The blog of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM)
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So, these savings have little to do with Obamacare either way. Instead, they stem from exactly the kind of high-deductible, catastrophic plans that the ACA seeks to limit. The data simply points to a very intuitive principle: one of the best ways to make overall health care spending go down is for more individuals to spend less on it.For many people, a high-deductible plan coupled with Health Savings Accounts allows them to best protect their health and their pocketbook according to their best individual judgment of their needs.
1. You pay a fine if your spouse and kids are uninsured(See the full text of his piece for more details on each point: "White House Publishes Final Regulations For Obamacare's Individual Mandate -- Seven Things You Need To Know".)
2. Pretty much any employer-sponsored plan meets the mandate’s requirements
3. The mandate fine is small, and will have even less impact over time
4. The IRS can’t go after you if you don’t pay the fine
5. Many older individuals will be exempt from the mandate
6. If you don’t file a tax return, you’re exempt
7. ‘Members of recognized religious sects’ and American Indians are also exempt
How much will your life be worth to the federal government under ObamaCare? Less than you might think. We can make an educated guess by looking at which medical screening tests the government U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) considers worthwhile...I also discuss problems with one-size-fits-all government medical recommendation, and how President Obama and his doctor knowingly violated guidelines set by his own federal task force.
Veterans of the healthcare push are now lobbying for corporate giants such as Delta Airlines, UPS, BP America and Coca-Cola, and for healthcare companies including GlaxoSmithKline, UnitedHealth Group and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association...
The voracious need for lobbying help in dealing with ObamaCare has created a price premium for lobbyists who had first-hand experience in crafting or debating the law.
Experts say that those able to fetch the highest salaries have come from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or committees with oversight power over healthcare.
Demand for ObamaCare insiders is even higher now that major pieces of the law — including the healthcare exchanges and individual insurance mandate — are being set up through a slew of complicated federal regulations...
Pundits on both sides of the political spectrum have noted that health care outcomes in Massachusetts are among the best indicators for Obamacare that we have, given the ACA’s similarity to Romneycare. Now a new study is out on MA health care, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture...
Insurance is a product that certain businesses produce for trade and profit. Insurance companies price their product by assessing risks and accounting for many variables involving the market and their customers. Insurance companies and their customers (properly) deal with each other voluntarily, by mutual consent to mutual advantage. Insurance, properly speaking, is a kind of voluntary contract.
The coverage for “pre-existing conditions” that insurers are forced to provide is, strictly speaking, not insurance at all.(For more, read the full text of "The Solution to 'Adverse-Selection' in Health Insurance is Selfish-Selection".)
As health care reform kicks in to high gear, a new innovation in health care delivery is being touted at Cleveland Clinic: shared patient appointments. On the surface, this idea seems so efficient and social as patients with similar medical problems sit around in a group therapy session that masquerades as health care. After all, with the large influx of new patients to our health care system underway and the limited health care personnel resources available, the push for such a model was inevitable.BTW, these become more popular in Massachusetts after the imposition of Romneycare, as described by the Boston Globe in 2008. Some patients found it better than waiting a long time to see a doctor, others have serious problems with the lack of privacy.
But many Americans are also noticing another disturbing trend: higher insurance premiums to offset the cost of those who do not have sufficient resources to pay for their care. While the reality of our higher health care costs demand that the added costs be paid by someone, I suspect most of those who will be paying higher premiums didn't think they'd have to "share" their physician appointments with others...
How is the ACO different from the HMO? The difference is merely cosmetic. The ACO is composed of physicians, other “providers,” and administrators. It contracts with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide care for selected beneficiaries. It receives a lump sum per patient per month from which all care is to be provided. Money not spent on care (“profit”) is split evenly between the ACO and CMS.(Read the full text of "Unaccountable Care Organizations".)
Money spent in excess of the “bundled” payment is a loss to the ACO. The ACO can also receive incentive payments for achieving (and reporting) certain “benchmarks” such as lowering blood pressure or cholesterol level. These “quality” indicators, which are based on large population studies, will almost certainly lead to over-treatment of individuals, particularly the elderly.
Like HMOs, ACOs will face very strong incentives to cherry pick the healthy and to limit access to specialty care, procedures, expensive drugs, and hospitals. These incentives are devastating to the truly ill. And the ACO is accountable to CMS, not to the patient!...
