"White House delays crucial element of health law; Large employers given more time to offer coverage" by Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear | New York Times, July 03, 2013
WASHINGTON — In a significant setback for President Obama’s signature domestic initiative, the administration on Tuesday abruptly announced a one-year delay, until 2015, in his health care law’s mandate that larger employers provide coverage for their workers or pay penalties. The decision postpones the effective date beyond next year’s midterm elections.
Oh, it's ALL POLITICAL because DEMOCRATS were going (and still are) to get HAMMERED NEXT YEAR!
Employer groups welcomed the news of the concession, which followed complaints from businesses.
Ever notice YOUR COMPLAINTS are NEVER BOTHERED WITH, average Americans?
The news was posted late in the day on the White House and Treasury websites while the president was flying home from Africa....
Translation: They TRIED TO HIDE IT!! Put it out on the website while he's in the air hoping NO ONE WOULD SEE IT!!
What a DISINGENUOUS and DUPLICITOUS ADMINISTRATION!
While the postponement technically does not affect other central provisions of the law — in particular those establishing health insurance marketplaces in the states, known as exchanges, where uninsured Americans can shop for policies — it throws into disarray the administration’s effort to put those provisions into effect by Jan. 1.
“I am utterly astounded,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University and an advocate of the law. “It boggles the mind.... I do not see how people can receive premium subsidies if there are no reporting requirements for employers. The subsidies are bound up with evidence of what an employer does or does not offer.”
Gue$$ what, Americans. You WON'T BE GETTING a SUBSIDY!!
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Under the law, most Americans will be required to have insurance in January 2014, or they will be subject to tax penalties. The announcement Tuesday did not say anything about delaying that requirement or those penalties.
Administration officials sought to put the action in a positive light in the online announcements, and they emphasized that the existing insurance coverage of most Americans would not be affected.
Then why didn't you have a big ceremony and announcement at the White House? Or could this not have waited a day?
You know, I thought this administration would be better than the last one, but they shovel shit even faster.
“We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively,” Mark J. Mazur, an assistant Treasury secretary, wrote on the department’s website. “We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so.”
The 2010 Affordable Care Act required employers with more than 50 full-time workers to offer them affordable health insurance starting next year or face fines. Some companies with payrolls just above that threshold said they would cut jobs or switch some full-time workers to part-time employment so that they could avoid providing coverage.
They have already done that.
Under the provisions to set up state-based marketplaces for coverage for uninsured Americans, subsidies are supposed to be available for lower- and middle-income people who qualify and are not insured through their employers.
By delaying the mandate for businesses and its reporting requirements, the government may be unable to confirm before 2015 whether employers are offering insurance to their employees, making it difficult for the exchanges to know who is entitled to subsidies to help pay for policies....
But YOU will STILL have to GO FIND IT or face a TAX PENALTY, dear American citizen
Enrollment in the exchanges is to begin Oct. 1, with insurance coverage taking effect Jan. 1. “We are on target to open the health insurance marketplace on Oct. 1 where small businesses and ordinary Americans will be able to go to one place to learn about their coverage options and make side-by-side comparisons of each plan’s price and benefits before they make their decision,” Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s senior adviser and liaison to the business community, wrote on the White House website.
Why couldn't we have just gotten a good, decent, single-payer system like the rest of the world?
"Fifty-five hospitals in 21 states have agreed to pay $34 million to the US government to settle allegations that they used more expensive inpatient procedures rather than outpatient spinal surgeries to get bigger payments from Medicare, the US Justice Department said Tuesday."
Oh, right, that'$ why.
And if the most liberal state in the nation can't set up an exchange.... it will be a long time in that waiting room, readers.
Heck, we couldn't even get a public option out of him.
Yet even some supporters of the law dispute that the establishment of the health insurance exchanges is on schedule, especially since progress varies by state and some Republican-led states are resisting the law and withholding resources for putting it into effect.
As a propagandized citizen of Massachusetts it is amazing to me that the Republicans are now the hope of the nation on this issue.
Much of the administration’s public effort, especially at the Department of Health and Human Services, has been directed toward spreading the word to uninsured Americans, especially younger and healthy people whose participation is needed to help keep down premiums for everyone else. About 85 percent of Americans are insured, so most individuals will be unaffected, at least initially.
Aren't you glad your tax money has been spent on a public relations effort rather than the health care spending they are cutting?
Behind the scenes, however, the administration has been fielding questions and criticisms from businesses about the reporting requirements — especially the Treasury Department, which has responsibility, given its oversight of the tax reporting system.
And when that happens AmeriKan politician hop to it!
Employer groups were quick to applaud the delay. At the US Chamber of Commerce, which has strongly opposed the law, Randy Johnson, senior vice president of labor, immigration, and employee benefits, said in a statement, “The administration has finally recognized the obvious — employers need more time and clarification of the rules of the road before implementing the employer mandate.”
Mazur, the Treasury official, said the delay “will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law.”
Yeah, they are working on a three-page form for big business. Heard it on the radio this morning when I went to get this pos Globe.
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But you will still have to fill out the forms, dear American citizen.
I'm not feeling so good now.
Related:
"Massive Medicaid gap could gut health care law; Many poor may miss coverage"by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar | Associated Press, July 02, 2013
WASHINGTON — Nearly 2 in 3 uninsured low-income people who would qualify for subsidized coverage under President Obama’s health care law may be out of luck next year because their states have not expanded Medicaid....
Yeah, blame it on the states.
That a majority of the neediest people who could be helped by the law may instead remain uninsured is a predicament unforeseen by Obama and congressional Democrats who designed a sweeping extension of the social safety net.
Again? First sequestration, now this.
The law’s historic promise of health insurance for nearly all US residents would not be fulfilled as envisioned.
It’s the direct consequence of last summer’s Supreme Court decision that gave states the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion, combined with unyielding resistance to the law from many Republican state lawmakers.
Right, blame it on the blackmailed court that unfortunately upheld this pos thanks to Robert's reversal, and on Republicans (even though some Democrats have also refused).
Expanding Medicaid is essential to Obama’s two-part strategy for covering the uninsured.
Starting next year, middle-class people without job-based coverage will be able to get tax credits to help them buy private insurance....
How will they know if they have coverage after the website announcement on line? How will they know how much to subsidize since business won't have to report?
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have decided to accept the expansion, which is fully financed by Washington for the first three years and phases down gradually to a 90 percent federal share. Among those are six states led by Republican governors.
But the majority of low-income Americans newly eligible for Medicaid under the law live in states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia, where political opposition remains formidable....
Thankfully.
Elections for state offices and Congress will be held next year.
Yeah, that's what the above announcement was about -- as if that is going to help Democrats.
Republican state lawmakers continue to oppose the expansion for several reasons. Many believe Medicaid has too many problems already. Others worry that Washington will renege on financing, and some believe health care is an individual responsibility, not a government obligation.
And whatever it is, we didn't want this.
GOP health policy expert Gail Wilensky said she did not expect so many states to turn down the Medicaid expansion. While critical of some main features of the Affordable Care Act, Wilensky believes it’s important for the country to get uninsured people covered.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: A High-Deductible a Day....
Will keep you from seeing a doctor.
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Speaking of those costs:
"Federal health law falls short of a goal; Hospital costs not being trimmed" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar | Associated Press, June 24, 2013
WASHINGTON — Huge list prices charged by hospitals are drawing increased attention, but a federal law meant to limit what the most financially vulnerable patients can be billed doesn’t seem to be making much difference....
The goal is to protect patients from medical bankruptcy, a problem that will not go away next year when Obama’s law expands coverage for millions.
Because the Affordable Care Act doesn’t cover everyone, many people will remain uninsured.
Also, some who could sign up are expected to procrastinate even though the law requires virtually everyone to have health insurance.
Consumer groups that lobbied for a ‘‘fair pricing’’ provision are disappointed.
A university researcher who has studied the issue says the government doesn’t seem to be enforcing much....
Look, they are doing what the pharmaceuticals and insurers tell them. They don't give a shit about YOU and YOUR HEALTH! That's not why they did this. They did this to GET TAX DOUGH!
Critics say the law has several problems:
■ It applies only to nonprofit institutions.
■ More than three years after Obama signed his law, the Internal Revenue Service has not issued final rules.
We saw the same thing with Wall Street regulations.
‘‘We still hear the same stories about patients who are being sent to [debt] collection,’’ said Jessica Curtis, director of the hospital accountability project at Community Catalyst, a Boston-based advocacy group that led the push for billing limitations....
The Obama administration responds that fair pricing is the law of the land, and that hospitals are expected to comply even if the IRS has not finalized the rules.
Yup, you have to comply even though you don't even know what the hell to comply with!
Obama's ORWELLIAN HEALTH PLAN -- unless you are a corporation and big business!
The agency has begun compliance reviews, a spokeswoman said....
Well, when are you going to be finished writing the rules?
Compliance reviews for RULES NOT EVEN WRITTEN YET?
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And I guess this was just s*** left in the bedpan:
"Growth of health care costs slows as national law takes effect; Discouraging readmissions appears to help" by Alex Wayne | Bloomberg News, June 19, 2013
WASHINGTON — Provisions in the Affordable Care Act that penalize hospitals for excessive readmissions and encourage employer wellness programs are slowing the growth of medical costs....
Yup, everyone gets penalized in punitive fashion -- unless you big bidness!!!
The findings track with studies by the government and others that show continued slow growth in medical costs.
Translation: this is BEDPAN MATERIAL!
The report cited the positive effect of provisions that reduced hospital readmissions by 70,000 in 2012 and lowered premiums for people in employer-sponsored smoking cessation or chronic-disease management programs.
‘‘It’s picking up speed and force,’’ said Ceci Connolly, managing director of PwC’s Health Research Institute in Washington. Provisions such as the readmission penalties ‘‘will be having a measurable impact across the health system.’’
Yeah, you can weigh a turd.
Employers are encouraged under the law to vary insurance premiums based on whether workers participate in wellness programs, and hospitals that readmit too many patients within 30 days of a discharge face Medicare payment penalties....
‘‘Historically, medical inflation jumps after the nation recovers from a recession,’’ the accountants’ report said. ‘‘But changes in how the industry operates and how average consumers choose health care appear to be having a more sustained effect.’’
I'm sure the rationing called "global payments" will also help.
Walmart Stores, Lowe’s, and other large employers reported some success in reducing costs by sending workers to prominent ‘‘high-performance’’ hospitals such as the Cleveland Clinic for major procedures....
Oh, well, hey, if it worked out for them, then it's a great checkup!!
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Where you poor folk can go for help (if they are still open):
"Librarians to aid with federal health law" by Carla K. Johnson | Associated Press, June 29, 2013
CHICAGO — The nation’s librarians will be recruited to help people get signed up for insurance under President Obama’s health care overhaul. Up to 17,000 US libraries will be part of the effort to get information and crucial computer time to the millions of uninsured Americans who need to get coverage under the law. The undertaking will be announced Sunday, according to federal officials who released the information early to the Associated Press.
And yet big business's pass was dropped on a website late in the day!
The initiative starts Oct. 1, when people without health coverage will start shopping for insurance online on new websites where they can get tax credits to help pay the cost. Low-income people will be enrolled in an expanded version of Medicaid in states that adopt it.
Sounds GREAT, don't it?
Libraries equipped with public computers and Internet access serve as a bridge across the digital divide.
And if you don't have access or have a hardship getting to one? What then?
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Of course, all the talk most of the years was about Plan B and this:
"Simpler contraceptive rules issued" by Robert Pear | New York Times, June 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued a final rule Friday requiring many employers and health insurance plans to provide free coverage of contraceptives for women, a policy that has been challenged in numerous suits.
The rule, which is unlikely to placate critics, adopts a simplified version of an approach proposed this year to balance the interests of women with the concerns of the Roman Catholic Church and certain other employers that have religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptives....
Under the rule issued Friday, the government said that certain “religious employers” — primarily houses of worship — may exclude contraceptive coverage from their health plans for employees and their dependents. In effect, they will be exempt from the federal requirement to provide contraceptive coverage.
Another powerful lobby!
The rule also lays out what the administration describes as an accommodation for other nonprofit religious and church-affiliated organizations that object to contraceptive coverage, like hospitals and institutions of higher education.
Under the rule, these organizations will not have to contract, arrange, or pay for contraceptive coverage to which they object on religious grounds. Instead, the administration said, such coverage will be “separately provided to women enrolled in their health plans at no cost.”
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"No fines yet in Hobby Lobby’s birth control fight" Associated Press, June 28, 2013
DENVER — Hobby Lobby stores will not have to start paying millions of dollars in fines next week for not complying with the federal birth-control coverage mandate, under a federal appeals court ruling issued Thursday.
Not that powerful. So much for the exemption.
The US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver decided that the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain can proceed with its case and will not be subject to fines in the meantime. The court also sent back some issues to an Oklahoma court to work out.
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. had argued businesses — not just religious groups — should be allowed to seek an exemption if the law violates their religious beliefs.
The owners contend the morning- and week-after birth control pills are tantamount to abortion because they can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s womb....
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We are all f***ed, folks.
