Commentary: Limiting Short-Term Health Care Plans Will Hurt Americans

Mike Pirner had emergency gall bladder surgery shortly after buying short-term medical insurance plan (STM), for $150/month. The costs associated with the procedure were $100,000 — Mike only had to pay his $2,500 deductible, which was also his out-of-pocket maximum. President Biden has proposed rules released Friday of the July 4th week that would limit these plans to three months, with one additional month possible. Currently, these plans can last up to three years. 

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Commentary: Republicans Must Not Surrender to Bernie Sanders on Healthcare

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the GOP needs an effective healthcare agenda. There are many policies and programs they could be championing to help families deal with rising costs — especially now with control in the House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate — but unfortunately, they’ve failed to capitalize on this issue so far.

Republicans are missing an important opening; last year 90 percent of voters said a candidate’s plan for reducing the cost of healthcare would be important to them and 39 percent went so far as to say they would likely cross party lines to vote for a candidate who makes reducing healthcare costs their top priority!

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Bipartisan Pennsylvania Bill Would Allow ‘Personal Option’ Through Association Health Plans

A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania state lawmakers are championing legislation enabling small-business association healthcare plans to offer workers affordable coverage. 

Such plans facilitate lower costs by allowing business and industry organizations to pool their members and negotiate insurance prices. The measure’s author, Representative Valerie Gaydos (R-Moon Township), was among numerous sponsors who told The Pennsylvania Daily Star they experienced firsthand how governmental burdens have made it harder for companies to provide their members with inexpensive medical coverage. Gaydos said this is particularly true since the Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, heavily restricted association plans. 

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Whitmer: Keep Preventative Health Care Services After Michigan Court Ruling

After a Texas federal judge voided the Affordable Care Act requirement for health care insurers to cover some preventive care services without additional cost, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directed state government to inform Michiganders which preventative care services are affected.

Whitmer called on the state legislature and Congress to pass laws to help ensure that Michiganders can access services cost-free such as early detection of colon and skin cancer, high blood pressure, and hepatitis. 

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Foreign Actors Suspected in Hack of D.C. Obamacare Exchange, Theft of House Members’ Personal Data

A malign foreign actor could be behind the theft of personally identifiable information of hundreds of House members and staff in the hack of an Obamacare health insurance exchange in the nation’s capital, according to the chair of the House Administration Committee.

Lawmakers and their staff were notified a few days ago by the House chief administrative officer of the hack of the D.C. Health Link exchange.

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AG Skrmetti Leads States in Opposing Proposed ObamaCare Language Change

Tennessee’s Attorney General is leading the charge against a proposed change to Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). 

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will lead a coalition of 20 states in filing a public comment against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s (DHS) plan to change the wording in Section 1557 from “sex” to “gender identity.” 

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Small Businesses Might Drop Obamacare as Premiums Skyrocket

Health insurance premiums offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as Obamacare, will rise next year, hitting small businesses particularly hard and potentially pressuring them to drop out of the program.

While recent provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act have provided additional subsidies for individual consumers that will likely offset the increased cost of premiums, no such support was granted to small business owners, according to the Wall Street Journal. Insurers are proposing median premium increases of 10%, but some are proposing increases as high as 20%.

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U.S. Senate Passes Massive Tax and Spend Bill Targeting Carbon Emissions, Prescription Drug Costs, More

The U.S. Senate on Sunday passed a $740 billion new taxing and spending bill that seeks to combat climate change and allow the government to control the price of prescription medications, among other things.

No Republicans voted for the bill, named the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, in the divided 50-50 Senate, forcing Vice President Kamala Harris to break the tie. The measure must return to the House for a concurrence vote after senators passed several amendments Sunday. The House is expected to take the bill up again on Friday. If the House concurs, President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign it.

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Commentary: The Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip in 2022

The 2022 United States Senate elections can best be thought of as the classic battle between the irresistible force and the immovable object. The irresistible force is the playing field. President Joe Biden’s job approval in the RCP Average is currently 39.7%, the lowest of his presidency. That’s about 3.5 points lower than Barack Obama’s job approval was on (midterm) Election Day 2010. President Obama’s job approval only dipped to 40% briefly, in the immediate aftermath of the botched Obamacare rollout, and it never dropped below 40%. President Donald Trump’s job approval spent much of 2017 below this mark, but in the terrible Republican election year of 2018, it never fell this low.

In other words, this is shaping up to be a worse environment than either of the last three midterms, all of which were nightmares for the party in power.

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Democrats Worry About Spike in Obamacare Premiums Ahead of Midterms

Obamacare

As Democrats head into the November midterms with historically low approval ratings, another major factor could arise that will further contribute to the shrinking of their already-slim majorities.

As reported by The Hill, the Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as “Obamacare” – could face a significant increase in premiums due to a lapse in special funding provided by the coronavirus aid bill passed last year. That bill, known as the American Rescue Plan, temporarily increased financial assistance for Americans seeking healthcare through Obamacare; the increase was set to expire just one year after the bill’s passage.

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Commentary: Joe Biden and His Hostility to Conscience Rights

In 2020, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the University of Vermont Medical Center for forcing a nurse to assist at an abortion. Trump’s Department of Justice called the hospital’s bullying of the nurse “the kind of indecent coercion [that] violates everything this country stands for.”

In 2021, the Biden administration dropped this lawsuit. It did not want to defend the nurse. This rankled former Trump officials. “It is a dereliction of duty that is an insult to the bipartisan consensus that says you cannot force people to assist in abortions,” Roger Severino, the former head of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) told Fox News.

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Commentary: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Could Rise or Fall Based on 2012 Roberts Ruling on Obamacare Individual Mandate

“Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority.”

That was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion ruling in 2012 that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was unconstitutional under Congress’ Article I, Section 8 power to regulate interstate commerce.

And yet, the mandate was rescued in the very same decision by Roberts, ruling that penalty under the individual mandate was a valid exercise of Congress’ Article I, Section 8 power to collect taxes.

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Commentary: BidenCare Blows ObamaCare Costs Out of the Water

PolitiFact’s 2013 “Lie of the Year” came from former President Barack Obama selling ObamaCare, his massive government takeover of healthcare. “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it,” Obama said. That was a lie. Now President Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) want to expand that lie through their $3.5 trillion federal spending blowout pending in Congress. 

Obama also said we could keep our doctors under ObamaCare. Obama lied to me and millions of other people. When I left a full-time job in 2013 for contract work, I switched to an ObamaCare exchange plan. And no, I didn’t get to keep my doctor on that new plan. I also saw the cost of my ObamaCare plan increase by double digit rates for 2014.

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Second Federal Court Blocks Biden Mandate Requiring Doctors to Perform Trans Surgeries Against Conscience

A federal court has blocked President Joe Biden’s mandate that would require doctors to perform transgender surgeries against their consciences.

Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division, granted “a permanent injunction” to the Christian plaintiffs “to be exempt from the government’s requirement to perform abortions and gender-transition procedures.”

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Obamacare Lawsuit Backed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to uphold a 2017 provision part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, that was challenged by Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody, and 17 other states.

The provision nullified an “individual mandate” or “minimum essential coverage” established in a 2012 court decision that was intended to put a tax penalty on Americans who did not purchase health insurance or enroll in Medicaid.

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Democrats Introduce Two House Bills Expanding Abortion Coverage

Virginia House Democrats have introduced two bills expanding healthcare coverage of abortions. HB 1922, introduced by Delegate Cia Price (D-Newport News) would expand Medicaid abortion coverage and require private employers who offer health coverage to cover abortions. HB 1896, introduced by Delegate Sally Hudson (D-Charlottesville), removes a Virginia prohibition of abortion coverage under Obamacare.

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Former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore on Barrett: Confirm Now!

In an interview with The Virginia Star, Kilgore shared that Barrett’s nomination was a long time coming.

“A lot of us were looking to the President, hoping he would nominate her last time instead of Kavanaugh [in 2018]. She carried herself so well during her 2017 hearing for the 7th Circuit Court, and she was a former clerk for Justice Scalia. She is a favorite justice for many conservatives throughout the nation.”

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Obamacare Loophole Allows Medicaid Fraud, Costs Taxpayers, Report Says

The Affordable Care Act mandated that states accept a hospitals’ decision on the eligibility of all able-bodied adults who verbally report their income to be below the Medicaid level, which has led to many fraudulent eligibility claims, according to a report published Monday.

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) report examined recently released data from state Medicaid agencies. It specifically looked at the government Medicaid funds that were wasted through false hospitals’ presumptive eligibility (HPE) determinations.

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Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar: Trump Shouldn’t Pick the New SCOTUS Justice

Senators Tina Smith (DFL-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) stated that President Trump shouldn’t pick the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) nominee. Instead, Smith and Klobuchar say that the newly-elected president should, and the Senate should wait to vote until then.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday from cancer complications. The SCOTUS vacancy is now the epicenter of political leaders’ attention.

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Exclusive: Rep. Steve King: ‘Five Sources’ Told Me Leader McCarthy Tried to Get Trump to Rebuke Me

The nine-term Republican Iowa congressman and kingmaker in his state’s crucial presidential caucuses told the Star Newspaper Group he was done in House GOP Leader Kevin O. McCarthy (R.-Calif.) after years of challenging the compromises made by the House GOP leadership.

“I have five different sources, who have informed me that Kevin McCarthy actively and aggressively was seeking to convince President Donald Trump to endorse my primary opponent Feenstra within at least two-and-a-half weeks out and all the way up to primary day itself,” said Rep. Stephen A. King, who was beaten by state Sen. Randall L. Feenstra in the June 3 primary.

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Keith Ellison Asks Supreme Court to Review ‘Illogical And Chaotic’ ACA Decision

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined a coalition of 19 states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a recent decision that found the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to be unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in a December ruling that Obamacare’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, but ordered a lower court to decide whether the rest of the law can remain intact. “The individual mandate is unconstitutional because it can no longer be read as a tax, and there is no other constitutional provision that justifies this exercise of congressional power,” said the court. “On the severability question, we remand to the district court to provide additional analysis of the provisions of the ACA as they currently exist.” In the 2-1 decision, the court said that it may be that some, none, or all of the ACA is “severable from the individual mandate.” Ellison has now joined 19 other states in filing a petition that asks the Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision. “Affordable, high-quality health care is a human right. It’s essential to being able to afford your life and live with dignity and respect,”…

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Yet Another Tennessee Public Entity Has to Pay Obamacare Penalty Costs

  Rockwood, Tennessee’s public utility officials didn’t file the proper Obamacare forms with the Internal Revenue Service on time, and now the utility must pay the feds more than $25,0000 in penalty costs. This, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released about Rockwood Electric Utility on Monday. REU officials did not return The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment. Specifically, utility officials failed to file Form 1094-B and Forms 1095-B with the IRS or provide Form 1095-B to employees and former employees. “Failure to timely file/provide these forms causes the Utility to not be in compliance with the Affordable Care Act,” according to the audit. “Forms filed after the mandated due date are subject to penalties. The estimated penalty for the Utility is $25,720.” Form 1094-B is the Transmittal Form for Form 1095-B. Form 1095-B is the Health Insurance informational return. A separate Form 1095-B must get filed for each employee and former employee covered by the utility’s health insurance plan during the year, Comptrollers wrote. This is not the first instance this year of the IRS penalizing a public entity in Tennessee. As The Star previously reported: • The IRS assessed nearly $400,000 in penalties and interests against the Maury County…

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Mark Green of Tennessee Explains to Democrats Why Obamacare Is Doomed to Fail

  U.S. Republican Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District explained during a hearing on Obamacare this week how his experiences in an emergency room turned him against socialized medicine. Green made his remarks during a House Oversight Committee hearing. “My first patient was a gang member. He’d been shot in the lower abdomen. The guy was punching at the staff and yelling at us all. Meanwhile, we’re trying to save his life,” Green said. “After giving this guy world-class care I walked out thinking at least with government payer I’d get paid for the risks taking care of this patient.” Near the end of his shift, however, Green said he had another patient, a 35-year-old woman on chemo with a lowered immunity system. The woman’s infections had threatened her life. “With her were two children and a worried husband. The woman was only 35 years old. She didn’t have insurance. As we stabilized her, I realized that early detection saved this young woman’s life. In Europe, socialized medicine has delayed early detection as care is rationed, and that is why mortality rates for specific illnesses are far better in the United States than they are in Europe and…

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Report: Ohioans Enrolled in Obamacare Had 20 Percent of Medical Claims Denied Despite Coverage

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that, from 2015-2017, 20% of all claims made by individuals covered under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, have been denied. This has led to thousands of patients going “out of pocket” to cover expensive procedures or putting themselves at risk by not getting the procedures performed at all. The report analyzed “transparency data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to examine claims denials and appeals among issuers offering individual market coverage on healthcare.gov from 2015-2017.” In 2017, 19% of all health claims filed were rejected. When a claim is rejected, an individual has a right to appeal the decision. However, less than one half of a percent of individuals choose to do so. Of the few that do file an appeal, only 14% are overturned. Depending on the insurer, claim denial rates ranged from 1% to 45%. Due to transparency limitations by insurers, there is little data to suggest why the claims were denied: Issuers use standardized reason codes for claims adjustments and denials; without this information, one cannot distinguish claims denied for reasons of medical necessity, for example, from those denied due to an incorrect…

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Christian Employers Alliance to Launch First State Chapter in Ohio

  The Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) announced Saturday that it will launch its first state-level chapter in Ohio after a kick-off event scheduled for May 6. The organization was founded when the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious organizations were forced to defend their freedom of faith and conscience against the Obama-era Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). In the wake of the years-long court battle, a national network of business owners launched the Christian Employers Alliance, a national network of “Christian business owners who are committed to running their businesses in line with their faith, serving their hopeful worldview in word and deed.” On Saturday, the organization announced that it would be starting a state chapter in Ohio and holding a kick-off event on May 6, which will feature several prominent speakers, including Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH-08) and Citizens for Community Values President Aaron Baer. “Christian business owners face unique and increasing challenges in America today,” the group said in a press release. “Christian business owners in Ohio are coming together to launch CEA’s first state chapter.” According to the press release, the organization will help business owners “connect with other Christian business owners throughout…

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Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown Blasts Trump on Obamacare Repeal, Calls on Governor and Attorney General to ‘Do More’

Monday, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, in a joint press conference at PrimaryOne Health in Ohio, pledged to oppose President Trump’s recent efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), nicknamed “Obamacare.” As previously reported, the court case Texas v. Azar ruled that the ACA was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that the Individual Mandate component of the law was “unconstitutional under the Interstate Commerce Clause, but could fairly be read as an exercise of Congress’ Tax Power,” but upheld the bulk of the law. From this, Texas Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that because the mandate was unconstitutional, the ACA is, by default, unconstitutional. For several months, the ruling has sat pending with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In late March, the Department of Justice, at the behest of President Trump sent a letter to the court, stating that they agreed with the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling and, “Because the United States is not urging that any portion of the district court’s judgment be reversed, the government intends to file a brief on the appellees’ schedule.” Should the court affirm this ruling, the ACA could be overturned within the year. On August…

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Trump Continues to Hammer Health Care Messaging, Ropes Four Senators Into His Fight

by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump continued with criticism of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and touted four Republican senators he said will fix the ACA, colloquially known as Obamacare, in a tweet Monday. “The cost of ObamaCare is far too high for our great citizens. The deductibles, in many cases way over $7000, make it almost worthless or unusable. Good things are going to happen!” Trump wrote on Twitter. He also tagged the Twitter accounts for Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, John Barrasso of Wyoming and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. The cost of ObamaCare is far too high for our great citizens. The deductibles, in many cases way over $7000, make it almost worthless or unusable. Good things are going to happen! @SenRickScott @senatemajldr @SenJohnBarrasso @SenBillCassidy — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2019 It’s not the first time Trump has made this claim. His administration made news March 25 when the Department of Justice announced it sided with a December 2018 district court ruling that found the ACA violated the Constitution. Trump had tweeted that “[t]he DEDUCTIBLE which comes with ObamaCare is so high that it is practically not even useable” on Dec. 17.…

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Ohio Attorney General Opposes Scrapping All of Obamacare, Breaking With President Trump

Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost announced Wednesday he would oppose President Donald Trump’s plan to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. On December 14, 2018, shortly before the 2019 open enrollment period ended, a contentious and controversial case was finally ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas v. Azar challenged that the entire Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. The case noted that the Supreme Court previously ruled “the Individual Mandate was unconstitutional under the Interstate Commerce Clause but could fairly be read as an exercise of Congress’ Tax Power because it triggered a tax.” However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “eliminated that tax,” and “thus compels the conclusion that the Individual Mandate may no longer be upheld under the Tax Power.” “And because the Individual Mandate continues to mandate the purchase of health insurance, it remains unsustainable under the Interstate Commerce Clause—as the Supreme Court already held,” the case added. Based on this, Texas Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor made three conclusions: First, the Court finds the Parties satisfy the applicable standing requirements. Second, the Court finds the Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s Tax Power and is…

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Republicans, Democrats Back to Battle Over US Health Care Law

Health care has re-emerged as a major focus of U.S. political parties with the Trump administration advocating striking down the entire Affordable Care Act and Democrats introducing legislation to strengthen the law that has been in place since 2010. The Justice Department on Monday backed a federal court ruling declaring the entire ACA unconstitutional on the basis that without the fines for not having health insurance, which a Republican-led Congress passed last year, the mandate for having coverage should not be allowed. That went against the administration’s earlier position that while some parts of the ACA should be struck down, not all of it should be thrown out. Trump told reporters Tuesday he wanted alternatives to the law, which was one of the chief policies enacted under his predecessor Barack Obama. “The Republican Party will become ‘The Party of Healthcare!’” he wrote on Twitter. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled his party is happy to take on the issue, especially following the end of the special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Schumer said issues such as healthcare and climate change are much more important to voters. The issue was a…

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Social Justice Warriors at The Tennessean Publish Op-Ed Claiming ‘Tennessee Is a Racist State and So Is Its Legislature’

A progressive social justice warrior-community organizer has labeled the entire State of Tennessee as racist with the aid of The Tennessean, which ran her ranting op-ed Wednesday. Aftyn Behn describes herself as the statewide organizer of Indivisible for Tennessee and Kentucky. Her op-ed blaming the state – especially the General Assembly – for a host of social ills is available here. She says, Let me be clear: Tennessee is a racist state. Racism is in the air we breathe, permeating the State Capitol, codified in the legislation being passed at the detriment of women, communities of color, and the working poor. Our problem with racism in this state is wild and untamed, and Justin Jones has turned a mirror to the legislature and the gubernatorial administration, inviting them to look inward and prompt introspection towards their ideologically destructive agendas. Lawmakers are responsible for rising black maternity rates, not allowing ex-felons to vote and is “the motivation behind undermining years of tireless organizing efforts from women of color to pass Nashville’s Community Oversight Board,” among other social ills, she said. Not expanding Medicaid is also a part of her complaint. The Tennessee Star has reported on Justin Jones, who allegedly threw…

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Federal Agency Approves Ohio Work Requirement for Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Ohio’s work rules for “able-bodied” recipients of Medicare Friday. Obamacare included a requirement that all 50 states expand Medicare eligibility to cover every individual whose income was up to 133 percent of the poverty line by January 1, 2014. In 2012, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court voted to uphold much of the law while ruling the Medicaid expansion requirement unconstitutional. They found that the federal government couldn’t force the states to expand Medicaid with the threat of withdrawing existing Medicaid funding. Instead, each state would have the option to voluntarily opt into the expansion or not. After months of deliberation, then-Ohio Governor John Kasich announced he would push to accept the expanded Medicaid in March of 2013. The once tea-party supported governor faced significant conservative pushback and criticism for accepting the expansion, most significantly for its high cost and potential government overreach. In 2017, Kasich added provisions to the Medicaid expansion, but stipulated that certain work requirements be met before “able-bodied” men could use the program. They had to work 20 hours a week, be actively looking for a job, receiving education or training, or engaged in community service. These measures, while supported in the state, received significant pushback from advocacy groups who…

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Three Doctors in Congress Diagnose the Problems with ‘Medicare for All’

by Rob Bluey   Few issues have animated conservatives as much as Obamacare. But there’s a new threat on the horizon. It’s called Medicare for All – and it would be a massive government takeover of your health care. The Daily Signal spoke with three medical doctors who are serving in the U.S. House – Reps. Scott DesJarlais (pictured, center), Paul Gosar (pictured, right), and Andy Harris (pictured, left) – to talk about Medicare for All and their solutions for a patient-centered alternative. Listen to the podcast or read the transcript below. Rob Bluey: I want to ask about not only some of the problems we find in health care today, but also solutions. Some of your colleagues on the left have put forward quite a radical proposal called Medicare for All. As doctors, I want to ask you to weigh in on what you think about it. Congressman Harris, would you like to begin? Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.: The Medicare for All plan that was announced a couple weeks by my Democrat colleagues, over 100 of them, really will result in care for none. That’s the bottom line. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out…

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Internal Revenue Service Penalizes Second Tennessee School System Over Obamacare

The Grundy County School System will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in penalties to the Internal Revenue Service for not complying with Obamacare, according to a state audit released this week. This is the second school system in Tennessee this month that must pay a huge sum of money to the feds because of the controversial health care law. Local taxpayers, of course, will have to pick up the slack. No one at either the Grundy County School System or the county mayor’s office returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment Tuesday. According to this week’s audit, the Internal Revenue Service assessed the school system a penalty of $34,060 for not complying with Obamacare during the 2015 fiscal year. “The School Department provides health insurance coverage to its employees; however, this coverage was not in compliance with federal regulations for certain employees,” Tennessee Comptrollers wrote. “This deficiency resulted from a lack of management oversight.” As The Star reported this month, the federal government assessed the Smith County School System more than $35,000 for not complying with Obamacare. That audit, however, did not offer specifics. Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason, in an email, deferred all The Star’s questions to…

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Nine Years After Obamacare Passed, Agency Finds Numbers Were Wildly Off

by Jarrett Stepman   Democrats defeated Republicans in the Obamacare repeal fight by warning that 22 million Americans would be thrown off their health insurance. They pointed to data leaked from the Congressional Budget Office. Well, it turns out that data was completely wrong. According to a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office wildly overestimated the number of people who would lose their health insurance with the repeal of the individual mandate penalty. Initial estimates from the Congressional Budget Office said 14 million would drop off their health insurance coverage due to the elimination of the individual mandate. Then, during the height of the 2017 debate over repeal, progressives touted a leaked number from the Congressional Budget Office claiming that 22 million people would “lose” their insurance if Congress repealed the law. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] However, as health care analyst Avik Roy pointed out, what made this number so high was the inflated number of people expected to lose their insurance due to repeal of the mandate – about 73 percent to…

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Smith County Must Pay $35,000 for Not Complying with Obamacare, Audit Says

The federal government assessed the Smith County School System more than $35,000 for not complying with Obamacare, according to a state audit released this week. Smith County taxpayers, of course, will have to pick up the slack and pay that fine. The audit, however, did not offer specifics. “During the year, the School Department paid a penalty of $37,180 to the Internal Revenue Service for failure to comply with the Affordable Care Act for 2015,” according to Tennessee Comptrollers. “The School Department provides health insurance coverage to its employees; however, this coverage was not in compliance with federal regulations for certain employees. This deficiency resulted from a lack of management oversight.” Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason, in an email, deferred all The Tennessee Star’s questions to Director of Schools Barry Smith. Smith, on the phone, however, deferred all questions to the school system’s Chief Financial Officer Norma Mitchell. Mitchell did not return two requests seeking comment. Other county governments in Tennessee have had their finances suffer due to Obamacare. As The Tennessee Watchdog reported in 2015, an audit from Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson said Obamacare might have forced Robertson County officials to choose between raising taxes and breaking the law.…

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