Sally C. Pipes
Commentary
Obamacare’s ‘Accountable Care’ experiment is all hype, no substance
Good news about Obamacare keeps coming out of the White House. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the law’s “Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations” have saved Medicare $385 million. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell proudly proclaimed that this “innovative payment model”has produced “substantial savings,” so she’s now ...
California
California doesn’t need to be selling health insurance
It’s taken longer than it should have, but Covered California, California’s Obamacare health insurance exchange, is finally being exposed as a billion-dollar boondoggle. In 2013, as news about the glitches and scandals in other Obamacare exchanges became impossible to avoid, the New York Times’ Paul Krugman, former Princeton professor and ...
Commentary
State-Run Obamacare exchanges careening toward disaster
This year was supposed to be the first wherein Obamacare’s state-based insurance exchanges would be self-sufficient. By now, the law’s architects assured, the exchanges would be thriving, competitive marketplaces, where all Americans could secure affordable coverage. It hasn’t worked out that way. Two of the original 17 state exchanges have ...
Commentary
Private insurance exchanges thrive while Obamacare’s falter
The federal government is desperate for Americans to enroll in Obamacare’s exchanges. But most people have refused. When the exchanges officially closed in February, the U.S. Treasury estimated that there were still some 6 million people who would have to pay the penalty established by Obamacare for going without insurance. ...
Commentary
Ordinary consumers are paying for Obamacare’s ‘savings’
Federal programs rarely come in under budget. Consider Medicare, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary. In 1967, lawmakers projected annual spending in the program would reach $12 billion in 1990. The actual tab that year? A cool $110 billion. A new report from the Congressional Budget Office says that ...
Commentary
Numbers raise doubts about Obamacare spin
The Obama administration has counted everyone who signed up for health coverage through its exchanges this year. Unsurprisingly, they’ve declared the law a success. As of late February, some 11.7 million people enrolled — 8.8 million on Healthcare.gov and 2.9 million via state marketplaces. That’s nearly 30 percent more than ...
Commentary
Reconciliation can solve GOP’s irreconcilable differences with Obamacare
“It’s time to embrace reality.” That’s what President Obama said about Obamacare on its 5th anniversary in late March. He meant it as a warning to critics — Obamacare is here to stay, so quit “belly-aching.” But after five years of false promises, massive disruptions to the healthcare marketplace, enormous ...
Commentary
Medicare Part D saves money and lives
Federal officials recently set off budgetary alarm bells with new data on Medicare prescription drug spending. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pegged Medicare Part D’s 2013 price tag at $103 billion. That’s a large number — and largely misleading. A closer look at Part D reveals a program ...
Commentary
Obamacare will make U.S. doctor shortage worse
Need to see a doctor? It might take a while, thanks to Obama-Care. A recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges projects the United States will lack as many as 31,000 primary-care physicians by 2025. For specialists, the shortage could exceed 63,000 by then. That’s not what the ...
Commentary
Drug importation is a dangerous idea that won’t die
A federal judge just struck down a program in Maine allowing state residents to import prescription drugs from foreign countries. The reason: it’s against federal law — and justifiably so. The importation of price-controlled foreign drugs severely undermines research into future cures, hurting patients in the long run. And more ...
Obamacare’s ‘Accountable Care’ experiment is all hype, no substance
Good news about Obamacare keeps coming out of the White House. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the law’s “Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations” have saved Medicare $385 million. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell proudly proclaimed that this “innovative payment model”has produced “substantial savings,” so she’s now ...
California doesn’t need to be selling health insurance
It’s taken longer than it should have, but Covered California, California’s Obamacare health insurance exchange, is finally being exposed as a billion-dollar boondoggle. In 2013, as news about the glitches and scandals in other Obamacare exchanges became impossible to avoid, the New York Times’ Paul Krugman, former Princeton professor and ...
State-Run Obamacare exchanges careening toward disaster
This year was supposed to be the first wherein Obamacare’s state-based insurance exchanges would be self-sufficient. By now, the law’s architects assured, the exchanges would be thriving, competitive marketplaces, where all Americans could secure affordable coverage. It hasn’t worked out that way. Two of the original 17 state exchanges have ...
Private insurance exchanges thrive while Obamacare’s falter
The federal government is desperate for Americans to enroll in Obamacare’s exchanges. But most people have refused. When the exchanges officially closed in February, the U.S. Treasury estimated that there were still some 6 million people who would have to pay the penalty established by Obamacare for going without insurance. ...
Ordinary consumers are paying for Obamacare’s ‘savings’
Federal programs rarely come in under budget. Consider Medicare, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary. In 1967, lawmakers projected annual spending in the program would reach $12 billion in 1990. The actual tab that year? A cool $110 billion. A new report from the Congressional Budget Office says that ...
Numbers raise doubts about Obamacare spin
The Obama administration has counted everyone who signed up for health coverage through its exchanges this year. Unsurprisingly, they’ve declared the law a success. As of late February, some 11.7 million people enrolled — 8.8 million on Healthcare.gov and 2.9 million via state marketplaces. That’s nearly 30 percent more than ...
Reconciliation can solve GOP’s irreconcilable differences with Obamacare
“It’s time to embrace reality.” That’s what President Obama said about Obamacare on its 5th anniversary in late March. He meant it as a warning to critics — Obamacare is here to stay, so quit “belly-aching.” But after five years of false promises, massive disruptions to the healthcare marketplace, enormous ...
Medicare Part D saves money and lives
Federal officials recently set off budgetary alarm bells with new data on Medicare prescription drug spending. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pegged Medicare Part D’s 2013 price tag at $103 billion. That’s a large number — and largely misleading. A closer look at Part D reveals a program ...
Obamacare will make U.S. doctor shortage worse
Need to see a doctor? It might take a while, thanks to Obama-Care. A recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges projects the United States will lack as many as 31,000 primary-care physicians by 2025. For specialists, the shortage could exceed 63,000 by then. That’s not what the ...
Drug importation is a dangerous idea that won’t die
A federal judge just struck down a program in Maine allowing state residents to import prescription drugs from foreign countries. The reason: it’s against federal law — and justifiably so. The importation of price-controlled foreign drugs severely undermines research into future cures, hurting patients in the long run. And more ...
