During the debate over ObamaCare and its cuts to Medicare Advantage, the Administration put out a gag order stopping insurers from informing their patients about how the cuts would reduce their benefits. The General Accounting Office, an impartial government agency, called the move “unusual” in an official report.
“Well, Obamacare has barely started taking effect, and the evidence is already rolling in. I hate to say we told them so, but … we told them so. The laws of economics have struck back.”
“Now, six months after passage, there is no longer any credible, coherent argument that the law will make healthcare more affordable for small business – now, next year, or anytime in the foreseeable future. The evidence runs strongly in the other direction – that passage of the law will increase the costs for small business. The PPACA creates a maze of new costs – direct and indirect – as well as layer-upon-layer of uncertainty.”
“And of course, many other companies—those without the lobbying operation of a company the size of McDonald’s, or without the access to liberal policymakers that a NY teachers’ union has—can’t get the same permission, and so can’t compete on a level playing field, or offer coverage that might entice the best qualified people to work for them.”
In addition to the news that McDonald’s will have to drop coverage for their employees without a waiver from the government, ObamaCare will also result in increased premiums. This shows that the President’s promises that you can keep your insurance plan if you like it and that your premiums will go down.
“Washington sees more than its share of power plays, and there were many on display during the year-long health care debate. But even by Washington standards, the secretary’s letter is highly unusual, and startling. It is not every day that a cabinet secretary issues a threat aimed at controlling the speech of an entire industry for plainly political reasons.”
“The law’s ambitious sweep has made it a target for those who see it as an unjustified expansion of government. Plaintiffs challenging the law include a variety of religious groups, the nation’s largest small-business trade association, and a who’s who of conservative legal activism.”
“West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat locked in a tight Senate race against Republican John Raese, said on Fox News this morning that he would support the full repeal of health care reform if it couldn’t be fixed.”
“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) fails to secure Medicare’s future and instead diverts $332 billion dollars in program savings into new unsustainable entitlement programs. By not improving the Medicare program’s solvency, the White House and Congress threaten to burden America’s seniors with rising premiums and reduced patient access. Healthcare reform should have paved a more fiscally responsible path forward for the Medicare program by fixing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physician reimbursement and ensuring long-term Medicare affordability.”
“Rep. Gene Taylor on Wednesday became the first Democrat to endorse a GOP effort to repeal the new health reform law.”