Carriers add a GR surcharge on top of the medical-insurance premium you pay to cover your medical bills in Year One. Those funds then cover, in Year Two and beyond, the cost of offering standard-rate coverage to everyone who develops a long-term illness in Year One. (In Year Two, the surcharge covers the cost of providing standard-rate coverage to everyone who develops a long-term illness in Year Two, and so on.) Pauly and Herring have shown that there is no reason for healthy consumers to defect from this arrangement. That's because they're not being taxed to subsidize someone else. They are voluntarily buying something for themselves that has the glorious effect of subsidizing others.
Nor was GR created by Congress. Yes, HIPAA mandated that all individual-market policies include a GR component. But Pauly and Herring report that 75 percent of individual-market policies were GR before Congress imposed that mandate. (It's easy to see why GR would dominate in an competitive health-insurance market. If Plan A costs $600/month but then jumps to $6,000/month if you get sick, while Plan B costs $800/month no matter how sick you get, which would you choose? Some will choose Plan A if circumstances dictate. But most would find Plan B's GR feature to be worth the added cost.) Saying that HIPAA created guaranteed renewability is like saying ObamaCare created health insurance. Sometimes, stuff happens before Congress mandates it. Which means that individually purchased health insurance is usually not a one-year contract. GR insurance covers your medical expenses in Year One, but also provides sick people additional protection in Year Two and beyond. And it works - at least, it did work, until ObamaCare encouraged carriers to start depleting their GR reserves, by giving to healthy people the money that was supposed to help the sick.
All of which is to say that despite all the things that federal and state governments have done to hamper it and hinder it and crowd it out, the individual market has worked quite well. Guaranteed renewability is a market success. It has enabled the individual market to provide more secure access to health care for sick people than the type of insurance the federal government coerces 90 percent of Americans into purchasing. It does so without the distortionary effects that ObamaCare supporters admit the law's community-rating price controls will create. Cochrane predicts that without such price controls or the tax preference for ESI, markets would spur further innovations that make access to care more secure. (Imagine insurance companies aggressively competing to cover the sick.) Even as Congress was drafting ObamaCare, the individual market was innovating right underneath Congress' nose with new products that would make coverage more secure. But such innovation cannot happen with ObamaCare in place.
Like many on the Left, Barro appears not to like the fact that in a free market, private health insurance companies will charge sick people higher premiums than they charge healthy people. He therefore supports imposing government price controls on private health insurance. (Supporters never call ObamaCare's 'pre-existing condition provisions' price controls, for obvious reasons, but that's what they are.) But Barro speaks as though this policy preference is just The Way Health Insurance Markets Work. That's also just wrong. His enthusiasm for price controls should be tempered - but he should be heartened - by what Pauly has to say here:
We find that regulation modestly tempers the (already-small) relationship of premium to risk, and leads to a slight increase in the relative probability that high-risk people will obtain individual coverage. However, we also find that the increase in overall premiums from community rating slightly reduces the total number of people buying insurance. All of the effects of regulation are quite small, though. We conjecture that the reason for the minimal impact is that guaranteed renewability already accomplishes a large part of effective risk averaging (without the regulatory burden), so additional regulation has little left to change.
ObamaCare does not merely expand on a type of price control that already existed in the individual market (though community rating did exist in a few states). It substitutes a government guarantee for a market guarantee that was already besting the government's previous foray. It's a radical departure from what previously existed in the individual market, and it will make that market more prone to adverse selection as healthy/sick consumers try to minimize/maximize community rating's implicit taxes/subsidies. ObamaCare will also heighten the incentives that carriers face to provide lousy coverage to the sick.
Nevertheless, both what Barro gets right and what he gets wrong should be helpful in convincing the fact-checkers and sundry other ObamaCare apologists that, yes, this law is, at a minimum, the last phase in the federal government's takeover of health care.
Kim Kardashian on Sexy Selfie: a 'Middle Finger' to Those Who Called Me Fat ...
Kim Kardashian opened up on a number of topics - from weight gain to her impending nuptials to Kanye West - during an appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show Wednesday.
She said she was hurt by paparazzi reports during her pregnancy focusing on her weight gain, saying said she had the pregnancy-related medical condition preeclampsia, which caused her to swell up.
'It was the greatest challenge of my life to have gained 50 pounds,' she told Jay Leno, adding that she's lost the weight. 'I got on the scale today, and it said I am 50 pounds down.'
PHOTOS: The Kardashian Family's Summer of Bummers
'It really did change me a lot,' Kardashian said. 'It hurt my soul. It changed how I am in the public a little bit. I would go out and there would just be photos of me anytime I was hungry...and these stories that I was like 200 pounds.'
Kardashian dismissed tabloid stories that she was 'in hiding' after her pregnancy.
'I just wanted to adjust my life a little bit. Why would I subject myself to so much negativity, especially now that I have a daughter. I just don't need that energy.
PHOTOS: Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom's Love Story in Pictures
Leno asked Kardashian about a racy self-photograph she posted online earlier this month, and she said she originally just sent it to West.
'I was like, 'babe, can I post this up?' This is my big middle finger to the world on everyone that called me fat,' she said with a laugh.
Kardashian also spoke of her recent engagement, telling Leno the ring West presented her last week is 'the best ever.'
'He's so passionate about everything in life,' she said. 'He took so much time and thought in this to make sure it was perfect.'
She said West was going to handle most of the wedding planning details, though she said she would be involved: 'He definitely knows what he wants, and I want him to have whatever he wants.'
Kardashian said they are hoping for next summer, but they are waiting until West finishes his current tour before setting the details.
PHOTOS: Kris and Bruce Jenner: Through the Years
'I think somewhere destinational,' she teased. 'Maybe I'll pick the place and he'll plan it.'
Leno asked if Kardashian's stepfather Bruce Jenner - who recently separated from Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner - would walk her down the aisle.
'Of course,' Kardashian said. 'He is my stepdad.'
And will she change her name to Kim West? The reality star said she would probably adopt her fiancé's last name and keep Kardashian as her middle name.
'My daughter has the last name West and we're a family. I want it to definitely be West.'
Kardashian's Tonight Show appearance comes weeks after West gave a long-form and surprisingly sincere interview to ABC's Jimmy Kimmel.
Watch clips of her interview below.
Kanye West says he wants to coach his daughter's soccer team
He has big plans for North West's soccer team.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's daughter may only be a few months old, but the rapper said he has big plans for eventually watching her play sports, minivan and all.
From an interview posted on People.com:
'I want to figure out a way to do my work and be my daughter's soccer coach. I'm going to be a soccer coach and redesign their uniforms. I'll redesign the mini van,' he said.
While we admire Kanye's enthusiasm, we're not sure what will happen when he realizes that for most young kids, soccer uniforms are really just t-shirts and whatever shorts their parents supply them with.
However, we would imagine that Kanye's team would have the greatest sideline and pregame cheers.
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Kanye West Calls Tyler, the Creator His Mentor
Kanye West may be a creative genius, but even he looks for guidance sometimes. The G.O.O.D. Music mogul has revealed his admiration for Tyler, the Creator, who he calls a mentor.
During an interview with Los Angeles' 97.1 AMP Radio, Kanye described the Odd Future frontman as an 'artist, innovator, and a good mentor.'
Tyler helped him with some of the 'Yeezus Tour' merchandise. 'He came in and was like, these are the principals, because he's so talented and understands things because he went to film school,' said 'Ye. 'I literally would like email and be like, 'Can you teach me how to make videos?' I want to learn.'
He also praised Tyler's banned Mountain Dew commercials. 'It was the best thing that happened in the past year,' said Kanye. 'You know what should be banned, stuff that's wack-not stuff that's controversial.'
These days, Kanye's focus remains on his family and non-music related endeavors, so don't expect a sequel to Watch the Throne anytime soon.
'It could be a possibility. It's not my focus,' said 'Ye of a follow-up to his 2011 album with Jay Z. 'Like in all honesty, music is not my focus. My focus is getting the proper type of deal backing from a major company, whether it's Nike, adidas, whoever, to back Yeezy. ... I care about that far more than making a Watch the Throne 2.'
Plus, hear him talk about his controversial tour merch, Miley Cyrus' VMA performance (His suggestion: 'More twerking'), and his soccer dad aspirations.
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Kanye West's "Yeezus" Tour Suffers Another Setback
Kanye West's 'Yeezus' Tour Suffers Another Setback
Kanye West has postponed the concert he was scheduled to play Friday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Blaming 'production logistics,' a representative for the venue said Tuesday that the show will be rescheduled for Dec. 13. Tickets for the original date will be honored, the rep said. West brought the production -- which involves a giant replica of a mountain and 12 female dancers wearing sheer body stockings -- to L.A.'s Staples Center for shows on Saturday and Monday. (Los Angeles Times)
Fans were crushed over the last minute no-show news, slamming the artist on line. @RogersArena @KanyeWest well that sucks. me and my friend spent like 300$ bussing here from Vernon so. -- ?liberty bangerz? (@libertywalker) October 21, 2013 '@RogersArena @KanyeWest well that sucks. me and my friend spent like 300$ bussing here from Vernon so' one ticket holder wrote and continued to bash Kim Kardashian's baby daddy. @ho0dbitch @Stan4PopQueenz LETS FIND KANYE SND SCALP HIM Another ticket holder reached out to RadarOnline.com to complain about the scheduling change saying that going on the new date, October 31, was not going to happen 'I took time off work, spend money on a hotel and ferry so needless to say I am not impressed. What a waste of my time and money. Now I can't even attend the concert on Halloween because I can't afford to take the time off after having to pay for hotels and etc. for a concert that didn't even happen! SO over Kanye and his diva behaviour!' (Radar Online)
Alex ?@Swigger74 14h dissed the last minute cancellation and change, writing: '@kanyewestCanceled concert refunds? Won't help those who paid to travel and stay for the concert tonight. What a joke of an artist.' Completely silent on his own account, Kanye's lack of an explanation enraged fans too. 'I'm over @kanyewest and the Kardashians after his Vancouver concert cancellation and he didn't say a peep to his fans. #overit' It was reported that his equipment trailer was stolen after the Seattle show, but fans lashed out, saying that the uber rich performer could have replaced the stolen goods. (Radar Online)
Kanye West kicked off his Yeezus world tour in Seattle on Saturday night, According to reports on Twitter and Kanye To The, he played a 27-song, two-hour set which encompassed material from his entire discography. Included were the live debuts of Yeezus tracks 'Hold My Liquor, 'I'm In It', and 'Guilt Trip', in addition to 'Street Lights' from 808s and Heartbreak. He closed his show with the dynamic one-two-three-four punch of 'Jesus Walks' into 'Flashing Lights' into 'All of the Lights' into 'Bound 2?. (Consequence of Sound) Ready to get your hands on the must-have game of the week? Need to clock in some overtime on your favorite video game platform? Check out the top five reasons you need Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag today!
Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West is reportedly going to leave fans hanging later this week by nixing a previously scheduled Yeezus tour performance in California.
Accoridng to reports, Mr. West has decided to reschedule his Friday, November 1, performance in Los Angeles to mid-December.
Kanye West has postponed the concert he was scheduled to play Friday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Blaming 'production logistics,' a representative for the venue said Tuesday that the show will be rescheduled for Dec. 13. Tickets for the original date will be honored, the rep said. West brought the production -- which involves a giant replica of a mountain and 12 female dancers wearing sheer body stockings -- to L.A.'s Staples Center for shows on Saturday and Monday. (Los Angeles Times)
Recently, disgruntled Ye supporters relied on Twitter to unleash some frustrations over a nixed show.
Fans were crushed over the last minute no-show news, slamming the artist on line. @RogersArena @KanyeWest well that sucks. me and my friend spent like 300$ bussing here from Vernon so. -- ?liberty bangerz? (@libertywalker) October 21, 2013 '@RogersArena @KanyeWest well that sucks. me and my friend spent like 300$ bussing here from Vernon so' one ticket holder wrote and continued to bash Kim Kardashian's baby daddy. @ho0dbitch @Stan4PopQueenz LETS FIND KANYE SND SCALP HIM Another ticket holder reached out to RadarOnline.com to complain about the scheduling change saying that going on the new date, October 31, was not going to happen 'I took time off work, spend money on a hotel and ferry so needless to say I am not impressed. What a waste of my time and money. Now I can't even attend the concert on Halloween because I can't afford to take the time off after having to pay for hotels and etc. for a concert that didn't even happen! SO over Kanye and his diva behaviour!' (Radar Online)
Some fans took issue with him not directly addressing concertgoers about the canceled night.
Alex ?@Swigger74 14h dissed the last minute cancellation and change, writing: '@kanyewestCanceled concert refunds? Won't help those who paid to travel and stay for the concert tonight. What a joke of an artist.' Completely silent on his own account, Kanye's lack of an explanation enraged fans too. 'I'm over @kanyewest and the Kardashians after his Vancouver concert cancellation and he didn't say a peep to his fans. #overit' It was reported that his equipment trailer was stolen after the Seattle show, but fans lashed out, saying that the uber rich performer could have replaced the stolen goods. (Radar Online)
Kanye officially kicked off his new tour in Seattle earlier this month.
Kanye West kicked off his Yeezus world tour in Seattle on Saturday night, According to reports on Twitter and Kanye To The, he played a 27-song, two-hour set which encompassed material from his entire discography. Included were the live debuts of Yeezus tracks 'Hold My Liquor, 'I'm In It', and 'Guilt Trip', in addition to 'Street Lights' from 808s and Heartbreak. He closed his show with the dynamic one-two-three-four punch of 'Jesus Walks' into 'Flashing Lights' into 'All of the Lights' into 'Bound 2?. (Consequence of Sound) Ready to get your hands on the must-have game of the week? Need to clock in some overtime on your favorite video game platform? Check out the top five reasons you need Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag today!
Make sure to also follow SOHH's Instagram and Get Frush's Instagram pages!
Kim Kardashian shows off post
kimkardashian/via InstagramKim Kardashian posted a new photo of her post-baby body to Instagram on Thursday morning.
Now that the Atkins Diet has been revealed as Kim Kardashian's secret to successful post-baby weight loss, the hot mother of one is getting back to showing off her famous assets.
Kardashian, 32, posted a 'no filter' photo of herself to Instagram, showing off her pert derriere while wearing a high-cut, sexy white swimsuit.
RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN REVEALS HOW SHE LOST HER POST-BABY WEIGHT
The picture garnered a lot of attention - especially from Kardashian's beau, Kanye West.
PHOTOS: KEEPING UP WITH KIM KARDASHIAN
'@KimKardashian: #NoFilter http://t.co/EWveUYTi3y ' HEADING HOME NOW
- KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 17, 2013 PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN AND KANYE WEST'S MATCHING STYLE
'HEADING HOME NOW,' West, 36, tweeted early Thursday, proudly sharing the photo of his girlfriend with his 10 million followers.
PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN'S STYLE MAKEOVERWest has been proudly proclaiming his love for Kardashian as of late, even recently declaring that his lady love is worthy of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - an honor she doesn't qualify for, despite her noteworthy curves.
It's her first return to posing in a swimsuit since Kardashian was pregnant with now 4-month-old daughter North West.
RELATED: KHLOE KARDASHIAN SHARES ADORABLE PHOTO WITH NIECE NORTH WEST
In February, she did a pregnant swimsuit spread for Du Jour magazine and talked about 'shifting her priorities' upon becoming a mother.
'My boyfriend has taught me a lot about privacy,' she told the mag about West.
RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN DOESN'T QUALIFY FOR WALK OF FAME, SAYS SPOKESWOMAN
'I'm ready to be a little less open about some things, like my relationships. I'm realizing everyone doesn't need to know everything. I'm shifting my priorities.'
Apparently, everyone still needs to know what Kardashian's body looks like.
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Kim Kardashian Is "50 Pounds Down," Says Swimsuit Selfie Was Her "Big ...
Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Kim Kardashian had a lot of catching up to do in her first big late-night TV interview since becoming a mom.
On The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Wednesday, Kim Kardashian touched on a number of topics-wedding planning, her daughter , her engagement to Kanye West and that eye-popping selfie she posted recently in which she flashed major side boob and some serious booty.
Kim, who revealed to Jay that she is '50 pounds down' with the help of exercise and the Atkins diet, explained that all of the criticism directed at her weight while she was pregnant 'really did affect' her.
'It really hurt my soul,' she said. 'It changed how I am in the public a little bit...There were these stories where I was, like, 200 pounds. I was gaining weight because I was pregnant and it was really hard to read all these stories and hear all these nasty things. And I think people sometimes question, they think I'm out 'in hiding' now.
'No, I just wanted to kinda adjust my life a little bit because why would I subject myself to so much negativity, especially now that I have a daughter? I just didn't need that energy, I'd rather be in a happy place at home...I've definitely tried to live more of a private life because of that, because they were so nasty. Why even go out as much just to put yourself in that position?'
PHOTOS: Kim's post-pregnancy style
But when she was ready to show off, boy was she ready!
Talking about how that famous Instagram selfie came to be, she revealed, ''I was trying on a bathing suit and I actually just sent that to my boyfriend and I was like, 'Babe, can I post this up? This is like my big middle finger to the world on everyone that called me fat.''
Well, Kanye was lovin' it, because four days later, they were engaged.
'He did really good...the best ever,' Kim said with regard to the 15-carat diamond ring her man picked out for her. 'I mean, I know he has good taste, but this is more than I could ever have expected.'
Kanye got the stone from jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, 'but he's so creative and he's so passionate about everything in life and he wanted to find something-I think he went to four jewelers-to make sure he found the absolute best and had rings designed,' Kim gushed about her husband-to-be. 'He took so much time and thought put into this and made sure that it was perfect.'
As for the next step, the wedding, Kim says that they are 'hoping for next summer.'
'I don't think we've even had the right time to sit down and talk about it,' she said. 'I think I'm enjoying just being engaged and I think we're gonna get through his tour and then really talk about when and where and all that.'
Kim is thinking destination wedding, 'someplace Parisian' perhaps. 'Or who knows? I got pregnant when we were in Italy. Maybe Italy? We haven't even talked about it...Maybe I'll pick the place and then he can plan it.'
Asked if stepdad Bruce Jenner, who's currently separated from her mom, Kris Jenner, will walk her down the aisle, Kim said 'of course.'
And she also knows that her name will be a little different after they say their I-dos.
'I'm probably going to have Kardashian as my middle name and then West...My daughter has the last name West and we're a family so I want [my last name] to definitely be West.'
Catch a new episode of Keeping Up WIth the Kardashians this Sunday at 9 p.m., only on E! PHOTOS: Kanye & Kim's road to engagement
Obama: 'Shop around' if you lose your health insurance plans
President Obama on Wednesday defended his signature health care law in a speech from Boston, saying that people who are losing their insurance plans because of the law should start shopping around for better coverage.
Obama, in his speech at historic Faneuil Hall, acknowledged the problem-plagued rollout of ObamaCare and attempted to deflect criticism over the wave of cancellation notices hitting small businesses and individuals who buy their own insurance.
The cancellation notices apply to people whose plans changed after the law was implemented or don't meet new coverage requirements. The president said those changes ensure that all Americans are able to get quality coverage.
'So if you're getting one of these letters, just shop around in the new marketplace. That's what it's for,' Obama said. 'Because of the tax credits that we are offering, and the competition between insurers, most people are going to be able to get better, comprehensive healthcare plans for the same price or even cheaper than projected.'
Republicans argue the president's argument in the face of Obama's repeated claims that consumers who liked their insurance would be able to keep it.
Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at giving American the ability to hold onto their plans if they liked them. The bill would add flexibility to the standards for insurance policies allowed under ObamaCare.
'That was a fundamental promise that was made in order to get this law passed and now that's being broken and we're seeing that it wasn't an unintended consequence, it was an intended consequence,' Rubio told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on 'On the Record.'
Obama chose the site where Massachusetts' health care system became law to promote his health care law, arguing that the state plan also faced initial setbacks and low enrollment but in time gained popularity and became a success.
'All the parade of horribles, the worst predictions about health care reform in Massachusetts never came true,' he said. 'They're the same arguments that you're hearing now.'
The president pointed to benefits already available under the 3-year-old health care law, including ending discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions and permission to keep young people on their parents' insurance plans until they turn 26.
Romney took issue with Obama's characterization of the Massachusetts health care law. In a statement, he said 'had President Obama actually learned the lessons of Massachusetts health care, millions of Americans would not lose the insurance they were promised they could keep, millions more would not see their premiums skyrocket and the installation of the program would not have been a frustrating embarrassment.'
Obama he conceded the troubled launch of the open enrollment period that began Oct. 1.
'There's no denying it, right now, the website is too slow, too many people have gotten stuck. And I am not happy about it. And neither are a lot of Americans who need health care, and they're trying to figure out how they can sign up as quickly as possible,' he said.
Underscoring the president's challenge, the HealthCare.gov website was down, because of technical difficulties, during his remarks. Republicans say the current computer dysfunction is more reason to repeal the law, and they're pressing Obama administration officials for an explanation.
HEALTHYINSURANCENEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM contributed to this report.
Kanye: Kim Should Have Gotten Vogue Cover, Not Michelle Obama
West reignites the Kimye-First Family feud
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images
Life is really unfair for Kanye West and Kim Kardashian-or so says the rapper who thinks his fiancée should have been on the cover of Vogue in place of First Lady Michelle Obama.
'There's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue,' West told Ryan Seacrest in an interview on Tuesday. 'She's like the most intriguing woman right now. She's got Barbara Walters calling her like everyday.'
He added that he and Kardashian are 'the most influential' couple in fashion, especially compared to the first couple. 'No one is looking at what Obama is wearing,' he said. '[And] Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day.' Said Instagram was a revealing photo of Kardashian in a swimsuit that wouldn't be too appropriate for the first lady to shoot. (The first lady doesn't post selfies on her Instagram, just pictures of her making the world a better place.)
Seems like just a crazy Kanye West comment, right? Actually, Kanye and Obama have beef. Let's take a quick look back:
Before a CNBC interview, Obama called Kanye a 'jackass' in an off-the-record comment about Kanye taking Taylor Swift's award away from her at the VMA's in 2009. TMZ acquired the audio and published it. Kanye replied in an on-stage rant against the president.
Then Obama said in an interview this year that celebrities have skewed the American dream, and pointed out Kimye as his prime example: 'Were there things that all of us might have liked to have [when we were growing up]? Sure. But partly, I think, there also has been a shift in culture. We weren't exposed to things we didn't have in the same way kids these days are. There was not that window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Kids weren't monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success.'
In the Kimye-First Family feud, I think we know who's going to win. Yeah, sure, the Lana Del Rey-serenaded engagement was cool. But, I mean, who can beat the Obama fist bump?
Kim Kardashian Is More 'Influential' Than Michelle Obama, Kanye West Says ...
Kanye West postpones Anaheim, Calif. show days before it was set to go on
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Clear ChannelYeezus is bidding his followers forgiveness, or at least he should be.
Kanye West has postponed his Anaheim, Calif., show approximately one week after pushing back his Vancouver, Canada, tour stop, reports the Huffington Post.
The show, originally scheduled for Nov. 1, was reportedly delayed 'due to production logistics.' While tickets will be honored for West's performance, which is now taking place Dec. 13, the repetitiveness of his last-minute schedule changes are wearing thin on some of his fan base.
RELATED: KANYE WEST PLEASES FANS IN SEATTLE, DISAPPOINTS IN VANCOUVER
The rapper's Oct. 19 Seattle show started a couple of hours late due to last-minute production alterations, MTV News reported at the time.
While 15,000 fans reportedly waited until West felt he was ready to start the show, many still gave the performance rave reviews.
'Kanye is the man!' one fan wrote on Instagram. 'Don't care what anyone says ... He always puts on a dope tour! More than any of these other 'rappers' even think of!'
RELATED: KANYE WEST TO MARRY KIM KARDASHIAN 'NEXT SUMMER'
However, Vancouver fans weren't so quick to cheer as they were peeved that West postponed the Canadian city's Oct. 20 show just hours before it was supposed to begin, according to the Vancouver Sun.
'I can't believe the Kanye West show was cancelled hours before the show,' one pissed off mother wrote. 'So disappointing.'
'Cancelling a show so last minute like this and then re-scheduling for Halloween night ... it's not something you do,' another added. 'Not cool Kanye!'
RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN IS MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN MICHELLE OBAMA, SAYS KANYE WEST
But the 'Bound 2' rapper doesn't seem affected by the backlash of his scheduling changes. After all he's on cloud nine after his recent engagement to fiancée, Kim Kardashian, the mother of his daughter North West.
In fact, he's so high on her that he even took a jab at the First Lady Michelle Obama by stating his woman is more influential - - in response to the President's wife currently appearing on the cover of Vogue.
'There's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue,' he told Ryan Seacrest Tuesday. 'She's like the most intriguing woman right now.'
RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN SHARES RACY SWIMSUIT PHOTO, KANYE WEST TWEETS 'HEADING HOME NOW'In true West fashion, his remarks weren't all about how fantastic the reality show diva is, but he included himself as well.
'Collectively, we're the most influential with clothing. No one is looking at what [President Barack Obama] is wearing,' he added. 'Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day.'
The 'Black Skinhead' rapper was referring to the snapshot that showed Kardashians' derriere, which he reposted.
As to his postponed shows, West should perhaps continue praying that his devotees will remain devoted. Maybe he could ask for a blessing from the mock Jesus who joins him on stage throughout the Yeezus Tour.
Kim Kardashian's Engagement Ring 'Comes With So Much Love'
The celebrity jeweler behind Kim's stunning ring from fiance Kanye West spoke out about what makes the flawless, 15-carat creation so special.
Kim Kardashian was treated to a surprise proposal on her 33rd birthday - and we're sure it's one she'll never forget! Kanye West popped the question on Oct. 21 in San Francisco's AT&T Park, in front of their close family and friends - and he sealed the deal with a stunning engagement ring by Lorraine Schwartz! The jeweler spoke out about what it was like working with Kanye on the ring, and weighed in on her flawless creation.
Lorraine Schwartz On Kim Kardashian's Engagement Ring:
'First of all, it's a perfect stone, but what makes it perfect is that it comes with so much love,' she told at the Angel Ball on Oct. 29 in NYC. While the jeweler didn't elaborate about what it was like working on the ring with Kanye, she did laugh when asked if the rapper was a tough client.
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Kanye, however, can't stop gushing about the proposal - and it certainly seems like he's moved by his love for the reality star! After all, the rapper isn't really known for his sunny disposition, however, ever since the news broke he can't stop smiling. He told Power 106's Big Boy Morning Radio Show that he was very meticulous about the process - and it was important that the ring was just right! 'She knew I was eventually going to ask her to marry me, it was just getting that ring right! I worked with four different jewelers. Three rings were made, only one actually hit the finger with Lorraine. She came through and the ring, actually I changed it the night before. That ring was, like, less than four hours old by the time I gave it to her,' he said.
We definitely think Kanye's attention to detail and Lorraine's exquisite work totally paid off - Kim's ring is absolutely stunning! Do you agree?
Katrina MitzeliotisFollow @KatrinaCM More Kim Kardashian & Kanye West News: Kim Kardashian & Kanye West: Have A Small, Intimate Wedding Kanye West To Kim Kardashian: 'I'm Going To Marry You' - Eyewitness Kanye West's 'Ultimate' Birthday Gift To Kim Kardashian Revealed
Notices Canceling Health Insurance Leave Many On Edge
President Obama repeated this line or a variation of it many times during the campaign to pass his landmark health care bill: 'If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period.'
But while that might be true for people who get health insurance through their employer, it's not true for many people who buy their policies in the individual market - about 5 percent of the nation's policyholders.
At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the president had not broken his promise. But that claim has been called into question by the hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices sent to policyholders across the country.
Blue Shield of California recently sent out those notices to more than half of its individual customers, telling them they need to buy more comprehensive policies because of the Affordable Care Act.
'As a result of introducing those new health plans, we could no longer offer the plan that they were currently in,' says Steve Shivinsky, a Blue Shield California spokesman. He says those plans will end Dec. 31.
Jamie Walters, who grows corn on 3,000 acres west of Chicago, got a similar letter from his insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. His old policy, Walters says, covered him and his wife and three young children for $585 a month with a $5,200 family deductible.
He says he got a rude surprise when he went shopping for a new plan on HealthCare.gov: The cheapest plan will cost him $902 a month.
'That plan, that costs us over 50 percent more a month, changes our deductible from $5,200 to $12,700,' Walters says.
Part of the reason it's so expensive is that Walters makes too much money to qualify for any government subsidies. For a family of four, the subsidies cut off at $96,000 per year in modified adjusted gross income.
'I think you'll find that many small business owners, young professional families, families with dual incomes, etc., will not qualify for subsidies, because the income limits really are very much smack in the middle of the middle class,' Walters says.
As for his thoughts on Obama's claim that those who liked their plan could keep it, Walter says, 'I don't know how you can call it anything but untruthful.'
Sebelius defended the president at Wednesday's hearing. Most consumers in the individual market, she said, will end up better off.
'A lot of people will have a much better plan at a similar or lower cost,' Sebelius said. 'Fifty percent of these 11 to 12 million people qualify for a subsidy, qualify for financial help purchasing insurance, for the first time ever.'
Johanna Humbert of Galien, Mich., is one of those people. She recently got a letter from her insurance carrier, Aetna, saying her coverage was being cancelled. So she went shopping on HealthCare.gov.
'And once I got through the few glitches that everyone is experiencing, I was pleased to see that I could get a subsidy to help pay for my insurance,' Humbert says.
Humbert, who makes between $30,000 and $40,000 a year as a freelance fundraiser for non-profits, found a policy similar to her old one. The deductible is about the same, but the monthly premium of approximately $275 a month is about half what she paid before. And, she says, 'I am very pleased with it.'
As for that claim - that nobody with insurance would have to give it up - Humbert says she thinks the president was not fully informed.
Southeastern Minnesota will get more health insurance choices on MNsure
State officials announced Wednesday that they have coaxed Medica into selling health plans on the MNsure exchange to individuals and small businesses in Olmsted and Dodge counties for 2014, in an effort to offer more competition in a part of the state where premiums are high.
Until now, only Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota offered plans under the month-old MNsure insurance exchange in that region. Other insurers selling coverage in Minnesota balked at selling insurance in those counties, because Mayo Clinic is the dominant health care provider and is able to demand higher payment rates.
Residents complained that the MNsure plans in those counties were extremely expensive - in some cases costing hundreds more per month in premiums than their current private health plans.
'Minnesotans, regardless of where they live - Rochester, Duluth, Eveleth, or the Twin Cities, and everyone across the state - deserve choice when purchasing health insurance coverage,' said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman.
The state Health and Commerce departments approved seven new plans from Medica for those counties - with two plans each at the gold, silver and bronze metal levels of benefits. A low-premium, high-deductible catastrophic plan will also be offered. MNsure officials are now in the process of adding the plans to the online marketplace.
A timetable showing when the new plans will become available was not released.
MNsure was created as part of the federal Accountable Care Act to provide more affordable insurance options to Minnesotans and to extend coverage to the roughly 490,000 people in the state who are uninsured.
Jeremy Olson * 612-673-7744
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Rates are lowest in the Twin Cities, while people in Rochester and elsewhere pay far more and find fewer choices.
President Barack Obama's embattled top health official declared herself accountable Wednesday for failures of the much-maligned health insurance website as a newly surfaced government memo pointed to security concerns that...
Kim Kardashian: I'll Take Kanye's Name When We Wed
10/29/2013 at 06:30 PM EDT
Michael Buckner/WireImage
Kim Kardashian is headed in a new direction. Specifically, West.
The newly engaged reality queen revealed she will be taking Kanye West's name when they eventually wed.
But have no fear, Kardashian fans: That famed family name isn't going anywhere.
'It'll be Kim Kardashian West,' she revealed to E! News Friday at her 33rd birthday party at Tao Las Vegas with her newly separated mom, Kris Jenner, by her side.
'Not hyphened. Maybe make [Kardashian], like, the middle.'
The move means she will share a last name with her 4-month-old daughter, North West, and her maiden and married names will be combined similarly to younger sister Khloé Kardashian Odom, whose name has been much scrutinized in the midst of her recent marital strife.
Although Kim has apparently had time to contemplate her new moniker, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star said she and Kanye, 36, have not had a chance to discuss wedding plans.
However, Kim, who has walked down the aisle twice before, recently told PEOPLE she plans to let her groom take the lead when it comes to their wedding plans.
'We honestly haven't had a moment to talk about it or even breathe,' she said. 'So we haven't really talked about it, but whatever he wants.'
Khloé Kardashian Odom and Lamar Reunite at Kanye West Concert: "She Still ...
BuzzSky.com
Things seem to be going well between Khloé Kardashian Odom and .
After getting rocky in August, it looks as though the married couple are trying to make things work, and were even spotted dancing the night away together at Kanye West's concert in Los Angeles last night.
E! News confirms that the NBA star drove separately to the event but spent the entire night with the Kardashian family and friends in the VIP section. An eyewitness tells us that Lamar looked very happy, and although there was no PDA action between the pair, they remained by each other's side, enjoying the music and dancing to the beat, until the end of the show.
PHOTOS: Khloé Kardashian Odom's best Instagram wisdom
BuzzSky.com
E! News exclusively learned earlier today that the duo was meeting up secretly in hopes of saving their marriage, however, another source tells E! News exclusively that the twosome definitely still care about each other, but the status of their relationship is still the same.
'She still loves him, but they're still not back together,' the insider tells us. 'He's not an enemy, the family still cares about him, so it's not a surprise he was there last night-but at the end of the day, I don't know if he and Khloé are going to be able to move forward.'The source adds, 'Right now, they're still living apart. Nothing has changed about their status.'
VIDEO: Kris Jenner defends Khloé Kardashian Odom and Lamar Odom's marriage
Earlier, E! News learned that 'they have been spending an increasing amount of time together,' and that 'at one time it seemed like a reconciliation was impossible and divorce was inevitable. Things may have turned a corner.'
While Odom is focused on maintaining his sobriety and playing professional basketball again, his first priority is to make sure things get back on track with his wife. 'He has never stopped loving Khloé. He adores her,' the source tells E! News. 'And he wants to prove to her that he is the same person she married.'
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Kim Kardashian Twerks In New 'KUWTK' Preview
Just one episode after popping out baby North West, Kim is already back to doing what she does best - lookin' fine!
With only one episode left until the Keeping Up With The Kardashians season finale, E! is pulling out the big guns this Sunday. The Nov. 3 episode finds the entire Krew visiting Area 51 - in oddly related news, Kim Kardashian plays an alien on Fox's American Dad this season - and, of course, crying about their very troubled lives. But let's focus on the part we at HollywoodLife.com are most stoked about: all of the twerking!
Kim's sensual dance moves make their appearance at the promo's 0:24 mark, lasting for almost an entire second - and what a second it is! That energy. That form. That orange tracksuit. It's no wonder Kanye West can't help but gush nonsense about his bride-to-be; she's an incredible dancer!
Take Our PollKanye West Discusses His Proposal & Wedding To Kim Kardashian
Speaking of Kanye gushing, the rapper recently gave an interview to radio station Power 105.1, and he said so many ridiculous/hilarious/amazing things that I think I'll just present them to you directly:
On his proposal to Kim: 'I gotta apologize to the race of males for turning up so much.'
On his wedding plans: '[The wedding day] is gonna be next summer. I only got two words in my mind as far as ideas for the wedding, that's: fighter jets.'
On his general purpose in life: 'I ain't Michael Jackson. I'm not just a musician, I'm a Christian, revolutionary, visionary, products person. I ain't here to dance for you. I ain't hear to do a two step. Ten years from now, I just want to create for the church, period. I'll design the new Sistine Chapel.'
Kanye has officially lost his mind. He and Kim are perfect for each other!
More Kardashian Koverage: Kanye West Reveals He Wants To Be North West's Soccer Dad Kanye West: How He Reunited Khloe Kardashian & Lamar Odom Kanye West: Kim Kardashian Should Be On The Cover Of 'Vogue'
Kanye West postpones another show
Uh oh. What did he do now?
But it's not Kanye's fault. The venue cited 'production logistics' as the reason.
His performance was scheduled for Nov. 1 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The show was pushed back to Dec. 13.
With his signature low-key style, Kanye's stage set will feature a 60-foot-tall white mountain, a huge circular video screen, a guy dressed as Jesus, women dressed in sheer white body suits and different masks for the rapper to wear throughout the show.
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White House challenges NBC health care report | USA NOW
Obama's pledge that 'no one will take away' your health plan
'That means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.' - President Obama, speech to the American Medical Association, June 15, 2009 (as the health care law was being written.) 'And if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. No one will be able to take that away from you. It hasn't happened yet. It won't happen in the future.' - Obama, remarks in Portland, April 1, 2010, after the health care law was signed into law. 'FACT: Nothing in #Obamacare forces people out of their health plans. No change is required unless insurance companies change existing plans.' - tweet by Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, Oct. 28, 2013, after NBC News airs a report that the Obama administration knew 'millions' could not keep their health insurance.
The Facts
The Pinocchio Test
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Many readers have asked us to step back into time and review these statements by the president now that it appears that as many as 2 million people may need to get a new insurance plan as the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, goes into effect in 2014. As we were considering those requests, one of the president's most senior advisers then tweeted a statement on the same issue that cried out for fact checking.
The Facts
The president's pledge that 'if you like your insurance, you will keep it' is one of the most memorable of his presidency. It was also an extraordinarily bold - and possibly foolish - pledge, unless he thought he simply could dictate exactly how the insurance industry must work.
At the time, some observers noted the problems with Obama's promise.
After Obama made his speech before the AMA, the Associated Press ran a smart analysis - ' Promises, Promises: Obama's Health Plan Guarantee ' - that demonstrated how it would be all but impossible for the president to keep that pledge. The article noted that the Congressional Budget Office assumed that 10 million Americans would need to seek new insurance under the Senate version of the bill.
Meanwhile, in the Republican weekly address on Aug. 24, 2009, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), a doctor, made this point: 'On the stump, the President regularly tells Americans that 'if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.' But if you read the bill, that just isn't so. For starters, within five years, every health care plan will have to meet a new federal definition for coverage - one that your current plan might not match, even if you like it.'
One might excuse the president for making an aspirational pledge as the health-care bill was being drafted, but it turns out he kept saying it after the bill was signed into law. By that point, there should have been no question about the potential impact of the law on insurance plans, especially in the individual market.
As we have noted, a key part of the law is forcing insurers to offer an ' essential health benefits ' package, providing coverage in 10 categories. The list includes: ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
For some plans, this would be a big change. In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services noted: '62 percent of enrollees do not have coverage for maternity services; 34 percent of enrollees do not have coverage for substance abuse services; 18 percent of enrollees do not have coverage for mental health services; 9 percent of enrollees do not have coverage for prescription drugs.'
The law did allow 'grandfathered' plans - for people who had obtained their insurance before the law was signed on March 23, 2010 - to escape this requirement and some other aspects of the law. But the regulations written by HHS while implementing the law set some tough guidelines, so that if an insurance company makes changes to a plan's benefits or how much members pay through premiums, copays or deductibles, then a person's plan likely loses that status.
If you dig into the regulations ( go to page 34560), you will see that HHS wrote them extremely tight. One provision says that if copayment increases by more than $5, plus medical cost of inflation, then the plan can no longer be grandfathered. (With last year's inflation rate of 4 percent, that means the copay could not increase by more than $5.20.) Another provision says the coinsurance rate could not be increased at all above the level it was on March 23, 2010.
While one might applaud an effort to rid the country of inadequate insurance, the net effect is that over time, the plans would no longer meet the many tests for staying grandfathered. Already, the percentage of people who get coverage from their job via a grandfathered plan has dropped from 56 percent in 2011 to 36 percent in 2013.
In the individual insurance market, few plans were expected to meet the 'grandfathered' requirements, which is why many people are now receiving notices that their old plan is terminated and they need to sign up for different coverage. Again, this should be no surprise. As HHS noted in a footnote of a report earlier this year: 'We note that, as the Affordable Care Act is implemented, we expect grandfathered coverage to diminish, particularly in the individual market.'
Indeed, at least six states - Virginia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Wyoming and Kansas - require insurance companies to cancel existing policies, rather than amend them, if the grandfathered coverage lapses.
Now, it's important to note that many people - perhaps a large majority - are receiving notices that they have lost their insurance plan because they were never grandfathered in the first place. In other words, they got a plan after the bill was signed into law back in 2010. If that's the case, they have no option but to accept the more fulsome insurance mandated by the law.
Still, it's worth remembering that insurance companies pressed throughout the health care debate to allow people to keep the policy they had effective at the end of 2013. The consequences of the unusual March 23, 2010, cut-off date are now being felt. HHS, when it drafted the interim rules, estimated that between 40 and 67 percent of policies in the individual market are in effect for less than one year. 'These estimates assume that the policies that terminate are replaced by new individual policies, and that these new policies are not, by definition, grandfathered,' the rules noted. ( See page 34553.)
Moreover, it's certainly incorrect to claim, as some Republicans have, that people are losing insurance coverage. Instead, in virtually all cases, it's being replaced with probably better (and possibly more expensive) insurance.
In recent days, administration officials have argued that the plans that are going away are 'substandard' and lacked essential protections - and that many people may qualify for tax credits to mitigate the higher premiums that may result from the new requirements.
'Now folks are transitioning to the new standards of the Affordable Care Act which guarantee you can't be denied, you won't be kicked off of a policy because you developed a problem, you may be eligible for tax credits, depending on your income,' said Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 'So these are important protections that are now available through the Affordable Care Act.'
Or, as White House spokesman Jay Carney put it: 'It's correct that substandard plans that don't provide minimum services that have a lot of fine print that leaves consumers in the lurch, often because of annual caps or lifetime caps or carve-outs for some preexisting conditions, those are no longer allowed - because the Affordable Care Act is built on the premise that health care is not a privilege, it's a right, and there should be minimum standards for the plans available to Americans across the country.'
But such assertions do not really explain the president's promise - or Jarrett's tweet. There may be a certain percentage of people who were happy with their 'substandard' plan, presumably because it cost relatively little. And while Jarrett claimed that 'nothing' in the law is forcing people out of their plans 'unless insurance companies change plans,' she is describing rules written by the president's aides that were designed to make it difficult for plans to remain grandfathered for very long.
As the HHS footnote mentioned above stated: 'We note that, as the Affordable Care Act is implemented, we expect grandfathered coverage to diminish, particularly in the individual market.'
The Pinocchio Test
The administration is defending this pledge with a rather slim reed - that there is nothing in the law that makes insurance companies force people out of plans they were enrolled in before the law passed. That explanation conveniently ignores the regulations written by the administration to implement the law. Moreover, it also ignores the fact that the purpose of the law was to bolster coverage and mandate a robust set of benefits, whether someone wanted to pay for it or not.
The president's statements were sweeping and unequivocal - and made both before and after the bill became law. The White House now cites technicalities to avoid admitting that he went too far in his repeated pledge, which, after all, is one of the most famous statements of his presidency.
The president's promise apparently came with a very large caveat: 'If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan - if we deem it to be adequate.'
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Kim Kardashian Will Take Kanye West's Name When They Wed
10/29/2013 at 06:30 PM EDT
Michael Buckner/WireImage
Kim Kardashian is headed in a new direction. Specifically, West.
The newly engaged reality queen revealed she will be taking Kanye West's name when they eventually wed.
But have no fear, Kardashian fans: That famed family name isn't going anywhere.
'It'll be Kim Kardashian West,' she revealed to E! News Friday at her 33rd birthday party at Tao Las Vegas with her newly separated mom, Kris Jenner, by her side.
'Not hyphened. Maybe make [Kardashian], like, the middle.'
The move means she will share a last name with her 4-month-old daughter, North West, and her maiden and married names will be combined similarly to younger sister Khloé Kardashian Odom, whose name has been much scrutinized in the midst of her recent marital strife.
Although Kim has apparently had time to contemplate her new moniker, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star said she and Kanye, 36, have not had a chance to discuss wedding plans.
However, Kim, who has walked down the aisle twice before, recently told PEOPLE she plans to let her groom take the lead when it comes to their wedding plans.
'We honestly haven't had a moment to talk about it or even breathe,' she said. 'So we haven't really talked about it, but whatever he wants.'
Kanye West: Kim Kardashian is fashion queen over first lady
Kanye West says when it comes to fashion, Kim Kardashian reigns supreme over every woman, including Michelle Obama.
In an interview Tuesday with Ryan Seacrest, the rapper said he and his fiance are 'the most influential with clothing.' He added: 'Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day,' referring to Kardashian's buzzed about selfie that revealed most of her backside.
West also said 'no one is looking at what (President Barack Obama) is wearing.'
West was defending Kardashian in the radio interview, saying the reality star deserves more attention from mainstream fashion magazines. He said Kardashian should grace the cover of Vogue.
Despite West's words, the first lady is a fashion trendsetter and clothes she's worn have sold out quickly after she's worn them in public.
West proposed to Kardashian last week on the reality star's 33rd birthday. West admitted he was 'nervous' leading up to the proposal, saying, 'I was talking to her cousin. I was like, 'I don't know, what do you think she's going to say?' I'm not arrogant about love and feelings at all. I'm confident in the work I put so much work into, but this is someone else's feelings. You never know what someone else may feel at the time. I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time. I remember I saw a picture of her and Paris Hilton ... and I remember telling my boy ... 'Have you seen that girl Kim Kar-dijon?''
West told Seacrest on Tuesday that he plans to take part in the wedding planning: 'I will be very involved. Or I want to pick who is going to be in charge. I'd like to get the people who do the Chanel shows [for the wedding].'
The couple welcomed their first child together over the summer.
Tell us: Who do you think is the bigger trendsetter: Kim Kardashian or Michelle Obama?
Sebelius set to face grilling over health care website
In prepared remarks for Wednesday's testimony, Sebelius says 'The initial consumer experience of HealthCare.gov has not lived up to the expectations of the American people.'Scott Olson/Getty Images
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will say in testimony Wednesday that the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov 'is not acceptable,' a day after another Obama administration official apologized for glitches with the website.
Sebelius is likely to face tough questioning from Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee over technical problems that have kept many Americans from signing up for coverage through the online insurance exchanges - a key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Lawmakers are also likely to press the HHS secretary for firm numbers on how many people have so far enrolled in plans through the health exchanges. To date the Obama administration has refused to divulge the actual figure, with officials stating that it will not be available until mid-November. The issue of some individuals receiving cancellation notices from their existing health care provider is also likely to come up.
In remarks prepared for her testimony, Sebelius said: 'The initial consumer experience of HealthCare.gov has not lived up to the expectations of the American people and is not acceptable,' adding 'we are committed to fixing these problems as soon as possible.'
Sebelius is also expected to make the case that the ACA, or Obamacare as it has come to be known, has delivered 'quality, affordable health insurance' and that the millions of visitors to the ACA's website demonstrated that 'people want to buy this product.'
With opponents of Obama's health care reforms seemingly eager to make as much political capital as possible over the faulty launch of the health care website, a growing number of Republicans in Congress are calling for Sebelius to step down or be fired over glitches that have dogged people trying to sign up for coverage since the state-based health exchanges opened for business on Oct. 1.
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee, on Tuesday joined the list of GOP lawmakers calling for Sebelius to go.
'Taxpayers have spent $400 million to create exchanges that, after 3 1/2 years, still don't work,' Alexander said. 'No private sector chief executive officer would escape accountability after such a poor performance.'
Consumers have complained that the site is slow, locks up and often kicks them off before they can complete their application.
'I want to apologize'
On Tuesday, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner was questioned for nearly three hours by members of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the grilling, she delivered the most direct mea culpa yet from the administration regarding the website problems.
'I want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should,' she said.
Tavenner said the website is improving and the problems should be resolved by the end of November, giving consumers ample time to get coverage by the March 31 deadline.
The Medicare chief was also asked by members of the committee about why many of their constituents were getting cancellation notices from their insurance companies.
'So what happened to the 'If you like your insurance, you can keep it' question?' asked Republican Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Camp was referring to one of Obama's earliest promises about the health law: You can keep your plan if you like it.
As early as last spring, state insurance commissioners started giving insurers the option of canceling existing individual plans for 2014, because the coverage required under Obama's law is significantly more robust. Some states directed insurers to issue cancellations. Large employer plans that cover most workers and their families are unlikely to be affected.
The law includes a complicated 'grandfathering' system to try to make good on Obama's pledge. It shields plans from the law's requirements provided the plans themselves change very little. Insurers say it has proven impractical. The cancellation notices are now reaching policyholders.
Tavenner blamed insurance companies for cancelling the policies and said most people who lose coverage will be able to find better replacement plans in the health insurance exchanges, in some cases for less money.
President Obama, meanwhile, will speak about health care in Boston, Mass. Wednesday afternoon. The president plans to speak about the embattled law from Boston's historic Faneuil Hall. In 2006, then-Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney was joined by now deceased Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy to sign the state's health care overhaul bill - on which the ACA was in part modeled.
The White House said Obama planned to point out Massachusetts' own sluggish start to the state's sign-up rate to health care reforms that later proved highly successful.
Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor who advised both Romney and Obama on the development of their laws, told HEALTHYINSURANCENEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM that only 123 paying consumers signed up the first month of the Massachusetts law, with 36,000 coming on by the time penalties kicked in for failing to have insurance.
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Kanye West postpones Friday's concert at Anaheim's Honda Center
Kanye West, pictured onstage in Seattle on Oct. 19, announced Tuesday that he's postponed his concert that was set for Friday at Anaheim's Honda Center. The rescheduled date is Dec. 13. (Nabil)
Kanye West defends 2009 MTV VMAs stage invasion
Kanye West defends 2009 MTV VMAs stage invasion
Oct. 29, 2013, 2:52 PM EST
WENN
Kanye West is still refusing to out-and-out apologize for his stage invasion at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, insisting he still thinks Beyonce should have won the prize for Female Video of the Year.
The rapper interrupted winner Taylor Swift's acceptance speech and took the mic from her to make his feelings known before handing it back to the stunned country music star and returning to his seat in the audience.
Bing: Jimmy Kimmel and Kanye West
West has since apologized to Swift for ruining her first VMAs win, but he still insists he did the right thing.
Speaking to Los Angeles DJ Ryan Seacrest on Tuesday morning, defiant West recalled the moment that has lived on in infamy and stated, 'When I (went) up onstage and I do whatever, I'm looking like, 'Am I the only one here that's not crazy?' There still hasn't been a better video... than a Beyonce video. That's what people hated me the most for -- the perception: 'This doesn't look good. That doesn't look good'. But I'm not here to try to be the most likeable guy on the planet. I'm here to make things easier for people with the creativity I have.'
But he admits he did feel for Swift, who was left speechless and clearly upset after the rapper robbed her of her big moment. He adds, 'I talked to her right before she was going to do a song based on it (incident) and I tried to get her on the phone (right after) and they wouldn't get her on the phone. You know what? I would not want some crazy drunk rock star cutting my daughter off, also. But my daughter would 100 percent also be like, 'Yes, Beyonce did have the best video'. That's what my daughter would do.'
Kim Kardashian, Kanye West to wed next summer; she'll take his name
The couple is commandeering the media storm following their Oct. 21 engagement. Now the reality star and the Grammy-winning rapper are opening up about the proposal, their wedding plans and one another.
West proposed at AT&T Park in San Francisco last week by ordering up a 50-piece orchestra to play his and Lana Del Rey's music. He sealed the deal with a 'flawless' 15-carat cushion-cut engagement ring that he designed himself, and now he's revealing a few details about their upcoming wedding.
PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
'It's going to be sometime next summer,' West, 36, told L.A. radio station Power 106 ( via the New York Daily News), adding that he already has a few ideas for their likely over-the-top nuptials.
'I only got two words in my mind, and that's 'fighter jets.' '
Right, because nothing says romance like the ethereal sound of high-powered airplanes flying overhead.
The rambling rapper added that Kardashian would take his last name - a departure from her previous marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries - which Kardashian confirmed.
'I will,' Kardashian told E! News at her 33rd birthday celebration at Tao in Las Vegas last weekend. 'Kim Kardashian West, no hyphen. Make it [Kardashian] the middle.'
The reality star, who is mom to their nearly 5-month-old daughter North West, already had her fairy-tale wedding with Humphries and is readily giving up the reins of her next nuptials to her new fiance, a self-proclaimed creative genius.
PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian's relationships and flings
'As far as wedding stuff, we haven't even talked about anything - it's been such a whirlwind,' she said. 'We need like a moment to relax and figure it all out. I'm going to leave this up to him. Whatever he wants.'
As for the proposal, the ' Keeping Up With the Kardashians' star said she was totally surprised.
'My eyes were closed and then I got up and I still - the whole time I didn't think it was a proposal,' she said of the San Francisco surprise. 'I thought it was dinner on the baseball field and we had a nice orchestra. I still didn't get it ... when he got on his knee, I kind of figured out what was going on.'
On 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest' Tuesday, the rapper gushed about his future bride's celebrity, the proposal and even more wedding plans.
'There's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue. She's like the most intriguing woman right now. She's got Barbara Walters calling her like everyday,' he said. 'And collectively, we're the most influential with clothing. No one is looking at what [ Barack Obama] is wearing. Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a [swimsuit] pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day.'
PHOTOS: Meet the Kardashians
Kardashian recently posed on the cover of CR Fashion Book, a European publication run by former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld.
'Carine Roitfeld supports my girl. That's a breakthrough,' he added. 'There's a wall of classism that we are breaking through.'
And let's talk about that meteor-sized ring for a second...
'The ring was 4 hours old from when I put it on her finger,' he said. 'I had to pick it up in L.A. I was working on it for a while. I was working on it with four different jewelers. I just put it in my bag.'
West, who asked Kardashian's mom Kris Jenner over the phone for her daughter's hand in marriage just before proposing, even admitted that he was nervous prior to popping the question.
PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
'I was talking to her cousin. I was like, 'I don't know, what do you think she's going to say?' I'm not arrogant about love and feelings at all. I'm confident in the work I put so much work into, but this is someone else's feelings. You never know what someone else may feel at the time,' he said. 'I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time. I remember I saw a picture of her and Paris Hilton, and I remember telling my boy, 'Have you seen that girl Kim Kar-dijon?' '
However, he still kept the proposal plans a secret from the rest of the ubiquitous Kardashian clan.
'Everybody that came in just thought it was a surprise party .... As soon [Kim] heard the [Lana Del Ray] song playing, she just figured I was going to have Lana sing and we were going to have dinner. Because at a certain point she just knows I'm going to do something turnt up,' he said. 'So she was expecting something awesome. The guy who organized it was talking about this romantic lighting and I was like, 'Enough already! We're at a baseball field. It has to be fully lit!' That was one of the things that was making me really mad. I was like, 'Let me do it like how I would do it.' '
West, who sometimes dabbles in fashion, plans to make the event a haute affair.
'I want to pick who is going to be in charge,' he said. 'I'd like to get the people who do the Chanel shows.'
'When you say stuff like, 'I'm a creative genius', everyone looks at you like you're crazy. So I'm like, 'OK, I'm about to turn up. I'm going to turn up on this engagement. I'm going to turn up on this show. I'm going to turn up on this merch we just did with this pop-up store on Melrose.' I just had to turn up completely because I've been trying to create outside of the box of being a musician,' he said. 'And I've talked to people who would have the power to allow me to go to the next level and they just look at you like you're crazy or they just try to put you in like a music box, and at what point do you see something and say, 'Yo, he really might be like Walt Disney. He really might be that creative and not just a rapper.' '
Though West has shied away from his fiancee's reality show and showcasing their daughter in the media, he did say he was willing to get a big payout to air their nuptials, according t o MTV.
'I would take as much as possible,' he said. 'What's official for everybody in this room and everybody on this globe right now is them bills. If you can help out with those bills, because you know me and Kim are in the exploitation business. We get paid to exploit ourselves. I'ma give my daughter the opportunity to choose when she wants to be exploited. That's the reason we didn't take any money for any baby pictures.'
Kardashian echoed that sentiment on that Oct. 27 episode of 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians,' which chronicled the birth of their baby girl.
'From the start Kanye was like, 'I'm not comfortable with selling her photos like in a magazine reveal to having her on the show,'' she said. 'See, it's hard, because I love seeing [sister Kourtney's kids] Mason and Penelope on the show. It's so cute, like the little things they say. But I do feel like it's just a different dynamic with Kanye.
'I signed on to do this,' she said. 'But it doesn't mean that Kanye and my child have signed on too, so I'm fine with keeping them more private. But I'm still an open book.'
The more they talk, the more they sound like the same person ...
And one more Kimye tidbit for the road:
The wealthy pair is reportedly all set to sign a prenup to keep their assets separate and protect her estimated $40-million fortune and his $90 million, according to TMZ; however, the site reports that Kardashian may actually be worth more than her beau.
Yeezus.
ALSO: Christina Ricci weds James Heerdegen in Givenchy Chris Brown released, assault charge reduced to misdemeanor Julianne Hough dons blackface for Halloween costume, issues apology
Kanye West: Kim Kardashian Should Be On The Cover Of 'Vogue'
Although the rapper is chummy with the magazine's editor-in-chief, he wasn't pleased when they cut Kim out of their best dressed gallery of the Met Gala - and he thinks his wife-to-be deserves a cover of the high-fashion mag! Do you agree? VOTE!
Rapper Kanye West should be on top of the world right now. He has a newborn baby girl, North West, a top-selling album, Yeezus, and he is now engaged to beautiful reality star Kim Kardashian - but according to Kanye, there is one problem: Kim is not treated accordingly in the fashion industry. Kanye is not one to keep his opinions to himself, and he didn't hold back when interviewed by Ryan Seacrest about Kim's mistreatment in the industry when he appeared 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest' on Oct. 29.
Kanye West - Kim Kardashian Deserves A 'VOGUE' Cover:
Whether you love her or hate Kim, you have to admit that the girl can dress! She is always dressed to kill and is definitely known for her signature sense of style. She has appeared on the cover of practically every other high-fashion mag, so why not Vogue? 'Or like with the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... it's not the walk of singing ... it's the Walk of Fame ... and classism has been going on before racism. We're classist. We have our cool table ... and there's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue. She's like the most intriguing woman right now. She's got Barbara Walters calling her like everyday ... and collectively we're the most influential with clothing. No one is looking at what President Obama is wearing. Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a bikini pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day... so it's to say when we are there and editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Carine Roitfeld, supports my girl, that's a breakthrough ... there's a wall of classism that we are breaking through.'
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Kanye West On 'VOGUE' Cutting Kim Kardashian Out Of Their Best Dressed Gallery:
Kim was very noticeably left out of Vogue's MET Gala best dressed gallery - in fact, only a portion of her hand was visible in the shot of Kanye. Many celebs come out to the Gala but what was it about Kim's presence that didn't make the cut? To make matters worse, Vogue chose a photo in which you can clearly see the reality star holding hands with Kanye.
Kanye, who is clearly frustrated about the situation, told Ryan: 'People say, 'Life isn't fair. What are you complaining about?' [But] it's not fair that I don't have infrastructure for what I want to to do in clothing because I'm crazy influential. Meaning, like, there's no way for it to not work. When we do t-shirts, we do $200,000 in five hours, it works, but it's a wall ... It's the Michael Jackson glass ceiling when he couldn't get his videos played because he was considered to be urban. Now for me, what I want to create isn't about black and white, but the reason why I'm not able to create what I want to create is about being black and is about classism. And that's that wall when I took Kim to the Met Ball and they put it up on Vogue.com and tried to say she wasn't there because they didn't want a reality show girl there.' Kim attended the Met Gala when she was very pregnant and her interesting, custom-made Givenchy gown wasn't well received.
Do you think that Kanye has a point? Should Kim get a Vogue cover? Check it out and sound off below!
- Tatayana Yomary More [Kanye West] News: Met Gala Men's Fashion: Gerard Butler & More Best-Dressed Guys Kanye West & Pregnant Kim Kardashian Attend Met Ball Kim Kardashian Deserves A Star On Hollywood's Walk Of Fame
Cancellation of Health Care Plans Replaces Website Problems as Prime Target
WASHINGTON - After focusing for weeks on the technical failures of President Obama's health insurance website, Republicans on Tuesday broadened their criticism of the health care law, pointing to Americans whose health plans have been terminated because they do not meet the law's new coverage requirements.
The rising concern about canceled health coverage has provided Republicans a more tangible line of attack on the law and its most appealing promise for the vast majority of Americans who have insurance: that it would lower their costs, or at least hold them harmless. Baffled consumers are producing real letters from insurance companies that directly contradict Mr. Obama's oft-repeated reassurances that if people like the insurance they have, they will be able to keep it.
'My constituents are frightened,' Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas, told Marilyn Tavenner, the official whose department oversaw the creation of Mr. Obama's health insurance marketplace, at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Tuesday. 'They are being forced out of health care plans they like. The clock is ticking. The federal website is broken. Their health care isn't a glitch.'
In the weeks since the health marketplaces opened, insurance companies have begun sending notices to hundreds of thousands of Americans in the individual insurance market informing them that their existing plans will soon be canceled. In many of those cases, the insured have been offered new plans, often with better coverage but also at higher prices.
The cancellation notices are proving to be a political gift to Republicans, who were increasingly concerned that their narrowly focused criticism of the problem-plagued HealthCare.gov could lead to a dead end, once the website's issues are addressed. Already they found themselves being pressed to join a Democratic push to fix the problems, not gut the law.
'There's a little bit of a danger that if we're just focused on the obvious ineptitude of the web designers and of the system breakdown - I wouldn't call it a glitch, I'd call it a breakdown - we're forgetting the bigger picture here,' said Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio. 'Once people do get on they'll find out they'll be paying more, not less, and won't be able to keep what they have.'
Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, called the website criticism 'overblown.'
'They'll fix the problems with the website. I think they won't fix the problems with the bill,' he said.
Democrats pushed back on the Republican attacks, pointing to problems in the early days of the prescription drug plan Republicans passed in 2003, known as Medicare Part D. Most Democrats opposed that law strenuously, but, they said, once it went into effect, they helped constituents enroll and worked for its success.
'Despite Democrats' opposition to Part D 10 years ago, we committed to making the best of the program,' said Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, rising from his seat at the Ways and Means hearing to excoriate Republicans.
In contrast, with the president's health care law, Republicans 'want this to fail. They want chaos,' said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. 'Their credibility is not that strong.'
The cancellation notices appear to open a new front in the Republican war on the health care law. The affected population, those who bought insurance on their own, is a small fraction of an insurance market dominated by employer-sponsored health plans. But many of those individual policy holders are surprised and angry.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, pointed to Bruno Gora, a constituent who was informed this month by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield that 'to meet the requirements of the new law, your current plan can no longer be offered.' Mr. Gora, 61, was offered alternatives, including one that would lock in his existing benefits. But, said Mr. Gora, a self-employed printing distributor, his premiums could rise by as much as $3,400 a year.
In an interview, Mr. Gora said he had not been able to determine if he would qualify for federal subsidies because he could not get on to the website.
'What did he say? I can keep my plan, and I can save,' Mr. Gora said of the president. 'That's not occurring.'
At the hearing Tuesday, Ms. Tavenner said that in compliance with the health care law, the new policies would provide more benefits and more consumer protections than many existing policies.
The chairman of the committee, Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan, said that at least 146,000 Michigan residents had recently received notices that their current insurance policies would be canceled because the coverage did not meet standards of the new law.
'In fact,' Mr. Camp said, 'based on what little information the administration has disclosed, it turns out that more people have received cancellation notices for their health care plans this month than have enrolled in the exchanges.'
Ms. Tavenner said that 'nearly 700,000 applications have been submitted to the federal and state marketplaces' in the past four weeks. But she would not say how many of those people had actually enrolled in health insurance plans since the federal and state marketplaces, or exchanges, opened on Oct. 1.
'That number will not be available until mid-November,' Ms. Tavenner said. 'We expect the initial number to be small.'
But Democrats facing tough election campaigns next year are growing increasingly nervous. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat up for re-election, began pressing the Obama administration last week to delay the penalties on individuals who remain uninsured, arguing that consumers should not be held accountable for failing to buy health plans on a website they cannot access. The cancellation letters only added to the pressure she faces.
'We knew that they would have to sign up again,' she said of constituents on the individual insurance market who might face changes under the health care law. 'But obviously I don't think anyone thought people would be kicked off their health insurance plan.'
Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz, Democrat of Pennsylvania, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the 2010 health care law and is now running for governor of Pennsylvania, told Ms. Tavenner that the chaotic debut of the federal insurance marketplace 'has done some damage to Americans' confidence in this website, in the marketplace and even potentially in the options that they would have available to get health coverage.'
Republican leaders faced their own conundrum. As they pick apart the carrying out of the health care law, top Republicans have found themselves at once calling for fixes to the law and insisting on its repeal. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Tuesday: 'It's time to delay this. It's time to fix this before it gets any worse.'
'We need to fix this problem,' Mr. Cantor added, a far cry from the Republican mantra of 'repeal and replace.'
When pressed, Mr. Boehner backtracked: 'There is no way to fix this monstrosity.'
Kim Kardashian is more influential than Michelle Obama, says Kanye West
Michael Buckner/WireImageHe calls himself Yeezus, and now he wants fiancée Kim Kardashian on the cover of New York's fashion bible.
Kanye West preached his love for his betrothed baby mama during a radio show Tuesday, arguing she's more influential than Michelle Obama and deserves a turn on the cover of Vogue magazine.
PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN'S STYLE MAKEOVER
'There's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue. She's like the most intriguing woman right now. She's got Barbara Walters calling her like everyday,' he told Ryan Seacrest Tuesday morning.
'And collectively, we're the most influential with clothing. No one is looking at what [President Barack Obama] is wearing,' he said. 'Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day.'
RELATED: KANYE WEST TO MARRY KIM KARDASHIAN 'NEXT SUMMER'He was referring to a photo Kardashian posted to social media a couple weeks ago that showcased her prominent posterior in a revealing white swimsuit after giving birth in June to daughter North.
West, 36, said reality TV stars shouldn't be overlooked by mainstream fashion magazines and that Carine Roitfeld got it right when the former French Vogue editor put Kardashian, 33, on the cover of her eponymous CR Fashion Book.
PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN'S STYLE MAKEOVER
'Carine Roitfeld supports my girl. That's a breakthrough,' he said during the 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest' radio interview.
'There's a wall of classism that we are breaking through,' he said.
RELATED: BRUCE JENNER TO WALK KIM KARDASHIAN DOWN THE AISLE: REPORT
The rapper said he doesn't care if some people find his comments controversial.
'That's not my concern,' he said. 'My concern is doing God's work, and he'll work everything else out.'
But West confessed he had butterflies before popping the question to his 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star girlfriend inside San Francisco's AT&T Park last week.
'I was nervous. I was talking to her cousin. I was like, 'I don't know, what do you think she's going to say?' I'm not arrogant about love and feelings at all. I'm confident in the work I put so much work into, but this is someone else's feelings. You never know what someone else may feel at the time,' he told Seacrest.
'I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time,' he said. 'I remember I saw a picture of her and Paris Hilton, and I remember telling my boy, 'Have you seen that girl Kim Kar-dijon?''
ndillon@nydailynews.com
The Health
The White House's biggest frustration right now is that Obamacare's technical failures are obscuring its great success: Premiums are much lower than the Congressional Budget Office estimated when the law first passed.
In a new report for the liberal Center for American Progress, Topher Spiro and Jonathan Gruber quantify exactly how much lower. Spiro and Gruber find that the average individual premium in the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces was projected to be $4,700 in 2014. In fact, it's more like $3,936 -- $764, or 16 percent, lower than expected.
That's a big deal in terms of cheaper premiums, but it's also a big deal in terms of the budget: If the savings hold, the Affordable Care Act will cost $190 billion less than the CBO estimated over the next decade.
At the same time, people who are currently buying insurance in the individual market are moving to the Obamacare's insurance exchanges and many are reporting that they're seeing significantly higher premiums for very similar plans.
This almost seems like a paradox: How can premiums in Obamacare both be lower than expected and, for some people, higher than they were before?
In any conversation like this, a disclaimer is necessary. When people talk about 'premiums under Obamacare,' they're not talking about premiums for people who get insurance through their employers, or through Medicaid, or through Medicare. They're talking about the so-called 'individual market,' which serves about 5 percent of the country now, and which, if Obamacare succeeds, will serve about 10 percent of the population. So we're talking about insurance premiums for a small minority of the population. But it's still millions of people.
The conversation over these premiums has been confused to the point of being outright misleading. It's become common, for instance, for the Affordable Care Act's critics to compare prices sticker prices in the individual market to the prices in the exchanges now. Since it was routine before for a quarter of people to be turned away or quoted a higher price after revealing their health history, this isn't just comparing apples to oranges. It's comparing apples to oranges that many people couldn't even buy.
The right way to understand this is to think of premiums as a 'trilemma' between comprehensiveness, accessibility, and affordability. Imagine this as a triangle:
In the individual market, insurance premiums depend on the balance you strike between these values. A plan could have extremely comprehensive benefits and be extremely cheap so long as it's not open to people who are sick, or are likely to get sick. That would look like this:
You could also imagine a plan that was open to all comers and very affordable -- so long as it didn't cover much. That might look like this:
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance in the individual market kept costs down by turning the away the sick, raising prices on the likely-to-get-sick, and offering, in many cases, pretty stingy benefits. So let's say it was here:
The Affordable Care Act makes individual market insurance both more accessible and more comprehensive. The accessibility comes from barring discrimination based on health status and limiting discrimination based on age. The comprehensiveness comes from setting minimum standards about what insurance needs to cover and what kind of limits it can set for out-of-pocket expenses, etc.
What's important to understand about this trilemma is that it means, roughly, that every change has winners and losers. Put bluntly, the Affordable Care Act's changes are raising insurance premiums for some people who did well under the old system and lowering them for many of the people who were locked out or discriminated against.
A good example of the tradeoffs is the case of Dianne Barrette, a 56-year-old Florida woman who's been featured in the media because her current plan will cost 10 times more under Obamacare. As Erik Wemple discovered, her old plan was health insurance in name only. It didn't cover inpatient hospital care, it didn't cover ambulance services, and so forth. Under Obamacare, all plans have to cover those benefits. So Barrette's old plan was extremely affordable -- $56 a month -- because it covered basically nothing. Her new plan is much more expensive but also much more generous.
But it's not all zero sum. The law pumps a trillion dollars of subsidies into the market to help people making less than 400 percent of the poverty line -- which is $94,200 for a family of four -- afford insurance. So now the actual premiums people are paying exist on a continuum, with some people seeing premiums increases and some people paying literally nothing at all:
The final factor here is increased transparency and competition among insurers -- which should bring down premiums over time. Spiro and Gruber credit competition for Obamacare's lower-than-expected premiums. We'll see if it sticks.
So the bottom line is that Obamacare makes insurance more accessible and more comprehensive, which raises average premiums, but it adds subsidies and competitive markets, which lower premiums. Whether premiums are higher or lower for an individual person depends on their precise situation. But premiums are, in general, lower than was expected when Obamacare passed.
One thing to note about the media coverage around this is that some of the old plans in the individual market are being canceled or moved onto the exchanges at a time when the exchanges aren't really working. So we're hearing from people losing something but we're not hearing much yet from the people who're gaining insurance, or lower-priced insurance, through the law. That's another consequence of the web site's failures, but it's a temporary one. There will be some losers under Obamacare, but because of the subsidies, many more winners.
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