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.”
Why is FOX Business News Pushing Price Controls?
It was the headline on the FOX Business News April 27 article that captured my attention. It said, “More Government Waste Found at Medicare.” I thought, well, what else is new, it’s pretty much a government-run program where waste and fraud is rampant. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimated it was about $50 […]
A Disappointing Vote but Not Unexpected
Senator David Vitter (R-La.) is on a mission.
CO-OPs: Another ObamaCare Catastrophe
On March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare, was signed into law. By the end of 2013, millions of Americans had lost the healthcare plan they liked and were forced to accept health insurance plans with mandated benefits they did not need or want. Their premiums increased by an average of 49 percent from 2013 to 2014. In November 2014, the Obama administration released data that showed premium rates would go up again in 2015, by as much as 20 percent, for those purchasing insurance under ObamaCare unless they switched plans.
Gold, Silver, Bronze (oh, Platinum too)
In years past, when people heard the terms Gold, Silver, Bronze, they thought about the Olympic medals. Now, they likely think of ObamaCare with its metallic collection of expensive healthcare plans of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
340B Drug Discount Program Finally Gets a Congressional Hearing
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health holds first hearing on the 340B drug discount program since 2005.
GAO Cites Billions Left on the Chopping Block
The prevailing wisdom inside the Beltway and especially among big-government politicians and bureaucrats is one that was espoused by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2013. Flummoxed by a reporter’s question on budget cuts, she literally threw up her hands and exclaimed, “The cupboard is bare! There’s no more cuts to make!”
Medicare House of Cards: Bringing Down the RAC Program
All of Washington, D.C., as well as the rest of the country, has been binging on the third season of the wildly popular Netflix original series “House of Cards,” the sordid tale of Washington politicians who will stop at nothing to bend the power structure to their will in order to gain power, prestige, and money.
King v. Burwell: Judicial Branch Should Judge, Not Legislate
On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments to King v. Burwell. It is one of four lawsuits that challenge the IRS’s regulation that allows subsidies to assist people to purchase health insurance in Federally-facilitated Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare. The plaintiffs argued that the plain language of the law only allows subsidies to assist people in an Exchange “established by a State” while the Obama administration is arguing the IRS was correct when it decided to provide subsidies for enrollees in both types of Exchanges. The Exchanges are the on-line marketplaces where people can shop and purchase health insurance. The Supreme Court heard the case because there have been conflicting rulings within the lower courts as to whether the IRS acted legally.