Recent Articles

“The Obama administration Friday pulled the plug on a major program in the president’s signature health overhaul law – a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency. Targeted by congressional Republicans for repeal, the program became the first casualty in the political and policy wars over the health care law. It had been expected to launch in 2013.”

“‘Who is in charge: the government or the patient?’ U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan asked during a memorable speech about health care last month at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. For most of us, the answer is clear. The patient, in consultation with his or her doctor, should be in charge. But the new health care law’s attempt to contain out-of-control costs would give the government that role.”

“Last Thursday, the Institute of Medicine finally released its long-awaited set of recommendations for how the Secretary of Health and Human Services should accomplish the impossible–determining the ‘essential health benefits’ for tens of millions of Americans under the to-be-implemented Affordable Care Act. Early reviews indicate that, not surprisingly, there is no way to please everyone, or perhaps even anyone, in this highly political exercise. The countervailing pressures ‘essentially’ are that one side wants to ensure that benefits are more comprehensive and generous to ensure that everyone either gets what they want, or what other interests and experts think they must get anyway. “

“There is growing concern that the substantial infrastructure necessary for successful implementation of the
PPACA’s primary provisions will not be ready by 2014. Moreover, there are serious legal challenges to the law still
pending. Finally, significant political disagreements exist over the merits of many PPACA provisions; these are likely
to be debated extensively in the 2012 election season. Consequently, there is growing interest in delaying further implementation of the law until the operational, legal, and political concerns can be settled. In this short note, we explore the budgetary implications of delaying the implementation of the PPACA for 2, 3, and 4 years.”

“How have attitudes about health care changed since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?
This ‘AEI Special Report: Health Care Polls’ examines the evidence and compares the poll results.”

“ObamaCare drives up the cost of insurance by piling mandates and required coverage benefits onto every single policy.
Consider the so-called “slacker mandate,” which requires all family policies to cover adult children until they turn 26. According to a recent federal report, nearly 1 million young adults gained health coverage this year thanks to the mandate.
Of course, adding them to their parents’ policies isn’t free. Towers Watson found that the rise in young-adult enrollment was responsible for premium increases of as much as 3% at many firms.”

“Revenue from a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services mandated by the 2010 health-care overhaul law is falling short of projections, a government watchdog reported Thursday. The tax brought in $17.8 million in the last quarter of the 2010 fiscal year and $36.6 million in the first half of fiscal 2011, according to the report by the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration. The tanning levy was projected to generate $2.7 billion over 10 years, including $200 million for fiscal 2011, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.”

“Since the federal government is mandating that people purchase health insurance and will spend trillions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, it therefore must define what qualifies as an acceptable policy. Deciding what will be in this ‘essential benefits package’ is going to be a long, painful process that the political system is ill-equipped to handle.”

“In other words, Sebelius’ dilemma is whether or not to take away a perfectly good option—catastrophic coverage—that the market currently offers patients. And the expert advice is that she should not. I’m not sure whether to applaud this dawn of wisdom or weep that the Obama administration needed a panel to tell it the obvious. What’s next? An expert panel advising the administration that GM should, after all, keep its wheels round?”

“President Obama’s health care law requires employers to offer health benefits to full-time employees. This employer mandate will price many unskilled workers out of full-time employment. After paying the new health premiums, the minimum wage, payroll taxes, and unemployment insurance taxes, hiring a full-time worker will cost employers at least $10.03 per hour. Full-time workers with family health plans will cost $13.75 per hour. Employers who hire workers with productivity below these rates will lose money. Businesses employing less skilled workers will probably respond by dumping their employees onto the federally subsidized health care exchanges and replacing full-time positions with part-time jobs.”