Health care isn’t something most students worry about. Government stats show about 80 percent of college students are covered under a parents’ plan. For them, Obamacare may mean they can keep the insurance they already have for a few years beyond college, but it won’t affect the coverage they carry during school. But what about kids without parental coverage? The new law’s requirement that insurance cover children up to age 26 won’t make any difference for them. Currently, college students without coverage can enroll in low-cost student health plans offered …
Last Thursday, a who’s who of the progressive movement met for a conference call organized by Families USA and hosted by the advocacy group for government-run health care, The Herndon Alliance. The Alliance’s partners include AARP, AFL-CIO, SEIU, MoveOn and La Raza, among many others. Democratic pollsters John Anzalone, Celinda Lake and Stan Greenberg were the call’s main event, and they were there to deliver some bad news. Politico reports: “Democrats are acknowledging the failure of their predictions that the health care legislation would grow more popular after its passage, …
A new messaging strategy, based on public polling results from top Democratic pollsters, suggests that congressional lawmakers should wave the white flag when discussing Obamacare in their election campaigns. The PowerPoint presentation, released in a conference call organized by Families USA, encouraged officials to “keep claims small and credible: don’t overpromise or ‘spin’ what the law delivers.” In other words, abandon ship on claims that lawmakers made for months during the health reform debate—that the legislation would in any way reduce the nation’s deficit or lower health care costs (in …
So far, 21 states have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare. As they move forward, it’s worth pondering what would happen to the health care overhaul if they succeed. Could one lawsuit be the proton torpedo that blows up the Obamacare Death Star? Typically, courts can deem a legislative provision unconstitutional without it spelling doom for the entire piece of legislation. But Obamacare isn’t typical legislation. Ben Domenech explains: “Most laws of large size and scope have something called a “severability clause” attached to them. Essentially, this means that …
Nothing is more important to Larry Patterson than his family. His four kids, who range from a 2-year-old to a college graduate, shape his outlook on life. They’re one of the primary reasons he’s concerned about the devastating consequences of Obamacare. Patterson has good reason to be worried. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act diminishes family choice of coverage, limits parental involvement and strikes a blow for family values in health care. Even with many of the new provisions years from implementation, Patterson is already bracing for the harsh …
Obamacare creates a host of new federal requirements billed as consumer protections. But enacting these policies falls not on the feds, but on the states. Some of these provisions were among the more popular components of Obamacare: guaranteed issue for children; letting individuals remain on their parents’ health plan up to age 26; requiring insurers to cover federally-defined preventive services, etc. The goals behind these mandates are worthy. But they could be achieved in better ways. The approach taken here is virtually guaranteed to accelerate insurance costs. Ironically, Obamacare also …
Is Granny “disposable”? Some seniors may get that impression once Obamacare kicks in. As noted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, the new law cuts $200 billion from Medicare Advantage, a public-private “hybrid” of Medicare. As a result, more than 11 million seniors will likely see their Medicare Advantage premiums rise significantly or their benefits noticeably lessened. Either way, it will violate President Obama’s promise that all who liked their current coverage would be able to keep it under Obamacare. But Obamacare giveth what it taketh away. And the …
The American people made it clear during the recent health care debate that they were leery of a public option. But included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed by Congress is the CLASS Act, a public option of a different sort: a government-run long-term care entitlement. In recent research, Heritage analyst Brian Blase lays out why the CLASS program will not offer a better alternative to plans available in the private market but will instead suffer from severe adverse selection, either necessitating a taxpayer bailout or …
The President signed Obamacare into law last March as an attempt to get spending and costs under control, but the new law will likely fail at this mission. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reports that, in recent months, Americans have already begun to cut back on health care usage, which has the potential to lower the cost of medical care and insurance premiums. In a truly ironic turn of events, Obamacare may actually keep spending on its upward trajectory. The drop in health care usage could be a result …
The effects of Obamacare are getting weirder with each passing month. Now, new requirements created by the law are causing some insurers to consider no longer offering “child-only” policies to avoid having to raise rates. Most children are covered by parents’ employer-provided insurance or by government programs. But some parents buy individual health insurance coverage just for their kids. Starting next year, Obamacare prohibits insurers and employer plans imposing any pre-existing condition exclusions on children and requires them to accept all applications for children who qualify for coverage under their …
