Fix Health Care Policy

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its new projections of national health spending trends through 2020. The findings, which estimate health care spending to reach more than $4 trillion by 2020, come as no surprise: Runaway spending has overtaken the United States health care system and is on the rise. More notably, the study confirms Obamacare does not “bend the cost curve” but only increases government’s share of spending in the health care system instead.

Already, the White House has tried to spin the report as a victory for its health care legislation. Writing for the White House Blog, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Nancy-Ann DeParle touted the all-time low growth rates of the past two years. Indeed, in 2010, health care spending remained an unchanged (yet still breathtakingly large) 17.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In dollars, the nation was estimated to have spent $2.6 trillion, growing by a new historic low of 3.9 percent from the previous year. But as the authors explain, the reason for decelerated spending was the economic downturn and the impact high unemployment had on reducing private coverage—nothing to cheer about. Reduced payments to private plans under Medicare Advantage also contributed to a decrease in Medicare spending.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: 2020, CMS, health care spending, Medicaid, Medicare, ObamaCare, repeal the law, runaway deficits, taxpayers

In one of the most illuminating moments of the Obamacare debate, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Pelosi meant that we would learn the truth about the bill after the controversy had died down. However, her words apply to Obamacare more than she knew. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is not really a law, and we still do not know its full affects.

Laws set norms to regulate conduct. Obamacare, like most major laws, does not really do this. Instead, it authorizes administrators to make laws, insofar as they make the rules and regulations to govern our conduct. The public will not know the full implications of Obamacare until after unelected—and usually unknown—agency officials make the rules.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: bureaucracy, ObamaCare, regulations, rulemaking, rules

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the health policy arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has issued its long-awaited report making recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on mandatory insurance coverage of preventive services for women’s health care.

The mandatory coverage of certain preventive services was required by an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), known colloquially as Obamacare. The central feature of PPACA is a mandate that every American purchase a health insurance policy. The IOM report is thus rightly seen as envisioning a mandate within a mandate.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: contraceptive, health insurance policy, Institute of Medicine, moral issue, ObamaCare

Maine is one of the noteworthy states that worked on state health care reform in the spring legislative session. For years, Maine has suffered under poor health policy—leading to fewer insured, skyrocketing premiums, and few coverage choices. Last week, Governor Paul LePage (R) spoke to an audience at The Heritage Foundation about the need for state innovation and free-market solutions instead of a federal government takeover of the health care system. In his comments, Governor LePage pointed out that the diversity of states is a critical consideration in health care reform.

Reinforcing the Governor’s view, a recent Rasmussen poll shows that “56% of likely U.S. voters say letting states compete to determine the most effective standards and guidelines would do more to reduce health care costs than having the federal government involved.” Additionally, the poll showed only “33% believe having the federal government establish a single set of standards and regulations would be more cost effective.”  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: cost effective, federal government, Gov. Paul LePage, Maine, ObamaCare, Rasmussen poll

The recent proposal from the Gang of Six has received attention as a possible deal for raising the debt ceiling. On health care, the G6 proposal was initially weak, and as the story goes, the Gang allegedly beefed up its changes to health care spending to attract more support. But in reality, the improvements are small, and the plan ultimately fails to adequately address federal spending on health entitlements or to promise acceptable solutions down the road.

Medicare, the health entitlement for the elderly and disabled, represents the largest driver of deficit spending, as its cost rises each year due to rising health care costs and the aging population. For this reason, most agree that reductions in federal health spending should be at the heart of any serious proposal to reduce deficits.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: deficit spending, federal health spending, Gang of Six deal, Medicare

A new report from Cornell economist Richard Burkhauser and his colleagues has once again called into question the claims of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and White House that Obamacare would have only a minimal impact on employers’ decisions to offer their employees health care. The report warns that Obamacare could cost at least $50 billion more per year than originally thought.

The controversy centers on the “firewall” provision in the health law, which applies to employer plans with premiums equaling more than 9.5 percent of a worker’s income. If a worker would have to pay more than this amount to buy qualified health coverage from his employer, then that coverage is deemed “unaffordable,” which makes him eligible to obtain subsidized health insurance in the newly established health exchanges starting in 2014.  (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: CBO, deficit, employer-sponsored insurance, firewall provision, ObamaCare, qualified health coverage

States are desperate for ways to make their budgets more cost-effective. Illinois found a way—but the federal government won’t let the state implement a requirement that would help repair its faulty Medicaid system.

Federal government health care laws are preventing a new Medicaid ID requirement—passed by bipartisan majorities in the state—from going into effect. The legislation gained the support of Republican and Democratic caucuses in the state with Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Westmont) and Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) moving the bill forth. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed it into law.   (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: federal government, ID requirement, Illinois, Medicaid

This week, the House Budget Committee and Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings to examine the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a board of unelected bureaucrats tasked under Obamacare to reduce the growth in Medicare spending.

During the Budget Committee hearing, Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, described the board:

[T]he IPAB is unprecedented in the power given to unelected officials to direct hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending. The IPAB will give unelected, unaccountable government appointees the power to make decisions about payment policy in Medicare that will ultimately determine whether millions of seniors have access to the care they need. This challenges the very principles of representative democracy and consent of the governed.   (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: Energy and Commerce Committee, House Budget Committee, IPAB, Medicare spending, unelected bureaucrats

News from Rasmussen Reports: Obamacare still isn’t winning any fans among Americans. Given Obamacare’s effect on employment, that’s not surprising.

A new poll reveals that 57 percent of Americans favor the repeal of Obamacare, including 46 percent who strongly favor its repeal. Meanwhile, 53 percent think the law will be bad for the country, and only 31 percent think it will be good–the lowest finding since the law’s passage.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: ObamaCare, recession, repeal the law, unemployment

In this week’s Heritage in Focus, labor economist James Sherk discusses his two new reports, one on Obamacare’s effect on recovery and the other on unions’ effect on job creation. Make sure to listen to the full interview, here.

Sherk’s research is captured well in the graph below. In short, Obamacare is bad for jobs. Not only that, but unions are preventing wage increases, bonuses and additional job growth, as well. Listen to James discuss these issues and where we go from here.

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Tags: job growth, ObamaCare, stalled recovery, unemployment, unions