July 30, 2018

Obamacare Coverage Map as of 7-19-17

March 23, 2017

New Analysis: Obamacare Regulations Drove Up Premium Costs by Up to 68%

January 3, 2017

Judge Blocks Obamacare’s Abortion, Sex Change Mandates

HHS interpretation exceeds authority, 'likely violates' religious liberty

February 11, 2016

The Obama Administration’s Design for Imposing More Health Care Mandates (From Edmund F. Haislmaier – The Heritage Foundation)

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has proposed a rule that, if adopted, would dramatically expand federal regulatory power over private health plans and medical providers. The proposed rule would implement section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (prohibiting discrimination in health programs “receiving federal financial assistance”) in a manner that reinterprets anti-discrimination statutes from ensuring that individuals are not denied access to whatever benefits a plan might provide into legal requirements that plans provide specified benefits. Thus, determinations of the medical “necessity” or “appropriateness” of coverage and treatments would be subordinated to determinations by federal regulators or judges of prohibited “discrimination.” Their decisions would effectively impose new health insurance benefit mandates and, under the rule’s broadly defined scope, those mandates would be imposed not only on Medicare and Medicaid but also on unsubsidized individual and employer plans covering another 164 million Americans.

November 4, 2015

Obamacare Is Dead (From National Review – Kevin D. Williamson)

It doesn’t work because it couldn’t work.

September 9, 2015

The Legalization Of Marijuana In Colorado – The Impact

The most recent study on Colorado’s legalization of dope smoking paints a pretty dim picture for public safety in Colorado

August 24, 2015

Electronic Health Records - A Physician’s View (From National Center for Policy Analysis - Lawrence N. Pivnick)

Electronic Health Records are not yet ready for widespread utilization. They should only be adopted in the normal course of business on their own merits, not under duress. Their full potential will only be realized when they prove useful to the doctor/patient interaction, not otherwise. They should not be foisted upon an unwilling medical profession and its patients for ulterior motives, before proper testing and proof of safety and reliability. At the moment, they are simply another government power grab; a solution in search of a problem.

May 18, 2015

Fifty Changes to ObamaCare … So Far

By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 50 significant changes have been made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , at least 31 that the Obama administration has made unilaterally, 17 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and two by the Supreme Court.

March 30, 2015

King v. Burwell: A Loss of Subsidy Does Not Mean a Loss of Coverage

An important distinction is getting lost in commentary on the possible effects of a Supreme Court decision in the case of King v. Burwell. It is the distinction between how the Court’s ruling would affect “insurance subsidies” versus how it would affect “insurance coverage.” Should the Supreme Court’s eventual ruling in King v. Burwell result in people losing insurance subsidies, the affected individuals will have options for maintaining their coverage or choosing replacement coverage. Congress can also reinforce that through oversight hearings, appropriations, or legislation. Of course, some might still not be able to afford the unsubsidized premium even if they switched to a less expensive plan. As a first step to help them, Congress can contribute to bringing premiums back down by exempting individuals, employers, and plans from the costly benefit mandates and age-rating rules imposed by the ACA. That would allow for a rational market to form and thus provide a clearer understanding of the need for assistance.

March 20, 2015

2015 ACA-Exchange-Premiums Update: Premiums Still Rising

Health care premiums are continuing to rise in 2015, and measuring changes in premiums is an important element in understanding the impact of the Affordable Care Act. Exchange-plan pricing in 2015 generally shows reductions in premiums for the expensive plans that few people purchased accompanied by increases in premiums for the lower-cost plans favored by the majority of enrollees. Thus, the real-world effect for most exchange consumers is that the prices they pay further increased in 2015, though not as dramatically as they did in 2014.

February 27, 2015

King v. Burwell: An Opportunity for Congress and the States to Clear Away Obamacare’s Failed Policies

Congress and the states should seize the opportunity and clear the way for patient-centered, market-based reforms to take root in the states. Congress should devolve the regulatory authority over insurance back to the states. In anticipation of such an exemption, states should use their authority now to put in place their own policies governing insurance. Congress should not preserve the flawed Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidy scheme and states should not adopt state exchanges. Instead, congress should exempt individuals, employers, and insurance plans in states that have no state exchange from the ACA’s costly rules, regulations, and mandates.

February 23, 2015

Impact of King v. Burwell: Obamacare’s Key Design Flaws

Many of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) key components are complicated, confusing, and disruptive. The complexity and cascade of adverse effects are the inescapable byproducts of major flaws in the legislation’s basic design. The first flaw is its overly generous subsidies. The second design flaw is a complex tax credit design. Another flaw is the blanket prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions, which ignored the previous approach which was working well. The fourth flaw is the rating rules that increase premiums, and the final major flaw is the costly and prescriptive benefit mandates. The complexity and adverse effects of the ACA’s key provisions have already increased costs and dislocated millions from coverage. Thus, it is the ACA’s fundamental design flaws—not how the Supreme Court eventually rules in the King case—that are the ultimate source of disruption and will continue to plague the law’s implementation.

February 23, 2015

Eight Groups Harmed by Obamacare's Flawed Policies

While King v. Burwell is currently in the spotlight, in the end, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its flawed policies are at the root of the problems plaguing this law and are responsible for its harmful effects. Taxpayers will be harmed because, despite increasing debt, the ACA creates a new entitlement program and expands the broken Medicaid. Workers are harmed, because employers are cutting employee hours so they fall below the 30 hour threshold. Additionally, faith-based employers are being required to comply with policies they may not agree with. The ACA exacerbates the worst features of our health care system by doubling down on the third-party payment arrangement that compromises the independence and integrity of the medical profession, and thus it harms doctors. Finally, the ACA harms the uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 4 million individuals will face the mandate penalty, totaling $4 billion, in 2016.

January 29, 2015

Q3 2014 Health Insurance Enrollment: Employer Coverage Continues to Decline, Medicaid Keeps Growing

Third quarter 2014 health insurance enrollment data show continuation of two trends during the first and second quarters—increasing Medicaid enrollment and declining enrollment in employer plans. However, while individual-market enrollment increased substantially in both the first and second quarters, it declined by 357,000 during the third quarter. The net result was 160,000 fewer Americans with health insurance. For the first nine months of 2014, individual-market enrollment grew by 5.83 million, but 4.93 million individuals lost employer coverage—offsetting 85 percent of the individual-market gain. Thus, the net increase in private health insurance for 2014 is so far 893,000 individuals. During the same period, Medicaid enrollment grew by almost 7.49 million. Taken together, the number of Americans with health insurance increased by 8.38 million during the first nine months of 2014, but growth in Medicaid accounted for 89 percent of that gain.

January 7, 2015

46 Changes to ObamaCare … So Far

By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 46 significant changes already have been made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: at least 28 that President Obama has made unilaterally, 16 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and two by the Supreme Court.

December 9, 2014

Restoring Balance to Federal Health Spending

Coming to agreements on some provisions of health reform early will set the stage for a productive 114th Congress. It can also create a positive atmosphere for the more significant challenges to come; priorities such as SGR and—even further out—a social security disability insurance solution. In preparation for next year, health care spending will be a continued concern. In setting fiscal priorities for health care, Congress should start with small reforms to the ACA that have the potential for real savings.

December 9, 2014

Watch: GOP Lawmaker Chokes Up as She Describes Her Tragic, Personal Involvement With Obamacare

December 04, 2014

Power to the People: Repealing and Replacing Obamacare with Patient Power

Obamacare is based on central planning, coercive mandates prescribing from the top down exactly what health insurance everyone must buy. Such central planning naturally involves banning many existing health insurance policies people previously had, liked, and were promised they could keep. The patient power replacement for Obamacare is based on unrestricted individual consumer choice in a competitive marketplace. Voters will wildly and widely applaud replacing Obamacare with patient power.

November 13, 2014

14 Ways ObamaCare Is Still a Big Mess – That You Won’t Learn from the Liberal Website Vox

ObamaCare is becoming an even bigger mess than it was during the first enrollment period. The program has caused a multitude of problems as the exchanges head into the second open enrollment. Among them increased premiums, poor quality plans, high exchange “dropout rates,” and a shift toward part-time labor. And so much for reducing the deficit! Fewer hours worked, of course, means fewer taxes paid. With over 6 million insurance cancelations last year alone, the fallout of ObamaCare has been worse for America than its critics imagined.

Caught on Camera: Obamacare Architect Admits Deceiving Americans to Pass Law - “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” says the MIT economist who helped write Obamacare. “And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.” (Barry Soetoro & his crew are dirty, dirty, dirty !!)

November 10, 2104

Obamacare may not have enough enrollees to stay solvent - Fewer than 10 million projected; 13 million needed to stay solvent

October 31, 2014

Health Care Providers are Opting-Out of Obamacare Exchange Plans

Health care providers face many obligations and restrictions as a result of the Affordable Care Act, as do insurers. Because of pressure placed on insurance companies to keep cost of exchange plans unrealistically low, providers are reimbursed at unsustainable rates. Reduction in payment rates has caused many physicians and hospitals to decline insurance plans issued through the exchanges, thereby negating the intended effect of providing individuals with affordable care by virtue of eliminating access to care. A market where not only hospitals and physicians are opting-out of exchanges plans, but individuals and families are opting-out as well results. The stated goals of the law fly in the face of the actual results that it produces.

October 22, 2014

Obamacare’s Enrollment Increase: Mainly Due to Medicaid Expansion

Health insurance enrollment data show that the number of Americans with private health insurance coverage increased by a bit less than 2.5 million in the first half of 2014. While enrollment in individual market coverage grew by almost 6.3 million, 61 percent of that gain was offset by a reduction of nearly 3.8 million individuals with employer-sponsored coverage. During the same period, Medicaid enrollment increased by almost 6.1 million—principally as a result of Obamacare expanding eligibility to able-bodied, working-age adults. Consequently, 71 percent of the combined increase in health insurance coverage during the first half of 2014 was attributable to 25 states and the District of Columbia adopting the Obamacare Medicaid expansion.

October 20, 2014

Doc Fix Problems and Solutions

Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, put in place by the Balanced Budget act of 1997, was meant to control costs in Medicare by automatically reducing doctors’ pay. But without fail since 2003, Congress blocks SGR’s implementation each year. This is called a “doc fix.” The annual “doc fix” undermines the original purpose of the formula: to control Medicare costs. But allowing the SGR formula to take effect would lead to other problems. More than 50 million seniors depend on Medicare for health insurance. If physician reimbursement becomes too low, more and more doctors will close their doors to Medicare patients in favor of patients with private insurance. The government needs realistic, market-rate reimbursement policies to ensure that Medicare patients have access to the care they need.

October 06, 2014

How Obamacare Is Affecting Wisconsin’s Workers and Employers

The Affordable Care Act contains sweeping changes to the employer-sponsored health insurance market. Though it was promoted as a way to lessen the problems small businesses experience in providing health coverage, many Wisconsin business owners report that the law is increasing their burden. Indeed, the Obama Administration itself says that perhaps two-thirds of small employers will see a jump in premiums due to provisions in the health care law. This trend is likely to continue.

September 15, 2014

ObamaCare’s Impact on Small Business Wages and Employment

As the Federal Reserve found more than a decade ago, there is “strong evidence that workers pay for their health care costs in the form of reduced compensation, and that they do so contemporaneously with those costs.” Today, American Action Forum finds that the Affordable Care Act has fundamentally changed the health care landscape, affecting premiums, small business wages, and employment. $22.6 billion in foregone income and 350,000 lost small business jobs might sound like stark numbers, but they are just the initial data from the ACA’s implementation. We expect this trend to strengthen as the administration fully implements the employer mandate.