Recent Articles

“CBO’s analysis of Obamacare predicts that it will reduce the amount of labor being used in the economy by roughly half a percent. Elmendorf states that this impact will be small, but in reality the impact is small only in relative terms. For instance, a half-percent loss in jobs in the American economy today would translate into about 750,000 additional Americans losing work.”

“The overhaul left virtually untouched one big element of our health-care dilemma: the price problem. Simply put, Americans pay much more for each bit of care — tests, procedures, hospital stays, drugs, devices — than people in other rich nations.”

“The turn toward consolidation among insurance companies is not new, and neither is it among doctors, hospitals and other providers. Yet the health bill has accelerated these trends, as all sides race to anticipate and manage political risk and regulatory uncertainty. This dynamic is leading to much larger hospital systems and physician groups, and fewer insurers dominated by a handful of national conglomerates. ObamaCare was sold using the language of choice and competition, but it is actually reducing both.”

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cause significant harm to an economy already reeling from a significant recession. A new report from Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY), both physicians, draws attention to just this issue.”

ObamaCare’s new mandates terrify employers. According to benefit consultants, “What we are hearing in our meetings is, ‘We don’t want to be the first one to drop benefits, but we would be the fast second.’ We are hearing that a lot.”

Insurance companies will be forced to comply with new mandates on their administrative spending. This new spending could drive many of them out of business if they have to pay large penalties. “The market is underestimating the impact of minimum MLRs on managed care earnings in 2011 — Unless plans are successful in obtaining the federal income tax adjustment and receive numerous waivers from HHS, our analysis of United’s Golden Rule subsidiary indicates that plans will be forced to pay bigger rebates next year than the market currently anticipates, which means the consensus earnings outlook for next year seems too high.”

Many embattled House Democrats who voted to pass ObamaCare just seven
months ago no doubt wish they had listened to the American people rather
than to their leadership and said “No!” to the massive health overhaul
law.
If a Democrat boasts about voting Yes, it is such a rarity that it makes news. In all but a very few races, support for the law is a huge liability on the campaign trail.

“The new health care law specifically targets reimbursement for new drugs and devices as a way to save money in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. These savings, in turn, are used to pay for new health coverage for the uninsured. But the legislation doesn’t take down drug and medical device prices directly. Rather, it creates a series of new agencies, boards, and authorities that separately will be empowered to construct new rules to impact how medical products are priced, as well as to restrict their use by defining when and if products are covered by insurance.”

ObamaCare is so politically radioactive, even Democratic Congressmen are recoiling from it. “Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) said this week that Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) handling of healthcare reform was the last straw influencing his decision to oppose her as speaker if the Democrats keep control of the House. “

ObamaCare’s deficit reductions are unlikely to pan out, and the tax hikes will be worse than anticipated when you account for their economic effects. “Indeed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is chock full of tax hikes. And those taxes will cost more than you might think.”