“If you like your current health coverage, you can keep it.” It was a key promise of Obamacare. But the new law gives government a say in everything from the benefits you carry to the treatment you receive. And that means very real changes to existing coverage. One of those many changes derive from new restrictions on flexible spending accounts (FSAs). FSAs allow users to put aside pre-tax dollars for out-of-pocket health expenditures such as co-pays, deductibles, eyeglasses, and dental work. Typically, it cuts out-of-pocket costs by around 20 percent. …
The recently signed health-care legislation will have lasting consequences on health care in America. The massive two-piece package includes federal control of benefits, increased taxes, mandates on employers and individuals, and an expansion of costly and inefficient entitlements. This represents a federal takeover of the U.S. health care system on the pretext to meeting the needs of the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. However, in a recent paper, Heritage’s Kathryn Nix writes: This ‘reform’ will result in less choice and competition for health care consumers and, although more …
Patience will be more than a virtue, under Obamacare. It’ll be a necessity. A recent article from ABC News outlines why Americans can expect longer and longer waits before they see a doctor. One reason is that there just won’t be enough doctors to get the job done. ABC reports that 10 years from now, the United States will short 85,000 primary care and high-demand specialty physicians. Says Dr. Kevin Pho, an internal medicine physician in New Hampshire, “I don’t think we have the primary care capacity to meet the …
In recent years, the United States has faced a growing shortage of physicians. Under Obamacare, it will only get worse. Industry experts predict a 40,000 shortfall in doctors over the next decade There are two factors at play here. First, the existing supply of primary care physicians will not be able to keep up with the increased demand posed by millions of newly-covered patients. Second, and even more alarming, many physicians feel compelled to voluntarily leave the profession when the bill starts to affect their practices. Call it a double-edged …
Now that Obamacare passed, the Left is calling it a truly historic achievement, chalking it up as a victory for health care reformers everywhere. With the enactment of the House-Senate reconciliation bill, the so-called “fix” to the Senate bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) remarked that the bill did “something very important for the American people, very significant to their daily lives.” Well, Congressional liberals are correct about one thing. It’s historic. It is an unprecedented takeover of Americans’ health care now equal to one-sixth of the entire US economy. It …
The Senate’s health care bill became law earlier this week, but the fight against a government overhaul of our nation’s health system continued in the Senate. Senators voted on many amendments to the reconciliation bill passed by the House as a “fix” to the massive Senate health bill, H.R. 3590. This process proved extremely important, since it underscored some very key policy issues that have surfaced in the national debate. Forget what lawmakers say; look instead on how they act. Votes on key issues tell a big story. Consider the …
Throughout the debate over liberals’ health care proposals, it has become clear that while Americans want health care reform, they reject the direction of the legislation that will be voted on in the House this weekend. The current health care bill results in a government takeover of the health care system by imposing strict regulations on insurers, mandates on employers and individuals, and an expansion of costly and inefficient entitlements. States and citizens alike are rebelling against the bill in a bipartisan manner. State legislators reject the bill because it …
As the House of Representatives prepares for a final round of debate on the health care legislation, ordinary Americans must grasp the huge impact on the future of the country. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pulling out all the stops to get the 216 votes needed to pass the Senate health bill, H.R. 3590 (PDF). The Speaker is also promising to fix the Senate bill’s many objectionable components later through the budget reconciliation process, parliamentary rules normally used to reconcile tax and spending provisions with the annual congressional budget resolution. …
As Congressional leaders continue to search for ways to pass the Senate health bill in the House later this week, Americans continue to be subjected to dubious rhetoric surrounding the bill’s provisions. The Senate bill’s supporters claim that their legislation must be made law, no matter the cost, in order to achieve universal coverage in the United States. However, even if the Senate bill does pass, this will not be the case. Despite the fact that the proposed legislation is exorbitantly expensive, it would still fail to achieve universal health …
Most everyone agrees that decreasing the number of the uninsured is an important goal of health care legislation. What is not agreed upon is the best way to achieve that goal. Obama’s health care plan depends on expanding the number of Americans enrolled in Medicaid – the government-run program for the poor and disabled. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the Senate bill would account for about 50 percent of the reduction in the uninsured population at a cost of $395 billion over 10 years. New research by Heritage’s health …
