Tag: Obamacare

Biography Reveals New Details Of Roberts’ Obamacare Vote

Admin

by Kevin Daley   A forthcoming biography of Chief Justice John Roberts contains the first account of the Supreme Court’s internal politicking over the 2012 NFIB v. Sebelius decision, in which Roberts joined with the Court’s four liberals to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. A review of the much anticipated book — the first major Roberts biography — will appear in the March edition of the Atlantic, which disseminates new details of the chief’s scheming in advance of the book’s release. The book relates that in the weeks following the March 2012 arguments, Roberts voted with the conservative bloc to strike down the individual mandate, finding Congress had exceeded its power under the commerce clause by compelling people to buy insurance. Roberts elected to keep the majority opinion for himself — one of the few formal powers of the chief justice is the duty to assign opinions. As time progressed, Roberts grew uneasy and sought a third way. Initially, he hoped Justice Anthony Kennedy — the vaunted swing justice who had negotiated compromise decisions in seminal cases before — would be amenable to such negotiations. Whatever his reputation, Kennedy was not a moderate but an idiosyncratic ideologue, and he was convinced the ACA was unconstitutional.…

Read the full story

Sen. Kamala Harris’ Medicare for All Plan Is ‘Insane,’ Rep. Mark Green Says

Jason M. Reynolds

A plan put forth by U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to pay “Medicare for All” is “insane,” said U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07), who added, “Earth to Senator Harris. Earth to Senator Harris.” Green made the remarks on Fox News’ Outnumbered Overtime. The video is available here. During a townhall meeting Monday in Iowa, Harris, a 2020 presidential candidate, vowed to eliminate private health insurance in order to enact “Medicare for all,” or a single-payer system, Outnumbered Overtime host Harris Faulkner said. That would eliminate the private insurance system for about 150 million Americans. Faulkner played a clip of Harris saying medical care takes too long because doctors have to get approval from insurance companies and because of all the paperwork. “Let’s eliminate all of that,” Harris said. Green, who previously ran a medical staffing company, said Obamacare and Harris’ plan were “attacks” on the insurance market that would take away choices for the middle class. Obamacare has shifted higher costs onto the backs of small businesses. The nation cannot afford to eliminate the third-party payer system. Green cited a study by Dr. Charles Blahous of the Mercatus Center of George Mason University showing that a single-payer system would…

Read the full story

Leftist Faith Group Unhappy with Tennessee Republican Attorney General Over Obamacare

Chris Butler

A group of faith leaders, whose politics lean left, want Republican Tennessee Attorney General Herb Slatery to back out of a lawsuit fighting Obamacare on behalf of state residents. Members of the Southern Christian Coalition made that clear at a press conference last week at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, according to The Tennessee Tribune. “The immorality of this lawsuit still stands. It is an affront to our call as a follower of a loving and compromising God. For 30 years before I became a pastor, I practiced nursing. I know what happens when health care coverage is not there,” said the Rev. Morgan Gordy of Christ Lutheran Church in Nashville. Minister Kelli X of The Village Church in Nashville also spoke at the press conference, the website reported. As The Tennessee Star reported last month, a federal judge in Texas recently ruled Obamacare is constitutionally flawed because the lawsuit Slatery participated in alongside several other state attorneys general. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate is allowed because the government enforces it through a tax penalty. As TNJ: On the Hill reported last year, though, Republican attorneys general in 20 states filed a new lawsuit, this one in Texas, asking courts to…

Read the full story

Commentary: The Legal Gymnastics Behind Obamacare

Admin
Obamacare

by Gary Galles   On December 14, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled Obamacare unconstitutional because its individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance “can no longer be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s tax power,” since the tax that enforced it is now gone. Progressive leaning critics quickly called it bad jurisprudence and assured people that Obamacare remained constitutional. However, Judge O’Connor’s ruling just saw through the hocus pocus by which Obamacare was first found constitutional. Remember how the penalties for not having insurance under the ACA plan arose? It was repeatedly and emphatically asserted to not be a tax, but a regulation (so that its costs would not be counted in ACA’s fiscal scoring). But Chief Justice Roberts’ 5-4 majority decision found the ACA constitutional only because it really was a tax, which Congress has the power to impose, when a regulation mandating that Americans purchase health insurance would have been unconstitutional. Beyond that convenient but mutually inconsistent weasel-wording, two months ago, Democrats showed no concern about violating the Constitution when it suited their policy agenda. President Trump issued an executive order stopping ACA subsidy payments to 6 million people. 18 states quickly sued to reverse the…

Read the full story

Dr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Congress’s Role in Creating America’s Healthcare Crisis

Admin

by Dr. Carol M. Swain   In 2017, President-elect Donald Trump sent pharmaceutical stocks into a nosedive by speaking an important truth. Drug companies, he said, are “getting away with murder” with their pricing of lifesaving drugs. True to his word, the president, since his election, has pushed for needed reforms  aimed at lowering the costs of prescription drugs. On this matter, the president and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agree: Americans are paying too much for drugs, medical supplies, and equipment. The president and Sanders would like to see U.S. prices aligned with other nations’ lower prices. I recently attended a meeting in Washington of health care professionals, where the attendees were mostly physicians and other citizens, including pastors and health care workers, concerned about the high cost of drugs and the effect that drug shortages have on their patients and congregants. The meeting was racially and politically diverse. Of great concern was the life-threatening situations people are placed in when making decisions about whether to purchase their medicine or pay the rent or house note. As informed as I am on many issues, this was an area of ignorance for me. I had never heard of legalized drug kickbacks and relationships between hospitals, facilities,…

Read the full story

Dr. Carol M. Swan Commentary: Congress’s Role in Creating America’s Healthcare Crisis

Admin

by Dr. Carol M. Swain   In 2017, President-elect Donald Trump sent pharmaceutical stocks into a nosedive by speaking an important truth. Drug companies, he said, are “getting away with murder” with their pricing of lifesaving drugs. True to his word, the president, since his election, has pushed for needed reforms  aimed at lowering the costs of prescription drugs. On this matter, the president and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agree: Americans are paying too much for drugs, medical supplies, and equipment. The president and Sanders would like to see U.S. prices aligned with other nations’ lower prices. I recently attended a meeting in Washington of health care professionals, where the attendees were mostly physicians and other citizens, including pastors and health care workers, concerned about the high cost of drugs and the effect that drug shortages have on their patients and congregants. The meeting was racially and politically diverse. Of great concern was the life-threatening situations people are placed in when making decisions about whether to purchase their medicine or pay the rent or house note. As informed as I am on many issues, this was an area of ignorance for me. I had never heard of legalized drug kickbacks and relationships between hospitals, facilities,…

Read the full story

Tennessee Republican Attorney General Herb Slatery Fights Obamacare, Democrat Predecessor Would Not

Chris Butler

A federal judge in Texas recently ruled Obamacare is constitutionally flawed, and Tennessee Attorney General Herb Slatery, a Republican, played a role, however small, in challenging it. Unlike his predecessor, Democrat Bob Cooper, Slatery fought the law on behalf of the Tennessee residents who want it gone. Cooper wanted nothing to do with challenging Obamacare in court, even though Tennessee is overall a conservative state. As Town Hall reported in 2014, Obamacare’s harsh effects throughout all of Tennessee apparently failed to persuade Cooper to join 27 other state attorneys general in fighting the law. This was one of the early challenges officials in several states filed after former Democratic President Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010. News Channel 5 asked Cooper at the time why he refused to join the other state attorneys general. Cooper said he was trying to save taxpayer money and chose not to fight. “This office determined that Tennessee’s participation in the lawsuit would not have been an appropriate use of limited state resources because participation would have cost money during difficult economic times while providing no additional benefit to the state,” Cooper said at the time. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled…

Read the full story

CNN Contributer Ezekiel Emanuel says Obamacare Ruling ‘Defies Constitutional Logic’

Admin

by Nick Givas   CNN contributor Ezekiel Emanuel said on “New Day” Monday that a recent court ruling declaring Obamacare unconstitutional “defies constitutional logic.” “That is a ridiculous ruling and you don’t have to rely on a doctor like me,” Dr. Emanuel said. “Lots of conservative legal scholars think it’s a silly ruling. The main logic there is the mandate is so essential to the law that nothing in the law can stand without the mandate.” A federal judge in Texas ruled Obamacare’s individual mandate to be unconstitutional Friday and said it can no longer be viewed as a congressional tax. “The Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce Clause — meaning the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional,” District Judge Reed O’Connor wrote in his decision. “And the reason you know it’s a silly ruling is we haven’t had a mandate with any enforceability since we passed the tax law because there’s no penalty anymore and much of the law is going forward. Laws like changing how doctors are being paid, improving the quality in hospitals, investing in better workforce for the health care system,”…

Read the full story

Indiana AG Says Obamacare Ruling Gives Congress Another Shot at Fixing Healthcare

Admin

by Nick Givas   Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said Friday’s Obamacare ruling from a federal judge in Texas gives Congress another shot at fixing America’s healthcare system. “The Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce Clause — meaning the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional,” District Judge Reed O’Connor wrote in his decision. “Obamacare was predicated on the ability to tax — Congress’ authority to tax. And that’s what the Supreme Court decided in 2012,” Hill said on “Fox & Friends” Monday. “This is an opportunity for Congress to act. This — our decision — the attorney generals in the state and the United States made a decision based on the law and the constitutionality of this process. Now Congress has to go to work and make sure that we do find ways to constitutionally provide healthcare for all-American citizens,” he continued. Hill said there is no longer a constitutional justification for Obamacare after the tax elements were removed and therefore the law should be struck down. “It’s really a matter of Congress’ authority to tax and once the tax was removed, there’s no longer…

Read the full story

Sen. Lamar Alexander Says ‘Unlikely’ Supreme Court Would Rule Obamacare Unconstitutional Despite District Court Decision Ending It

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he believes that the Supreme Court will not find Obamacare to be unconstitutional – but even if it did, the federal government can swoop in and provide protections for people with pre-existing health conditions. Tennessee’s senior senator made the remark Saturday following the historic court ruling effectively declaring Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), dead. Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas on Friday night ruled the ACA unconstitutional based on the individual mandate that requires people to have insurance and how that affects a new tax law that sets the penalty for no coverage to $0. Alexander issued a statement on Twitter that said: “If the U.S. Supreme Court eventually were to agree that Obamacare is unconstitutional — which seems unlikely, however poorly the law was written — I am confident that any new federal law replacing it will continue to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions who buy health insurance.” My statement on the ruling in Texas v. Azar. pic.twitter.com/NrFtFRK9tH — Sen. Lamar Alexander (@SenAlexander) December 15, 2018 The Supreme Court in 2012 said the ACA was constitutional in a 5-4 vote in a case titled NFIB v.…

Read the full story

States Have a New Opportunity to Lower Health Insurance Premiums and Expand Options

Admin

by Mary Fishpaw   The Trump administration is offering welcome relief to Americans struggling with high premiums under Obamacare premiums and a lack of insurance choices. The administration has taken a series of regulatory actions to do the following: Make short-term, limited duration policies widely available and give consumers the right to renew those policies. Make it easier for small businesses and independent contractors to band together for greater insurance purchasing power. Propose to allow employers to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, which their workers could then use to purchase portable insurance coverage. The Department of Health and Human Services also has made it easier for states to promote more affordable, flexible insurance coverage options by obtaining waivers from restrictive Obamacare regulations. These “State Empowerment and Relief Waivers” enable states to tap money that the federal government would have paid directly to insurance companies in the form of premium subsidies. States could repurpose this money to design and implement their own premium assistance programs. Such programs could distribute subsidies through defined contributions to consumer-directed accounts established for low-income individuals. States also could provide premium subsidies for insurance policies that don’t conform to Obamacare’s rigid requirements. States that obtain these waivers would…

Read the full story

Federal Judge Ends Obamacare!

Jason M. Reynolds
Obamacare

A federal court has ruled that all of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is unconstitutional based on the individual mandate that requires people to have insurance and how that affects a new tax law. The ruling came just before Saturday, which is the deadline to enroll for Obamacare for the year. Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas found the ACA unconstitutional in a ruling in Texas v. United States, which he issued Friday night, The Washington Post said. Congress in August set the individual mandate penalty to $0 in new tax legislation, The Washington Times said. The $0 penalty could affect a 2012 Supreme Court decision finding Obamacare constitutional because Congress has the power to tax, according to CBS News. But if there is no penalty, the tax does not exist, the plaintiffs said. California’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, has fought against the plaintiffs in Texas v. United States. He said in a statement, “Today’s ruling is an assault on 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions, on the 20 million Americans who rely on the ACA for healthcare, and on America’s faithful progress toward affordable healthcare for all Americans. The ACA has already…

Read the full story

Dr. Mark Green Commentary: ‘Cost Shifting’ Is a Major Contributor to the Healthcare Crisis Today

Admin
Mark Green FRC endorsement

by State Senator Dr. Mark Green (R-Clarksville)   The healthcare crisis in America is rightly one of the top issues on voters’ minds this election cycle. Unfortunately, missing from all the political rhetoric from most candidates is what is actually causing it. This is my second article in a three-part series where I seek to address the root cause of the crisis. You can read the first part here. In addition to having the wrong incentives, the second problem affecting our healthcare system is the effect on health insurance and other payers when government sets the price so low. When Medicare and Medicaid say they will only pay X for this procedure, and X is substantially below the market equilibrium price, one of two things happens: Either providers stop supplying that service at the set price, or they increase the price charged to others–a process called cost shifting. The effect of cost shifting has devastated the health insurance industry. As the government pays less, physicians and hospitals raise the price for others, which leads to increased cost of care for those with health insurance. This increase is then in turn passed to their customers in increased cost. As the cost…

Read the full story

Letter to the Editor: The Way to Lower Healthcare Costs Is to Support and Elect Candidates Who Will Apply Free Market Principles

Admin
doc nurse senior patient

Dear Tennessee Star, During the U.S. Senate debate I was glad to see Congressman Marsha Blackburn speak out against single payer healthcare. Being in the healthcare industry professionally since 1980 and now as a health consultant focused on health care legislation and helping companies and individuals navigate health care costs, pricing and affordability and keeping legislators informed from the provider perspective of the hindrances to care as a result of government intrusion – I know that single payer health care has disastrous implications. Obamacare has taken us in the wrong direction since 2010 – limiting access to plans, skyrocketing double digit cost increases each year, a diminishing individual marketplace, disappearing insurance plans and greatly reducing provider choice – it has been in direct contradiction to the two promises given to the American Healthcare consumer – If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, and it will reduce the costs to consumers. It is unfortunate that many mainstream Democrats are taking a bad idea and setting the stage to make matters much worse. Now many Democrats support Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposal to nationalize our health care system via single payer – also known as “Medicare for All.” In reality,…

Read the full story

Debbie Stabenow On Single-Payer Health Care: ‘Let’s Get In Office’ So We Can Pass It

Admin
Obamacare

by Evie Fordham   Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow appeared to show support for a single-payer health care system, in a video that surfaced Sunday. “There’s no way it is going to go anywhere with Republicans in office, so let’s get in office,” the senator responded when an unknown individual asked Stabenow about supporting a single-payer bill. Stabenow’s campaign webpage on health care mentions lowering prescription drug prices, women’s reproductive rights and support for a universal, but not single-payer, health care system. “Sen. Stabenow supports a government takeover of health care that would cost $2 trillion dollars per year and add trillions to the national debt,” Stabenow’s GOP challenger John James said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Stabenow wants to impose a single-payer, government-run system that would hurt Michigan families and stifle economic growth.” James’ campaign website focuses on giving families “choice” when it comes to health care. TheDCNF reached out to Stabenow’s office but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Stabenow has called attention to her health care record throughout her campaign, but the James campaign dinged her for spreading the false claim that “if you like your health plan, you can keep it” during the early days of…

Read the full story

Blackburn, Bredesen Trade Barbs in Senate Debate

Jason M. Reynolds
Phil Bredesen, Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Governor Phil Bredesen traded barbs in a debate at Cumberland University Tuesday. U.S. Representative Blackburn (R-TN-07) called Bredesen out on a number of issues at the debate at the university in Lebanon, from allegedly covering up sexual harassment in the state’s executive office to being financially dependent on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The video archive is available here:   The debate was sponsored by NewsChannel 5, The Tennessean, Nashville Public Television, the League of Women Voters and Cumberland University.  NewsChannel 5 anchor Rhori Johnston and David Plazas, opinion engagement editor at The Tennessean, were co-moderators. Blackburn reminded viewers that Bredesen is “bought and paid for” by Schumer, who recruited the former governor to run for the Senate and has financed his campaign. Schumer’s PAC donated $10,000 to Bredesen’s campaign earlier this year, and the Schumer aligned Senate Majority PAC has already booked more than $2 million in ads in Tennessee, The Tennessee Star previously reported. The candidates were asked if they would vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Bredesen said what both parties are doing “disgusts me” and repeated previous claims the nomination is a circus. He said he wanted…

Read the full story

Hospitals’ Secret Contracts With Insurers Are Keeping Health Care Expensive: Report

Admin

by Evie Fordham   Hospital systems are making secret contracts with insurers that are keeping health care costs high, a Wall Street Journal report revealed, prompting alternative health care advocates to point out the flawed nature of the U.S. health care system. “Health care is the only industry I can think of where technology is used as an excuse for price to go up and productivity to go down because of these perverse incentives,” The Health Rosetta founder Dave Chase told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The perverse incentives at a high level are generally, either directly or indirectly, the worse job [the hospitals] do, the more they get paid.” TheWSJ’s Tuesday report detailed “dozens of contracts with terms that limit how insurers design plans” so they cannot exclude powerful hospital systems, which when included in health plans can drive up costs for employers and employees. These secret contracts often include clauses that mandate insurers steer consumers away from less costly health care providers or give hospitals the ability to “mask” their prices, according to TheWSJ. If plans did not include these more costly health care systems, they could be up to 10 percent cheaper, the report stated. Some major health…

Read the full story

Commentary: With His Return to the Senate, Does Arizona’s Jon Kyl Bring with Him Another Chance to Repeal Obamacare?

Admin
Jon Kyl

by Robert Romano   Former Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has been appointed by Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey to replace the late John McCain. With the new appointment comes a new opportunity for Republicans to complete one of their key 2016 campaign promises: To repeal and replace Obamacare before the 2018 midterms. In 2017, despite promising to do so if elected and working for months on end, Congressional Republicans failed to pass legislation that would do away with the 2010 health care law signed into law by former President Barack Obama. One piece of legislation to repeal key elements of the law failed by one vote in the Senate, the so-called “skinny” repeal. One of the missing votes was McCain’s whose rejection came as a shock to many observers. Other legislation by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) failed later in Sept. 2017 with Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and again, McCain, opposed. Since that time, Republicans lost the Alabama Senate seat, trimming their majority to a slim 51 to 49. If there were any vote to repeal and replace Obamacare on budget reconciliation, Republicans could only afford to lose one senator. Senator Kyl could be a different story…

Read the full story

Republican Dave Joyce Releases Bizarre Campaign Ad Distancing Himself from Trump

Anthony Gockowski
David Joyce

In a risky political move, Rep. Dave Joyce recently tried to distance himself from President Trump in a congressional district that the president won by 12 percentage points in the 2016 Election. Joyce, who is seeking reelection in Ohio’s 14th Congressional District, recently released an ad in which he touts his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act. “When Republican leaders in Congress tried to take away protections for pre-existing conditions, I said no,” Joyce states. “I won the the fight to fund the Great Lakes restoration, and when President Trump tried to take it away, I said no again.” “I’m Dave Joyce, and I approve this message, because I’ll do what’s right for northeastern Ohio, even if it means standing up to my own party,” the ad concludes. Joyce, however, regularly voted to repeal Obamacare before Trump took office, and his campaign website used to tout a record of voting for repeal more than 30 times, Cleveland.com reports. In a state that Trump won by by 8 points, the ad seems out of place, leaving Joyce’s spokesman, Dino DiSanto to explain that “Joyce will do what is right for his district, no ifs and or buts—doesn’t matter party affiliation…

Read the full story

Commentary: Mainstream Media Is a Watchdog on Republicans, But a Lapdog for Democrats

Chris Butler
Kathleen Sebelius

This week mainstream media reporters nationwide took a posture against President Donald Trump and asserted they act with integrity and objectivity and that his attacks on them are attacks on democracy itself. Hook people in the mainstream media up to polygraph machines and ask them if they really believe that. They’ll pass with flying colors. But as someone who spent nearly 10 years in the mainstream press, I witnessed things that tell me people in the media aren’t necessarily looking out for you and your best interests. The year was 2006, and I had a newspaper job in Central Florida. The Congressional mid-term elections were coming. That election was a topic at one morning staff meeting. One reporter said far more Democrats than Republicans in the county were voting early, obviously a bad sign for the GOP. He wanted to do a story. Our editor shot him down flat. “If you publish that story then it might prompt more Republicans to get out and vote early, and I don’t want to see that happen,” our editor, who is now deceased, said at the time. This was a corporate-owned daily newspaper that served thousands of people every day. A few weeks…

Read the full story

Blackburn, Bredesen Reveal Stark Differences on Judges, Obamacare at NFIB Forum

Chris Butler
Phil Bredesen, Marsha Blackburn

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Tennessee U.S. Senate Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) said, if elected, she’ll vote to appoint federal judges based on whether they abide by what’s in the U.S. Constitution. Her opponent, Democrat Phil Bredesen, said voting to appoint a judge really boils down to his or her qualifications and temperament. When it comes to the debate over health insurance and Obamacare, Blackburn said she wants laws changed to allow Tennesseans to buy health insurance across state lines. That would create more competition and lower costs. Bredesen, when pressed for his opinion on the matter, said he favors Medicaid expansion in Tennessee. These were among some of the insights members of the Tennessee business community could glean from both candidates at a forum Wednesday at Lipscomb University in Nashville. The Tennessee chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business sponsored the event, along with the Tennessee Business Roundtable, and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Per the rules, both candidates spoke separately, and neither of them could discuss their opponent. In her opening remarks, Blackburn told the audience the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorses her candidacy. “They feel I will bring the best ideas. I will help remove the obstacles…

Read the full story

Commentary: Tennessee’s ObamaCare Fiasco Shows the Perils of Short Term Plans

Admin
Obamacare

By Peter Moorman   On August 1, the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury released a final ruling on the expanded use of STLDI plans (Short Term, Limited Duration Insurance). Prior to this ruling, short-term insurance plans lasted a maximum of three months before individuals had to sign up for longer-term plans through the ACA “ObamaCare” exchanges. The new ruling issued last Wednesday allows short-term plans to last for up to 364 days, and, with any potential extensions, up to 36 months in total. The rule change is a step in the right direction since it creates more options for health insurance, but it doesn’t go far enough. The Trump solution is a win for more state control of healthcare. It will be important, however, to empower consumers rather than putting too much power in government bureaucracies. According to the new ruling, state insurance commissioners are free to restrict the duration of the short-term plans as they see fit. Last Wednesday’s ruling – set to go into effect on September 30 – sets up the short-term health insurance policies to be sold differently state-by-state. This will most likely create more health insurance options for those living in…

Read the full story

How Medicare’s Private Plans Surpass the Traditional Program

Admin
doc nurse senior patient

by Dr. Kevin Pham and Robert E. Moffit   Medicare Advantage, a system of competing private health plans, is surpassing the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program in delivering high quality, cost-effective medical care for senior and disabled citizens. The prominent research firm Avalere recently published a major study showing that Medicare Advantage generally outperformed traditional Medicare. This was especially so in caring for the most challenging patients who suffer from chronic conditions and complicated medical problems. Major structural differences between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage largely account for the differences in performance. Traditional Medicare, enacted in 1965, pays doctors and other medical professionals on a fee-for-service basis, meaning that the government reimburses medical professionals a specific fee for every one of thousands of services provided to Medicare patients. After almost two futile decades of trying to control costs, in the 1980s Congress overhauled hospital and physician payment. In 1989, Congress created a new physician payment system in which the government would reimburse Medicare doctors based on a calculation of the putative value of individual medical services—including the resources and time required to provide them—and capping the payment. This bizarre reimbursement formula, plus subsequent payment updates, proved faulty. Medical stakeholders compromise the entire process because they also are involved in setting the prices of Medicare’s services and continuously fight to evaluate their own services higher, leading to questionable fee schedules, confusion, and inefficiency. For years, traditional Medicare’s payment system generated perverse incentives, allowing hospitals, for example, to overtreat their patients, delivering more care and more services, more reimbursements, and higher revenues. Congress created Medicare Advantage in 2003 as…

Read the full story

DesJarlais Touts Passage of Bill to Delay ObamaCare Tax For Two Years

Admin
Scott DesJarlais

The House on Wednesday passed a measure to delay ObamaCare’s health insurance tax for two years and expand Health Savings Accounts, The Hill reported. The bill, which passed 242-176, is part of a Republican effort to blunt Democratic attacks on the GOP for rising premiums – a key argument in the midterm elections this year. U.S. Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) issued a press release voicing his support of the measure. DesJarlais said ObamaCare’s medical device tax threatens to increase patients’ health care costs and prevent life-saving innovations. The tax also threatens jobs. The congressman said he supports expanding tax-exempt Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). “Democrats promised ObamaCare would reduce costs and improve health care access for Tennesseans,” said DesJarlais, a doctor. “Just the opposite happened. Millions lost the insurance and doctors they liked. The law forced them into unaffordable government plans with high premiums and deductibles. Unable to afford higher prices, many chose to pay a penalty rather than participate. “Especially in rural areas, ObamaCare resulted in hospital closures, because of consolidation. Only the largest medical providers are able to cope with complex regulations. Small businesses unable to cope shed employees and benefits, contributing to a part-time, low wage economy,” he…

Read the full story

House Votes Overwhelmingly To Kill Obamacare’s Tax On Medical Devices

Admin
Obamacare

by Julia Cohen   A bipartisan majority in the House voted to repeal President Barack Obama’s 2.3 percent medical device tax Tuesday. The repeal passed 283-132, with 57 Democrats and all but one Republican voting in favor. North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones was the sole Republican against the bill. “Minnesota’s innovators can breathe easier since we’re one step closer to ending the medical device tax for good,” Minnesota Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen, the bill’s sponsor, said in a Tuesday press release. “Today’s vote shows strong bipartisan support for lifting this burden on innovators in an industry so important to Minnesota. I’m more optimistic than ever we’ll be successful in giving these job creators the certainty and predictability they need to thrive.” The repeal will reduce federal tax revenue by about $22 million over the next 10 years, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The tax was temporarily rolled back in 2016, and Congress extended the rollback to 2020. Paulsen’s bill makes the repeal permanent. “This bipartisan legislation will make healthcare more affordable and ensure Americans have access to the most innovative life-saving and life-improving medical technology,” Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted Tuesday. Good news→ The House just voted to repeal Obamacare’s Medical Device Tax. This bipartisan legislation will make…

Read the full story

This New Health Plan Expansion Is a Godsend for Small Businesses Like Mine

Admin
business meeting

by Kalena Bruce   Last month, the Trump administration took a concrete step to lower skyrocketing health care costs for middle-class families like mine. The Department of Labor issued a final rule expanding association health plans, which allow small businesses like my farm to band together with others to negotiate bulk rates on health care costs. Association health plans are not new, but they have been nearly regulated out of existence over the last decade by state regulations and Obamacare. For instance, Obamacare required small businesses buying coverage through association health plans to offer “essential health benefits,” which are expensive and often include unnecessary frills like obesity screening and drug rehab. This puts small business plans at a competitive disadvantage with those of their big business competitors, which don’t have to comply with essential health benefits and many other onerous Obamacare regulations. The result: The number of small businesses offering health insurance for their employees fell by about one-quarter between 2010 and 2017. For my family of three, I now pay $700 a month in premiums, not including the deductible and copays, for Spartan coverage. These cost increases eat a portion of my revenue that would otherwise be reinvested into my business. Hardest hit have…

Read the full story

Feds Freeze ‘Obamacare’ Payments; Premiums Likely to Rise

Admin
Obamacare

The Trump administration said Saturday it’s freezing payments under an “Obamacare” program that protects insurers with sicker patients from financial losses, a move expected to add to premium increases next year. At stake are billions in payments to insurers with sicker customers. In a weekend announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the administration is acting because of conflicting court ruling in lawsuits filed by some smaller insurers who question whether they are being fairly treated under the program. Risk adjustment The so-called risk adjustment program takes payments from insurers with healthier customers and redistributes that money to companies with sicker enrollees. Payments for 2017 are $10.4 billion. No taxpayer subsidies are involved. The idea behind the program is to remove the financial incentive for insurers to cherry pick healthier customers. The government uses a similar approach with Medicare private insurance plans and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Major insurer groups said Saturday the administration’s action interferes with a program that’s working well. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose members are a mainstay of Affordable Care Act coverage said it was “extremely disappointed” with the administration’s action. The Trump administration’s move “will significantly increase 2019 premiums for…

Read the full story

Once Again, Obamacare’s Constitutionality Comes Into Question

Admin
Obamacare

by Paul Larkin   Readers might recall that, in 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare, by a 5-4 vote in a case captioned NFIB v. Sebelius. Last year, Congress revised Obamacare. In the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress eliminated the penalty imposed on people who do not purchase health insurance by reducing the penalty to $0 effective January 2019. What makes that 2017 law interesting for present purposes is this: Chief Justice Roberts wrote the controlling opinion in NFIB v. Sebelius; he concluded that the Obamacare penalty can be characterized as a “tax”; and he decided that, so viewed, Obamacare was a constitutional exercise of Congress’s power to raise taxes. Enter Texas. In February of this year, Texas and several other states filed a lawsuit alleging that, by reducing the Obamacare tax to zero, Congress eliminated the only basis on which the Supreme Court had upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare. A sine qua non of a tax is that it generates revenue, Texas argued, and beginning in January 2019 Obamacare will no longer do so. Accordingly, concluded Texas, starting next…

Read the full story

Report: Obamacare Made Insurance Companies Stock Prices Soar ‘272 Percent’

Admin

Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion program and subsidies have made major health insurance companies extremely profitable, according to a White House economic report released Wednesday morning. The White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) report that insurers’ financial health, a measure the group says is reflected in their stock prices, improved markedly after Obamacare took full effect Jan.…

Read the full story

Nancy Pelosi Named ‘Porker of the Year’ by Non-Profit Watchdog

Admin

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has been named the 2017 “Porker of the Year” by Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-profit watchdog organization which tracks the excesses of pork barrel spending and lavish mindsets among lawmakers. The California Democrat won the dubious designation, the group says, “for her long history of misinformation and hyperbole about the benefits of Obamacare. 

Read the full story

FAKE NEWS: Obamacare Does Not Have a Record Number of Sign-Ups for 2018 Open Enrollment

Admin
Obamacare

Americans signed up at record rates during the 2018 open enrollment period for former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, Adam Hodge, former Democratic National Committee communications director, said on Fox News Tuesday. About 8.8 million people signed up for 2018 health coverage on HealthCare.gov during this year’s open enrollment period ending Dec. 15, compared to 9.2 million sign-ups for 2017 coverage and 9.6 million for 2016 coverage. HealthCare.gov provides Affordable Care Act individual health plans in 39 states. The remaining 11 states and the District of Columbia run state health exchanges, and may have later deadlines to sign up than the federal deadline. Total enrollment for Obamacare plans won’t be known until all exchanges are accounted for, but enrollment on state exchanges also lags behind previous years.

Read the full story

Commentary: Will Obamacare ‘Death Panels’ Make It to the New Year?

Tennessee Star Staff

The Obamacare “death panels,” the same ones that liberals vehemently denied were a part of the plan, are on life support themselves, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being the only thing keeping them alive. Conservatives in Congress not only have a chance to end President Donald Trump’s first year with a big win politically, but can also gain policy traction by repealing one of the worst aspects of Obamacare. The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, was included in the Obamacare legislation, and consists of a group of 15 unelected bureaucrats who control health care spending and ration health care for those on Medicare (i.e. senior citizens.) You might recognize IPAB as it is more commonly referred to as “the death panels.” President Trump has already signed on to repeal IPAB, as it was part of President Trump’s budget request. The House of Representatives passed their version of IPAB repeal on November 2nd. The bill, introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN-01), a medical doctor, passed with a bipartisan margin of 307 to 111. All of Tennessee’s Republican members of Congress were co-sponsors of the bill. On the passage of IPAB repeal, Congressman Roe stated “I am thrilled the…

Read the full story

Repealing Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Won’t Cause Doomsday Democrats Promise

Admin

If Congress moves forward with repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate through tax reform, it would likely not lead to the coverage losses that some of the program’s supporters tout. The Senate is currently proposing repealing the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that all Americans purchase health insurance or pay a penalty through its tax reform proposal, a proposal…

Read the full story

EXCLUSIVE Interview: Joe Carr Standing Firm on Conservative Record in 14th District State Senate Special Election

Wendy Wilson

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — Joe Carr held forth on a range of issues Thursday at Slick Pig BBQ on East Main, a favorite hangout where he feels right at home. In an interview with The Tennessee Star, the conservative State Senate candidate energetically answered questions on immigration, health care and education. Carr announced Monday that he will run for the State Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), who late last week was appointed as state director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tracy’s resignation means there will be a special election within the next few months. Murfreesboro businessman Shane Reeves also announced this week that he will run for the seat as a Republican. Carr served in the Tennessee State House of Representatives from 2008 to 2014, lost the 2014 Republican U.S. Senate primary to Lamar Alexander, and also lost the 2016 Republican 6th Congressional District primary to Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06). He lives on his family farm in Lascassas and is semi-retired after having founded and sold two engineering firms. In recent years, he has become known for his T-Bones and Politics fundraisers featuring big-name guest speakers. Viewed as a solid conservative by his admirers, Carr is against the…

Read the full story

Lamar Alexander Trashes Obamacare Repeal Efforts

Tennessee Star Staff

Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander disparaged Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and called for bipartisan cooperation during a speech on the Senate floor Thursday. Alexander implored his colleagues to support a bipartisan health care reform bill that he introduced with co-sponsor Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, arguing the legislation represents a centrist…

Read the full story

9-Month-Old Baby Richardson Denied Health Insurance Because Treatments Weren’t ‘Medically Necessary’

Admin

A 9-month-old baby boy was denied health insurance October 11 because the treatment for his aggressive brain tumor was deemed “not medically necessary,” according to a Wednesday report by the Daily Beast. Connor Richardson was diagnosed with Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT), and in his short life has already undergone four major surgeries in efforts to remove…

Read the full story

Commentary: The Scandalous Truth About Obamacare Is Laid Bare

Admin

by Jeffery A. Tucker   It’s not just that Obamacare is financially unsustainable. More seriously, it is intellectually unsustainable, even though this truth has been slow to emerge. This has come to an end with President Trump’s executive order. What does it do? It cuts subsidies to failing providers, yes. It also redefines the meaning of “short term” policies from one year to 90 days. But more importantly–and this is what has the pundit class in total meltdown–it liberalizes the rules for providers to serve health-coverage consumers. In the words of USA Today: the executive order permits a greater range of choice “by allowing more consumers to buy health insurance through association health plans across state lines.” The key word here is “allowing” – not forcing, not compelling, not coercing. Allowing. Why would this be a problem? Because allowing choice defeats the core feature of Obamacare, which is about forcing risk pools to exist that the market would otherwise never have chosen. If you were to summarize the change in a phrase it is this: it allows more freedom. The tenor of the critics’ comments on this move is that it is some sort of despotic act. But let’s be…

Read the full story

People Are Not Enrolling In Obamacare Because They’re Convinced It Was Repealed

Tennessee Star Staff

Groups that help enroll people on the Obamacare exchanges are struggling to encourage enrollment because, at least in part, to a lack of awareness about the program’s continued existence, the Daily Beast reports. The Trump administration has drastically cut the funding used to market Obamacare and to assist people in enrolling in its health exchanges, leaving…

Read the full story

Commentary: John McCain’s Betrayal of the Conservative Grassroots is Treasonous

Admin

by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Treason; it’s a difficult concept to grasp. The dictionary indicates the word means “betrayal of country – a violation of the allegiance owed by somebody to his or her own country, e.g. by aiding an enemy.” It also means treachery and/or act of betrayal. Similarly, a traitor is defined as “betrayer – somebody who is disloyal or treacherous.” By definition then, Arizona Senator John McCain is a traitor, guilty of treason. No, a mob isn’t now forming to drag him in chains before a court of inquisition and no formal charges will be filed by anyone in a federal or state jurisdiction to indict him for a crime. But make no mistake, what McCain is doing to sabotage the efforts of about half of his fellow senate members (and President Donald Trump) to deal with a serious big government problem istreasonous. McCain is a traitor within the Republican Party and by extension he’s betrayed the American people because he refuses to even consider a proposal to pass the last-ditch Obamacare “fix it” (I can’t get myself to call it a repeal) bill that his good friend South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham conjured up as the GOP’s final attempt to address the failing Obamacare…

Read the full story