Vague statutory language can make laws hard to interpret and enforce. And that’s certainly true of the recently-passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Exhibit A: Obamacare requires insurers to spend at least 85 percent of group market premiums–and 80 percent of individual market premiums–on medical expenses. The remainder goes to administrative costs and profits. But what does–and doesn’t–count as a medical expense? Health insurers, legislators and regulators are already haggling over that question.
Fans of Obamacare promised it would be good for small and large employers alike. They should’ve checked with employers first. Mercer, a human resources consultancy, did just that. Its latest annual survey of businesses finds that “[38 percent] of the nation’s employers…have at least some employees for whom coverage would be considered ‘unaffordable’ under the newly enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” Under Obamacare, these employers may get slapped with penalties for not giving these workers what the Feds decide to be an appropriate level of coverage. They …
On the stump, Candidate Obama identified government entitlement spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as the largest contributor to the federal deficit. If Congress doesn’t rein in the costs of these programs, he said,, these three programs will “consume all of the federal budget.” Candidate Obama was right. (Still is: just check out The Heritage Foundation’s new 2010 Budget Chart Book.) Unfortunately, the President’s health care law will only exacerbate the entitlement crisis. While Obamacare seeks some cost-savings (witness its ham-fisted treatment of popular Medicare Advantage plans), it does …
Obamacare requires all individuals to carry health insurance for themselves and their families. Those who don’t will have to pay a penalty. And the IRS is the agency charged with making sure the uninsured pony up. Just how will the IRS do that? It’s not something lawmakers got around to actually, you know, writing down in any detail in that big bill. That’s even harder to do than reading that monster. But now that they’ve made Obamacare the law of the land, they’re starting to take an interest in the …
During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-Senator Barack Obama pledged often and everywhere that Americans individuals making under $200,000 individually or families making under $250,000 would not see an increase in their taxes. However, by signing into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, President Barack Obama has officially turned his back on that promise. As the Heritage Foundation’s Senior Tax Policy Analyst Curtis Dubay points out, the impact of Obamacare on taxpayers will spread wide and cut deep. Overall, there are 18 new taxes slipped into …
Earlier this month, President Obama held a press conference at the White House with white coated physicians in his push for a government overhaul of the nation’s health care system. Though the presence of physicians in support of the Democrats’ plans for health care “reform” created the illusion that the medical profession is in strong support of the legislation, it remained just that—an illusion. Recent reports show that the health care legislation does not have the broad support among physicians. A poll by The Medicus Firm posted in the New …
During his State of the Union Address, President Obama declared that “there will be many different opinions and ideas about how to achieve reform, and that is why I’m bringing together businesses and workers, doctors and health care providers, Democrats and Republicans to begin work on this issue next week.” One public servant providing practical solutions is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who recently introduced his Roadmap for America’s Future Act of 2010. The Ryan bill outlines clear, sound principles to reform entitlement spending and health care. The Roadmap’s health care …
One common assertion among the left is that other industrialized nations, such as Canada, achieved great success in health care within their collectivist framework. This, then, begs the question: why is the head of an east coast Canadian province coming to the United States for medical treatment? Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams is seeking heart surgery in the United States, drawing criticism from “local bloggers and people calling in to the province’s immensely popular open-line radio shows.” Yet his actions are hardly unusual for world leaders. Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin …
