Category: zerohedge

Just when you thought it was safe to step back into the water of the “fixed” Obamacare website, another glitch, this time in sending data on Medicaid, has The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services writing a memo to the 36 states using the federal website last week acknowledging the information wasn’t being transferred automatically and saying another system was being developed to send it. Potentially affecting tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients, ABC reports, “Essentially, if you’re a consumer on healthcare.gov, it will tell you you’re eligible for Medicaid and the state agency will take care of it, but there’s no real way for the state Medicaid agency to know anything about it.” The information, according to AP, is incomplete with regard to verifying eligibility and as South Carolina’s HHS Director notes, “it’s going to be a gigantic logistical mess.”

 

Via ABC (AP),

People shopping for insurance on the federal marketplace may be informed they’re eligible for Medicaid and that their information is being sent to state officials to sign them up. However, states say they aren’t able to enroll them because they’re receiving incomplete data from the Obama administration.

 

…

 

The technical problem could affect tens of thousands of Medicaid applicants and represents the latest issue to arise in the rollout of a website that’s been plagued with long waits for users and other glitches.

 

Some users who fill out applications on the federal site may believe that they’re already being enrolled in Medicaid or that state officials will contact them, even though the agencies aren’t receiving the information they need,

 

…

 

“Essentially, if you’re a consumer on healthcare.gov, it will tell you you’re eligible for Medicaid and the state agency will take care of it, but there’s no real way for the state Medicaid agency to know anything about it,“

 

…

 

Tony Keck, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said that so far his agency has been receiving garbled data that may include a name but no address or three digits from a social security number.

 

“What they’re sending us is essentially the same type of bad data they’re sending the insurance companies, and we can’t do anything with it,” Keck said. “That’s frustrating, because there’s going to be a lot of people who think they’re enrolled, especially now that they’re doing all the marketing and phone calls and enrollment’s increasing on the website as it’s improved.”

 

He said he’s worried that “Medicaid applications are going to get stuck in this black hole somewhere.”

 

…

 

As of Wednesday, Florida officials said they’re waiting on the federal government to transfer 35,056 applications, representing 48,664 individuals, who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. But federal health officials warned the “the eligibility indicator field on the flat file is not accurate and we have no way to validate these numbers,”

 

…

 

“It’s going to be a gigantic logistical mess,” he said. “You would think that the White House being caught in imprecise language about keeping your plan would learn to be more precise in their language. It’s frustrating they continue to oversell what’s happening.”

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/f4pmJbBdvso/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Just when you thought it was safe to step back into the water of the “fixed” Obamacare website, another glitch, this time in sending data on Medicaid, has The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services writing a memo to the 36 states using the federal website last week acknowledging the information wasn’t being transferred automatically and saying another system was being developed to send it. Potentially affecting tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients, ABC reports, “Essentially, if you’re a consumer on healthcare.gov, it will tell you you’re eligible for Medicaid and the state agency will take care of it, but there’s no real way for the state Medicaid agency to know anything about it.” The information, according to AP, is incomplete with regard to verifying eligibility and as South Carolina’s HHS Director notes, “it’s going to be a gigantic logistical mess.”

 

Via ABC (AP),

People shopping for insurance on the federal marketplace may be informed they’re eligible for Medicaid and that their information is being sent to state officials to sign them up. However, states say they aren’t able to enroll them because they’re receiving incomplete data from the Obama administration.

 

…

 

The technical problem could affect tens of thousands of Medicaid applicants and represents the latest issue to arise in the rollout of a website that’s been plagued with long waits for users and other glitches.

 

Some users who fill out applications on the federal site may believe that they’re already being enrolled in Medicaid or that state officials will contact them, even though the agencies aren’t receiving the information they need,

 

…

 

“Essentially, if you’re a consumer on healthcare.gov, it will tell you you’re eligible for Medicaid and the state agency will take care of it, but there’s no real way for the state Medicaid agency to know anything about it,“

 

…

 

Tony Keck, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said that so far his agency has been receiving garbled data that may include a name but no address or three digits from a social security number.

 

“What they’re sending us is essentially the same type of bad data they’re sending the insurance companies, and we can’t do anything with it,” Keck said. “That’s frustrating, because there’s going to be a lot of people who think they’re enrolled, especially now that they’re doing all the marketing and phone calls and enrollment’s increasing on the website as it’s improved.”

 

He said he’s worried that “Medicaid applications are going to get stuck in this black hole somewhere.”

 

…

 

As of Wednesday, Florida officials said they’re waiting on the federal government to transfer 35,056 applications, representing 48,664 individuals, who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. But federal health officials warned the “the eligibility indicator field on the flat file is not accurate and we have no way to validate these numbers,”

 

…

 

“It’s going to be a gigantic logistical mess,” he said. “You would think that the White House being caught in imprecise language about keeping your plan would learn to be more precise in their language. It’s frustrating they continue to oversell what’s happening.”

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/f4pmJbBdvso/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Of course, why not. University of Michigan Consumer Confidence jumped from 75.1 to a preliminary 82.5 beating expectations by the most on record. While we remain below the July 2013 highs, current conditions soared to the highest since May and the economic outlook spiked to the highest since August. This is the biggest absolute improvement in current conditions since December 2008…. and that ended well eh?

 

 

The last time current conditions jumped this much… it didn’t end well…

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/UP3JyxQiUT8/story01.htm Tyler Durden

“It’s horrible out there,” notes one resident as an orange-level haze alert, the second highest, remained in effect broadly across China and, as Bloomberg reports, the heavy fog shrouding Shanghai caused widespread flight cancellations and sent the air quality index surging past 500 to the “beyond index” category. “The pollution is worse today and the fog is getting heavier,” another noted, and despite the WHO concerns that outdoor air pollution can cause lung cancer, he is “not prohibiting my kids from going outside because we have to learn to grow up in all kinds of environment. But they are definitely wearing face masks.” The government has ordered 30% of government-used vehicles off the road and industrial companies to reduce or halt production.

 

 

Via Bloomberg,

A heavy fog shrouding Shanghai caused widespread flight cancellations and sent an air quality index monitored by the U.S. consulate in the city surging past 500 to the “beyond index” category. Hong Kong’s air pollution index reached “very high” levels at three roadside monitors, according to its Environment Protection Department.

 

…

 

Shanghai took emergency steps against pollution, ordering 30 percent of government-used vehicles off the road and industrial companies to reduce or halt production, the city said on its microblog.

 

…

 

“Under the new index, we are not only reflecting the concentration levels of the key air pollutants but also the health risks associated with those pollutants.”

 

Levels of PM2.5 — particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that pose the biggest health risk — were 602.2 micrograms per cubic meter in Shanghai, more than 24 times WHO’s recommended levels, the city’s monitoring center data showed.

 

…

 

At least half of the students at the Origin Education Children’s House, a private kindergarten in Shanghai, didn’t show up today, said Qian Ying, a teacher at the school. The kindergarten also canceled all outdoor activities, Qian said.

 

Masks and air purifiers have mostly sold out,

 

…

 

At least 102 outbound flights and 122 inbound flights were delayed at Shanghai’s two airports in Pudong and Hongqiao, while 28 outbound flights and 29 inbound were cancelled,

 

…

 

An orange-level haze alert, the second highest, remained in effect, according to China’s meterological authority. Elevated highways were facing heavy congestion with some highway entrances closed and some river traffic halted

 

…

 

“It’s horrible out there,”

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/PNmItewV9R0/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Curious where the November jobs gains and losses were, broken down by industry? The chart below should explain it all.

Winners:

• Education and Health +40K, after gaining 30K in October; Job gains occurred in home healthcare services (+12,000) and offices of physicians (+7,000), while nursing care facilities lost jobs (-4,000)
• Transportation: +31K as logistics needs of the holiday season ramped up hiring
• Manufacturing: +27K in November after +16K in October; food manufacturing was +8K, while (channel stuffing of) motor vehicles and parts added anoterh 7K
• Retail trade, that old standby, added another 22K, following 46K additions in October for a total of 68K in the past two months.
  • Within the industry, job growth occurred in general merchandise stores (+14,000); in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (+12,000); and in automobile dealers (+7,000). Over the prior 12 months, job growth in retail trade averaged 31,000 per month.

Losers:

• Financial Activities, or the highest paying jobs, lost 3K after gaining 7K the prior month
• Information, the second highest paying jobs, also lost 1K, after gaining 4K in the prior month

Visually:

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/G-lzxPyE19U/story01.htm Tyler Durden

It wouldn't be a non-farm-payrolls (or for that matter any government report) without the ubiquitous "early" move in precious metals before the report is given to the general public. As Nanex shows, Gold's price moved in a 'correct' downward (taper-on) way on the "good" news that jobs are 'improving' 7 seconds before the report hit…

Via Nanex,

 

1. Trades in All Futures.
Lots of movement seconds before 8:30 Jobs news.

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2. Quotes in All Futures.

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3. February 2014 Gold (GC) Futures.

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4. February 2014 Gold (GC) Futures – Zooming in to 8:29:47 to 8:30:14
Gold moved sharply a full 7 seconds before the official Employment news release.

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via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/itSzjUE2VZg/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Stocks initial knee-jerk “good news is bad news” reaction was a 0.5% plunge in prices and the rest of QE-sensitive assets also reacted in a “taper” way with gold dropping, USD soaring, and bond yields spiking.  But the USD strength implied JPY weakness and that just provided the momo ignition for carry traders to lift stocks 1% straight up as the heads-I-win, tails-you-lose trade continues. Gold has retraced some of its losses but the USD and bonds are stil under pressure as the US open approaches.

 

 

and this is why stocks are jumping so happily (for now)… AUDJPY leads the way…

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/wgwlelLGIeA/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Stocks initial knee-jerk “good news is bad news” reaction was a 0.5% plunge in prices and the rest of QE-sensitive assets also reacted in a “taper” way with gold dropping, USD soaring, and bond yields spiking.  But the USD strength implied JPY weakness and that just provided the momo ignition for carry traders to lift stocks 1% straight up as the heads-I-win, tails-you-lose trade continues. Gold has retraced some of its losses but the USD and bonds are stil under pressure as the US open approaches.

 

 

and this is why stocks are jumping so happily (for now)… AUDJPY leads the way…

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/wgwlelLGIeA/story01.htm Tyler Durden

US personal income fell 0.1% MoM – missing the +0.3% expectations by the most since September 2011 – but that didn’t stop spending which modestly beat expectations at +0.3%. The drop in incomes is the largest (absent the 2012 year-end debacle) since February 2010. Given the disparity, it is hardly surprising that the savigs rate dropped to its lowest since June. So unsaving is the route to freedom once again as borrowing helps drive durable good spending up 0.77%

 

As a result, and as expected, the personal savings rate plunged from 5.2% to 4.8%.

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/UqlMMQWLn_I/story01.htm Tyler Durden

US personal income fell 0.1% MoM – missing the +0.3% expectations by the most since September 2011 – but that didn’t stop spending which modestly beat expectations at +0.3%. The drop in incomes is the largest (absent the 2012 year-end debacle) since February 2010. Given the disparity, it is hardly surprising that the savigs rate dropped to its lowest since June. So unsaving is the route to freedom once again as borrowing helps drive durable good spending up 0.77%

 

As a result, and as expected, the personal savings rate plunged from 5.2% to 4.8%.

via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/UqlMMQWLn_I/story01.htm Tyler Durden