Fix Health Care Policy

Back in February 2010, when Congress was still debating the Obamacare legislation, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) proclaimed to America that the law “will create 400,000 jobs almost immediately.” But according to a new report by Heritage’s James Sherk, Obamacare will have the opposite effect, pricing many unskilled workers out of full-time employment due to the law’s requirement that employers offer health benefits to full-time employees.

According to Sherk, the minimum cost of employing full-time workers under Obamacare amounts to an average of $27,500, more than what many unskilled employees produce. He explains in his paper, “Obamacare Will Price Less Skilled Workers Out of Full-Time Jobs” why increased costs will lead employers to shift to employing part-time workers.   (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: job loss, low-skilled jobs, mandated benefits, ObamaCare

This week, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its recommendation of women’s preventive services that should be covered with no co-pay or deductible under Obamacare—a list that included birth control and emergency contraception. While this raises important questions regarding social policy, it’s also relevant to the ongoing debate about Obamacare and the consequences of allowing bureaucracy to over-regulate health benefits.

Obamacare’s requirements that health plans cover certain preventive measures with no cost-sharing were implemented through Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations in July of 2010, but as part of the new law, the department was to review preventive services specific to women’s health and can include further guidelines by amending the existing regulations.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: birth control, contraceptives, mandated benefits, ObamaCare, religious freedom, women's health

Obamacare remains tremendously unpopular with the American people. According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll, only 14 percent of Americans believe they have benefited from the law, compared to 17 percent who say the law has already harmed them. Only 28 percent of Americans believe Obamacare will help the nation’s economy, compared to 45 percent who believe it will make it worse. Overall, 48 percent of Americans oppose Obamacare while only 43 percent favor it. Some provisions, like the individual mandate, are particularly unpopular, with a full 67 percent of Americans favoring its repeal.

President Barack Obama knows all of this, which is why he told the visiting National Governors Association at the White House yesterday that he supports changing the date that states can begin applying for waivers from some Obamacare mandates from 2017 up to 2014. Specifically, the President endorsed legislation by Senators Ron Wyden (D–OR) and Scott Brown (R–MA), claiming: “It will give you flexibility more quickly while still guaranteeing the American people reform.” President Obama is at least half right here. Wyden–Brown would give states some flexibility—but only the flexibility to implement a government take over of health care faster. Heritage Foundation Center for Policy Innovation Director Stuart Butler explained in the New England Journal of Medicine:

One [problem] is that [Wyden-Brown] still locks the states into guaranteeing a generous and costly level of benefits. True, a state could propose alternative benefit requirements if they had the same actuarial value as those in the [health care bill]. But the requirements go well beyond basic coverage, and the HHS secretary is the one who defines “at least as comprehensive” benefits. … (Read the rest at The Foundry…)

Tags: mandated benefits, ObamaCare, President Barack Obama, state flexibility

By now, most Americans who have been following the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) realize that the health care overhaul is going to cause health insurance premiums to increase. Even President Barack Obama admitted that his health care plan was “going to increase our costs—we knew that.”

However, the number of provisions in Obamacare that will increase premiums is likely far larger than most people realize. In recent research, Heritage analysts Brian Blase and Rea Hederman, Jr., highlight a dozen ways in which Obamacare will raise premiums. Three of the reasons they cover are listed below. To read about all twelve, check out this link. (more…)

Tags: adverse selection, insurance premiums, mandated benefits, rising costs, Side Effects

As critics have repeatedly point out, once Congress starts specifying minimum mandated coverage requirements for health insurance there will be no end to the lobbying to maximize the “minimum” that you will have to pay for in your health plan.

Well, it turns out Congress is already behaving exactly as predicted — and they haven’t even passed a bill yet!

The earlier House “Tri-Committee Bill” (H.R. 3200) lists in Section 122(b) the “Minimum Services to be Covered.” The new “Pelosi Bill” (H.R. 3962) includes the same language, only this time it appears as Section 222(b), and — ta-da! — it includes more required benefits! (more…)

Tags: mandated benefits, Obama Health Care Plan