Poll: Just 1 in 5 Millennials likely to sign up for Obamacare

Less than one in five young Americans are likely to enroll in the Obamacare healthcare exchanges this year, according a new study commissioned by Young America’s Foundation.

The study, which was released Monday, found that just 18 percent of adults ages 18-to-24 plan on enrolling in the exchanges, with another 46 percent reporting that they are not likely to enroll at all. That includes nearly half of all self-identified Independents, as well as those from the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States.

These numbers are troublesome for the president, as the success of the healthcare exchanges depends largely on having a large number of young Americans enroll in the exchanges. According to YAF, the president needs 40 percent of young, uninsured Americans to enroll in the exchanges to keep the program solvent. Early enrollment numbers found that a higher-than-expected number of older, sickly Americans were enrolling in the program – an issue that also threatens the exchanges’ financial stability over the next few years.

A large factor in why the early enrollment numbers among young Americans was low is the disastrous rollout of Healthcare.gov, the website created specifically for Americans to enroll in the exchanges. Yet numbers released last week still found that young adults were signing up at lower-than-expected rates.

Millennials have also been opting out of Obamacare because of the high costs for the premiums – even under the cheapest plan possible. A recent study conducted by the American Action Forum found that six in seven Millennials would be better off paying the penalty for foregoing health insurance in 2014 – a penalty of $ 95 or 1 percent of the person’s income, whichever is greater – than opting into the program.

The study also found that one in three young Americans believe they will be “worse off” under the Affordable Care Act than before – a significant number considering the new law allows adults under the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ healthcare plans, thus eliminating the need for them to enroll in the exchanges.

“The administration believes that because young people were some of Obama’s most enthusiastic supporters that they will just buy anything that they sell. But young people are smarter than that,” YAF spokeswoman Ashley Pratte told Red Alert Politics. ”A lot of young people are feeling ‘buyer’s remorse’ currently. They were told they would get free healthcare when in fact it was never communicated that they would be the ones picking up the tab and subsidizing healthcare for the older and sicker generation.”

the polling company, inc./WomenTrend conducted a nationwide online survey of 1,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 24 on behalf of Young America’s Foundation from December 27, 2013 to January 6, 2014. The margin of error for the study is +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. 

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Poll: Just 1 in 5 Millennials likely to sign up for Obamacare

US official: chemical weapons likely used in Syria

This citizen journalism image provided by the Media Office Of Douma City which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian man mourning over a dead body after an alleged poisonous gas attack fired by regime forces, according to activists, in Douma town, Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013. Syrian regime forces fired intense artillery and rocket barrages Wednesday on the eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus, in what two pro-opposition groups claimed was a “poisonous gas” attack that killed dozens of people. (AP Photo/Media Office Of Douma City)

This citizen journalism image provided by the Media Office Of Douma City which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian man mourning over a dead body after an alleged poisonous gas attack fired by regime forces, according to activists, in Douma town, Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013. Syrian regime forces fired intense artillery and rocket barrages Wednesday on the eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus, in what two pro-opposition groups claimed was a “poisonous gas” attack that killed dozens of people. (AP Photo/Media Office Of Douma City)

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US official: chemical weapons likely used in Syria

US economic growth likely weakened in 2nd quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) — A report Wednesday is expected to show the U.S. economy barely grew from April through June. But economists are hopeful that the weak second quarter is a temporary lull that gives way to stronger growth in the second half of the year.

Higher tax increases and steep government spending cuts probably did their worst damage to the economy in the second quarter. As their impact fades, solid job gains, more business spending and a steady recovery in housing should help accelerate growth.

Economists forecast that growth slowed in the April-June quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just 1 percent, according to a survey by FactSet. That’s below the sluggish pace of 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter.

The Commerce Department will release the first estimate of gross domestic product, or GDP, for the second quarter at 8:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday. GDP is the broadest measure of the output of goods and services, including everything from manicures to industrial machinery.

Most economists say growth is already starting to pick up. And many are predicting annual growth rates of between 2 percent and 3 percent in the third and fourth quarters.

There are threats to the better outlook. Unemployment is still high at 7.6 percent, limiting consumer spending. And budget fights in Washington could lead to a government shutdown this fall, potentially disrupting the economy.

Still, recent data have been encouraging.

“More and more of the economic tea leaves are pointing in the same direction: toward a growth revival ahead,” Scott Anderson, chief economist at the Bank of the West, said.

Home construction, sales and prices have been growing since early last year. Americans purchased newly built homes in June at the fastest pace in five years. That’s raised builder confidence to a seven-year high, which should lead to increases in construction and more jobs.

Overall hiring has accelerated this year. Employers have added an average of 202,000 jobs a month from January through June. That’s up from 180,000 in the previous six months.

Better hiring has started to boost inflation-adjusted incomes after several years of stagnant wages. Joe Carson, chief U.S. economist at AllianceBernstein, a mutual fund company, calculates that average hourly pay rose at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2008. That was comfortably ahead of inflation, at just 1 percent.

And business spending has started to increase. Companies have ordered more industrial machinery and other equipment for four months in a row. As those orders are filled, factory production should increase.

Manufacturing is also benefiting from strong auto sales. They topped 7.8 million in the first six months of 2013, the best first-half total since 2007. Analysts expect sales will stay strong for the rest of the year.

Carson notes that housing and autos were the primary sources of growth in the second quarter. Both have benefited from the Federal Reserve’s low interest-rate policies. Those sectors usually rebound early in recoveries. But after the Great Recession ended in June 2009, they were held back by tight credit and cash-strapped consumers.

“It’s almost like a traditional recovery is just starting, even though we’re in the fifth year,” Carson said.

Federal Reserve officials have forecast better growth in the second half of the year. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the central bank could begin to scale back its bond purchases later this year if the economy strengthens. But Fed officials typically put greater weight on employment and inflation data than the GDP figures.

The Fed concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, at which point it could clarify its interest-rate policies.

Most economists blame tax increases and government spending cuts for the sluggish second quarter. Higher taxes slowed consumer spending. And government cuts subtracted nearly a full percentage point from growth at the start of the year.

Even so, the solid pace of hiring suggests the economy is doing better than the growth figures show. Tax receipts have been stronger. Faster growth in the second half of the year would help close those gaps.

The government is also expected to release comprehensive revisions on Wednesday. Roughly every five years, the department incorporates more recent data and adjusts how it calculates GDP.

The revisions will likely show growth was faster in the first quarter and last year than previously estimated, economist say. Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, estimates the revisions could add up to a half-point to last year’s 2.2 percent growth rate.

The revisions will also alter GDP data all the way back to 1929. In one major change, the government plans to count spending on research and development as investment, rather than as a regular cost of doing business. That, along with other changes, will boost the level of GDP in 2007 by about 3 percent, or $ 450 billion. It isn’t likely to significantly change the pace of growth in recent years.

Associated Press

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US economic growth likely weakened in 2nd quarter

Union says drug bans likely not served this year

New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez reaches for a ground ball during warm ups for a Class AA baseball game with the Trenton Thunder against the Reading Phillies, Monday, July 15, 2013, in Reading, Pa. Rodriguez is doing a rehab assignment with the Thunder recuperating from hip surgery. (AP Photo/Reading Eagle, Jeremy Drey)

New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez reaches for a ground ball during warm ups for a Class AA baseball game with the Trenton Thunder against the Reading Phillies, Monday, July 15, 2013, in Reading, Pa. Rodriguez is doing a rehab assignment with the Thunder recuperating from hip surgery. (AP Photo/Reading Eagle, Jeremy Drey)

Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun is seen in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday, July 10, 2013, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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NEW YORK (AP) — The baseball players’ association says any suspensions resulting from the sport’s latest drug investigation likely won’t be served until next year if the discipline is challenged before an arbitrator.

Union head Michael Weiner expects Major League Baseball will notify the union of its plans for penalties in the next month, and the association will maintain any discipline should not be announced until after a grievance hearing, and then only if arbitrator Fredric Horowitz upholds a ban.

“We’re going to have a discussion with them. That discussion will include whether or not names of suspended players will be announced publicly,” Weiner said Tuesday during a meeting with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Former MVPs Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun are among the more than a dozen players under investigation for ties to Biogenesis, a closed anti-aging clinic in Florida linked with the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs. MLB officials have been interviewing players, who have been represented by the union and their own lawyers.

A provision in baseball’s drug agreement says discipline for first offenders can be announced before a hearing if the penalty results from an allegation that became public other than through MLB or a team. Miami New Times published allegations in January, but the union could argue that a penalty results from evidence baseball has gathered rather than the newspaper account.

After MLB and the union decide how to process grievances, hearings will be scheduled before Horowitz — but not before September and possibly later. Each player is entitled to a separate hearing, and Weiner said the union wants Horowitz to hear all cases.

“When all the interviews are done, we will meet with the commissioner’s office and we’ll try to work something out,” Weiner said. “Our players that deserve the suspensions, we’ll try to we’ll try to come up with a fair suspension. Our players that don’t deserve suspensions, we will argue that they don’t deserve a suspension. And I hope we have success. We may not have success on every single player, but I hope we have a fair amount of success.”

MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred declined comment.

Weiner spoke from a wheelchair and said symptoms have increased in the last month from a brain tumor he was diagnosed with last summer. He currently can’t move his right side or right arm and must use a wheelchair.

Weiner said the union will appoint a deputy executive director within a week or two.

Most of his talk was dominated by the drug investigation.

While most suspensions have been for positive tests since the joint drug agreement was reached in 2002, players also can be penalized for “just cause,” based on other evidence.

“In theory, they could be suspended for five games or 500 games,” Weiner said. “We could then choose to challenge or not, but the commissioner’s office is not bound by the 50-100-life scale.”

If multiple players are disciplined, management and the union would have to decide the order of the grievance hearings.

“They’ve got to prove all those cases. I like Dan Halem, a lot, but he’s going to be running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off,” Weiner said, referring to an MLB senior vice president. “If that’s the circumstance, we’ll just have to schedule them and get them done as quickly as we reasonably can. And if we have the number that you suggest, it’s going to take a while.”

Weiner said the union has taken the position that players can’t be penalized for refusing to answer MLB’s questions in the investigation. Arbitrator Raymond Goetz overturned Bowie Kuhn’s suspension of Ferguson Jenkins in 1980, ruling the pitcher couldn’t be penalized for refusing to answer questions while criminal charges were pending in Canada.

“Obviously we have looked at Jenkins in connection with this matter and whether or not it would apply, and our conclusion is that it clearly does,” Weiner said.

Speaking before Weiner in a separate session, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig repeated his call to toughen penalties in the drug agreement for 2014.

“We’ve heard from a lot of players that increased penalties are called for. We’ve heard from a lot of other players that don’t think increased penalties are called for,” Weiner said. “And I imagine we will work it out at or near in early December and then have a negotiation with them over that very subject.”

Associated Press

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Union says drug bans likely not served this year