Inefficient programs that don’t solve problems and are passed against the will of the American people seem to be the Obama Administration’s forte. Now their high-minded aspirations of a health care revolution are quickly unraveling as fatal glitches in Obamacare become apparent. Next up for implosion? The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, otherwise known as the “CLASS Act,” which creates a government-run long term care insurance program too costly to sustain. At a time when entitlement programs in America have spun out of control, liberal proponents of Obamacare were …
At a recent Energy and Commerce hearing, health policy experts testified on the effects Obamacare will have on jobs and employer-sponsored coverage. The title of the hearing said a lot: “Cutting the Red Tape: Saving Jobs from PPACA’s [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] Harmful Regulations.” Since Obamacare will require employers to spend more money on health care plans for their employees, it’s expected to hinder job creation. To avoid this, a discussion draft under review would prevent the regulations and requirements in the new law from affecting grandfathered health …
Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected two challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—better known as ObamaCare—on procedural grounds. Because the court found procedural problems in both cases, it did not reach the constitutional question of whether the individual mandate is constitutional. Importantly, the procedural problems identified in these cases either don’t exist, or will be unpersuasive to the Supreme Court, which already has a petition before it to hear another challenge to ObamaCare. Accordingly, today’s decisions add nothing to the discussion over the constitutionality …
There is an obvious omission from all the previews of the President’s upcoming speech on jobs: Obamacare. Obamacare is perhaps the most damaging of the Administration’s policies that are impeding the country’s recovery. At a time when there should be a focus on cutting spending, reducing regulation, and lowering taxes, Obamacare does the complete opposite. It spends more, imposes costly new mandates and regulations, and raises taxes on individuals and businesses. This is no way to get the economy up and running again. More Spending. While proponents argue that Obamacare …
Last Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released a grim report showing a reduction in the availability of child-only policies for parents looking to purchase health insurance for their children. They findings show that, “Of the 50 states, 17 reported that there are currently no carriers selling child-only health plans to new enrollees. Thirty-nine states indicated at least one insurance carrier exited the child-only market following enactment of the new health care laws.” The reason for this decline in child coverage is that specific provisions of Obamacare …
The recent McKinsey survey showing that 30 percent of employers would drop coverage shouldn’t be controversial. Economists have consistently shown how an employer mandate will negatively affect employment and wages. In fact, even the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concede such affects. Answering critics’ calls, McKinsey released the details of its survey three weeks ago, showing that their survey methodology was sound. The survey included a large sample size, representative industries, respondents directly involved in the decision-making process regarding health benefits, and questions/information presented in a neutral manner. Nonetheless, critics—including the …
Spending in the U.S. health care system is growing too fast to ignore. Yet, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (PPACA), also known as Obamacare, does nothing to “bend the cost curve.” Containing health spending requires engaging consumers in their health care expenditures, and one way to achieve this is through high-deductible health plans paired with Health Savings Accounts (HSA), which a recent report shows are gaining in popularity.
In a classic case of the “Friday afternoon news dump,” last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it is closing the process to apply for a waiver to Obamacare’s annual limits provision in September. Both the timing and substance of this decision confirm that HHS’s annual limit regulations and the decision to grant waivers was a public relations strategy gone bad. Friday’s announcement was little more than a move by the Obama Administration to limit further damage from a self-inflicted wound.
As small business goes, so goes the economy. They have been responsible for creating almost two-thirds of all net new jobs over the last 15 years. Indeed, one reason Obamacare is such a concern is that it will significantly reduce the incentive for small businesses to hire. Especially once the premium subsidies become available in 2014. The premium subsidies are Obamacare’s way of making health insurance more affordable for low-income earners who buy coverage in the new exchanges. Eligibility for a subsidy is limited to people who lack public or …
It’s a simple fact: You can’t sustain Medicare unless you transform the current—and unaffordable—system. But the left continues to falsely decry conservatives’ plans to achieve this, accusing them of plotting to end the program altogether. It’s ironic, then, that the left has diligently pursued a strategy of its own to “end Medicare as we know it.” That strategy boils down to this: Downplay the problem. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Hiltzik claims, “One of the basic flaws of Ryan’s plan is that he folds Medicare’s long-term fiscal problem …
