newsletter

The Federalist: Obama's Census Bureau Officially Plans To Cook Obamacare's Books The New York Times reported…that the U.S. Census Bureau planned to radically alter its method of calculating the number of people without health insurance in the U.S. The result? The changes will be so radical that “it will be difficult to measure the effects of President Obama’s health care law in the next report, due this fall, census officials said.” You know what else is due this fall?...

Wall Street Journal: Odd-Hour Workers Face Loss of Employer Health Plans Redrawn Lines Between Full- and Part-Timers at Sodexo Decide Who Is Eligible for Coverage Thousands of these so-called variable-hour employees—many of whom work on college campuses that don't operate during summer months—could lose their benefits as employers use new formulas to classify workers as full time or part time. The distinction determines which employees are entitled to company-sponsored health...

The Federalist: Kathleen Sebelius's Resignation Hands Republicans A Golden Opportunity Not even the New York Times thinks Sebelius is leaving because she succeeded. …it appears that this resignation presents Republicans with a golden opportunity to reignite their crusade against Obamacare with Sylvia Burwell’s nomination as a proxy for all the problems with the law. Burwell is a political loyalist and a veteran of the shutdown fight with no record on health care, and will likely be...

The Federalist: Obama Administration To Insurers: There's No Such Thing As Illegal Immigrants When It Comes To Obamacare, All Immigrants Are Legal. Lost in the overall shuffle concerning the many problems with Obamacare’s exchanges is the central problem of enforcement of those aspects of the law the president hasn’t waived or delayed yet – including the particular challenge when it comes to verifying the immigration status of those applying for taxpayer subsidized...

The Transom: WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE OBAMACARE NUMBERS REALLY ARE The long-teased RAND study of how many people have actually gained coverage under Obamacare is finally out, and the most startling thing about it is how massive a gap there is between their numbers and the Obama administration’s… The headline number you’ll hear today is 9.3 million gaining coverage – but that’s a net, because RAND also estimates that over five million lost coverage at the same...

National Journal: Administration Backs Down on Medicare Cuts The Agency overseeing the system says it's turning a proposed cut into a slight payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans [Democrats joined by many Republicans and the insurance industry pressured the Administration into reversing MA cuts as prescribed by Obamacare. These cuts were a part of the "savings" imagined by Obamacare] The federal agency that runs Medicare has reversed at least some proposed cuts to private Medicare...

NBER (Casey Mulligan): The ACA: Some Unpleasant Welfare Arithmetic [under Obamacare] between six and eleven million workers would increase their disposable income by cutting their weekly work hours. About half of them would primarily do so by making themselves eligible for the ACA's federal assistance with health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health costs, despite the fact that subsidized workers are not able to pay health premiums with pre-tax dollars. The remainder would do so...

NPR: Nearly Half of Californians Who Used Exchange May Drop Coverage Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center estimate that about 20 percent of Covered California enrollees are expected to leave the program because they found a job that offers health insurance. Another 20 percent will see their incomes fall and will become eligible for Medi-Cal, the state's insurance program for people who have low incomes. In addition to the 40 percent of enrollees who move to...

PBS Newshour: Survey finds only 1 in 4 Americans support the new health care law Despite a late surge in sign-ups, support for President Barack Obama’s health care law is languishing at its lowest level since passage of the landmark legislation four years ago, according to a new poll. The Associated Press-GfK survey finds that 26 percent of Americans support the Affordable Care Act. Yet even fewer — 13 percent — think it will be completely repealed. A narrow majority expects...

Forbes: Surprise! White House To Delay 'Firm' Obamacare Enrollment Deadline Past March 31 Though the Obama administration repeatedly insisted that its March 31 enrollment deadline for Obamacare’s first year was “firm,” many observers predicted that the administration would combat lagging sales of health law-sponsored insurance plans by extending that deadline. Sure enough, on Tuesday night the White House indicated that it would be postponing that drop date in order to squeeze...

Wall Street Journal: Republicans Challenge Administration's Authority Republicans are pointing to statements by a top Treasury Department official as evidence that the Obama administration overstepped its authority in delaying the health-care law's requirement that employers offer coverage or pay a penalty. Mark Mazur, assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, said in a January interview with staff from the GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he wasn't aware of any...

Washington Examiner: Health insurance premiums up 39% to 56% under Obamacare, reach $2,604 a month in California According to a cost report from eHealthInsurance, a nationwide online private insurance exchange, families are paying an average of $663 a month and singles $274 a month, far more than before Obamacare kicked in. What's more, to save money, most buyers are choosing the lowest level of coverage, the so-called "bronze" plans. "Premiums are increasing primarily because of the new...