Benjamin Rush Society
The Ulterior Motive Behind Rising ObamaCare Premiums
Piping Up
Last week, proponents of ObamaCare celebrated the one-year anniversary of the passage of the landmark health care law with several hundred events across the country. They have little reason to cheer, according to a sobering new study.
In the report, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin calculates that health reform's tax on insurers, which takes effect in 2014, will raise family premiums by $5,000 over the decade--all by itself.
A glimpse of a future with ObamacareBy Sally C. Pipes The one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act this week brings new reason to consider a major health-care announcement by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Almost five years into his state’s Romneycare plan, it turns out that spending is out of control, threatening public-sector budgets and private-sector wealth generation. The solution to this government-created mess, Patrick told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last month, is more government control — or health-care reform Part II, as some are calling it. Americans in the other 49 states should pay attention. Massachusetts is the blueprint for Obamacare, and Patrick is among those who want his state’s plan to serve as a national model. Do Waivers Make Way For A Single-Payer Health Care System?Piping Up
The Senate is currently considering a new measure that would allow states to opt out of ObamaCare three years earlier than originally planned. It's attracted support from an unlikely source: President Obama. Why would the president endorse an effort that would seemingly undermine his signature law? Because the provision would actually hasten the country's progress toward the president's ultimate goal: a single-payer health care system. Why Doctors Need Full Repeal of Obamacare: Medical Professional Diagnose the Law's Side Effects
Monday, March 21, 2011 Obamacare: One Year Later, Even Less PopularJeffrey H. Anderson One year ago today, the then-Democratic House of Representatives openly disregarded the cool and deliberate sense of the people and rammed Obamacare down the American people’s throats. At the time, the Democrats claimed that their bill would become more popular once Americans found out what was in it (a process that, as Democrats explained, required passing it). A year later, polls show that Obamacare’s popularity has declined even further. Mandatory Spending to Exceed all Federal Revenues — 50 Years Ahead of Schedule By Jeffrey H. Anderson We have now gotten to the point — as I noted yesterday — where if national defense, interstate highways, national parks, homeland security, and all other discretionary programs somehow became absolutely free, we’d still have a budget deficit. The White House Office of Management and Budget projects that in the current fiscal year (2011), mandatory spending alone will exceed all federal receipts. So even if we didn’t spend a single cent on discretionary programs, we still wouldn’t be able to balance our budget this year — let alone pay off any of the $14 trillion in debt that we have already accumulated. Feds' Insurance Cost Reviews Reveal Inconvenient TruthsPiping Up As ObamaCare approaches its one-year anniversary next week, celebrations will likely be muted. Not only is the law's public support plunging--58% of Americans now favor repeal--health insurance premiums haven't fallen. In fact, they're skyrocketing. Even The New York Times has taken notice. In an article last Monday<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/health/policy/05cost.html>, the Gray Lady noted that premiums have more than doubled nationwide, with small businesses getting hit especially hard. States like New Hampshire--which has one of the healthiest populations in the U.S.--has seen premiums for small and medium-sized employers rise by 20% to 60%. We Suffer Unhealthy Budgets, Thanks To ObamaCarePiping Up Republicans and Democrats are currently jockeying for position in the fight over this year's federal budget. The two sides seem miles apart on spending cuts and other priorities. But this year's budget battle is only the beginning. Thanks to the new health care law, next year's budget debate is shaping up to be a real battle royale. |
