There is a lot of discussion of how much the Obama healthcare plan will cost the federal government. The House bill, if passed, will spend more than $1 trillion over 10 years and the Senate bill would spend more than $800 billion over 10 years. This spending will be paid for with a lot of […]
Salvage the Good from the Healthcare Debacle
The healthcare reform juggernaut, arguably the most radical attempt to remake the economy and the nation’s healthcare infrastructure in history, was supposed to have flown through Congress before the August recess with nary a peep. Instead, as Americans have gotten wind of its alarming provisions and exorbitant costs, the plan appears to be fizzling fast in the summer heat.
The Devil is in the Details of the Healthcare Bills, Or Not
President Obama and congressional Democrats have been playing defense on healthcare reform throughout the month of August as congressional town hall meetings across the country have erupted in anger and frustration. A favorite theme in the President’s and his allies’ speeches is that Americans have been manipulated and exploited by opponents of his healthcare initiatives, jack-booted obstructionists who are peddling falsehoods about what is actually in the bills.
“Cash for Clunkers” Comes to a Screeching Halt
This past June, Congress added $1 billion to the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act for the “Consumers Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009”. Though it had no business appearing in an emergency war funds bill, this “Cash for Clunkers” provision established a new one-year program administered through the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that gave individuals with older, less fuel efficient cars a credit worth up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new car that met certain fuel efficiency standards.
A “Generic” Call for Change
As Congress braces for the largest reform of healthcare in the nation’s history, lost in the debate has been an issue critical to federal and state healthcare budgets, as well as the ability of consumers to afford lifesaving drugs. The issue is whether Congress should grant generic makers of the next generation of medications called “biologics” the same regulatory approval treatment it did for chemical drugs under the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act.
Healthcare Reform: A Pricey Prescription
President Obama promised this would be the year of health care reform, but many are bracing for what this “reform” could really mean. After much anticipation, Democrats have started to unveil their healthcare reform plans, revealing new policy proposals that would, among other things, expand Medicaid, impose individual and employer mandates, enlarge the almost bankrupt Medicare program, create a new government-run healthcare plan, and cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years. The overall result will inevitably be higher taxes, less patient choice, and ultimately, rationing of care.
Medicare/Social Security Insolvency
While the Obama Administration ratchets up support for government-run healthcare, which would be a new entitlement program, the government trustees who monitor the nation’s two largest entitlement programs, Medicare and Social Security, have reported that they are both less than a decade away from insolvency.
Massive Expansion of SCHIP
Congress is poised to pass a massive expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Originally, SCHIP was designed to help low-income families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid gain access to health insurance for their children. However, under the bill currently being considered (H.R. 2), SCHIP’s income eligibility level would rise from the current 200 percent to at least 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), or about $63,000 for a family of four. In addition, some states don’t count certain types of income or have an approved waiver in order to boost eligibility for the program.
RAC-king Up Medicare Savings
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its most recent analysis of improper payments in the Medicare program on November 17, 2008. The good news is that vigorous cost recovery programs have helped whittle the percentage of improper payments in the Medicare fee-for-service program from 3.9 percent in FY 2007 to 3.6 percent this year.
Medicare Fraud: Not a New Story
Just before the August congressional break, Citizens Against Government Waste testified before a forum on Medicare fraud that was chaired by Sens. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas). Sen. Martinez introduced S. 3164, the Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act (STOP) of 2008, a bill that does several things to address the continuing problem of out-of-control fraud in the Medicare program.