Tag: Obamacare (page 2)

Expanded Medicaid's fine print holds surprise: 'payback' from estate after death

As thousands of state residents enroll in Washington's expanded Medicaid program, many will be surprised at fine print: After you're dead, your estate can be billed for ordinary health-care expenses. State officials are scrambling to change the rule.
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Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the politically conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, writing in the The Washington Times, called the recovery provision "a cash cow for states to milk the poor and the middle class."

"People will think this is wonderful, this is free insurance," Orient said in an interview. "They don't realize it's really a loan, and is secured by any property they have."

Even states that are now limiting estate recovery, she warned, can change the rules again if budget problems become more intense.

Unclear rules

One reason this snafu has become so troublesome is that ACA rules appear to give those who qualify for Medicaid little choice but to accept the coverage.

People cannot receive a tax credit to subsidize their purchase of a private health plan if their income qualifies them for Medicaid, said Bethany Frey, spokeswoman for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

REST

Praise when something is done right is appropriate.

Employers will no longer be forced to provide 'abortion coverage' in their insurance policies.

"The Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday approved a voter-initiated law that would prohibit basic health insurance plans from covering abortions and avoid a veto by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The Senate voted 27-11 and the House passed the legislation 62-47 mostly along party lines in favor of Right to Life of Michigan's proposal to require women to purchase additional insurance for abortions."

I truly hope that Michigan Right To Life remembers how unnecessarily hard they had to work to get this done.

Across the nation, the fees and taxes imposed next year through the Affordable Care Act will generate about $20 billion, based on Joint Committee on Taxation estimates, and could affect nearly 60 percent of Americans who receive insurance through their workplace.

It's uncertain how many employees could pay the higher fees and taxes because employers are deciding whether to absorb the cost or pass along all or part of it. For example, Oakland County government decided to pick up the tab - more than $600,000 - for its workers. Macomb and Wayne county officials could not be reached about their plans.

REST

As the old saying goes - No pain, No ga, well, in Brooksie's bureaucratic fiefdom... no pain!  Pay up, taxpayers suckers.

Once upon a time, the insurer of last resort (yeah Michiganians have had a cant-deny-preexisting insurer for several decades already)was owned by you and I. (since 1939)  As recently as a few years ago, it even carried a balance sheet of about $6,000,000,000.00 including over $3,000,000,000.00 cash reserves. The BCBS board tried to use those reserves in for-profit ventures, (a great way to pass off cash to private partners)  and were stopped by then attorney general Mike Cox. In 2008, Cox kept BCBS of MI in check.

But things are different now. This time no one stepped in to stop the transference of a GREAT BIG PILE OF MONEY away from Michigan citizens. And the great big Obamacare boondoggle helped them do it. Now that they aren't owned by you and I, its time to make some real cash!

"Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan shows a projected savings of tens of millions of dollars next year by terminating 25 individual health plans that were noncompliant with the Affordable Care Act.

Over the past decade, Blue Cross has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the individual market as Michigan's designated insurer of last resort, a moniker it no longer has under health care reform with all insurers now required to cover people with pre-existing conditions and its conversion earlier this year into a mutual health insurer. "

How clever.

Enjoy the song.

A Bill Wilson Op-Ed notes how Michigan Congressman Fred Upton would prefer to shoot 'gift horses.'

That old saying, "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything," is being proven true yet again by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.

Failing to embrace an agenda that would keep faith with the people who elected them, the House GOP honchos -- led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan -- are about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

As the uproar over millions of insurance cancellations began to build, Upton and his cronies devised a cynical plan to try to grab credit "for doing something" to address the real pain and anguish felt by American families.  ..

Having treated patients for the past 30 years, I know how concerned families in Northern Michigan are with their health care. Since the roll out of the President's new health care law, I've been hearing form citizens like you about rising costs, lost coverage, and people not being able to use the health care website. I want to hear your story. The President promised we'd be able to keep the health insurance plans we liked, but now it's being reported that the Administration knew that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually will receive a cancellation notice. That's why I've endorsed legislation that will ensure Americans will not be forced to lose the health insurance they currently have. Hundreds of people have already shared their story. Click the link below to share yours.

H/t Market Ticker