This Week’s Health Policy News Roundup Curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D.
In the State of the Union address, the President stated that in the past year, “About 10 million uninsured Americans finally gained the security of health coverage.” Most of those, however, were added to the Medicaid rolls.
Some Republican governors are pushing to expand Medicaid, to “leverage” federal dollars, but conservative legislators are trying to thwart them. http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2015/01/01/gop-legislators-thwart-bids-to-expand-medicaid-n1937740
Just as enrollment is expanding, the temporary fee increases that ObamaCare provided for primary care in 2013 and 2014 are expiring—just weeks after the Obama administration told the Supreme Court that doctors and other providers had no legal right to challenge the adequacy of payments they received from Medicaid. On average, doctors who have been receiving the enhanced payments will see their fees for primary care cut by 43 percent. In California, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania, among other states, cuts could be 50 percent or more. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/us/obamacare-medicaid-fee-increases-expiring.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0
Poor access is a design feature of Medicaid, writes Scott Gottlieb. And Medicaid recipients are 40 percent more likely to use an emergency room than the uninsured. http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/01/02/new-study-shows-how-medicaid-fails-the-poor-and-why-obamacare-will-fail-the-middle-class/print/
The ObamaCare expansion proposed by Tennessee Republican governor Bill Haslam—the “Volunteer Plan”—would transfer taxpayer money to people who are already insured. One proposed source of funding is a provider tax. One effect would be to siphon funds away from existing Medicaid recipients, as well as crowding out private coverage. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2015/01/12/tns-obamacare-expansion-will-give-free-cash-to-the-insured/print/
ObamaCare already has siphoned $22 billion from workers in lost wages, according to former Congressional Budget Office director Doug Holtz-Eakin. All told, the CBO expects the employer mandate to cost American companies $139 billion in fines during the next decade, writes Sally Pipes. That’s $139 billion that could have been used to hire new employees or raise workers’ salaries and wages. http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2015/01/12/new-year-new-problems-for-obamacare/
Additionally, she notes, about $3.4 million paid in ObamaCare in subsidies is about to be siphoned back when citizens file their taxes. “But most of these working-class Americans have already spent that cash—ostensibly, on the health insurance the Obama administration forced them to buy.”
Remarkably, some people eligible for subsidies are turning them down, writes Michael Cannon—some for ethical reasons. http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcannon/2015/01/12/obamacares-exchange-subsidies-are-so-essential-people-are-turning-them-down/
Seen on Social Media:
"The real minimum wage is zero–the wage you get if you’re unemployed." Read @Avik's take on the employer mandate: http://t.co/3EbcEzHGIT
— Manhattan Institute (@ManhattanInst) January 22, 2015
Obama: We must make college more affordable for the middle class, so let's raise taxes on college savings plans. http://t.co/qLUIgMbbhq
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) January 21, 2015
IRS has active contract for millions with company behind botched http://t.co/R7wQDFsB4X http://t.co/pULnEMCsi7
— Tabitha Bliss (@BlissTabitha) January 22, 2015
