Healthcare

A Leaked Document Followed by a Reluctant Confirmation: Under ObamaCare, 50% or More of Americans Will Not Be Able to Keep Their Health Care Plan

By Monique Chartier | June 13, 2010 |

Friday’s Investor’s Business Daily. Internal administration documents reveal that up to 51% of employers may have to relinquish their current health care coverage because of ObamaCare. Small firms will be even likelier to lose existing plans. The “midrange estimate is that 66% of small employer plans and 45% of large employer plans will relinquish their…

MassCare: Ominous Developments in the Precursor to ObamaCare

By Monique Chartier | June 12, 2010 |

So in early April, Governor Deval Patrick’s Division of Insurance rejected most of the rate increases for individual and small business plans which Mass insurers requested, marking the first time the state had flexed its authority in this way. But, though most of us have a love/hate view of them, insurers are just the man…

The Underlying Assumption of the Leftist Taxers

By Justin Katz | June 2, 2010 |

In a review of some of the tax consequences of Obamacare, Grafton Willey conveys this bit of policy that one suspects underlies many of the assumptions of those who advance policies in the mold of nationalized healthcare: Imposing a 3.8 percent “unearned-income Medicare contributions” tax on higher-income taxpayers. The 3.8 percent unearned-income Medicare contributions tax…

A Direct Line from Health, Through Information, to Political Manipulation

By Justin Katz | May 29, 2010 |

The problem with giving government authority over everything is that, well, it gives government authority over everything. For a shocking example, consider Mark Steyn’s description of a minor controversy in Great Britain. It seems that, in the course of the recent election cycle, the then-ruling Labour party sent out postcards warning that, if victorious, the…

ObamaCare Less and Less Popular

By Justin Katz | May 25, 2010 |

Imagine how unpopular it will be when its costs really start to kick in: Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and…

Complexity is Knowing that Government Control Must be Better, No Matter What that Pesky Constitution May Say

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 19, 2010 |

One of the more maundering sections in the Projo’s recent Tea Party editorial began by looking at the view expressed at many Tea Party events that modern government needs to continue to be consistent with the principles of the founding of America…They also make frequent reference to getting back to what the nation’s Founders wanted,…

Why the Federal Health Insurance Mandate Cannot Be Made Constitutional By Calling it Tax

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 14, 2010 |

Article I, sections 8 and 9 of the United States Constitution originally defined the taxing authority of the Federal Government…(s8) The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts…

Gov Calls on AG to Join Other States Challenging Healthcare Reform

By Monique Chartier | May 10, 2010 |

I’d like to second this, along with Justin’s reservations about “Obamacare”. (The gov’s office issued this press release a couple of hours ago.) Governor Donald L. Carcieri today urged Attorney General Patrick Lynch to join 14 other states that have filed a complaint in the federal district court challenging the constitutionality of the federal healthcare…

Insurance Doesn’t Mean Health

By Justin Katz | May 10, 2010 |

Duncan Currie explains why it is speculation to assert that increasing health insurance coverage will mean improving health and decreasing avoidable deaths (subscription required). For the most part, it’s a problem of separating data points. This part, however, moves beyond the immediate question and gives some reason to worry about the effects of ObamaCare, moving…

The Healthcare Bill Due to Come Due

By Justin Katz | May 4, 2010 |

A recent essay in National Review by Avik Roy takes up the topic of healthcare inflation resulting from ObamaCare (emphasis in original): Consider the numbers: Based on the gimmick-free assessment of former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, from 2010 to 2019 the act will increase the debt by $562 billion — almost $5,000 per…