Quote:

 

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/burwell-recruits-liberal-faith-leaders-promote-obamacare

Burwell Recruits Liberal ‘Faith Leaders’ to Promote Obamacare

[...]

Burwell noted in her remarks to the press that three quarters of the people shopping and buying on the federal marketplace right now are those who were already enrolled. She said that people who do not re-enroll in a different plan on their own will be automatically re- enrolled in their existing plan.

Quote:

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711.html

Why single payer died in Vermont

[gibberish on various reasons, none on the taxpayer costs!]

...“It is time to put the interests of patients first, ahead of political expedience,” said Andrew Coates, president of Physicians for a National Health Care Program. Single-payer is “the only reform that will cover everyone, save lives and save money. Mr. Shumlin, of all our nation’s governors, knows this well.”

Vermont’s public failure is especially frustrating to single-payer advocates because, they note, the Shumlin framework, which had gotten approval of the state legislature minus that key financing element, wasn’t really a true single-payer plan. Notably, large businesses that operate in multiple states would have been exempt. And it was unclear whether or how enrollees in federal plans like Medicare and TRICARE could be integrated into the state’s plan.

Those exemptions cut into the funding base while adding administrative complexity, eliminating one of the potential cost-saving elements of single-payer: simplicity.

[...]

Mason

Dec 22 2014, 07:24 PM

.
SEND M$NEY!

http://www.macombdaily.com/government-and-politics/20141222/macomb-county-hit-with-15-million-in-obamacare-fees



.

Quote:

 

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/all-issues/news/news-briefing-for-tuesday-december-23-2014/

“County officials are starting to feel the pain of Obamacare. The Board of Commissioners has learned the various fees levied on large employers by the Affordable Care Act will cost the county nearly $1.5 million for 2014. In a memo to the commissioners, county Risk and Insurance Manager John Anderson said the fees are based on the county’s nearly 3,000 full-time employees who receive health care benefits. The largest cost, by far, is a 2.5 percent fee tacked onto health insurance premiums to help pay for the ACA’s online insurance exchanges and overall implementation costs. The first year price tag: more than $680,000. A second charge, the so-called transitional re-insurance fee, is designed to stabilize premiums in the individual insurance policy market as people with pre-existing conditions attain coverage. The cost to the county is $63 per employee. About $98,000 is due the federal government by Jan. 15. This is a 3-year fee that drops in price annually. A third fee assessed on large employers will go toward a new federal trust fund that will finance research into the relative effectiveness of various medical treatments. Medicare may consider this government research institute’s findings in determining what sorts of therapies it will cover. The cost to employers is $2 per worker receiving insurance benefits. For the county, these fees will equate to about $6,000. Anderson said Macomb’s total cost should fall by about $360,000 next year. The research fee and the re-insurance charge will be phased out by 2019. The 2.5 percent fee on premiums is permanent…. Commissioner Don Brown, a Washington Township Republican, suggested the county consider gradually reducing some employees below the ACA definition of a full-time employee – meaning less than 30 hours per week. Some companies are moving in that direction. According to the county Human Resources Department, labor contracts negotiated with unionized workers now allow the county to fill nearly any vacant, full-time position with two part-time employees. “It’s going to be the natural inclination to avoid paying these taxes. And those (employment) changes can’t be good for the economy,” Brown said. GOP Commissioner Jim Carabelli of Shelby Township said the fees will also hit the private sector with some force. Large employers provide health coverage to 59 percent of private sector workers. Estimates of the cost of Obamacare for large employers over the next decade range from $151 billion to $186 billion. “The cost of doing business just went up,” Carabelli said, shaking his head. Experts say some private firms might continue providing coverage to most of their workforce but nudge their sickest, costliest employees onto the Obamacare exchanges by making the company insurance plan unattractive to them. Under this scenario, a company could shrink its network of doctors, raise co-payments or deductibles, or even offer a chronically ill employee a raise to opt out of the employer plan. Commissioner Fred Miller, a Mount Clemens Democrat, reminded his colleagues the ACA so far has provided coverage to 482,000 previously uninsured Michigan residents –- some 36,000 in Macomb County –- which allows them to gain access to doctors and hospitals.”

Quote:

 

http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/seniors-wait-for-a-medicare-appeal-is-cut-in-half/

Seniors’ Wait For A Medicare Appeal Is Cut In Half

The federal office responsible for appeals for Medicare coverage has cut in half the waiting time for beneficiaries who are requesting a hearing before a judge.

The progress follows an announcement last January that officials were going to work through a crushing backlog by moving beneficiaries to the front of the line and suspending hearings on cases from hospitals, doctors and other providers for at least two years.

[...]

Still, about 900,000 appeals are awaiting decisions, with most filed by hospitals, nursing homes, medical device suppliers and other health care providers, said Jason Green, OMHA’s program and policy director. The wait times for health providers’ cases have doubled since last year, and are nearly four times longer than the processing time for beneficiary appeals.

Hospitals file more appeals than any other provider. The single largest reason is the increasing number of Medicare payment denials for patients who have been admitted to the hospital but whom auditors later say should have been kept instead for observation care, a status that reduces payments.

[...]

Mason

Dec 22 2014, 01:40 PM

MARCH 4TH SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS TO BE HEARD ON STATE EXCHANGES / SUBSIDIES

Quote:

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/12/22/supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-big-health-care-case-on-march-4/

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Big Health Care Case on March 4

The Supreme Court said it will hear oral arguments on March 4 in a lawsuit over whether the Obama administration is improperly providing tax credits to consumers who purchase health insurance through the federal exchanges.

The case will determine the fate of the tax credits to millions of consumers who have obtained insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov, the federal marketplace. The Supreme Court decided Nov. 7 to hear the lawsuit from Virginia, King v. Burwell, that challenges a key part of the Affordable Care Act. In all, an estimated 4.7 million people receive billions of dollars in subsidies to buy health coverage on the federal exchange.

Challengers claim the language in the health law only permits people who buy insurance from state-run exchanges to obtain the tax credits. Supporters of the law say it was always intended to provide the subsidies to people who bought coverage on the federal exchanges, too. HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange, now serves 37 states.

On March 4, the Supreme Court will only hear arguments related to the King case. Normally the court schedules two cases on arguments days, each an hour long.

At least a dozen states are fully running their own exchanges. A number of other states are in a gray area because they have turned over at least some responsibilities to the federal government. Officials in some of those states have already indicated they are willing to take further steps to guarantee their residents access to the tax credits if necessary.

The tax credits are considered central to the law’s success. Under the ACA, most Americans must have health insurance or pay a penalty. The exchanges let individuals who don’t have insurance from their employer, Medicaid or Medicare to purchase insurance policies, with tax credits for lower-income consumers.

Critics say the language of the ACA means that subsidies can’t go to consumers who obtain coverage through a federal exchange. Two U.S. appeals courts in July issued conflicting rulings on health-law subsidies, raising questions about the fate of tax credits provided to millions of Americans.

Quote:

 

http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/23/obamacare-enrollment-jumps-by-millions-thanks-to-admins-auto-sign-ups/print/

Obamacare Enrollment Jumps By Millions — Thanks To Admin’s Auto Sign-Ups
Posted By Sarah Hurtubise

HealthCare.gov sign-ups jumped during the last week to sign-up for Jan. 1 coverage as the administration’s automatic sign-up policy kicked in, according to the Obama administration.

Over 3.9 million people selected plans on HealthCare.gov between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, the last several days that customers could sign up for Obamacare coverage to take effect on the first of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. That more than doubled the number of total sign-ups on the federal exchange, bringing the grand total to just under 6.4 million.

The boost is unsurprising: for the first time, the numbers include autoenrollment. In a press conference Tuesday, HHS secretary Sylvia Burwell said about two-thirds of the returning customers’ sign-ups were autoenrolled. Somewhere around the “mid-to-high 30′s” went back to HealthCare.gov to select a plan — around 1.5 million customers actively returning compared out of 5.4 million who signed up on the federal exchange last year.

That’s mostly returning customers who first signed up for Obamacare last year — and for the first time, that includes autoenrollment. The administration’s policy is to automatically sign last year’s customers up for their insurance plan again if they fail to do so themselves, vastly upping the enrollment total.

That policy may boost numbers, but it has its flaws. Because existing plans are increasing their premiums at a faster rate compared to new entries to Obamacare exchanges that are offering lower prices to attract customers, customers that the administration shunts into the same policy for another year are in for bigger price hikes than expected.

That has led the administration to consider a new policy which would allow HHS to pick customers’ plans for them. That may take effect in future years, but the administration is currently expecting customers to see their new premiums in January and either change or cancel their coverage before the open enrollment period ends Feb. 15.

But right now, enrollment is fairly high — much higher than last year. But consulting firm Avalere Health projects that the administration won’t meet the Congressional Budget Office’s 13 million-strong target for year-two Obamacare enrollment.

Avalere projects that state and federal exchanges will reach 10.5 million paying customers this year, which would beat a lowered estimate from HHS. The administration backed off its own projections for total sign-ups in November, likely attempting to lower expectations for Obamacare this time around.

Baldo

Dec 23 2014, 05:57 PM

snip

It got me to thinking about what I consider is the worst part of Obama-care. It mandates you to buy Health Insurance. We are all into debating the particulars of this law, but the worst is our loss of freedom. Of course I have Health Insurance, but that is my choice.

Marxists don't like the individual having choices.

Baldo

Dec 23 2014, 06:20 PM

Net Cost of ObamaCare
"It's All Your Money"

put in your income and weep

http://www.foxnews.com/tax-calculator/2014/06/30/net-cost-obamacare

This uses CBO data, so expect it to be lower than reality