Daily Dose

Grace-Marie Turner explains in The Orange County Register how Obamacare negatively impacts U.S. workers. "The American people were promised they would save money and that their jobs and health insurance would be more secure if health reform passed. But the promises already are being broken, and workers will pay the price for Obamacare's failures. Health costs will rise, taxes will go up, millions will lose the health insurance they have now, wages will flatten, and businesses will find it harder to create new jobs. This is not a prescription for a more prosperous future."

Reason reports that "[i]n an interview with ABC News yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that 'there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in [the reform law] and what isn't.' The remedy for the poor, bewildered public? 'We have a lot of reeducation to do.' As Glenn Reynolds quipped, 'Maybe there are camps for that?' Still, if it's reeducation that's needed, maybe we ought to start with Sebelius, who seems to be somewhat confused herself. She's still arguing that the PPACA extends the solvency of Medicare: Sebelius argues the reforms 'strengthen' Medicare, extending its solvency by 12 years through 2029. 'My view is actually supported by independent actuaries, by economists and by the Congressional Budget Office,' Sebelius said."

In commentary on Forbes, Merrill Matthews writes that "[t]he first casualties of ObamaCare--not counting truth and the trust the public had placed in President Obama to keep his promises--will be health insurance agents. That proud army of tens of thousands of Americans whose calling was to help individuals and employers work through the maze of available health insurance policies to find one that met their clients' needs. Democrats pushing ObamaCare, just as Democrats pushing ClintonCare 17 years ago, always saw the demise of health insurance agents as an acceptable, even a desirable, loss."

The Wall Street Journal reports that "[f]aced with mounting debt and looming costs from the new federal health-care law, many local governments are leaving the hospital business, shedding public facilities that can be the caregiver of last resort. [...]More than a fifth of the nation's 5,000 hospitals are owned by governments and many are drowning in debt caused by rising health-care costs, a spike in uninsured patients, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and payments on construction bonds sold in fatter times. Because most public hospitals tend to be solo operations, they don't enjoy the economies of scale, or more generous insurance contracts, which bolster revenue at many larger nonprofit and for-profit systems."

A Denver Post blog reports that "[v]oters will get a chance in November to decide whether state authorities should be allowed to require Coloradans to buy health insurance. Secretary of State Bernie Buescher announced today that an initiative backed by free market thinktank the Independence Institute turned in enough signatures to make the November ballot."

According to reports, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) "one of the chief authors of the healthcare law, suggested Tuesday he did not read the entire piece of [health care] legislation. Speaking at a forum in his home state, Baucus and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were asked by an audience member if they had read the whole bill and 'if not, that is the most despicable, irresponsible thing.' 'I don't think you want me to waste my time to read every page of the healthcare bill,' Baucus said, according to the Flathead Beacon. 'You know why? It's statutory language. ... We hire experts.'"

In commentary in the Wall Street Journal, Grace-Marie Turner outlines the six strategies Congress should use to deal with ObamaCare: defund it, dismantle it, delay it, disapprove regulations, direct oversight and investigation, and delegate to the states.

Merrill Matthews explains in commentary on Forbes how liberals are attempting to re-brand ObamaCare. "The report also says, 'It is critical to reassure seniors Medicare will not be cut.' Except Medicare will be cut--by more than $500 billion over 10 years. That's how Democrats helped pay for ObamaCare. And then there's a list of 'don'ts,' such as don't 'say the law will reduce costs and deficit.' But that's exactly how Democrats sold the plan to the public, despite the fact that most economists and health policy experts warned that ObamaCare would force health care costs to explode. ObamaCare is so unpopular not because the public is too stupid to understand it, but because millions of Americans understand the law better than many members of Congress."

Reuters reports that "[a] Thomson Reuters poll of consumer confidence released on Monday shows Americans' confidence in their ability to pay for and access healthcare has fallen by 5 percent since December 2009. [...]Pickens has seen a gradual eroding of confidence since December, despite a few notable peaks, such as in April, the month after Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. 'I doubt the average person really knows what has been implemented,' he said. 'They just know there is a lot of talk and there has been a lot of negative publicity.'"

Fox News reports that a new survey from the National Business Group indicates that "large companies said they expect their health care costs to rise next year by about 9 percent, 2 percent more than they rose this year. They attribute 1 percent of the 2 percent increase to the early provisions of the new health care law."