“Wellness programs do not appear to lower overall healthcare costs, a new study shows, leading researchers to conclude the Affordable Care Act’s wellness program incentives won’t significantly reduce healthcare spending. The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, looked at a wellness program launched in 2005 by the St. Louis-based BJC Healthcare hospital system, which required employees wanting access to the system’s most generous health plan to participate in the program.”
“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he will object to a government spending bill if it does not cut off funds for President Obama’s signature healthcare law. Cruz, a staunchly conservative freshman, said he will offer an amendment to delay the flow of funds to implement the healthcare law when the Senate takes up a continuing resolution to fund the federal government.”
“House GOP leaders asked President Obama Tuesday to make funds available in support of a temporary insurance plan for people with pre-existing conditions. The plan, known as PCIP, has struggled to get off the ground since it was enacted as part of the healthcare law. Last month, the Obama administration announced that it would close enrollment due to concerns that the program would be too costly.”
“House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said today he agrees with the decision by his chamber’s select committee on the Affordable Care Act that voted 10-5 _ along party lines _ to reject the expansion of Medicaid in the state under the federal health care law. Here is Weatherford’s statement:”
“Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans are required to give new mothers equipment and services to enable them to breast feed. What that means in practical terms for most moms is that insurers have to cover the cost of a breast pump – either a rental or a new one. What the law doesn’t say, however, is what kind of pump has to be provided. It is left to the insurance companies, following doctors’ recommendations, to decide whether to cover the cost of an electric or a manual pump.”
“The Pioneer accountable care organizations have asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to revise quality benchmarks the ACOs have to meet to qualify for Medicare bonuses, threatening to drop out of the program otherwise. The Pioneer ACOs note 19 of 31 quality measures were set without anchoring methodology, reflecting a lack of data, according to a letter sent Feb. 25 and posted online by The Washington Post.”
“The Beige Book, which paints a picture of the economy by drawing on the contacts maintained by regional Fed banks with their local business communities, was prepared this time around by the Kansas City Federal Reserve. It’s not usually considered to have any partisan tilt, although obviously the views it reports are those of the business sector (rather than, say, the labor unions). ‘Employers in several Districts cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff,’ the report says.”
“For states, it’s the medium to long-term fiscal picture that presents the biggest worry. The long-term politics of federal budgeting make short-term state policy choices rather dicey: Who knows what Congress will do as the cost of government health programs rise and the already bad budget situation grows worse? Cost shifting to states may not be inevitable, but it’s quite likely, which means that even if expanding Medicaid is essentially free now, it almost certainly won’t be in the future.”
“Most health plans provide some prescription drug benefits. Drug coverage will become more prevalent as more uninsured families gain health insurance as a result of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)… As drug coverage has become widespread, so have calls to impose additional regulations on drug plans and the firms that manage them. In the guise of protecting consumers, there are frequent calls for state and federal lawmakers to enact laws that hamper efficient management of prescription drug benefits. These efforts are short-sighted.”
“The architects of Obamacare designed the scheme without much thought to how its overlapping incentives would discourage competition on the price of the new coverage. Health plans will try to drive down costs by offering very narrow networks of providers that they can more easily control. It will be a race to the bottom to see which plan can offer the cheapest benefit, while still meeting minimum standards. But it won’t be a race to the bottom on price.”