“Nearly 13 million Americans have gotten, or will soon be getting, rebates from their health insurance companies. This is because of a provision in the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) that’s supposed to force insurance companies to run better. But while the idea of getting a check from your health insurance company may sound great, some economists worry this rule could actually make health insurance more expensive.”
“According to CBO, 11-12 million uninsured Americans will be subject to the mandate; the agency expects more than half of them to pay the fine instead of buying insurance. But there’s something that the CBO didn’t say: as more people pay the ‘tax penalty’ instead of buying insurance, premiums for everyone else will go up, potentially triggering a death spiral in the private insurance market.”
“Oklahoma’s attorney general on Wednesday filed a fresh legal challenge to the federal health-overhaul law, zeroing in on penalties that employers in the state would face if they didn’t offer affordable health coverage to their workers. The lawsuit puts a new twist on opponents’ legal fight against the overhaul.”
“Nearly six million Americans, most of them middle-income workers, will face a tax penalty under President Obama’s health overhaul for not getting insurance, Congressional analysts said Wednesday. That estimate, from analysts at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is significantly higher than their previous projection, calculated in 2010 shortly after the law passed.”
“The lobbyists promised that these technologies would make medical administration more efficient and lower medical costs by up to $100 billion annually. Many doctors and health-care administrators are wary of such claims—a wariness based on their own experience. An extensive new study indicates that the caution is justified: The savings turn out to be chimerical.”
“The most common theory is that reform causes consolidation. But what if the effect on hospitals is even more radical? What if the legislation changes the largely nonprofit nature of the industry?”
“Mr. Summers was more comfortable discussing the health care law’s implications for the broader economy than the direct effect on his own business. We talked at length about why he fears his customers could retrench in the wake of the law’s execution — and how his suppliers might pass on their increased costs to him, raising his costs as his revenue is squeezed.”
“The moves are meant to prepare Welch Allyn to address the new ‘onerous’ U.S. Medical Device Tax scheduled to take effect next year under the Affordable Care Act, the company said… The company can’t just pass on the tax increase to its customers — clinics, doctors’ offices and hospitals — who are already being pushed to cut costs, Chadderdon said.
The tax is 2.3 percent of a medical device maker’s U.S. revenue, but takes a bigger bite out of profits, Chief Executive Steve Meyer said Monday.”
“The Obama team is woefully behind its own schedule for implementing features of the legislation. The critical regulations outlining what the Obamacare insurance benefit will look like was supposed to be out more than six months ago. Now it looks like this regulation won’t be dropped until after the election. This is just one key aspect of the program that is way behind the administration’s own timeline.”
“The freshman senator from Wisconsin is challenging the IRS rule that circumvents Congress to support the creation of federal-facilitated health insurance exchanges and expose millions of Americans to Obamacare penalties.”