Medicare reform is coming soon; it has to if the program is going to survive. As budget expert J. D. Foster writes, “Medicare reform is inevitable because its demands on the federal budget are unsustainable.” The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2022, Medicare spending will exceed $1 trillion—almost 90 …
Everyone remembers President Obama’s repeated promise, “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period.” Unfortunately, Obamacare breaks this promise many times over. One way is through its medical loss ratio (MLR) requirement and the impact it will have on consumer-driven, high-deductible …
As a Canadian and firsthand witness of Canada’s government-run health care system, Sally Pipes is warning that Obamacare will exacerbate the existing problems of rising costs and lack of access in the American health care system. At a recent Heritage event, Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, …
One especially peculiar side effect of Obamacare will cause the federal government to begin taxing itself and state governments. This begins in 2014 as the result of the new annual fee imposed on the health insurance industry. The health insurer fee was created to fund new spending under Obamacare. The …
Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law, talked about Obamacare’s budgetary gimmicks and unsustainable costs at a recent panel discussion at The Heritage Foundation. Tanner explained how one of the …
Obamacare increases unaffordable government spending, which ultimately comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. Here, we summarize three of the most costly provisions of Obamacare: 1. Medicaid Expansion: Beginning in 2014, Obamacare expands Medicaid to include all non-elderly individuals with income below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion of …
Last week, the IRS released its proposed plan to implement the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices designed to help foot the bill for Obamacare. Harmful effects of the health law’s new taxes and requirements on business continue to emerge as its implementation continues. As Heritage’s Curtis Dubay explains, …
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that average premiums in Medicare Advantage (MA) for 2012 have fallen by 7 percent, and enrollment has increased by about 10 percent. This is great news for the program, which allows seniors to receive Medicare benefits through a private …
This year, Congress will have to reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which funds the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approval process. As noted by Amanda Kronquist, a Heritage Health Policy Graduate Fellow, the FDA drug approval process has become “increasingly unpredictable, uncertain, and inefficient.” The House …
As budget season approaches, premium support is gaining traction as the only viable option to save Medicare. In a recent Politico article, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D–MD) is quoted as saying liberals will use Obamacare’s new provisions to combat a conservative budget that reforms Medicare using premium support. Hoyer …
