Politically-controlled Colorado health benefits exchange bill reaches Senate
Colorado Senate Bill 11-200 advances to the state Senate without the provision that “would nullify the bill unless the state is allowed to opt out of the federal Affordable Care Act,” reports the Denver Business Journal
Do private insurance exchanges already exist?
The Denver Post has quoted Colo. state rep Amy Stephens as saying that “Most people viewed exchanges as the most free-market part of Obamacare.” But viewing state-run exchanges as somehow free-market is also wrong because privately-run exchanges already exist.
Washington Post & CBS Corp. get ObamaCare money
Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP)
“Cuts Leave Patients With Medicaid Cards, but No Specialist to See” – NYTimes
Being enrolled in Medicaid does not guarantee that you get treatment, reports the New York Times. Also, “many … patients have jobs with private insurance but switch to Medicaid when they become pregnant, avoiding premiums, deductibles and co-payments.”
David Kopel: Why Obamacare mandate penalty can’t be a tax
Writing in the Orange County Register, Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel explains why the penalty for not buying government-approved health plan cannot be a tax.
Health Insurance Is Not “Commerce”
In The National Law Journal, Independence Institute scholars David Kopel and Rob Natelson argue that health insurance is not “commerce” as used in the U.S. Constitution.
Why to retain burdensome 1099 tax-reporting requirement
Taking [the 1099 reporting requirement] off the table risks losing that community’s commitment to the complete defeat of Obamacare. Repealing the 1099 reporting requirement would be a Pyrrhic victory in the struggle against Obamacare — exactly the type of bipartisanship we don’t need.
Health Care and the Separation of Charity and State
“If a patient needs a $50,000 operation but cannot afford it, he has the right to ask his friends, family, neighbors, or strangers for monetary assistance—& they have the right to offer it (or not). But the patient has no right to take people’s money without their permission; to do so would be to violate their rights.” – Paul Hsieh, M.D.
Paul Ryan’s Budget: A Huge Opportunity to Improve Health Care
Rep. Paul Ryan’s “budget blueprint that tackles the three big health care challenges facing the federal budget — ObamaCare, Medicare and Medicaid – with a strategy of repeal, vouchers and block grants. Done properly, those steps would simultaneously improve health care and help balance the budget within a decade.”
Why States Are Shying Away From ObamaCare’s Health Insurance Exchanges
State legislators who oppose [ObamaCare] might nonetheless be tempted to try building and running the exchanges themselves. But there are a number of reasons why governors in that position might want to sit out the implementation process.
State insurance exchanges will only allow ObamaCare’s roots to grow, make repeal more difficult
“Governors like [Georgia governor Nathan] Deal and [Louisiana governor Bobby] Jindal know that any exchange can only serve as fertilizer that will allow Obamacare’s roots to grow deeper into the soil – and making repeal more difficult.” – John Graham
Amendment for ObamaCare waiver stalls Colo. Health Insurance Exchange, SB 11-200
Reps. Amy Stephens and Shawn Mitchell stall the CO health insurance exchange bill (SB 11-200) with amendment that requires a waiver from ObamaCare mandates before exchange can be implemented.
