Health Care Reform (Page 2)

Most Californians will probably see higher prices for their health insurance.  Whether it be through their company insurance plan, or their own individual and family health insurance plans.  The price increases come in the form of a letter received just before a birthday, and potentially every quarter.  California health insurance premiums go up each year, just like the sun rises each morning.   Insurance Costs Rise, But More Slowly   Annual family health insurance premiums rose about 4 percent to $15,745 in 2012, according to the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust Now that's a fairly modest increase by historical standards, and wellRead More →

There’s so much to like about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and there’s so much to dislike it for.  As a type I diabetic I applaud the idea of enabling everyone to buy regular health insurance without the fear of rejection.  I eagerly await the ability to buy the same insurance plan as someone who is healthy.  But as a citizen of the USA, I worry that we’ve bitten off way more than we can chew on, and we’re hiding the true enormity of that bite under a tablecloth (a napkin seemed too small for this analogy). So here’s my take on the worse partsRead More →

Health Care Reform got a big lift from the Federal Supreme Court ruling that the individual mandate could be considered a tax, and therefore, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could remain intact. This means that the reform plan will continue to roll out, with a January 1st, 2014 start date. Many provisions have already been phased in, but the removal of health condition underwriting, allowing people with existing health conditions to enroll in regular health insurance plans, starts in 2014. Even though this reform bill has flaws, there are plenty of good things and positive changes that it contains.     Here Are The TopRead More →

If you were a business owner, and knew that you could save a lot of money by dropping your company health insurance plan and put your employees into the health insurance exchange where they could get similar coverage, would you do it? That’s the question that the House Ways and Means Committee was trying to answer in a new report they released recently. Their analysis showed that businesses could save $28 billion in the first year of health care reform (2014) by dropping the company benefit plan and paying a small penalty for ending the employee coverage. From a company perspective, the employees will stillRead More →

A new study, by Medicare Trustee Charles Blahous, shows that the original projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Medicare Trustees compared the Affordable Care Act (ACA) cost and savings projections to a baseline scenario that is different from what we actually face. This new analysis caused a great deal of criticism, but some experts argue that the report projects a distressingly accurate snapshot of the effects from the ACA. Over the first 10 years of the ACA, government spending would be increased by over $1.15 Trillion, and this initial increase in federal deficit spending was hinted at by the CBO during theRead More →

Consumer Watchdog, a special interest group with strong ties to trial lawyers, is gathering signatures to put a health insurance rate regulation measure on the November 2012 ballot. The measure seeks to create a new bureaucracy, funded by insurance companies, to create a new layer of regulations on top of existing state and federal regulations to control health insurance rates. Physician groups, hospitals, doctors, and small businesses announced the launch of Californians Against Higher Health Care Costs (CAHHCC) to combat the Consumer Watchdog efforts. C. Duane Dauner, president/CEO of the California Hospital Association says that “Consumer Watchdog’s ballot measure is full of false promises andRead More →

According to the California Endowment, a private foundation concentrating on health issues, the average California family pays an additional $1400 in yearly premiums in order to cover the costs of uninsured Californians. And because the Federal Supreme Court may throw out the mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act, the state of California is preparing to go it alone on some parts of health care reform. The new child health insurance laws and the required California maternity insurance coverage mandate will stay in place, while work on the California Health Benefit Exchange — a website to help consumers find and purchase health insurance once 2014Read More →

Yesterday the legal boxing began with the first round being about the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA) of 1867, and whether or not the court could actually hear arguments about the health care reform individual mandate if no penalties (paid to the IRS) had been paid yet. The AIA is the legal basis of all tax collections, and says that you have to pay the tax before you can challenge the tax in court. From the sounds of the arguments in the Supreme Court hearing yesterday, it appears the AIA is a non issue for the rest of the week’s health care reform arguments. Today the SupremeRead More →

Hospitals all across America are struggling to find ways to reduce costs and eliminate duplication of efforts. These cost cutting measures are part of the hospitals preparation to survive once health care reform fully begins in 2014. In California, hospitals are trying to figure out how to make due with fewer patients, because the amount hospitals will be paid for providing medical services will be based upon keeping patients from returning to the hospital. This is a whole new world for hospital administrators, and on top of that they face significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which make up over 50% of California hospital revenues.Read More →

A new report by the actuarial firm Millman Inc. says that a new tax on health insurers’ premium revenues will be passed on to consumers, and will cause problems for state Medicaid programs. The health care reform premium tax, which starts in 2014, was intended to help pay for coverage of the 32 million uninsured Americans, and will be paid by all health insurance companies. But under federal law, the state and federal governments have to pay the tab for their Medicaid programs. States typically pay about 36% of the Medicaid costs, and this new tax will be paid out of each States’ already strainedRead More →