“Under Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid can be expected to add 35-40 million enrollees in the next ten years, with cost projections amounting to a 35 percent increase of the current state burden of $190 billion. States will face massive cost-sharing increases, with a disproportionate increase in the Mountain States.”
The Obama Administration released their Mid-Session Review of the budget outlook, and it isn’t pretty. “The primary threat to the nation’s long-term prosperity is runaway federal entitlement spending. Entitlement costs are set to rise so fast and so quickly that the implications for federal deficits and debt are staggering. If allowed to stand, the health law has dramatically reduced the flexibility of the federal government to respond to the coming budget crisis. It locks in massive new spending commitments, and uses every trick in the book to make it look like those commitments have been paid for.”
ObamaCare’s provisions to help the uninsured before the massive subsidy program starts is off to a rocky start. “Earlier this month, the Obama administration launched the latest version of high-risk pools, as authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The new pools are off to a stumbling start – behind schedule, facing resistance (or indifference) from many state governments, structurally flawed, and substantially underfunded. In other words, ‘Close enough for government work.'”
“Missouri voters dealt Obamacare a significant setback yesterday, approving a statewide ballot measure by an overwhelming 3-to-1 margin. The vote was the first time citizens had an opportunity to cast a ballot on the unpopular health care law. Missouri’s measure prohibits the federal government’s enforcement of the individual mandate to buy health insurance. The victory sends a strong message about Obamacare in a bellwether state.”
“This week the Obama administration released a report claiming that the new healthcare law will strengthen Medicare. This is a familiar theme from an administration that has received low marks from seniors, who instinctively know that cutting Medicare spending by $575 billion over the next decade will probably not do them any good. A cynical mind might also conclude that releasing this self-congratulatory message three days before the annual Medicare Trustees Report was meant to deflect attention from more bad news.”
“The political revolt against ObamaCare came to Missouri Tuesday, with voters casting ballots three to one against the plan in its first direct referendum. This is another resounding health-care rebuke to the White House and Democrats, not that overwhelming public opposition to this expansion of government power ever deterred them before.”