Sally C. Pipes
Commentary
If UnitedHealth Can’t Afford ObamaCare, Then Who Can?
ObamaCare just claimed its highest-profile victim — America’s largest health insurer. UnitedHealth Group announced last month that it was considering pulling out of the federal health care exchanges in 2017. The industry giant expects to lose more than $700 million there this year. So it was no surprise to hear ...
Commentary
The Senate should reject foreign drug importation
Congress must send a budget to President Obama by next Friday. Senate lawmakers, hoping to avoid a government shutdown, have just started sparring over the details of their reconciliation measure. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced an amendment to legalize the importation of certain prescription drugs from abroad. On the ...
Commentary
Obamacare’s Exchanges Begin To Implode
Need proof that Obamacare is imploding? Look to its exchanges. The largest U.S. insurer, UnitedHealth Group, just announced that it may withdraw from the exchanges in 2017. The insurer currently offers plans in 34 states and covers more than 500,000 people through the online marketplaces. But it’s expecting $700 million ...
Commentary
Young people saying ‘no’ to Obamacare’s high premiums
Just 10.4 percent of Americans went without health insurance last year, according to the latest research from the Census Bureau. That’s nearly 3 percentage points lower than the year before. The Obama administration was quick to take credit for the drop. Just a few days after the Census Bureau’s announcement, ...
Commentary
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Commentary
Overhauling the VA is the only chance to save it
More than 200,000 U.S. veterans have died waiting for health care through the Veterans Administration (VA), according to new government documents. Naturally, the federal government has decided to reward the people responsible. This month, a House committee revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs handed out $142 million in bonuses ...
Commentary
Remember When Obamacare Was Supposed To Help Small Businesses?
Obamacare promised to help small businesses. But it’s now clear that small businesses don’t want the law’s brand of help. Specifically, they want nothing to do with Obamacare’s “Small Business Health Options Program,” or SHOP. This online marketplace was supposed to allow employees at small firms to choose from among ...
Commentary
The Dirty Dozen: ObamaCare’s 12 Co-Op Failures
President Obama’s health care overhaul created 23 state-based insurance companies. So far, 12 of them have collapsed. Nine closed up shop this fall alone. The reason? Well, these government-backed insurers — known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans — took their “nonprofit” status a bit too seriously and went bankrupt. ...
Commentary
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
If UnitedHealth Can’t Afford ObamaCare, Then Who Can?
ObamaCare just claimed its highest-profile victim — America’s largest health insurer. UnitedHealth Group announced last month that it was considering pulling out of the federal health care exchanges in 2017. The industry giant expects to lose more than $700 million there this year. So it was no surprise to hear ...
The Senate should reject foreign drug importation
Congress must send a budget to President Obama by next Friday. Senate lawmakers, hoping to avoid a government shutdown, have just started sparring over the details of their reconciliation measure. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced an amendment to legalize the importation of certain prescription drugs from abroad. On the ...
Obamacare’s Exchanges Begin To Implode
Need proof that Obamacare is imploding? Look to its exchanges. The largest U.S. insurer, UnitedHealth Group, just announced that it may withdraw from the exchanges in 2017. The insurer currently offers plans in 34 states and covers more than 500,000 people through the online marketplaces. But it’s expecting $700 million ...
Young people saying ‘no’ to Obamacare’s high premiums
Just 10.4 percent of Americans went without health insurance last year, according to the latest research from the Census Bureau. That’s nearly 3 percentage points lower than the year before. The Obama administration was quick to take credit for the drop. Just a few days after the Census Bureau’s announcement, ...
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Overhauling the VA is the only chance to save it
More than 200,000 U.S. veterans have died waiting for health care through the Veterans Administration (VA), according to new government documents. Naturally, the federal government has decided to reward the people responsible. This month, a House committee revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs handed out $142 million in bonuses ...
Remember When Obamacare Was Supposed To Help Small Businesses?
Obamacare promised to help small businesses. But it’s now clear that small businesses don’t want the law’s brand of help. Specifically, they want nothing to do with Obamacare’s “Small Business Health Options Program,” or SHOP. This online marketplace was supposed to allow employees at small firms to choose from among ...
The Dirty Dozen: ObamaCare’s 12 Co-Op Failures
President Obama’s health care overhaul created 23 state-based insurance companies. So far, 12 of them have collapsed. Nine closed up shop this fall alone. The reason? Well, these government-backed insurers — known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans — took their “nonprofit” status a bit too seriously and went bankrupt. ...
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
