Fix Health Care Policy

What Obamacare’s Tax Hikes Mean for All Americans

In a recent article for MarketWatch, Andrea Coombes writes, “Whatever their opinion of the health-care reform law, wealthy Americans have a lot of money at risk in the Supreme Court’s coming decision on the law’s constitutionality.”

Yes, the rich will pay higher taxes under Obamacare. But they aren’t the only ones. Obamacare raises taxes by more than $500 billion in a decade, and a number of these will hit Americans at all levels of the income scale. The specific tax hikes Coombes describes are initially intended to impact just the wealthy, but it won’t remain that way for long.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: higher taxes, ObamaCare, Supreme Court decision, Taxmageddon

Medicare: Admitting You Have a (Structural) Problem Is the First Step

A new study by the Urban Institute reconfirms a vital fact: Medicare’s massive increase in enrollment, largely attributable to retiring baby boomers, is driving its fiscal instability.

This is an important finding, because during the health care debate of 2009, advocates of Obamacare insisted that excess health care cost inflation was the more urgent problem contributing to Medicare’s fiscal nightmare. A recent report by Charles Blahous, a public trustee for Medicare, explains:

This viewpoint increased in prominence when Peter Orszag, one of [Obamacare’s] leading advocates, was named to head the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Soon thereafter, CBO published a frequently cited graph that appeared to substantiate the view that the fiscal problems created by excess health care inflation dwarfed those arising from other known sources of fiscal strains, such as population aging.

So the primary target of Obamacare was Medicare payment reduction, not structurally modifying Medicare to absorb the large enrollment increase in the coming years.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: cost inflation, fiscal instability, Medicare enrollment, ObamaCare, Urban Institute

Opening the Door to Health Care Rationing Under Obamacare

One of the biggest fears Americans have about Obamacare is who will ultimately control health care decisions: the government or patients and their doctors. New research by Heritage health policy analyst Kathryn Nix explains that while the law does not explicitly put those decisions in the hands of the government, it does allow government bureaucrats to unduly influence medical care. Enter comparative effectiveness research (CER), which compares different methods for preventing, diagnosing, or treating a specific disease or condition. In her paper, Nix explores the many ways CER might be used under Obamacare in ways that harm patients more than help them.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: comparative effectiveness research, government-run health care, ObamaCare, patients

Side Effects: The $8.35 Billion Attempt to Fool Seniors

A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that a demonstration program created by the Obama Administration in Medicare Advantage (MA) is primarily designed to “demonstrate” how to hide politically unpopular parts of Obamacare.

The Quality Bonus Payment demonstration program will take place from 2012 to 2014 and differs substantially from the bonus program described in Obamacare. In the original statute, high-performing plans (those rated 4 and above on a five-star scale) would receive bonus payments as an incentive to improve quality. In the current demonstration program, bonus payments are awarded to plans rated 3 and above, essentially rating almost all plans “above average” and giving them bonus payments. The additional funding offsets Obamacare’s $145 billion in cuts to the popular MA program.

As Heritage has warned before, Obamacare’s cuts to MA would severely reduce the quality of the program and force enrollees back into traditional Medicare. Writing for Heritage, health care experts Jim Capretta and Robert Book explain, “Phased in between 2012 and 2017, the MA cuts will substantially restrict the ability of Medicare beneficiaries to choose the health plans that best meet their needs and will result in substantial reductions in coverage for many millions of seniors and disabled Americans.” Medicare’s Office of the Actuary predicts a 50 percent drop in enrollment by 2017.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: GAO, Medicare Advantage, ObamaCare, quality bonus payment demonstration program, unpopular law

Regrets on the Left: Democrats Second-Guessing Obamacare

Earlier this week we learned that former Obama Administration official Elizabeth Warren is calling for a repeal of one of Obamacare’s many taxes, and today The Hill is reporting that several Democrats in Congress are starting to regret President Obama’s signature health care law.

First there’s Representative Brad Miller (D-NC), who is retiring at the end of this session of Congress:

“I think we would all have been better off — President Obama politically, Democrats in Congress politically, and the nation would have been better off — if we had dealt first with the financial system and the other related economic issues and then come back to healthcare.”

Miller, who voted for the law, said the administration wasted time and political capital on healthcare reform, resulting in lingering economic problems that will continue to plague Obama’s reelection chances in 2012.

Then there’s Representative Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), who is also planning to retire this year:

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) also criticized his party’s handling of the issue, and said he repeatedly called on his leaders to figure out how they were going to pay for the bill, and then figure out what they could afford.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: Democrats, ObamaCare, regret, repeal the law

New Study Shows Obamacare’s Huge Additions to Federal Deficit

 A study released today by Charles Blahous, one of two public trustees of Medicare and Social Security, once again shows that Obamacare increases federal deficits and significantly worsens the nation’s fiscal outlook. According to the study’s most optimistic scenario, the health law will increase federal spending by $1.16 trillion and increase the deficit by $346 billion between 2012 and 2021. The worst case—and most realistic—scenario: an increase in spending of $1.24 trillion and $527 billion in new deficits.

Obamacare’s failure to reverse the federal government’s abysmal financial situation is not to be taken lightly. The legislation’s primary goal was to expand health coverage. However, Blahous points out that not only were the law’s fiscal benefits “consistently presented as a primary motivation for enacting legislation,” but it was also widely believed that health care reform was inextricably tied to reversing the fiscal outlook, since a significant portion of the nation’s long-term deficits are caused by federal spending on health care.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: Charles Blahous, federal deficit, Medicare public trustee, ObamaCare, worsens fiscal outlook

Side Effects: Obamacare Adds $17 Trillion to Long-Term Unfunded Government Spending

Last week, the Senate Budget Committee Republican staff released a report revealing that, over the next 75 years, Obamacare will add an additional $17 trillion in unfunded obligations—i.e., the benefits promised by the federal government that haven’t yet been paid for.

Before Obamacare, federal programs were already responsible for racking up 75-year unfunded obligations of an astounding $65 trillion. According to the report, Medicare accounted for $38 trillion, Medicaid was responsible for over $20 trillion, and Social Security added $7 trillion.

With the enactment of Obamacare, projected federal unfunded obligations have increased by $17 trillion, now totaling $82 trillion. Obamacare’s massive Medicaid expansion and new exchange subsidies are largely to blame.

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: $17 trillion, entitlements, Medicaid, Medicare, ObamaCare, Senate Budget Committee, unfunded obligations

In the Court of Public Opinion, Government-Run Health Care Never Wins

No matter what decision the Supreme Court releases in late June, in the court of public opinion, Obamacare has been a loser since day one.

Polls over the last two years have shown the public does not support the law. As Heritage expert Bob Moffit explains via a brief lesson in health policy history, “Based on Washington’s record of health policymaking, ending or rolling back Obamacare is hardly implausible.”

Throughout time, the public’s view on health care has consistently shown that Americans want to keep their current coverage, they don’t want to pay more, and they don’t trust government to control their health care.

The people’s opinion holds great power. Take, for example, the repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988. Despite support from a bipartisan majority, that legislation was repealed a year after its passage. When the public learned of its details and potential impact, they retracted their support. The law’s costs were double what the Congressional Budget Office originally estimated, and it forced seniors to pay for benefits they didn’t want.

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: negative, ObamaCare, public opinon, repeal the law

Chart of the Week: Estimated Loss of Health Coverage Under Obamacare

President Obama has reassured Americans that if they like their current health insurance, they can keep it.

“If you’ve got health insurance through your employer, you can keep your health insurance, keep your choice of doctor, keep your plan,” Obama insisted on Oct. 15, 2008.

But two years after signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, Obama gave many Americans a false sense of security that Obamacare won’t change the status quo.

Four reputable research institutions have run the numbers and found that not only is Obama’s claim false, but employees will be dropped from their current coverage by the millions. This week’s chart outlines each of the four studies.

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: dropped coverage, employers, false security, ObamaCare, uninsured

PODCAST: Rep. Steve King on Obamacare, Budget

In a special Heritage podcast, Congressman Steve King (R – IA) discusses Obamacare’s challenge in the Supreme Court and the budget. Click here to listen.

In the case the Supreme Court does not rule Obamacare unconstitutional, is Congress still willing to fight the law? If so, how? And is it true, as the left contends, that if the law is overturned, it would represent judicial activism?

Listen to the congressman answer these questions and more.

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Tags: ObamaCare, Podcast, Rep. Steve King, repeal the law, unconstitutional