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Britain Plans to Decentralize Health Care
Sarah KYall - New York Times
Perhaps
the only consistent thing about Britain's socialized health care system
is that it is in a perpetual state of flux, its structure constantly
changing as governments search for the elusive formula that will deliver
the best care for the cheapest price while costs and demand escalate.
The new British government's plan to drastically reshape the socialized
health care system would put local physicians like Dr. Marita Koumettou
in north London in control of much of the national health budget. Even
as the new coalition government said it would make enormous cuts in the
public sector, it initially promised to leave health care alone. But in
one of its most surprising moves so far, it has done the opposite,
proposing what would be the most radical reorganization of the National
Health Service, as the system is called, since its inception in 1948. Businesses expect little health care relief
Cliff Peale - Cincinnati.com
Unless
you operate a business with fewer than two dozen employees, don't look
for much relief from health care costs in 2011. As companies throughout
Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky start negotiating with insurers
for 2011 benefit plans, their costs continue to increase, they're
facing average premium hikes of up to 20 percent for next year and many
are still one catastrophic medical claim from skyrocketing rates. "We
don't have a lot of leverage to go out and negotiate," said Keith
Singleton, vice president of human resources at Berenfield Containers
Inc. in Blue Ash. "We're sort of like a cork bobbing on the ocean. We
have to deal with whatever's put on the table."Lawmakers warned to prepare now for major health-care changes
Deborah Yetter - Courier Journal
The
new federal health-care reform law means dramatic changes for states
that lawmakers need to prepare for now -- even though the major
provisions don't take effect until 2014. That was the message to
lawmakers from around the country who were in Louisville Sunday during
the opening day of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "You
are already behind the eight-ball," Utah House Speaker David Clark told
fellow lawmakers at a health summit, part of the four-day conference.
"There is no time to waste."Early Return on ObamaCare Are Disappointing
Michael Tanner - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Obamacare
was conceived around three goals: (1) provide health insurance coverage
for all Americans; (2) reduce insurance costs for individuals,
businesses, and government; and (3) in crease the quality of health care
and the value received for each dollar of health care spending. Just
over 100 days after the law was signed, the evidence shows it is failing
on each and every one of those goals.Pelosi: Obama was Happier about Health Care than Getting Elected
Stephanie Condon - CBS News
President
Obama was happier on the evening health care reform finally passed out
of Congress than on the night he won the presidential election, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told liberals at the Netroots Nation conference.
After the president relayed those sentiments to her, Pelosi said she
told him, "If you weren't elected president of the United States, we
wouldn't have gotten the job done." The liberal bloggers at Netroots
also played a critical role in passing the major reform package, she
said - "although we had some differences of opinion."Public Option Redux
Stephen Spruiell - NRO's The Corner
The
public option is back, and liberals are celebrating the occasion by
passing around a fresh CBO report, drinking deeply from it, and growing
intoxicated on its claims that implementing the public option would
reduce the deficit by about $53 billion over ten years. In this
metaphor, I will play the typical conservative buzzkill, explaining why
the public option would give America a massive hangover.Another Stab At the Public Option
Philip Klein - The American Spectator
On
the main site, I have a story from the Netroots Nation conference in
Las Vegas about liberals' post-ObamaCare strategy to work toward their
ultimate goal of a fully government-run, or single-payer health care
system. One strategy all along was the creation of a new government-run
plan within the new insurance exchanges, which liberals dubbed the
"public option" because "public" polls better than "government" and
"option" suggests choice. While I was at the conference, the
Congressional Budget Office released a new estimate finding that the
idea would reduce the deficit by $68 billion through 2020. And it's not
hard to see where liberals are going with this. ObamaCare has stealth IRS bomb
Neal Boortz - AJC
Now
what was it that Princess Nancy Pelosi said? Oh, yeah, I remember. It
was something to the effect that we were going to have to go ahead and
pass ObamaCare so that we could see what's in it. I suppose that made
sense, in a medical way; but it certainly wasn't that smooth a move
insofar as the electorate is concerned. The latest polls show that 56
percent of Americans want ObamaCare repealed. You're about to discover
yet another reason why: Do you run a business? We're talking everything
from a law office to a mom-and-pop grocery store to a beauty shop to a
car dealership. The law used to be that you would have to notify the IRS
-- through what is known as a 1099 form -- of payments made to
individuals or a partnership for labor or services they provided during
the previous year. Axe falls on NHS services
Laura Donnelly - Telegraph
Some
of the most common operations -- including hip replacements and cataract
surgery -- will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of
pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be
protected. Patients' groups have described the measures as
"astonishingly brutal". An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has
uncovered widespread cuts planned across the NHS, many of which have
already been agreed by senior health service officials. They include: *
Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including
hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures. Reid to Netroots: "We're Going To Have a Public Option"
Philip Klein - The American Spectator
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, seeking to console liberal activists who
were disappointed by the final version of the national health care law,
assured them that there would eventually be a public option. "We're
going to have a public option," Reid said. "It's just a question of
when." Massachusetts Meltdown A Model for ObamaCare
David Hogberg - Investor's Business Daily's Capital Hill
During
the health care debate, President Obama claimed his proposal was
similar to RomneyCare, passed in 2006 in Massachusetts under then GOP
Gov. Mitt Romney. Unfortunately, RomneyCare portends a bleak future for
the U.S. under ObamaCare. Little by little, the system is falling apart
in Massachusetts under the weight of ever-increasing costs: * On Tuesday
the Boston Globe reported that primary care physicians are harder than
ever to find. In 2007, 70% of family medicine doctors were taking new
patients; that had dropped to 60% by 2009. Although the article doesn't
mention it, surely the influx of newly insured patients increased the
demand for such physicians. Health-care cavity
Brooke Minters - The Philadelphia Inquirer
It
began with a toothache. Tori Pence, 23, could feel the hole that had
suddenly developed on her tooth, and she couldn't stand either hot or
cold food. The bespectacled girl with electric-blue hair had worked a
string of odd jobs and hadn't seen a dentist for at least five years.
When she finally got in to see one, she needed a root canal. And
fillings for 15 cavities. "Dentally speaking, I am healthy now," says
Pence, who lives in Lansdowne and has been making monthly visits to the
University of Pennsylvania's dental clinic for almost a year. "But I
still have seven more [cavities] to go."Obamacare: Politicians Put Us On The Line
Jeffrey B. Englidh, MD - Basil and Spice
A
high school friend sent me an article on health care the other day and
asked my opinion. Let's just call him Jerry for anonymity's sake
(although that is his real name). Jerry is admittedly much smarter than
I am (although never admitted to his face). He asked my opinion about
the article because, while being a smart businessman, he is not an
expert in how the health care system works. He understands that no one
should put hundreds of millions of people's lives on the line changing a
system they know nothing about? But, who would do such a thing? Oh
yeah, a politician.Health Law Augurs Transfer of Funds From Old to Young
Janet Adamy - Wall Street Journal
Mark
Baumann, a 44-year-old uninsured diabetic, sees in the Obama
administration's health-care law a future with stable coverage to pay
for his insulin shots and blood tests. That's likely to come indirectly
at the expense of his mother's generous health-care plan. Humana Inc.,
Mary Baumann's insurer, intends to pare her "Medicare Advantage" plan to
make up for the smaller government payments it will soon receive as a
result of the new law, leaving her with higher costs or fewer services.
On the table are beefed-up co-payments and premiums, as well as the loss
of perks such as her free membership at a health club.State attorney general to tell Bellingham crowd about suing over health care
Sam Taylor - The Bellingham Herald
State
Attorney General Rob McKenna will be at the Bellingham City Club
Wednesday, July 28, for a program entitled "Why I am Suing the Feds and
Other Timely Topics." McKenna is one of 13 attorneys general - 12 of
them Republican - across the nation who have filed a joint challenge to
the federal health-care law signed by President Obama. McKenna's
participation has been aggressively criticized by Democratic officials
in the state, including Gov. Chris Gregoire and majority leaders in the
state Legislature.Access to primary care physicians getting tougher, report finds
Massachusetts
has the highest ratio of doctors per person in the country, but that
doesn't mean its residents can find a primary care physician who is
accepting new patients. It got harder to secure a slot after 2006,
according to one of three reports on health care released by the state
last week. Last year 60 percent of family-medicine doctors' offices were
accepting new patients, down from 70 percent in 2007, the first full
year after the state mandated near-universal health insurance coverage.
Last year only 44 percent of internal medicine practices were accepting
new patients, down from 66 percent in 2005. The figures come from data
analyzed by the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.Political Blotter: Bay Area Dems push 'public option' health bill
Two
Bay Area House members have helped introduce a bill to create a public
health insurance option that would compete with private insurers in the
Health Insurance Exchanges created by the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act health care reform signed into law by President
Barack Obama earlier this year. Reps. Pete Stark, D-Fremont; Lynn
Woolsey, D-Petaluma; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., say the Congressional
Budget Office estimates H.R. 5808 would save $68 billion from 2014 to
2020, and that the public option would have, on average, premiums 5
percent to 7 percent lower than private plans in the Exchanges.Survey: Health costs rising
Trevor Stokes - The Times Daily
Local
owners of small businesses that offer employee health insurance are
facing rising costs and, come January, will face a certain escalation of
out-of-pocket costs. Business owners say they offer health care
benefits to attract employees and retain workers. But providing health
care to employees is the second highest cost for business owners behind
payroll and many owners fear costs will only increase, according to a
non-scientific survey taken by the Shoals Chamber of Commerce of 33
small local businesses.Health Reform: Weighing Up the Employer Mandate
Kate Pickert - Time
Of
all the aspects of the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
that critics fiercely object to, few generate more ire than the
mandates. The health-reform law's individual mandate -- requiring every
legal U.S. resident to carry health insurance (with some limited
exceptions) -- has prompted a multistate lawsuit challenging its
constitutionality, while the requirement that employers with 50 or more
employees provide coverage to workers or pay a stiff fine is despised by
business groups. The Chamber of Commerce is warning that the new rule,
which will go into effect in 2014, will force companies to drop coverage
or go out of business altogether. It's the "job-killing employer
mandate," in the words of Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.Public Option for Health Insurance: It's On the Way
Will Moredock - Charleston City Paper
I recently got a 34 percent hike in my monthly
health insurance premium, making health insurance the largest line item
in my cost of living -- large than housing, larger than food, larger
than transportation. And of course this does not include my co-pays for
doctor visits and medicines. Last spring America won the big battle for
healthcare reform with the Affordable Care Act, but that act did not
include the critical critical "public option" plank, offering consumers
the choice of a government-sponsored healthcare plan that would offer
more affordable insurance and reduce the national deficit.
| Latest Polling |
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Rasmussen Reports July 19, 2010 56 percent of voters favor repealing Obamacare |