Republicans undermine their own long-term interests by supporting elimination of the Cadillac Tax. The GOP opposes government-imposed cost controls, and supposedly favors market-driven discipline as an alternative. Most GOP members in Congress fail to understand that the Cadillac tax is a market-driven reform. Currently, federal tax law confers an open-ended benefit on employer-paid premiums, which are…
DetailsLast year, the Trump rule on short-term health plans went into effect, which not only allowed plans to last 364 days, it lets people renew them for up to 36 months. “Sabotage!” the health care experts cried. They said this new rule would allow junk insurance that would rip consumers off and would force Obamacare…
DetailsSome states are succeeding in lowering premiums and increasing enrollment in health insurance by doing a better job of targeting existing resources. Seven states obtained waivers to target subsidies for high-cost patients, and they saw premiums fall by nearly 7.5%, while premiums in the other states rose by more than 3%.
DetailsHealth insurance enrollment has declined among people who do not qualify for financial help under Obamacare. Enrollment declined by 1.2 million people, or 24%, between 2017 and 2018 among people with incomes too high to qualify for Obamacare subsidies and who therefore face the full brunt of premium cost increases.
DetailsA new study shows that Obamacare has turned out to be a giant welfare program, with millions of working- and middle-class Americans improperly receiving Medicaid—a reflection of the unpopularity of the exchange policies and incompetence of government oversight.
DetailsLast December, the Trump Administration redesigned and set a new direction for the Shared Savings Program, which is Medicare’s main program for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) under “Pathways to Success.” Data on ACO performance in the program the first six performance years showed that, over time, those ACOs taking accountability for cost increases, or “risk,”…
DetailsHospitals would have to disclose the discounted prices they negotiate with insurance companies under a Trump administration rule that could upend the $1 trillion hospital industry by revealing rates long guarded as trade secrets.
DetailsOn Thursday, the Senate passed a bill to increase the federal budget and lift the debt ceiling for the next two years. The Trump administration provided a list of $574 billion in savings options from the president’s 2020 budget to offset some or all of the proposed deal’s domestic and defense spending increases over the…
DetailsSen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently introduced the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019. The bill provides incentives to slow the spending curve in the Medicaid drug program. Grassley says, “When states decide which drugs will be covered and included on their preferred drug lists, taxpayers and Medicaid patients ought to have assurances the system…
DetailsPoliticians are depicting a system in meltdown, but the numbers tell a different story, not as dire and more nuanced. Government surveys show that about 90% of the population has coverage. Independent experts estimate that more than one-half of the roughly 30 million uninsured people in the country are eligible for health insurance through existing…
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