Fix Health Care Policy

Americans are well aware by now that Obamacare was sloppily written, a fact that has resulted in numerous unintended consequences that will adversely affect the nation. In light of a recent report from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the newly created Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) can be added to the list of poorly thought-out provisions of the new law.

A temporary reinsurance program to run through 2014, the ERRP is an attempt to encourage companies to continue employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Heritage analyst Brian Blase pointed out in a recent report that this program “appears to be mostly a bailout for public-sector and union health benefit programs for early retirees.” However, shifting the cost of benefits for government and other union employees onto federal taxpayers isn’t the only problem with the program. (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: cost-shifting, Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP), House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Side Effects

A main goal of Obamacare was to expand health care coverage in the United States, which it tries to achieve largely by adding 18 million more individuals to Medicaid. But health coverage does not always equate to access to care, which is already apparent in the Medicaid program. In light of an increasing physician shortage across the nation, the changes made by Obamacare will make it even harder for Medicaid beneficiaries to receive primary care.

Medicaid patients already face an uphill battle trying to find physicians, since the program pays providers significantly less than private insurers and even Medicare. In many cases, reimbursement does not even cover the cost of providing services. Meanwhile, the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians and 46,000 surgeons and medical specialists within the next 10 years. As the population ages, demand for health care providers will rise. (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: Medicaid patients, ObamaCare, physician access, private insurers, Side Effects

“I think that health care, over time, is going to become more popular,” then-White House senior advisor David Axelrod promised David Gregory about Obamacare last September. That same month, the Health Information Campaign, founded by high-profile leftist activists including former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, spent $2 million on a national television ad campaign touting Obamcare’s first insurance mandates. Now, six months after Axelrod’s promise, and a full year after the bill was signed into law, the results are in: Obamacare is more unpopular than ever.

Look at any poll and you’ll see that Obamacare has only gotten less legitimate. Last year at this time Newsweek showed 40 percent of Americans supporting Obamacare and 49 percent opposing it. Today, only 37 percent support it while 56 percent oppose. According to Quinnipiac, after Obamacare passed last year, 44 percent of Americans approved of President Obama’s handling of health care while 50 percent opposed. Today, only 44 percent approve while opposition has grown to 56 percent. And according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, after Obamacare passed, 62 percent of Americans thought the law would either have no effect on them or make them worse off. Today that number is up to 69 percent.

The reason why President Obama and his liberal allies have failed to turn public opinion around is simple: The major claims made by the President in the effort to pass Obamacare have all been exposed as frauds, and the early implementation by his Administration has been a complete disaster. (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: Obamacare anniversary, Public Opinion, repeal, Side Effects

One provision of Obamacare has already spawned a nightmare for doctors, pharmacists, and patients. As of January 1, Americans with health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible savings accounts (FSAs), and health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) can no longer purchase over-the-counter (OTC) drugs using these tax-exempt accounts. After only a couple of months, health care providers are already experiencing the negative consequences of the change.

This provision was included to raise tax revenue to help pay for massive new spending under Obamacare. From its conception, its major flaw is that it creates additional expenses for patients who depend on OTC drugs to manage chronic illness. To smooth out this wrinkle, the new law allowed for the continued use of the savings accounts for OTC drugs with a prescription. (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: Flexible Spending Accounts, health reimbursement accounts, health savings accounts, ObamaCare, over-the-counter drugs, prescriptions, Side Effects

This year, as the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, Americans who depend on health savings accounts (HSAs) to make medical expenditures more affordable will experience first-hand yet another adverse side effect of Obamacare. Starting in 2011, American families will no longer be able to use HSAs to purchase over-the-counter drugs, such as cough and allergy medicines.

Americans using HSAs will not be the only ones affected. The provisions of the new law will also change rules regarding the use of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health reimbursement accounts (HRAs).

One of the benefits of these savings accounts is that they allow users to put some of their earnings into a separate, tax-free account. This money can then be used for out-of-pocket medical costs such as medical deductibles, eyeglasses, and prescriptions. Since users can make medical purchases using pre-tax dollars, these accounts help cut out-of-pocket costs by about 20 percent, on average. (Read more at The Foundry…)

Tags: Flexible Spending Accounts, health savings accounts, prescription, repeal Obamacare, Side Effects

Within days of Obamacare’s passage, The Heritage Foundation began documenting all of the ill Side Effects the new law was inflicting on our country. It has been The Foundry’s most popular feature by far. The Side Effects index page is the third highest trafficked page on the blog. Continuing our Top Ten in 2010 series, here are the Top Ten Side Effects of 2010 ranked by pageviews with the 10th most popular post on top, and the most popular post at the bottom.

10. Doctor Participation May Vary
9. Congress Regulates Themselves Out of Coverage
8. Medical Devices Tax Will Costs Jobs
7. Higher Health Insurance Taxes
6. Get Ready to Change Your Insurance
5. Young to Pay Higher Health Insurance Premiums
4. Obamacare Fueling Higher Insurance Costs
3. Obamacare Doesn’t Work on Children After All
2. Obamacare May Be Fatal for Your HSA
1. Laws No Longer Mean What They Say

Tags: children, costs, health insurance taxes, HSA, ObamaCare, Side Effects

Once again, the promise that Americans can keep the health coverage they like under Obamacare has been broken. National Health Insurance, Aetna, John Alden, and Principle have reported that they “need to make adjustments in their business to accommodate the nation’s new federal health care law.”

The National Health Insurance Co. (NHIC), a Dallas-based insurer, recently announced that it would no longer offer insurance plans in the individual and small group markets in New Mexico. According to NHIC President Charles Harris, “After careful consideration…National Health Insurance Company has determined it will not be able to meet the requirements set forth by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” (more…)

Tags: coverage drop, higher premiums, individual insurance market, New Mexico, ObamaCare, Side Effects

Imagine that one day, your boss takes you out to coffee. You offer to pick up the tip as a contribution. The two of you head down the street and are faced with quite the conundrum: two coffee shops to choose from! Both offer a delicious cup of joe for the same price, but in front of one, a benevolent gentleman who calls himself Uncle Sam (weird, right?) offers you a coupon for 50 percent off, so both you and your boss will save. Which coffee shop do you think your employer would take you to?

This is not a trick question. The scenario described above captures how employers are likely to react to incentives created by Obamacare to dump employer coverage, as Governor Philip Bredesen (D–TN) explained recently in The Wall Street Journal. (more…)

Tags: health insurance premiums, ObamaCare, Side Effects, taxpayer-funded subsidies, Tennessee Gov. Philip Bredesen

With a struggling economy and stagnant unemployment rate, the last thing the United States needs is any public policy that will hurt job growth. Unfortunately, Obamacare’s new federally mandated, essential benefits package will diminish new job opportunities, especially for low-income workers.

This is expected to occur because the new law requires employers to offer health care coverage or pay a penalty. And they can’t offer basic health plans. Instead, all job-based health plans must include what the government determines to be “essential benefits.” Since benefits that employers provide to their work force mark a dollar-for-dollar reduction in cash wages, more benefits in these government-mandated plans will mean less available income for salaries or new jobs. Inevitably, this provision will further drive up the health care costs for businesses, forcing them to hold back on new hiring and investments. (more…)

Tags: essential benefits, low-income jobs, mandates, ObamaCare, Side Effects, unemployment

A recent letter from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reveals how Obamacare will erode patients’ access to certain preventive services.

The new health care law requires insurers to cover all preventive measures rated “A” or “B” by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with zero cost-sharing. Otherwise, “a plan or issuer has the discretion to either cover or not cover additional preventive services not recommended by the USPSTF,” according to the CRS letter. (more…)

Tags: controversial recommendations, HHS, mammograms, ObamaCare, preventive services, Side Effects, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force