You may remember Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) infamous floor speech on February 26 regarding Obamacare Horror stories. He said: Despite all that good news, there are plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue, but they are being told all over America… Those tales turned out to be just that – tales, stories […]
IRS Should Not Create Software That Already Exists
While very little gets done in Washington during an election year, deadlines must be acknowledged and addressed, such as the expiration of the Internet tax moratorium on November 1, 2014. Two days prior to that critical date, a lesser-known but nonetheless important matter is scheduled to come to an end. On October 30, 2014, the […]
World Intellectual Property Day Is April 26
World Intellectual Property Day is April 26, 2014. Set aside by the international community in 2000, as a day to increase and promote a general understanding of intellectual property (IP), this event is recognized worldwide at numerous events. Among those events this year was the 2014 IP Champions Conference, held on April 23, 2014 by the […]
Eight Dirty Words… and the Mother of All Debt Bombs!
The April 16, 2014 article, “Senators Miss Sperling at Key Point for Housing Bill,” by Jon Prior, Kevin Cirilli and MJ Lee, probably should have appeared on “Page 6” of the New York Post – renowned for its gossipy tidbits about the Big Apple’s glitterati – instead of p. 10 of Politico, since it was […]
Tax Day – For Some of Us
For most Americans, April 15 is a day of fear and loathing. It is time to account for all of the taxes owed to various levels of government. If someone has overpaid, money will be coming back. If a taxpayer has underpaid, a (sometimes large) check must be written. But if someone earns money that […]
So Long, Farewell…
This week Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius resigned her position from the Department of Health and Human Services. Most policy people in Washington are not asking, “why?” but instead are pondering “what took so long?” Sebelius has been secretary at HHS since the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) was written, passed by […]
Times Have Changed
Once there was a time when 30-page college papers were typed on portable electric typewriters, research was done in library stacks, and job applications were filled out by hand. Taxes were filed on paper and mailed (postmarked no later than April 15th) at the local post office, and shopping meant going to the local market […]
Not So Fast — How Many Have Paid? How Many Were Previously Insured?
“ACA Total Blows Past 7 Million!” “Obamacare Comeback?” “More Than Seven Million Have Enrolled Under the Affordable Care Act, Whitehouse says!” blare numerous April 1, 2014 newspaper headlines. The president gave a speech in the White House Rose Garden stating, “Last night, the first open-enrollment period under this law came to an end. And despite […]
Medicare Fraud: All Talk, No Action
The Medicare Trust Fund, which is in the red and on track to reach insolvency by 2026, needs every penny it can get. Thanks to the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, $8.2 billion in improper Medicare payments has been recovered since its nationwide implementation in 2010. RACs operate on a contingency fee basis, so their work does not cost taxpayers a dime. Rather than celebrate this successful program, members of Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and special interests, particularly the hospital trade associations, are conspiring to kill it.
Showdown at Medicare Part D Corral
Medicare Part D is one of the few government-created programs that has consistently cost less than the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) original estimates. Every fall, seniors get to choose from a variety of plans for their drug coverage. Pharmaceutical companies, pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBM), and pharmacies know this and they compete vigorously for seniors’ business. A PBM is a third party administrator of prescription drug plans (Well-known PBMs are Catamaran, CVSCaremark, Express Scripts, Humana Pharmacy Solutions and USScript). PBMs negotiate drug prices, establish formularies, process, and pay prescription drug claims in private insurance, as well as Medicare. This robust competition among private sector entities is the major reason that Medicare Part D costs less than originally anticipated; rather than employing heavy-handed government edicts or price controls, market forces keep prices low and satisfaction high. So, why would the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suddenly move to “fix something that ain’t broke”?