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Obamacare Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 20, 2017 6 Comments
We at Legal Insurrection have documented the damage Obamacare has done to the insurance market, with costs skyrocketing to the point that companies have pulled out. If they cannot make a profit they cannot provide coverage. For the last few weeks, Iowa's individual health insurance market showed signs of collapse as companies pulled out one after another. The state started to panic, even asking "the federal government to let it alter parts of the Affordable Care Act in an effort to entice insurers into selling plans in the state." The small insurance company Medica has come to save Iowa after the company's officials decided to remain in the state, making it the only company in the market. But officials said it has to charge higher premiums in order to stay afloat.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2017 12 Comments
Anthem Inc, a prominent national health insurance company, has decided to leave Ohio's health insurance exchange citing a volatile market. It's another example of Obamacare's collapse, especially since Anthem became "a major player in the individual insurance market created by the federal health care law." From The New York Times:
Ohio state insurance officials said they were reviewing their options but put the blame squarely on the federal health care law. “For the past few years we have seen a weakening in the federal insurance marketplace as a number of companies have withdrawn from the exchange,” the state agency said in a statement. “We have always argued the private insurance market is the most severely impacted by the federal law and that is where Congressional action is needed to restore stability.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 24, 2017 13 Comments
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released their score of the American Healthcare Act. In their analysis, the CBO indicated 23 more Americans would be uninsured if the Senate were to pass the AHCA.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 19, 2017 32 Comments
I will never understand how the Republicans managed to screw this up so badly. And let's be clear, this is the fault of Republicans in Congress, not Donald Trump. The talk of repealing Obamacare started years before Trump was even a candidate. Their first attempt a couple months ago fell flat on its face. The second time, it passed in the House on a squeaker vote. Now, they may have to vote on it again. Billy House reported at Bloomberg:
House May Need to Vote Again on GOP Obamacare Repeal Bill House Republicans barely managed to pass their Obamacare repeal bill earlier this month, and they now face the possibility of having to vote again on their controversial health measure.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 12, 2017 8 Comments
Aetna, one of the nation's largest health insurers announced Wednesday it would completely withdraw from Obamacare marketplaces in 2018. Nebraska, Delaware, Virginia, and Iowa are the only Obamacare exchanges where Aetna currently participates. A month ago Aetna announced plans to leave the Iowa market, followed by yet another announcement of a Virginia marketplace exit. With Aetna's withdrawal, Delawareans and Nebraskans will be left with one insurer on the exchange.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 07, 2017 24 Comments
In today's episode of "Democrats can't be blamed for anything" the lead role will be played by Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, who famously credited the stupidity of the American voter for the law's passage. While appearing on FOX News Sunday, Gruber argued that the collapse of Obamacare must be blamed on none other than President Trump. Chuck Ross reports at the Daily Caller:
Jonathan Gruber Blames Obamacare Failures On Donald Trump [VIDEO] Gruber, an MIT economics professor who is considered one of the architects of Obamacare, made the bold claim during an interview with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 04, 2017 85 Comments
The House voted to repeal Obamacare Thursday afternoon. And by a slim vote -- 217 to 213, the American Healthcare Act passed. Prior to the final tally being read aloud, some legislatures began singing:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 03, 2017 28 Comments
So, the breaking news is that the House will vote tomorrow, Thursday, the 4th day of May, in the year 2017, to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. The NY Times reports:
House Republican leaders planned to hold a showdown vote Thursday on their bill to repeal and replace large portions of the Affordable Care Act after adding $8 billion to the measure to help cover insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 14, 2017 15 Comments
Though Obamacare was designed to force the American health insurance system into a single payer model, the free market has found a workaround. A growing number of practices are working directly with uninsured patients or with patients forgoing insurance benefits for a better price tag. Health insurance premium hikes, ridiculously high deductibles, and scant coverage make for-profit specialist shops all the more attractive.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 14, 2017 12 Comments
After the healthcare reform failed before it even reached the floor, President Donald Trump wanted to move onto tax reform. But he recently told The Wall Street Journal that he wants to return to healthcare:
Three weeks later, he said he is determined to resurrect the health-care bill even if it means delaying the tax overhaul, telling The Wall Street Journal in an interview: “I want to get health care done…I think I will get it done.” The tax overhaul, he said, would have to wait.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 11, 2017 11 Comments
Midterms are 18 months away, but groups on both sides have planned ads to target vulnerable Republicans over the failure to repeal or reform healthcare. Congress has begun its recess, which has led groups like Save My Care to release ads. The group has spent $1 million on TV spots this month "that highlight the members’ support for the GOP health-care plan that now stands in limbo in the House." But conservative groups have also planned ads "against moderate Republicans" they placed blame on "for the holdup on an ObamaCare repeal bill."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 05, 2017 14 Comments
House Republicans held meetings late into Tuesday night, hoping to find some consensus on health insurance reform before the upcoming recess to no avail. By all accounts, there's still no other Obamacare repeal plan and so lawmakers, including Vice President Pence, are still trying to make the failed American Healthcare Act (AHCA) work.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 04, 2017 27 Comments
Vice President Mike Pence has been conducting meetings with lawmakers over a new Obamacare repeal plan Tuesday as the House scrambles to clean up the last healthcare failure. Unfortunately, it does not look like that the tide will turn anytime soon. While talks include seeking out provisions to appease hard-line conservatives, moderates may now push back.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 29, 2017 5 Comments
Elizabeth Warren's opinion on healthcare and the single payer option seems to shift with political convenience. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Back in 2012, when being a good Democrat meant defending Obamacare at all costs, she abandoned her prior support for a single payer plan. She got caught in an interview with liberal Boston radio host Jim Braude. Here's a transcript of their conversation via the Weekly Standard:
Elizabeth Warren Supported Single-Payer Before She Opposed It HOST: If you were the tsarina, something like single-payer, government run health care, far lower administrative costs, that sort of thing, would be the Senator Warren prescription, would it not? ELIZABETH WARREN: I think right now what we have to do--I’m serious about this--I think you’ve got to stay with what’s possible. And I think what we’re doing–and look at the dust-up around this–we really need to consolidate our gains around what we’ve got on the table.

Posted by New Neo on March 28, 2017 16 Comments
Was the end goal of Obamacare to create the expectation of universal health coverage? Charles Krauthammer thinks so:
On Friday's edition of 'Special Report' on Fox News Channel, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer made the case that President Obama's strategy for Obamacare was not to create a perfect health care system, but to create the expectation that health care is something the government is responsible for. He said Obama had been successful at "creating the expectation of universal care" and that as a result "the zeitgeist of the country has really changed."...
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