“Democrats who supported President Obama’s healthcare law grilled a top Health and Human Services official Thursday over what they see as holes in the implementation effort and the White House’s political bargaining.
Gary Cohen, the director of the HHS office overseeing the bulk of the healthcare law’s implementation, fielded tough questions from several Democrats.”
“Two hospice care centers are struggling to make ends meet, and Obamacare’s cuts to Medicare are to blame.
Hospices—health care facilities for the terminally ill—along with other Medicare providers are facing Medicare pay cuts. Of the $716 billion in payment reductions, hospice care was hit by a $17 billion payment cut from 2013 to 2022. Now, contrary to all of the misleading claims, this effect is already beginning.”
“North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) made clear Tuesday that he doesn’t want any part of the coverage expansion under President Obama’s signature healthcare law. McCrory rejected the law’s Medicaid expansion and said he doesn’t want to work with the federal government to retain some control over his state’s insurance exchange. He’ll cede that power entirely to the Obama administration.”
“As the state moves to expand healthcare coverage to millions of Californians under President Obama’s healthcare law, it faces a major obstacle: There aren’t enough doctors to treat a crush of newly insured patients. Some lawmakers want to fill the gap by redefining who can provide healthcare.”
“The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office highlights a number of reasons why the CBO is concerned about the implementation of Obamacare. It boils down to this: Obamacare is going to be more expensive than the Obama administration thought, disrupt the marketplace more than they thought, and be tougher to implement than they thought.”
“The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday quietly raised the 10-year cost of ObamaCare’s insurance subsidies offered via the health law’s exchanges by $233 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office review of its latest spending forecast.”
“The Obama administration has delayed by one year the rollout of a health program aimed at low to moderate-income people who won’t qualify for the expanded Medicaid program under the federal health law.”
“President Obama’s reelection, along with the Supreme Court’s ruling last June on his signature health-care reform, may seem to have guaranteed that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will remain the law of the land. But that could turn out to be the easy part of Obamacare. Implementing the ACA’s main provisions by January 1, 2014 — the date on which the law is to take full effect — presents a more grueling and protracted set of tests.”
“Throughout 2009 and early 2010, supporters of the then-pending Affordable Care Act (ACA) argued that health-care reform was necessary to repair the federal government’s untenable fiscal outlook. More than any other factor, it was said, health-care cost inflation was the driving force behind massive projected federal deficits, and comprehensive reforms were required to cure the problem. Unfortunately, when enacted, the ACA worsened federal finances rather than improved them.”
“A bipartisan group of 180 House members — consisting of about 40 percent of the House — has reintroduced a bill to end the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices that was imposed under President Obama’s healthcare law.”