When we got to this article, we crossed our fingers that it wasn’t some slanted link bait. The New York Times is actually reporting that healthcare is already slowing down growth on the U.S. economy. Thank you, Obamacare! Healthcare has been a sector known to help the economy recover from recession. And now, it’s lagging behind. Some facts to consider courtesy of the Times:
Tag Archives: obamacare
February 13, 2014
February 11, 2014
White House Delays ACA’s Red Tape (With More Red Tape)
We love the smell of Red Tape in the morning. In Washington, The New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration announced on Monday that it would “postpone enforcement of a federal requirement for medium-size employers to provide health insurance to employees and allow larger employers more flexibility in how they provide coverage.” Wow, that’s such mouthful we couldn’t bring ourselves to paraphrase it. Let’s break it into smaller parts.
January 14, 2014
Infographics: Walmart Health Plans Are Cheaper And Offer More Coverage Than Obamacare
The Washington Examiner played Obamacare watchdogs recently and came back with some shocking figures. You know we’re not insurance people per se, but we are free market enthusiasts. And to be clear, these numbers might be a little misleading (no one in support of Obamacare was willing to provide data to the Examiner). That said, scroll down and check out these infographics comparing Obamacare and Walmart’s health plans.
Some highlights: Walmart employees in Chicago can find way more options for way less cash. And plans/deductibles nationwide are far cheaper for Walmart employees. Plans granting access to prestigious hospitals like the Mayo Clinic are even included. And some plans offer up to $1,000 cash for flex-spending, perfect for a family to enroll in a direct care clinic.
January 6, 2014
The Logic Of Obamacare: Small Business, Unintended Consequences
In his Kevin MD post, Stephen C. Schimpff asks, “Is this affordable health care or is it is the law of unintended consequences?”
Schimpff is former CEO, University of Maryland Medical Center; chair, advisory committee, Sanovas, Inc.; and the author of The Future of Medicine – Megatrends in Healthcare and The Future of Healthcare Delivery- Why It Must Change and How It Will Affect You. He’s got plenty of clout behind him. And he says, “The Affordable Care Act is not so affordable if you own or if you are an employee of a small business.” Read his full explanation of what he believes will happen to small businesses in 2014 and 2015 based on the ACA.
December 26, 2013
This Hurts. New ACA Fees Coming 2014.
“Here comes the ObamaCare tax bill,” writes Fox News. Unfortunately, most insurers aren’t being forthcoming about the Obamacare taxes that are to be added on to premiums. Nope. Instead these “hidden fees” will be discretely passed on to customers.
One insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, wasn’t hush hush about it, though. They laid out the taxes on customer bills, using a separate line item for “Affordable Care Act Fees and Taxes.” Fox News lists out all the new taxes here. Ouch. You know, when we consider our push for more direct care nationwide, it’s hard not to notice that every new patient we enroll, who opts for lower monthly insurance payments using a wrap-around plan, is actually taking money away from the Federal government. Considering all this additional revenue they plan on bringing in from these healthcare taxes, isn’t this just another power ploy? And not to harp, but where’s the actual care in any of this dialogue?
Nowhere. Which is one of the biggest problems we have with it. It doesn’t address where healthcare is failing. Instead, it becomes a bureaucratic argument over dollars and line items, not patients and doctors having healthy, meaningful interactions.
December 23, 2013
Is The ACA Deadline Update A Publicity Stunt?
NPR reports that the administration has granted a one-day extension on Obamacare sign-ups. According to NPR, “The deadline that had been midnight on Dec. 23 has been pushed to Christmas Eve at midnight.” So why the update? Apparently the government realized that there were issues with time zones, and that more time should be allotted to compensate.
It’s a good thing the federal government isn’t an actual person. We’d be concerned that their head is attached to their shoulders.
December 19, 2013
And The Red Tape Thickens… HHS Now Demands Free Coverage For Those Affected By ACA
Do you have even an inkling of support for free market policies? A modicum of belief in free enterprise? Here’s a stop-whatever-you’re-doing article from Forbes writer Avik Roy. He reports on disheartening news in light of recent ACA failures.
Roy opens with a rally cry, saying, “Of all of the last-minute delays, website bungles, and Presidential whims that have marred the roll-out of Obamacare’s subsidized insurance exchanges, what happened on Thursday, December 12 will stand as one of the most lawless acts yet committed by this administration.” The White House—who’s already canceled Americans’ old health plans, and has botched the system for enrolling people in new ones—is well aware that millions of Americans are going to enter the new year without health coverage. Yet instead of actually fixing anything, they have a new solution. They are going to to try to retroactively force insurers to hand out free health care—even at a potential loss—to those people uninsured through the White House-induced fiasco. Roy asks, “If Obamacare wasn’t a government takeover of the health insurance industry, then what is it now?”
December 14, 2013
ACA Cancels New York Creatives’ Coverage
Anemona Hartocollis wrote in The New York Times, “Many in New York’s professional and cultural elite have long supported President Obama’s health care plan. But now, to their surprise, thousands of writers, opera singers, music teachers, photographers, doctors, lawyers and others are learning that their health insurance plans are being canceled and they may have to pay more to get comparable coverage, if they can find it.”
Touche. Get a lot of people to vote for something by promising universal benefits for all. Then fail to benefit not only the people you promised to help, but also the law’s supporters. This seems like solid politics.
New York developed an unusual, informal health insurance system where independent practitioners were able to get lower insurance rates through group plans. These were typically set up by their professional associations or chambers of commerce. These people were able to avoid the sky-high rates in New York’s individual insurance market, (historically among the most expensive in the country).
December 11, 2013
NPR Visits ACA Prison Glitch. Gets Touche.
In the mood for some high brow hahas? Then you’ll want to read NPR’s “prison glitch” coverage. Have you experienced this malfunction yet? Wait, that would mean you were actually signing up on the Federal insurance exchange (jk). Either way, according to NPR, the Obama administration says it has patched hundreds of software bugs infecting the government’s health insurance website.
What’s the “prison glitch”? We’re glad you asked. Evidently, Martha Freeman of Pennsylvania encountered the bug while signing up for coverage for herself and her adult children. The insurance website asked for documentation of the children’s incarceration status. It’s worth noting that her kids have never been to prison.
Freeman figured she was “stuck in solitary,” says NPR, until she called a toll-free help line and found out she wasn’t alone. Others have been experiencing this bug, too.
We do have to hand it to NPR. Their tone is hilarious. “Stuck in solitary” is only the first of prison-themed puns in the article.
December 5, 2013
More Obamacare Rabble Rousing? How About We Just Do Healthcare Ourselves?
When it comes to Obamacare, we’re not even sure there is a simple bipartisan debate. CNBC reported last week about the inherent security shortcomings of Obamacare. According to cybersecurity expert David Kennedy on CNBC last Monday, “It could take a year to secure the risk of ‘high exposures’ of personal information on the federal Obamacare online exchange.”
Kennedy added, “When you develop a website, you develop it with security in mind. And it doesn’t appear to have happened this time.” The so-called “white hat” hacker tests online security by breaching websites. He testified on Capitol Hill about the flaws of HealthCare.gov the week prior. Maybe it’s reassuring then that few could actually sign up on the federal portals.