“Governor Rick Perry has reportedly prevented State Representative John Zerwas and other legislators from making a potentially fatal blunder in the fight against Obamacare. According to local media, the governor’s office has discouraged Rep. Zerwas from championing legislation establishing a state-based Obamacare Health Benefits Exchange in Texas.”
“A new article in Health Affairs brings attention to the problem of ‘churning’ in the eligibility requirements for subsidized ObamaCare. The study by Benjamin Sommers and Sara Rosenbaum looks at how often people will fall in and out of eligibility for, on one hand, Medicaid for people up to 133% of the poverty level, and on the other hand, subsidized coverage for those up to 400% of poverty in the Exchange.”
“Hospitals groups are afraid a healthcare reform tax on medical device manufacturers will wind up hurting them more than the device makers.
The reform provision, which is the target of repeal efforts in the House and Senate, imposes a 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of most medical devices starting in 2013.”
“Sebelius’ comments—and many more that I don’t have space to address—help explain why so many people are confused about the law. The law’s biggest defenders remain confused themselves. There is misinformation being delivered, and most is coming from the White House.”
“President Obama’s signature health care reform law just passed its one year anniversary, but many companies have yet to come to terms with what the new law will mean for their operating costs and bottom lines. Large firms flush with low-wage workers will get hit hard because their bare-bones, low-cost employee health insurance policies don’t comply with the new law, which takes effect in 2014. These companies will have two choices: offer an unlimited insurance minimum, or reduce their workforces.”
“Big companies may eventually look to dump their employees onto new state-run health insurance markets in the future if a key aspect of healthcare reform turns out to be successful, an Obama administration health official predicted Tuesday morning.”
“For Republicans committed to maintaining a vibrant and free society, there is no choice but to make genuine health care reform the centerpiece of their domestic agenda. If the health care debate is lost, then the fight for limited government is lost as well. That means that the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare and to fix our health care entitlements must be well underway by 2013.”
“The absolute worst feature of Obama Care (and it truly is inexplicable) is that close to 310 million Americans are going to get more primary care coverage than they had before. Not just welfare mothers, but Bill Gates, Bill Gates’ father, Warren Buffett — everyone in the whole country is going to have access to a long list of preventive care services with no deductible or copayment. If they respond to their new incentives, they will all try to get more care than they were getting before.”
“Bottom line: after we get through 10 years of spending our $1 trillion under ObamaCare, there is no convincing reason to believe that the bottom half of the income distribution will have more care, better care, or better access to care than they have today.”