Yesterday, The Daily Caller highlighted a continuing issue I have with the Obama Administration and that is using words that attempt to hide or do not describe what the government is talking about. For example, the President constantly uses the word “revenue” instead of taxes and “investment” instead of more government spending. But that is not the […]
Another Delay?
The Obama Administration is changing the requirements again for the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Reuters reports the administration has decided to delay signing the final agreements with insurance plans that are going to be sold in the healthcare insurance exchanges. The exchanges are supposed to be up and running on Oct. 1. According […]
The New Normal?
What is becoming increasingly clear is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as Obamacare, is changing and will change how Americans work. Here are some examples. According to Obamacare, any employer with 50 or more employees must provide health insurance to any employee that works 30 or more hours a week. Dealing with […]
Obamacare: Defund or Delay?
Before the 113th Congress left town in early August for their five-week “summer recess,” they kicked yet another can down the road. On the one hand, it wasn’t time-sensitive enough that action couldn’t wait until their return on September 9. On the other, because of the hoopla surrounding it before their departure, they left themselves […]
Lame Brain Drain
I am not suggesting that the Congressional staffers who may be seeking greener career pastures (due to changes in health care benefits) are “lame brains;” however, if they are responsible for most of the madness that emanates from Capitol Hill, I may have to reassess. Rather, the much-ballyhooed, “sky-is-falling” brouhaha over the potential for intellectual […]
The Fix is In…
The deal has been made; Congress and President Obama figured out a way to provide continued subsidies for healthcare premiums for congressional staff. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) just released the proposed regulation, which can be found here. Despite what many have noted is a lack of statutory authority to issue this regulation, it nonetheless […]
Unions Wake Up from their Four-Year Slumber
Well, who would have thought that the very unions that spent millions of dollars to get Obamacare signed into law are now complaining to Democrat leaders in Congress about the same law, telling them, “We have a problem; you need to fix it.” In the letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader […]
Waking Up to Reality
The press and many fans of Obamacare are beginning to wake up to problems with the healthcare law. It appears reality, not the Utopia that was promised, is settling in. I have written about this in an earlier blog found here. Now, the New York Times is pondering another possible scenario with respect to the law and employers. […]
Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others
In April, I wrote about a developing story that some members of Congress were looking for ways to get themselves and their staff out from participating in Obamacare. There was such a large kerfuffle and outrage about it that news reports quickly surfaced that Congress was doing no such thing. Yesterday Politico broke another story […]
Recovery Audit Contracting: The Wave of the Future
On the large list of sources of waste in Medicare, improper payments are near the top. According to a February 27, 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “In 2012, the Medicare program covered more than 49 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries at an estimated cost of $555 billion, and reported improper payments estimated to be more than $44 billion.” Medicare’s high level of complexity and susceptibility to improper payments are among the reasons that the GAO designates Medicare as a high-risk area. One method that has proven successful in reducing improper payments is the increased usage of recovery audit contractors (RACs).