Fix Health Care Policy

Five Health Care Takeaways from CBO’s Report

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for 2013–2023 today. Here are five major takeaways:

1)      Health care entitlement spending is bypassing all other spending. Spending on Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare subsidies, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will be greater than all other spending—including Social Security and defense spending: “Spending for major health care programs will be nearly 5 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in 2013, and such spending is projected to grow rapidly when provisions of [Obamacare] are fully implemented by middecade, reaching 6.2 percent of GDP in 2023.”

2)      Obamacare still costs well over a trillion dollars. Obamacare is still projected to have a gross cost of over $1.6 trillion from 2013 to 2022—which only includes nine years of full implementation because the major provisions, exchange subsidies, and Medicaid expansion don’t begin until 2014. This spending should be stopped before it starts.

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Tags: bad policies, CBO, health entitlement spending, report, trillion dollars, uninsured

12 Days of Obamacare Surprises: Exchange Subsidies

Photo: Dominique Bruneton/Altopress/Newscom

Not all surprises are good. When it comes to Obamacare, the original projections are turning into unfortunately different realities. For the next 9 days, Heritage is going to highlight one of the various changes in Obamacare projections (i.e. cost, enrollment, etc.) from when the law first passed until now.

The federal government will provide subsidies to offset the cost of coverage in Obamacare’s new exchanges for those with incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that exchange subsidies would average $6,000 per enrollee in 2019, for a total cost of $113 billion.

In 2012, the CBO updated its projection for an average subsidy cost of $6,470 per enrollee in 2019. The total cost of subsidies and related spending is now projected to be $137 billion in 2019.

Surprise: With premiums higher than initially anticipated, the average subsidy is now projected to cost $470 more per person in 2019 alone. This increase in projections of about 8 percent is an indication that both health care premiums and the cost of Obamacare will continue to rise faster than reindeer take flight!

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Tags: exchanges, federal poverty level, ObamaCare, subsidies, surprises, uninsured

12 Days of Obamacare Surprises: The Individual Mandate

Photo: Garry Gay/Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom

Not all surprises are good. When it comes to Obamacare, the original projections are turning into unfortunately different realities. For the next 12 days, Heritage is going to highlight one of the various changes in Obamacare projections (i.e. cost, enrollment, etc.) from when the law first passed until now.

One of the most infamous features of Obamacare is the individual mandate, which requires most Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a tax for being uninsured.

In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated that 4 million people would pay the penalty in 2016 and that collections from those penalties would be about $4 billion per year between 2017 and 2019.

In 2012, the CBO and JCT updated their estimate of those paying the mandate to 6 million people in 2016, totaling $7 billion in tax revenue and growing to $8 billion per year from 2017-2022.

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Tags: Individual Mandate, ObamaCare, penalties, surprises, tax, uninsured

Obamacare Spends More Than a Trillion in Taxpayer Dollars and Still Leaves 30 Million People Uninsured

On November 7, 2007, at a speech in Bettendorf, Iowa, then-candidate Obama said:

Every four years politicians come before you to talk about health care. You hear the same promises. And then you see the same results. Well it’s time to end the outrage of 47 million uninsured Americans. It’s time to finally do something about it.

Well, not much has changed since then. Four years later, the country has 48.6 million people without health insurance and a $1.68 trillion health care law that, if it even works as claimed, would still leave 30 million people without health care.

A USA Today editorial recently praised Obamacare for increasing the number of insured by 3.6 million. But those gains include 50.8 million people enrolled in Medicaid (2.3 million more than in 2010) and 46.9 million people enrolled in Medicare (2 million more than 2010). And under Obamacare, the number of people covered by government health care will continue to rise.

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Tags: $1.68 trillion, Medicaid, Medicare, millions, ObamaCare, private insurance, repeal the law, rising health costs, uninsured

More Middle-Class Americans Hit by Obamacare Tax

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a new report that determined that even more Americans than previously estimated will be hit with Obamacare’s ever-controversial individual mandate tax, totaling 6 million by 2016.

Of the 30 million Americans whom Obamacare leaves uninsured and without affordable insurance options, 6 million will have to pay the penalty, an increased estimate from 2010. According to CBO, “About two million more uninsured people are now projected to pay the penalty each year, and collections are now expected to be about $3 billion more per year.” The total cost to uninsured Americans will be around $7 billion in 2016 and is projected to be about $8 billion every year from 2017 to 2022.

The tax penalty is calculated in different ways depending on income levels. If they do not obtain Obamacare-mandated health insurance, households with lower incomes will pay a flat dollar amount each year, and those with higher incomes will pay a penalty equal to a percentage of their incomes.

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Tags: Individual Mandate, millions, ObamaCare, penalties, repeal the law, taxed, uninsured

California to Use Popular TV Shows to Market Obamacare Exchanges

Officials in California plan to use popular network television shows to market the state’s new health care exchange, established as part of Obamacare, according to a marketing plan drafted in June.

“Individuals from California’s robust entertainment industry will be approached at the most senior levels to engage in California’s effort, to enroll residents in coverage, many for the first time,” the report states.

It continues, “A number of popular television programs and personalities such as Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, the Biggest Loser, Dr. Oz and others will be approached and pitched to incorporate story lines or mentions of health care reform that would reinforce campaign messages.”

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Tags: coverage, Dr. Oz, Grey's Anatomy, marketing spin, Modern Family, ObamaCare, state health exchange, story lines, The Biggest Loser, uninsured

More Than 48 Million Americans Remain Uninsured

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2011 findings on health insurance coverage in the United States.

Despite a small reduction in the uninsured by 1.4 million from 2010 to 2011, 48.6 million, or 15.7 percent of Americans, remain without health insurance.

Another area of disappointment comes from the number of uninsured young adults: 27.7 percent of the uninsured fall in this age group. While this group saw a decrease of 2 percent—partially due to Obamacare’s extension of coverage to dependents up to age 26—it is much less than President Obama and his Administration promised. In August, the President claimed, “Nearly 7 million young people have health insurance because they’re able to stay on their parents’ plans.”

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Tags: Census Bureau, health insurance coverage, ObamaCare, parents' plan, private coverage, public programs, uninsured, young adults

Obamacare by the Numbers

Looking for some straight facts on Obamacare and its impact? Here are some of the most important numbers you need to know about President Obama’s health law:

• 20 million. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that as many as 20 million Americans could no longer have their current employer-based health coverage by 2019; others predict it could be as high as 35 million.
• 85 million. The Office of the Actuary at CMS estimates that, by 2020, Medicaid enrollment will increase from 54 million in 2010 to 85 million, pushing America closer to government-run health care.
• 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Individuals earning over $44,680 a year and families earning over $92,200 a year are not eligible for any federal subsidies to help purchase coverage under Obamacare.

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Tags: coverage dump, federal subsidies, Medicaid, numbers, ObamaCare, premiums, uninsured

What Are the Odds Your Employer Will Drop Health Coverage?

Since Obamacare was enacted into law, different organizations have come out with different estimates of how many employers will drop health coverage for their employees. This week, the health care consulting firm Deloitte released a new survey that found that around 10 percent of employers would drop coverage and send their employees into the new government-run exchanges.

Although still ominous, Deloitte’s results significantly differ from previous studies by other organizations. Here are a few of the prominent examples:

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Tags: cost estimates, coverage, coverage dump, Deloitte, employer-sponsored health plans, ObamaCare, uninsured

Obamacare Falls Short of Promises to Uninsured

Two new reports out yesterday continue to knock down President Obama’s promises about Obamacare: his “If you like your plan, you can keep it,” and the promise to significantly shrink the ranks of the uninsured.

According to a new study from consulting firm Deloitte, almost one of out of 10 employers said they are going to drop coverage for their employees because of Obamacare, while another 10 percent said they “remain unsure” about what they are going to do. As the vast majority of Americans have health insurance through their workplaces, this is a huge blow.

Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dealt another blow with its updated outlook on the health care law, as it attempted to integrate the Supreme Court’s ruling into its projections.

Although Obamacare spends more than $1 trillion to get people covered, CBO predicts it will still leave 30 million Americans uninsured, falling far short of what was promised.

CBO’s announcement said that Obamacare could cost less than originally projected—but the reason for the drop was that fewer people will be covered.

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Tags: $1 trillion, deficits, drop coverage, employers, ObamaCare, repeal the law, Supreme Court ruling, uninsured