September 23, 2011

ObamaCare Pulse Check

ObamaCare Continues To Exhibit Its Flaws What Weve Learned This Week
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THE NUMBER OF UNINSURED AMERICANS HAS INCREASED SINCE OBAMACARE WAS SIGNED INTO LAW
The Percentage Of Uninsured 26- To 64-Year-Olds, However, Continues To Increase, Rising To A High Of 19.9% In The Second Quarter Of This Year. Among All Americans, 17.4% Reported Being Uninsured In The Second Quarter Of The Year. (Elizabeth Mendes, Fewer 18-To-25-Year-Olds Uninsured, Gallup, 9/21/11)

PREMIUMS ARE GOING UP

OBAMACARE PROMISE: Obama Promised His Plan Would Bring Down Premiums By $2,500 For The Typical Family. (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks Of Senator Barack Obama Economic Roundtable With Democratic Governors, Chicago, IL, 6/20/08) Recent Study Finds That Premiums Offered Through Small Businesses In Ohio Could Increase 5 To 15 Percent While Large Employers Premiums May Increase 3 To 5 Percent. The analysis by Milliman Inc. projected that premiums on policies offered through small businesses could increase 5 to 15 percent while the cost of insurance through large employers may jump 3 to 5 percent. (Catherine Candisky, Insurance Premiums
Expected To Increase, Report Says, The Columbus Dispatch, 9/20/11)

Ohioans Who Buy Individual Insurance Policies Could See Their Premiums Jump 55 To 85 Percent In 2014 When Key Provisions Of The New Federal Health-Care Law Kick In, According To A New Report. Rates Also Are Expected To Increase For Those With Employer-Sponsored Coverage But Not Nearly As Much. (Catherine Candisky, Insurance Premiums Expected To Increase, Report Says, The Columbus Dispatch, 9/20/11)

To Counter Rising Health Care Costs, Employers Are Raising Deductibles, Increasing Paycheck Contributions, And Moving Employees To Lower-Cost Health Plans. Employers surveyed by Mercer say they have been trying to contain health care costs by raising deductibles, increasing paycheck contributions, and moving employees to lower-cost health plans. (Deborah Brunswick, Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money,
9/22/11)

Employees Across America Are Paying More For Their Health Care. As a result of all of these costcutting measures, employees are picking up more of the tab. Over the past five years, employers have increasingly shifted costs to employees through higher deductible plans and Mercer expects they will continue to do so. (Deborah Brunswick, Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money, 9/22/11)
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HEALTH CARE COSTS ARE GOING UP

OBAMACARE PROMISE: Obama Promised His Plan Would Bring Down Costs For The Entire Country By Making Our Health Care System More Efficient Through Better Technology And More Emphasis On Prevention. (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Economic Roundtable With Democratic Governors, Chicago, IL, 6/20/08) Employee Health Costs Are To Increase 5.4% According To A Survey Released By Mercer. Employee health care benefit costs are expected to increase 5.4% next year, according to an annual survey released by Mercer. While the projected health insurance increase would be the smallest recorded in 15 years, it still remains well above the general rate of inflation, which stands at 3.9%, and salary growth. (Deborah Brunswick,
Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money, 9/22/11)

The 5.4% Increase Is Too Much For Employers To Absorb. If they were to make no changes to their

plans, employers reported that their benefit costs would increase by 7.1%. While that would still be down from annual increases of about 9% in the past couple of years, most employers say it's still too much for them to absorb. (Deborah Brunswick, Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money, 9/22/11) Study Expects Costs To Employees Will Continue To Rise. As a result of all of these cost-cutting measures, employees are picking up more of the tab. Over the past five years, employers have increasingly shifted costs to employees through higher deductible plans and Mercer expects they will continue to do so.
(Deborah Brunswick, Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money, 9/22/11)

One-Third Of Survey Respondents Plan To Raise Deductible And Co-Pays Next Year. About one-third of survey respondents said they plan to raise deductibles or co-payments next year, Mercer said. (Deborah
Brunswick, Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year, CNN Money, 9/22/11)

OBAMACARE IS DETRIMENTAL TO THE JOB MARKET

UBS Investment Research: Arguably The Biggest Impediment To Hiring (Particularly Of Less Skilled Workers) Is Health Care Reform, Which Has Added The Drawback Of Straining State And Federal Budgets. (UBS, Great Suppression II, UBS Investment Research, 9/19/11) ObamaCare Is Hampering Small Businesses From Expanding. The new law requires most businesses to provide a generous essential package of benefits, which is beyond what many small businesses provide today. It subjects businesses to highly complex rules that increase the cost risk, and hassle factor of adding payrolls. Companies that do offer insurance can be fined if low-income employees take a governmentsubsidized plan. All firms with more than 50 workers must provide benefits, which creates an incentive for smaller firms to stay under the limit by expanding overseas, outsourcing, or dividing into two companies.
(UBS, Great Suppression II, UBS Investment Research, 9/19/11)

Obamas Own Small Business Administration Study Finds That ObamaCares Health Insurance Tax Credit May Not Spur Small Businesses To Offer Health Care.A new study by the Small Business Administration shows the health insurance tax credit, effective starting in the 2010 tax year, may not be enough incentive for small businesses to offer their employees health care. Only about two-thirds -- 2.6 million of the 4 million eligible small businesses -- will benefit from the health insurance tax credit included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, according to the study. (Janean Chun, Is The Tax Credit
Enough To Boost Small Business Health Care? The Huffington Post, 9/20/11)

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OBAMACARES UNDERFUNDED CLASS PROGRAM IS IN JEOPARDY

The Future Of ObamaCares Underfunded Community Living Assistance Services And Supports Program (CLASS) Has Been Put On Hold, Raising Uncertainty Of The Future Of The Program. The Obama administration has shelved a financially troubled long-term care insurance plan. Officials said Thursday the staff has been cut and it's an open question if the program will be implemented. (Ricardo AlonsoZaldivar, Obama Administration Shelves Long-Term Care Insurance Plan For Workers, The Associated Press, 9/22/11)

CLASS Actuary Loses His Job And The Rest Of The CLASS Staff Are Being Reassigned In The HHS. The top actuary for the health overhaul laws long-term care insurance program lost his job recently, sparking concerns that the program is in jeopardy. Bob Yee, chief actuary for the Health and Human Services office that administers what is known as the CLASS Act, told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the office was being disbanded effective Friday. He said officials informed him last week that his services were no longer needed, and that the remainder of the eight-person office is likely being reassigned to other jobs. (Janet Adamy, Long-Term Care Program In Jeopardy, The Wall Street Journals Washington Wire, 9/22/11) CLASS Actuary Bob Yee: My Understanding Is Theyre Slowing Down The Development. Theyre Taking A Pause And Reducing The Amount Of Work Being Done. The disclosure came after the office in charge of the initiative terminated its chief actuary, Bob Yee. In an interview, Mr. Yee said the office was being disbanded effective Friday. My understanding is they're slowing down the development, Mr. Yee said. They're taking a pause and reducing the amount of work being done." (Janet Adamy, Long-Term Care Program In Doubt, The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/11)

HHS Denied The CLASS Office Was Closing And Maintained That The CLASS Program Will Only Be Implemented If It Is Fiscally Solvent, Self Sustaining, And Consistent With The Statute. In a statement, HHS denied that the office was officially closing but confirmed its not certain the program will go forward. While the staff of the CLASS office has been reduced, reports that the CLASS office is closing are not accurate, the HHS statement said. We are continuing our analysis of this program. As we have said in the past, it is an open question whether the program will be implemented. A CLASS program will only be implemented if it is fiscally solvent, self-sustaining, and consistent with the statute. (Janet Adamy, Long-Term Care
Program In Jeopardy, The Wall Street Journals Washington Wire, 9/22/11)

But The Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster Had Warned That The CLASS Program Was Unworkable Back In 2009. The emails show that the first warning about CLASS came in May 2009, from Richard Foster, head of long range economic forecasts for Medicare. At first glance this proposal doesnt look workable, Foster wrote in an email to other HHS officials, some of whom were working with Congress to get CLASS into the health care law. (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Long-Term Care Plan Alarms Ignored, The Associated Press, 9/14/11) To Be Financially Sound, The CLASS Program Would Have To Enroll More Than The Entire U.S. Workforce. Foster said a rough outline of the program would have to enroll more than 230 million people more than the U.S. workforce to be financially feasible. (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Long-Term
Care Plan Alarms Ignored, The Associated Press, 9/14/11)

Causing Future Uncertainty To ObamaCares CLASS Program, The Senate Appropriations Committee Passed FY2012 Budget With No Monies Appropriated To The Program Despite Obamas $120 Million Request To Carry Out The Program. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday passed a fiscal-year 2012 budget for agencies including HHS that contained no funding to implement the program. The Obama administration earlier this year requested $120 million in that budget to enact it. A spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa), who leads the Senate health committee, said the money came out of the budget because the administration informed staffers it wouldn't be needed until the following year. (Janet Adamy, Long-Term Care Program In Doubt, The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/11)
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