ACASignups Charles Gaba: Among 10 states with the highest share of farmers, Wyoming uses the federal health insurance marketplace the most. This according to a new analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That marketplace is a virtual space for comparing plans and finding insurance often more affordable than elsewhere thanks to federal subsidies. There are touches of me in this post, so don’t wonder why some of it make be different. I read...
Read More »trying to “terminate” healthcare coverage for over 40 million Americans
Healthcare in the United States of America has always been difficult and the costs are commercially driven with some give to what the market will bear. While not perfect, the ACA was a huge step forward in providing affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, Ted Kennedy died shortly afterwards. Senator Kennedy was also advocating for Long Term Care. There are better ways to pay for healthcare. Single Payer eliminates the different administrative...
Read More »Obamacare With a Public Option: Fool Me Twice Shame on Me
By Thomas PalleyThere is an old saying “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” That saying is relevant for the current healthcare debate in which former Vice-President Biden and elite Democrats are touting a reheated version of Obamacare with a public option. It is a case of trying to fool the American public twice.Adding an Obamacare public option will not solve the healthcare problem. Worse yet, it misses an historic opportunity to heal the festering wound of healthcare...
Read More »Zero Hedge — Obamacare Gutted: Core Provisions Ruled Unconstitutional By Texas Judge
Core provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, were ruled unconstitutional by a Texas judge on Friday following a lawsuit brought by a group of Republican attorneys general from 20 states against Democratic attorneys general from 14 states led by California's Xavier Becerra. Zero HedgeObamacare Gutted: Core Provisions Ruled Unconstitutional By Texas JudgeTyler DurdenSee alsoThe HillFederal judge in Texas strikes down ObamaCare Peter Sullivan
Read More »The Pro and the Con of Obamacare
I’ve been trying to learn a bit more about PPACA (aka, Obamacare) and its effects. It hasn’t been something that has interested me a great deal until the last week or so, so I am approaching this from a position of ignorance. But I have been reading through as much material as I can find. Basically, I think the biggest factor in favor of PPACA is the big reduction in the number of uninsured. 14.7% of Americans were uninsured in 2008, the last year before...
Read More »Healthcare Costs – I Got Confused by Some Graphs
I don’t follow healthcare as much as others at this blog. I started playing around with some graphs at FRED and got a bit confused. I don’t mind being confused, but I like to clear up that confusion eventually. So perhaps someone can tell me what’s going on. First, this graph of healthcare expenditures / GDP which seems to indicate that Obamacare bent the cost curve: (click to embiggenize) But looking at the annual change in healthcare expenditures /...
Read More »Zero Hedge — Obamacare Repeal Officially Dead After Cruz Says No
In a sudden change of heart that kills senate Republicans’ effort to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare before a rule allowing Republicans to circumvent a Democratic filibuster expires at the end of the month, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is now saying he won’t support the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill. Cruz, who revealed his position during a panel discussion at a Texas Tribune conference in Austin, suggested that the proposal also lacks the vote of Sen. Mike Lee, according to...
Read More »Jon Walker — The ACA is Failing Because It Didn’t Account For Hospital Monopolies in Rural Areas
The logic behind the design of the Affordable Care Act does not hold up well when faced with the reality of how markets actually work outside cities. ACA exchanges were built on the fundamental idea that competition between regulated private insurance companies would improve quality and hold down prices, but competition is lacking in most rural counties. That’s very unlikely to ever change.... The InterceptThe ACA is Failing Because It Didn’t Account For Hospital Monopolies in Rural Areas...
Read More »Soak the Poor, Feed the Rich
By James Kwak After the dangerous clown show that has been the Trump White House, it’s comforting to return to some good, old-fashioned conservative policymaking: bashing the poor to cut taxes on the rich. I’m talking, of course, about the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Health care financing can sometimes seem like a complicated topic. Adverse selection, risk adjustment, blah blah blah. But it’s easy to understand the American Health Care Act or, as it is sure to be...
Read More »Soak the Poor, Feed the Rich
By James Kwak After the dangerous clown show that has been the Trump White House, it’s comforting to return to some good, old-fashioned conservative policymaking: bashing the poor to cut taxes on the rich. I’m talking, of course, about the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Health care financing can sometimes seem like a complicated topic. Adverse selection, risk adjustment, blah blah blah. But it’s easy to understand the American Health Care Act or, as it is sure to be...
Read More »