“A House subcommittee late Tuesday passed legislation that would exempt commissions paid to insurance agents to find health policies in the individual and small group markets from the medical loss ratio calculation mandated under the healthcare reform law.”
“Those who built ObamaCare have historically viewed individually owned health insurance as a dangerous anomaly. By forcing everyone to purchase the bulk of his medical care through health plans with ridiculously extensive coverage of relatively inexpensive routine items, ObamaCare replaces less expensive cash purchase with more expensive purchase via an insurer. This will increase overall health care costs.”
“Perhaps that sounds like a successful jobs program, as it will keep 40,000 people fully employed, filling out paperwork and sorting through a confounding pile of government regulations. Only problem is, that work is entirely wasteful and creates zero wealth for America as a whole. It would be better for America and for the 40,000 workers to do something useful, like build the empire state building 11 times over, to use the Ways and Means example.”
“In the latest indication of how complicated putting the Affordable Care Act into action will be, the Department of Health and Human Services and Internal Revenue Service issued 18-pages of regulations just to describe what a ‘full-time employee’ is. Of note, to the Feds a full-time employee works an average of just 30 hours a week, not the normally accepted 40 hours.”
“The primary problem with ACA’s mandate or tax is not the label we give it, but why it is needed at all. Its existence suggests that our central planners in Washington knew that they had failed to design an insurance product that people actually would want to buy. When you have to force people to buy something as obviously valuable as protection against becoming uninsurable or paying astronomical premiums, it means you have some serious design flaws in your product that still need to be corrected.”
“The tax penalties of the ACA are trivial, the subsidies are complicated, and the available plans will provide little value to most people. I don’t need coverage for psych counseling and in vitro fertilization. This is how many (most?) people think. So, I therefore believe the ACA will result in FEWER people being covered, not more.”
“But as the president fights to keep the conservative-leaning state in his column this November, education officials here are complicating his campaign message by citing ‘Obamacare’ as a reason for the rising cost of student health insurance plans on campuses from Asheville to Wilmington.”
“Despite efforts by state and health plan officials to smooth the transition, caregivers and others reported ‘the managed care system … was not prepared’ to care for the population’s specific needs, which include complex cases involving mental illness, homelessness and developmental disabilities, the report said… The report about California’s experience comes as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is ramping up plans to move many of the nation’s 9 million ‘dual eligibles,’ who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare, into managed care plans.”
“So, benefits and HR professionals are going to be responsible for providing information on a new state-run program that won’t be part of anything they do in their everyday job? The simple answer is yes. So, on March 1, 2013 when you hand an employee the state health insurance exchange guide, get ready for the following questions from employees…”
“Two articles over the weekend highlight the continuing effect of Obamacare on the health care industry – particularly how it is accelerating industry consolidation. In both the insurance and hospital industry, players are consolidating to lower costs, gain market share, and defend their bottom lines. The big question, however, is whether these trends will ultimately benefit consumers and the health care system as a whole, through improved quality and lower costs.”