Recent Articles

“A $5 billion fund created as part of the health-care overhaul to pay for health insurance for early retirees will run out of money by September 2012, according to a federal report released Monday… The money was supposed to be available through the end of 2013.”

“ObamaCare supporters are ignoring the federal government’s dire fiscal situation; ignoring the law’s impact on premiums, jobs, and access to health insurance; ignoring that a strikingly similar law has sent health care costs higher in Massachusetts; ignoring public opinion, which has been solidly against the law for more than 2 years; ignoring the law’s failures (when they’re not declaring them successes); and ignoring that the law was so incompetently drafted that it cannot be implemented without shredding the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the U.S. Constitution itself. Rather than confront their own errors of judgment, they self-soothe: The public just doesn’t understand the law. The more they learn about it, the more they’ll like it.“

“Support for Democrats’ healthcare reform has hit its lowest point since the law passed in March 2010, says a new monthly poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. After months of split support for the law, 51 percent of respondents to the latest poll had an unfavorable view while only 34 percent had a favorable impression. “

“But researchers at Harvard University are now warning that policymakers should be prepared for substantial uncertainty about the true enrollment effects of the Medicaid expansion. In a paper published in the journal Health Affairs earlier this week, a team of health economists estimated that, under the law, new Medicaid enrollment could be as low as 8.5 million people, but also as high as 22.4 million people—with additional costs to match.”

“Marriage penalties from taxes in general and from the new healthcare law in
particular fall into two categories, disincentives to marry and disincentives to
work. Lower-income individuals will be primarily affected by the interaction
between government-provided health insurance credits and the poverty line, and
upper-income married taxpayers will face earnings losses due to increases in the
Medicare tax on earned and unearned income.”

“Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah) on Wednesday became the first Democrat to publicly support repealing the healthcare reform law’s CLASS program since the administration announced it was indefinitely suspending the program. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) previous had sponsored legislation with two Republicans in March that would repeal the program. “

“The Supreme Court could decide Nov. 10 whether it will review President Barack Obama’s health care reform law this term. The Obama administration and five opponents of the law are asking the court to review whether the law’s requirement that all Americans buy insurance is constitutional. Five of the six pending requests have been sent to the justices ahead of the November conference, at which the justices will decide which cases it will accept.”

“These cuts are substantial, real, and already enacted into law. If you are a Medicare beneficiary who has chosen a Medicare Advantage plan, you will probably not be able to keep it, no matter how much you like your plan. Even if you can keep your plan in name, the plan you like now will be a shell of its former self.”

“To bring European healthcare to America, these price differences always had to be sanded away. The only way ObamaCare is going to bring our health benefits and spending to European levels is to also adapt European payment rates. As a result, US doctors will adjust their business models in ways that won’t be good for patients. Some with busy practices in big cities will opt out of the government insurance systems entirely, and go cash-only. Others will retire early.
But most doctors won’t have these opportunities available to them.”

“Two tiny health insurance companies are exiting Florida’s individual market because of Democrats’ health law, the state’s insurance department announced Thursday in an effort to bolster its request for a waiver. Florida has asked for a waiver from the medical loss ratio requirement that requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care or give customers rebates. Several consumer advocacy groups argued Thursday that the state doesn’t need such a waiver.”