Citizens Against Government Waste was pleased to learn that presidential candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agrees that Congress and their official staff have been given a special exemption under the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, and that it must be abolished. He joins fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in calling […]
Walker and Rubio: First Out of the Gate
Presidential candidates Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla) offered their ideas for reforming healthcare on Tuesday, August 18. Gov. Walker’s is a relatively detailed 13-page document and while Sen. Rubio’s is an op-ed with three major components for reform, both advocate for policies that would empower the individual and create a consumer-driven […]
IBD: ObamaCare DOES Cut Employees’ Hours
Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) took on the subject of whether or not the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, has encouraged employers to reduce their employees’ working hours in order to avoid the law’s penalties. According to an August 14 column by Jed Graham, the answer is yes and “there is no clearer test […]
Howard Dean is Correct
It is not too often that I agree with former Vermont Governor and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean but when it comes to the government “negotiating” drug prices in Medicare Part D, he is correct. Inside Health Policy reported that at an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Medicare sponsored by Dentons, a multi-national law […]
A Billion Here – A Billion There
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare, has chucked more money down the memory hole than Agent J’s Neuralyzer in Men in Black. More than $5.3 billion has been doled out to 48 states and the District of Columbia, ranging from planning grants to establishment grants by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to create state-based online exchanges; $2.4 billion in start-up and solvency loans have been provided to establish 23 Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OP); and as of September 2014, $2.1 billion was spent to build the Federally-facilitated exchange, Healthcare.gov.
Bigger is not Better
News broke on Friday, July 24 that Anthem, the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, will purchase Cigna for $48.4 billion. The total deal, which includes purchasing Cigna’s debt, is worth $54.2 billion. Cigna is known primarily for administrating health insurance coverage for large employers. The Wall […]
Congress’s Claim to be a Small Business Brings on an Ethics Complaint
According to the Small Business Act of 1958, “a small-business concern … shall be deemed to be one that is … independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation.” Under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 13, Chapter 1, Section 121.105, “a business concern eligible for assistance from SBA as a small business is a business entity organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, and which operates primarily within the United States or which makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor.”
Our Constitution Continues to Dissolve
On Thursday, June 25, the Constitution and our tripartite system of government took a major hit. The Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 opinion, ruled against the plaintiffs in King v Burwell, a lawsuit concerning who was entitled to taxpayer-funded subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) better known as ObamaCare. You may recall […]
A Positive Start to Repeal the Medical Device Tax
On Thursday, June 18, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2.3 percent excise tax on total sales for certain medical devices that was created in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The legislation, H.R. 160, entitled the “Protect Medical Innovation Act,” passed by a vote of 280 to 140. All the Republicans and 46 […]
Up, Up and Away
During both of his two campaigns and the 2009 debate over healthcare reform, President Obama often stated that his plan would cut the average premium of a typical family by $2,500 per year. But not surprisingly, prices are instead going in the opposite and wrong direction. As Jed Graham blared in his May 18, 2015 Investor’s Business Daily column, “ObamaCare Premium Increases Next Year May Shock You.”