August 31, 2011

ObamaCare Pulse Check

The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease
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OBAMACARE IS MORE UNPOPULAR THAN EVER

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Forty-Four Percent Of Americans Have An Unfavorable View Of ObamaCare. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1,201 A, MOE 3%, 8/10-15/11) Only 39 Percent Of Americans Have A Favorable View Of ObamaCare. The Lowest Since Kaiser Began Tracking National Public Opinion. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1,201 A, MOE 3%, 8/10-15/11) According To The Poll, Only Six In Ten Democrats Hold A Favorable View Of ObamaCare. The Lowest Support Amongst Democrats Since ObamaCare Was Signed Into Law In March, 2010. (Kaiser Family
Foundation, 1,201 A, MOE 3%, 8/10-15/11)

THATS NOT SURPRISING CONSIDERING HEALTH CARE PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

Obama Promised His Plan Would Bring Down Costs For The Entire Country By Making Our Health Care System More Efficient Through Better Technology And More Emphasis On Prevention. (Sen. Barack
Obama, Remarks Of Senator Barack Obama Economic Roundtable With Democratic Governors, Chicago, IL, 6/20/08)

But The Congressional Budget Office Finds That The Law Will Cause Federal Health Care Costs To Rise Even Higher. In addition, the major health care legislation enacted in 2012 will increase the number of beneficiaries of federal health care programs, and CBO projects that the costs of those programs per beneficiary will continue rising (Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update, Congressional Budget Office, 8/24/11) In July, Health Care Prices Rose While The Economy Sank. Overall U.S. health care prices increased in July 2011, rising 0.4 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the BLS Producer Price Indices, which measure average changes in selling prices across the range of health care industries were 2.0 percent higher than a year ago. (Richard Pizzi, Health Care Prices Rose While Economy Sank In July, Health Care
Finance News, 8/18/11)

AND WORKING FAMILIES CONTINUE TO FEEL THE BURDEN

Obama Promised His Plan Would Bring Down Premiums By $2500 For The Typical Family. (Sen. Barack
Obama, Remarks Of Senator Barack Obama Economic Roundtable With Democratic Governors, Chicago, IL, 6/20/08)

Higher Health Care Costs Are Causing Employers To Pass On The Burden To Their Employees. As health care costs continue to rise, businesses are increasingly passing on the added burden to their employees. (Sam Baker, Survey: Employers Shift Rising Health Costs To Their Workers, The Hills Health Watch, 8/18/11)

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The National Business Group On Health Finds That More Than Half Of The Employers It Surveyed Plan To Make Employees Cover A Greater Share Of Their Health Care Costs. (Sam Baker,
Survey: Employers Shift Rising Health Costs To Their Workers, The Hills Health Watch, 8/18/11)

Health Care Costs Expected To Increase 5.9% in 2012, But Benefit Offerings Will Begin To Shrink.
(Employers Committed To Offering Health Care Benefits Today; Concerned About Viability Of Insurance Exchanges, Towers Watson, 8/24/11)

In An Effort To Control Health Spending, Employers Are Requiring Patients To Pay A Higher Percentage For Specialty Drugs. To try to control spending, some employers are requiring patients to pay a percentage of the cost of specialty drugs from 25 percent to 33 percent or more rather than a flat dollar co-payment. (Julie Appleby, Workers Squeezed As Employers Pass Along High Costs Of Specialty Drugs, Kaiser Health News, 8/22/11) Roughly Two-Thirds Of Employers (66%) Will Increase Employees Share-Of-Premium Contributions For Single-Only Coverage For 2012, And 73% Will Increase Them For Employees With Dependent Coverage. (Employers Committed To Offering Health Care Benefits Today; Concerned About Viability Of Insurance Exchanges, Towers
Watson, 8/24/11)

WHILE BUSINESSES CONSIDER DROPPING COVERAGE

President Obama Promised That If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Will Be Able To Keep Your Health Care Plan. Period. No One Will Take It Away. No Matter What. (President Barack Obama, Address To The
American Medical Association, Chicago, IL, 6/15/09)

Towers Watson Survey Finds That One Out Of Every 10 Midsized And Large Companies Say Theyll Stop Offering Health Insurance Once Federal Insurance Exchanges Kick Off In 2014. (Ryan Jaslow, Is
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance On Life Support? CBS News, 8/24/11)

For Retirees, More Than Half Of Employers (54%) That Offer Health Care Benefits Plan To Discontinue Them For Both Pre-65 And Post-65 Retirees. (Employers Committed To Offering Health Care Benefits Today;
Concerned About Viability Of Insurance Exchanges, Towers Watson, 8/24/11)

OBAMACARE HAS FAILED TO MEET EXPECTATIONS EVEN WITH HIGH-RISK POOLS

ObamaCares High-Risk Pools Are Failing To Meet Expectations. Democrats' health care reform law set aside $5 billion to help people with pre-existing conditions obtain affordable coverage before insurance exchanges go online in 2014. The program has come under criticism for failing to meet expectations, with fewer than 22,000 people enrolled as of April 30, far short of the 200,000 to 350,000 that had been predicted. (Julian Pecquet, Report: States Better Than Feds In Getting Sick People Enrolled In High-Risk Pools, The Hills Health Watch, 8/26/11) While The High-Risk Pools Have Long Suffered From Eligibility Limitations, High Premiums, And A Lack Of Funding, This Report Cant Speak Very Well For The Federal Governments Ability To Enroll People In Exchanges By 2014, Once Some States Opt Out Of Building Their Own Marketplaces. (Think Progress, The Federal Governments Poor High-Risk Pool Track Record Doesnt Bode Well For Exchanges,
thinkprogress.org, 8/26/11)

Non-Partisan General Accountability Office: States Are Doing A Much Better Job Than The Federal Government At Getting Sick People Enrolled In The Health Care Reform Law's High-Risk Pools. (Julian
Pecquet, Report: States Better Than Feds In Getting Sick People Enrolled In High-Risk Pools, The Hills Health Watch, 8/26/11)

Enrollment In States High-Risk Pools Nearly Triples Enrollment In Federally Operated Pool. As of April 30, the Government Accountability Office found, the 27 states that operate their own pools had enrolled 15,781 people with pre-existing conditions. The federally-operated pool for the 23 other states and the District of Columbia, by contrast, only had 5,673 enrollees. (Julian Pecquet, Report: States Better Than Feds In Getting Sick
People Enrolled In High-Risk Pools, The Hills Health Watch, 8/26/11)

AND FAMILIES ARE FORCED TO JUMP THROUGH MORE HOOPS FOR THEIR COVERAGE
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ObamaCare Mandates Consumers With Flexible Spending Accounts Must Get A Doctors Prescription To Buy Over-The-Counter Medicines. Bills floating through Congress would lift some restrictions on flexible spending accounts and allow employees to set aside pre-tax earnings to pay for out-of-pocket health care expenses. (Elizabeth Stawicki, Congress Reconsiders Restrictions On Flexible Spending Accounts For Health Care, MPR News, 8/22/11) The Rule Affects More Than 20 Million Americans. The trend, triggered by the 2010 health-care law, affects more than 20 million Americans with flexible spending or health savings accounts that let them use pretax dollars for medical needs. A U.S. rule that took effect Jan. 1 taxes purchases of over-the-counter drugs except for insulin unless the patient has a prescription, generating $5 billion through 2019, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. (Jeffrey Young, Doctors Hit By Aspirin Demands As Health Law Restricts Accounts,
Bloomberg, 8/23/11)

Mandate Is Driving Up Medical Costs And Creating Unnecessary Work. Doctors pharmacists, insurers and drug companies say while it may generate money to help expand coverage for the uninsured, the measure is driving up medical costs and creating unnecessary work. (Jeffrey Young, Doctors Hit By Aspirin Demands As
Health Law Restricts Accounts, Bloomberg, 8/23/11)

Scott Melville-President And CEO Of Consumer Health Care Products Association: It Was Contrary To The Goals Of Health Care Reform Because It Actually Increases Costs And Reduces Access. (Jeffrey
Young, Doctors Hit By Aspirin Demands As Health Law Restricts Accounts, Bloomberg, 8/23/11)

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