“Groups on both sides of the healthcare debate are lobbying Congress to scale back a tax in President Obama’s healthcare law that could end up costing the states billions of dollars. Supporters and opponents of the healthcare law are both eyeing changes to the law’s tax on insurance plans, which could cost the states nearly $15 billion.”
“In a 2010 paper I authored for the Heritage Foundation, I documented the delayed and failed effort by the Massachusetts public exchange (Connector) to offer real choice and savings to small businesses. My report suggested the experience served as a warning to other states. I suppose I should have targeted it toward the federal government instead.”
“Despite surviving a number of threats, President Obama’s health care law remains harmful, unstable, and unpopular. It also remains vulnerable to repeal, largely because Congress and the Supreme Court have granted each state the power to veto major provisions of the law before they take effect in 2014.”
“A newly unveiled component of President Obama’s healthcare law forcing insurers to pay annual fees is sowing angst in state capitols, where officials view the provision as a $15 billion tax that could disrupt Medicaid programs and other services. The health insurance providers fee, included in the healthcare reform law over the objections of congressional Republicans, is designed to raise tens of billions of dollars in the coming years.”
“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:”
“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.”
“On Wednesday Florida Republican Rick Scott became the latest GOP Governor to volunteer to shoulder some responsibility for ObamaCare, which has liberal sages gloating about a resistance-is-futile shift in the GOP. The media don’t want to discuss the substance, only the politics, so allow us to report how the flippers are justifying their flips.”
“Gov. Scott Walker announced Wednesday that he won’t propose expanding Medicaid services in Wisconsin, joining other Republican governors who have decided to reject federal money for covering more low-income residents under the health care overhaul law. Instead, Walker outlined a hybrid approach that would allow more adults into the state health program, which he said would help cut the state’s uninsured rate of 14 percent in half.”
“North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) made clear Tuesday that he doesn’t want any part of the coverage expansion under President Obama’s signature healthcare law. McCrory rejected the law’s Medicaid expansion and said he doesn’t want to work with the federal government to retain some control over his state’s insurance exchange. He’ll cede that power entirely to the Obama administration.”
“The feds may not have provided an estimate of the cost of operating an exchange, but several other experts have. The results are eye-popping. According to Maryland’s Joint Committee on Health Benefit Exchange Financing, administrative costs alone will run the state an astounding $201 per person in 2015. The auditing firm KPMG recently found that Ohio can expect to spend $63 million to set up its exchange and another $43 million each year to run it.”