“In the end, avoiding grants with significant policy strings attached, while important, is only part of the task for state lawmakers opposed to Obamacare. They should also be pursuing their own agenda of patient-centered, market-based reforms that will constitute the “replace” part of “repeal and replace.” Given that the political, judicial, and logistical impediments to implementing Obamacare are actually increasing over time, those alternatives might be needed sooner than anyone expected.”
“Ohioans who buy individual insurance policies could see their premiums jump 55 to 85 percent in 2014 when key provisions of the new federal health-care law kick in, according to a new report. Rates also are expected to increase for those with employer-sponsored coverage but not nearly as much. “
“The report Doyle ordered before leaving office certainly reveals something about how the law will affect hundreds of thousands of individuals in the state he used to govern, it’s not all flattering. Indeed, it’s telling that despite bring ordered and authored by true-blue ObamaCare backers, a big part of what this report suggests is that the law will ultimately raise the health insurance costs for large numbers of the state’s residents.”
“President Obama also promised that premiums wouldn’t rise under Obamacare. The law, we were told, was going to lower premiums for families by as much as $2,500. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analyzed the ten largest states’ average premiums in 2010. On average, the premiums for a family plan rose 6.5 percent. Here in Texas, the average premium for a family plan jumped by more than $1,000.”
“State legislators are concerned that a new program in the healthcare reform law will reopen a series of problems that states tackled years ago. The National Conference of Insurance Legislators is worried about the law’s new long-term-care insurance program, known as CLASS.”
“In interviews, Mr. Scott, a Republican, and state legislative leaders were clear about their rationale. They said they detested everything about the federal health law, which was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in a case filed by the state. Unless ordered to do otherwise by an appellate court, they said, they had no intention of putting it in place, even if that meant leaving money on the table.”
“Opponents of the new federal health care overhaul say they’ve gathered enough signatures to ask Ohio voters this fall whether the state should amend its constitution to keep people from being required to buy health insurance or face penalties.
The amendment’s backers acknowledge that approval of the measure won’t automatically exempt the state from the mandate in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. But they say they hope to use the amendment to legally challenge the law.”
“What happens when individual states don’t follow the federal government’s orders under ObamaCare? The federal government takes over. Today, Obama’s Health and Human Services department announced that the some part of the health insurance rate review programs in 10 states were not yet up to snuff—and federal officials could elbow past state authorities to conduct the rate reviews themselves.”
“Despite advice from most free-market analysis, some Republican governors are executing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) by establishing Health Benefits Exchanges. These governors dislike PPACA, but they believe that exchanges can be vehicles for more choice than the federal law anticipates.
But I think that the real news is how much difficulty states that want to implement PPACA as fast as possible are having. “
“Now, with 50 uncompetitive state markets and new federal regulations on what is or isn’t an acceptable insurance plan on top of existing state laws, there will actually be less room for price-cutting competition in health care. You can expect insurance costs to rise as a direct result.”