Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Obamacare and its consequences

I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT I WAS INDEED SERIOUS WHEN I SAID THAT MY DAYS OF RESEARCHING NEWS AND POSTING IT ON THIS WEBSITE WILL BE COMING TO AN END.  WHEN ONE OF MY READERS SAID SHE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE OVER FOR ME IN THIS ENDEAVOR, I WAS VERY PLEASED.  I HAVE BEEN TRAINING HER EVER SINCE AND WANT YOU TO GO TO HER WEBSITE TO GIVE IT A TRY.  BEGINNING ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, MY WEBSITE WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE, BUT YOU CAN TRUST HER TO CARRY ON.  VISIT HER NOW AT http://elephantstrunkandmore.blogspot.com/.  TO THOSE OF YOU WHO RECEIVE MY WORK VIA EMAIL,YOU WILL BE GETTING YOUR EMAILS FROM THE ELEPHANT'S TRUNK INSTEAD.  AS ALWAYS, YOU WILL ENJOY THE VISUALS MORE IF YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE ITSELF INSTEAD OF RECEIVING THE EMAILS.  HAPPY READING!
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Even the best-intentioned state leaders seeking to ensure that the exchanges are cost-effective and that they serve their customers in a responsible and conscientious fashion will have little or no practical authority to do so. They certainly will have no power to mitigate the law’s trampling of religious liberties and individual consciences. Second, Congress has to its credit declined to appropriate any money for the federal government to create these exchanges, leaving the Obama administration without sufficient resources to implement its threat to create exchanges itself in recalcitrant states.
A critical related question — which will almost certainly be decided in court — is whether the federal government has the legal authority to offer Obamacare subsidies to customers of exchanges created by the federal government rather than by the states. This is important because those exchanges simply will not be economically viable without those deficit-exploding subsidies, which will add the better part of a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next decade, and perhaps more. The law as written authorizes the subsidies for customers of state-created exchanges but offers no similar authorization for the federally created exchanges. 
And because the states will have to bear the operating costs of the exchanges they create — which may run as much as $100 million a year — they are one more way for Obamacare to increase taxes on Americans without the Obama administration or its congressional enablers taking responsibility for it. 
The states are under no legal or constitutional obligation to establish the exchanges, and if enough of them refuse to do so, then Washington will have no choice but to revisit the deeply unpopular law, providing the country with an opportunity to excise some of Obamacare’s most obnoxious elements. And though full repeal remains an unlikely possibility with Democrats controlling the Senate and the White House, the worst aspects of the law can be delayed or stopped altogether until such a time as pulling up Obamacare by the roots becomes a real political possibility. Obamacare is a threat to American health care, to be sure, but it is also a threat to the character of American government — injuries to which are not easily healed. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/335249/don-t-make-exchange-editors#
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The law ties the employer mandate of a penalty of up to $2000 per employee. The laws ties the penalties to those tax credits. Without those credits, there would be no penalties to employers. The more states that don’t create exchanges, the more people who will force their representatives to reopen ObamaCare.
Q: what should people do if their state is doing a partnership with the government?
A: if you want to stop ObamaCare, get your state to not do anything to start ObamaCare. Friday, the Obama administration said they’d impose a 3.5% tax on every dollar that is funded from federal exchanges and not state exchanges. There is no law that gives them that right.- http://gallery.mailchimp.com/378811b3c052d40a005861416/files/12_2_2012_Webinar_Notes.pdf
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A federal judge has ruled it is unconstitutional for North Carolina to issue pro-life license plates unless the state offers similar plates supporting abortion rights. http://myfox8.com/2012/12/10/judge-finds-nc-choose-life-plates-unconstitutional/
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Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.
"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary. http://news.yahoo.com/surprise-insurance-fee-health-overhaul-law-185726448.html
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The Wisconsin Medical Examining Board on Wednesday sanctioned 11 more doctors for writing questionable sick notes to protesters demonstrating at the Capitol in February 2011.
The board reprimanded six doctors, who also took classes in medical record keeping or physical exams as part of their discipline. The board said the doctors provided the notes without adequate documentation.
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In a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, 18 Democrat senators and senators-elect have asked for “a delay in the implementation” of the Obamacare medical device tax.  Like most of the significant tax increases in Obamacare, the medical device tax is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, conveniently after the 2012 presidential election.
Each of the 18 Democrat signatories voted for or supported Obamacare in the first place.  And now they want a sweetheart exemption from one of its most onerous provisions. Even in Washington DC, that shows a lot of gall.
Read more: http://atr.org/dems-delay-obamacare-med-device-tax-a7380#ixzz2EqNtWBZE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Judge orders company to rehire unionized health care workers who may have endangered lives of elderly patients
A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton has ordered five Connecticut nursing homes to rehire striking employees despite a criminal investigation into allegations that some of those workers endangered the lives of seniors.
Judge Robert Chatigny on Wednesday ordered Healthbridge Systems to lay off hundreds of replacement workers in order to make room for the 600 striking members of the SEIU Local 1199, one of the Atlantic region’s most powerful unions. Those workers walked out of their jobs over a contract dispute in July. Some employees allegedly tampered with the identification materials and medical records of patients, including some suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, on their way out the door.
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Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes up to 20%

In filings with state regulators, Blue Shield is seeking an average rate increase of 12% for more than 300,000 customers. Consumer advocates say the firm should use its reserves to hold down rates. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-rates-20121213,0,6546740.story

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