Fix Health Care Policy

VIDEO: Small Business Owners Fight Obamacare in Court

Research on the last seven recessions shows that small businesses generate about two out of every three new jobs during the recovery. But this time around the Obama administration has crippled the ability small businesses to lead the way in new hiring with their job killing Obamacare legislation.

Not only does the bill slap small businesses with an employment tax, new tax reporting requirements, and tons of new regulations, but it is also an unconstitutional extension of federal government power. (more…)

Tags: individual mandates, National Federation of Independent, ObamaCare, small business

Another Public Option? How Many Do We Need?

The public option has reared its head once again. Last week, H.R. 5808 was introduced in the House Ways and Means Committee to add a public option to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The plan would be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Payment rates for providers would be set at Medicare rates plus 5 percent and would grow according to increasing physicians’ costs. The plan would be required to maintain solvency, so premiums would have to cover benefits offered and administrative costs.

Momentarily setting aside the major drawbacks of a public plan, this legislation isn’t necessary—the PPACA already lays the groundwork for a robust public option. The new law will allow the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which currently oversees federal employees’ health benefits, to administer plans in the exchanges. These plans would be offered by private insurers but run by unelected government officials. (more…)

Tags: limited choice, Medicaid, Medicare, Office of Personnel Management, public option

Robert Moffit Weighs in on ObamaCare at Orange County Register

Robert Moffit, a top health care expert and senior fellow at Heritage, recently stopped by the editorial offices of the Orange County Register in California to discuss the impact we’re already feeling from ObamaCare.

Check out Moffit’s explanation of why ObamaCare is an attack on federalism and what the health reform law will mean for health care services and insurance. See the videos here.

Tags: federalism, health insurance, ObamaCare

New Bill Not Necessary: Public Option Already in Obamacare

Like many federal efforts in Washington, last week’s reintroduction from House Democrats to create a public health insurance option, which would become part of the 2014 insurance exchanges created by Obamacare, is a bureaucratic redundancy. Stuart Butler points out that the health reform law already has its own “public option” through expanded powers to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Calling the House bill a “smokescreen” for the nation’s opposition against a public option, Butler says the real story is in the “OPM alternative.” “Far from being an alternative, it is the fast road to a public plan — as I warned before the legislation passed. Why? Because the ‘alternative’ gives the OPM the power to establish national plans. These are to be private — but in name only.”

With “enormous reserve powers,” the federal government would be able to set premiums that would drive other private health insurers out of the market, leaving Americans with no choice but to enroll in the government-mandated health plan.

Tags: health insurance premiums, ObamaCare, Office of Personnel Management, private insurers, public option

Side Effects: Obamacare Encouraging Insurers to Cut Corners

With or without Obamacare, health insurance costs are on the rise. And that has businesses searching for more affordable options.

One increasingly popular option: health plans covering services provided by a relatively small number of participating doctors and hospitals. These plans are most attractive to small employers, but The New York Times reports, “Large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.”

(more…)

Tags: health care costs, insurers, ObamaCare, required benefits package, Side Effects

Side Effects: House Fix Is Just the Beginning to Plugging the Holes in Obamacare

Though Democrats’ health care bill has already been signed into law, work on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is anything but complete. Last Wednesday, the House passed a bill that would make several technical corrections to the health bill hastily passed last March.

The authors of the PPACA never expected the version that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve to become the final version signed into law. But Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts made it the only possible way Democrats could have passed their desired health care overhaul. Because of the slipshod way in which the legislation was crafted, the Veterans’, Seniors’, and Children’s Health Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 5712) was introduced to fix provisions containing errors or clearly unintentional consequences. This is expected to be the first of many fixes to the health care bill. (more…)

Tags: affiliation agreements, ObamaCare, orphan drugs, Side Effects, teaching hospitals