Fix Health Care Policy

Arizona Moves to Oppose Obama’s Expected Health Reform

CNSNews.com has the latest on Arizona’s ballot initiative, which voters in the state will vote on in November 2010, about whether residents will be subject to mandates in any health care reform legislation from Congress. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats have promoted mandates on both employers to provide health insurance and individuals to buy health insurance.

The article notes five other states — Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming — are considering pre-emptive legislative action if mandates come down from the federal level.

Tags: Arizona, employer mandates, individuals

Group Challenges Congress to Actually Read Its Health Care Bill

The Politico notes that a constitutional government group is campaigning to get all 535 congressional lawmakers to pledge not to vote on a health care bill until they personally read the entire thing and it has been posted on the Internet for 72 hours.

This push comes after Congress pushed through the 1,132-page economic stimulus package and the House quickly voted 1,200-page energy and climate change bill — both of which few lawmakers actually read through before voting on, the article says. President Barack Obama campaigned on the pledge that bills would be available online for five days before they would be signed into law. The White House has since pulled back on that promise, saying “it will now post the bills before they pass Congress,” the article says.

So far, the campaign has received pledge promises from Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).

Tags: health care bill, Obama, pledge

Massachusetts Public “Pans” State Health Reform

According to the Boston Herald, only 26 percent of likely voters in Massachusetts think health care reform efforts in the state have been a success, with just 21 percent believing reform there has made health care more affordable. Citing a Rasmussen Reports poll of 500 likely voters in the state, the report notes only 10 percent of respondents “said the quality of health care is getting better under the reform law rules here.”

Tags: health reform, Massachusetts, quality

Survey Cites Growing HSA Adoption

Healthcare Finance News reports on a new survey that shows a growing adoption of health savings accounts (HSAs) in health coverage. From January 2008 through January 2009, Celent’s latest HSA survey found a 46.1 percent increase among participants using the accounts. In the same period, respondents said their asset base grew 62.6 percent.

The article cites Celent executives projecting that HSAs “should survive current efforts by Congress and the Obama administration to reform health care because they represent one of the fastest-growing retail banking products.”

Tags: health savings accounts, HSA, Obama administration

Send Your Question to Obama for Online Townhall Wednesday

President Barack Obama wants your feedback to his latest Web video regarding his health care reform policies in advance of an online town hall he’s holding Wednesday (check out http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-National-Discussion-on-Health-Care-Reform/ for full details). Post your 20 to 30 second video to President Obama and then tell us what you would do to fix our current health care system.

Public Insurance Option Distracts Overall Health Reform

The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus uses a canine metaphor in her latest column to highlight how Congress’ focus on a public health insurance option and not the overall health insurance exchange could result in “a stubby little tail [the public option] attached to a poorly designed — not to mention astonishingly expensive — dog [the proposed broader health exchange for those who don't have employer-based coverage].”

“It’s not far-fetched to imagine that instead of having a public system that trounces private insurers on cost, the public plan will end up being a more expensive repository for the sickest enrollees, holding little attraction for those in reasonably good health and doing little, then, to hold down costs,” Marcus says.

Tags: health exchange, public option, Ruth Marcus

Small Businesses Wary of Health Reform Bills

As many as 15 million people who work for small businesses paying lower salaries could lose benefits they currently have if a Democratic health reform bill is passed into law, USA Today highlights, citing estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

“The estimates were based on an incomplete draft of a bill in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but they touched off a broader debate about who might lose health benefits received through their company,” the article said, noting employees at smaller companies are likely to be more vulnerable.

“The health insurance system doesn’t really work well for small employers,” Heritage Foundation health policy analyst Greg D’Angelo said in the article. He pointed out “the number of people who lose insurance will depend on factors lawmakers are still negotiating.”

Tags: Congressional Budget Office, greg d'angelo, small business