“Almost two-thirds of the 8 million Americans who enrolled in health insurance through the Affordable Care Act picked mid-range “silver” plans, according to new data on sign-ups released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services Department.”
“Even if Obamacare really has enrolled 8 million Americans through its health insurance exchanges, that’s not good enough. For the exchanges to work, people must enroll and stay enrolled.
If too many enrollees drop out, premiums will climb until the exchanges collapse.”
“Fans of Kathleen Sebelius, the lady who made Obamacare so wildly popular, say her greatest accomplishment was persuading red states to accept the Medicaid expansion. Alas, these states have been lured with false promises of flexibility and free money.”
“The economic news this week may have people wondering whether they have gone through the Looking Glass into Wonderland. The Bureau of Economic Analysis issued its advance estimate of first-quarter growth in 2014, which barely made it into the black with an annualized GDP growth rate of 0.1 percent. Even that terrible result – the worst quarter since 2012, and tied for second-worst since the start of the technical recovery in June 2009 – would have been worse without an explosion of health-care spending as Obamacare enters its first year of implementation.”
“Around two-thirds of people who had picked insurance plans through HealthCare.gov paid their first month’s premium by April 15, according to a report released Wednesday by Republican lawmakers using data from insurers.”
“With the unveiling of the Affordable Care Act’s website, the public experienced a painful reminder of the consequences of the government’s new authority over health care. While millions signed up for insurance, millions of others abruptly lost their existing coverage and access to their doctors because that coverage didn’t fit new ObamaCare definitions.”
“I must have missed the fine print.
That thought repeatedly ran through my head last October as I read the letter from my insurance company. It informed that my family’s health plan will be canceled effective December 2014—and Obamacare is to blame.”
“So which bill should Rs take up first? I would suggest they start with one or more bills to expands Health Savings Accounts. That’s safe ground for them. HSAs are popular, and threatened by Obamacare’s rules. Exempt them from Obamacare. Make them more generous. Expand access to them in the workplace and Medicare.”
“With Obamacare’s first enrollment period finally in the books, two new surveys out this morning offer new insight into why the still-uninsured decided to remain on the sidelines this year. Hint: It has a lot to do with cost.”
“The House approved bipartisan legislation Tuesday to exempt U.S. health plans sold to expatriate workers from having to comply with requirements under the Affordable Care Act.”