The Obama administration and leading members of Congress are clashing over a new Medicare payment rule that could compromise patient care, impede development of a fledgling part of the biologics industry, and make it more difficult to track patient safety issues. At issue is government payment policy for a new class of drugs called “biosimilars”—drugs that are similar but not identical to the original brand name biologic drug.
Lessons in basic economics, simple arithmetic, and crony capitalism can be learned as a result of the ACA co-op failures. In the meantime, more than 800,000 patients have had their health insurance suddenly dropped and are scrambling to find new policies from other insurers.
Gallup’s latest poll shows the majority of Americans still oppose the ACA, even two years after its full implementation. Those who are uninsured oppose the health care law by nearly 30 points.
A slight majority of Americans (52%) say they disapprove of 2010 healthcare law known as the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare.” Disapproval of the law, which has generated public opposition from its outset, is up four percentage points since July. Approval of the ACA now stands at 44%, down slightly from 47% this summer.
Proponents of more than doubling the current minimum wage of $7.25 appeared to have overlooked a simple fact. Thanks to government mandates such as Obamacare, today’s minimum wage already effectively amounts to $10.46 an hour. If we more than double the nominal minimum wage to $15, we actually will be requiring employers to pay $18.31 an hour.
When President Obama’s landmark health care law ushered in a slew of new insurance options in 2013, the Andersons could not wait to sign up. But in April, when Roger Anderson fell while hiking and hurt his shoulder, he discovered, to his dismay, that simply being insured was not enough. The Andersons’ mid-tier health care plan costs them $875 a month and requires them to meet a $7,000 deductible before insurance payments kick in. Their experience echoes that of hundreds of thousands of newly insured Americans facing sticker shock over out-of-pocket costs.