This week’s health policy news roundup curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D. Farzad Mostashari, who spent two years leading the White House effort to implement electronic health records, has argued that Medicare’s new physician payment rule would be “financial suicide for small practices.” Later he said “I regret [saying that], a little bit. I don’t […]
The Obama Administration has gone far beyond the bounds of a civilized society in attempting to compel the Little Sisters of the Poor and others to facilitate abortion-inducing drugs, argues the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. AAPS filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in strong support of the religious […]
This week’s Health Policy Roundup curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D. The Democrats’ worst nightmare is happening, writes Michael Cannon. The Senate passed a bill that would repeal most, but not all, of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “The individual mandate, employer mandate, Medicaid expansion, Exchange subsidies, much of the corporate welfare, and some of […]
Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD summarizes recent healthcare-related legislative activity on Capitol Hill. Reconciliation Placed on the Senate’s Calendar H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, authored by Rep. Tom Price, MD (R-GA) would (1) repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance; (2) repeal the employer mandate to […]
Today, November 24, 2015, AAPS along with the Citizens Council on Health Freedom, and individual physicians, filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States asking the court to review the Sissel v. HHS challenge to ObamaCare. ObamaCare essentially originated in the Senate and Sissel asserts this violates the Origination Clause of […]
It seems to be a non-story in the mainstream press, but ACA premiums and out-of-pocket costs are soaring even as doctor and plan choices contract. “Employees are being forced to cut back on their retirement savings in order to meet the skyrocketing cost of their health insurance. Based on the numbers being bandied about by […]
This week’s health policy news roundup curated by Jane Orient, M.D. The press may think that the debate on ObamaCare is over, but as Rick Lowry points out, the death spiral is beginning. http://nypost.com/2015/11/02/obamacares-death-spiral-stage-one-denial/ The legal challenges aren’t over, either. Todd Gaziano, the executive director of the Pacific Legal Foundation’s DC Center, describes 10 myths […]
An unprecedented provision in Assembly Bill 366, currently under consideration in the Wisconsin legislature, puts at risk the right of patients to self pay for medical care. The bill contains a prohibition on cash payment for treatment received at pain clinics. A law outlawing the payment of cash for a legal product would seem unthinkable in […]
By Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD Since the day the Affordable Care Act was enacted, we have been subjected to the “repeal and replace” mantra. Replacement offerings are basically slimmed down versions of the ACA. A few brave souls have proposed a straightforward repeal. Of course, such bills were merely making political hay since Obama would […]
This week’s health policy news roundup curated by Jane Orient, M.D. Many people forget that the government cannot give what it has not first taken. And once it takes power or gains a source of revenue, going back is very hard. For example: the Cadillac tax—so structured that most plans will eventually be treated as […]