Healthcare

Last week we reported that a newly released study by Kaiser Health projects that health care costs will double by 2020.  Further, Kaiser says that ObamaCare will drive costs higher than if the government had done nothing, which is completely contrary to claims made by the President and his Democrat lieutenants.

Last week the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee held a lengthy hearing on the subject of ObamaCare's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The hearing included four panels and featured nationally recognized healthcare experts, as well as Members of Congress who are opposed to IPAB. The board is a great source of controversy and has become a political liability for the Democrats because of the vast powers it will wield and because of the way the board will operate, largely unchecked by the other branches of government.

It has been nearly 18 months since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, the single most significant legislative change to be passed in our lifetimes. Hopefully by now, most Americans are aware -- and President Obama himself has admitted -- that the 2600-odd pages of legislation known as the "Healthcare Reform Bill" ultimately constitute nothing other than an attempt at health insurance reform. The primary goal of the bill, cost containment, was an abject failure, and there are only minimal references to the pressing issues of quality and access.

President Obama's healthcare overhaul, ObamaCare, faces numerous legal and Constitutional challenges - many of them emanating from the states. That the states are taking such an active roll in opposing ObamaCare demonstrates the advantages of America's federalist system and the benefits of divided power. In a concerted effort to protect individual liberty, America's founding fathers constructed the system of federalism, whereby the power that individuals surrender to the government is shared between the national government and the state government.

On February 2nd, the Senate voted 81 to 17 to repeal ObamaCare's job-killing 1099 tax reporting requirement. That particular provision requires every small business, church, and charitable group to send annual 1099 tax forms to anyone that they conduct at least $600 of business with in a given tax year. The public outcry was justifiable – and predictable – given the certain havoc this provision would have wreaked on America's already-fragile economy.

According to the Obama Administration, repeal of ObamaCare will potentially cause anywhere from 50 million to 129 million non-elderly Americans to be denied affordable health insurance. Shocking figures are constantly used to defend ObamaCare, but this is particularly true when it concerns the issue of insuring those with pre-existing conditions.

President Obama and his Administration are experiencing a series of blowbacks against ObamaCare, the Democrats' signature piece of legislation. Unfortunately for the President, it does not look like this trend will end anytime soon.

The big push from AARP was crucial to finally passing ObamaCare.  Ironically, the giant seniors’ organization has now informed AARP employees that provisions of the legislation will drive up the worker’s out of pocket cost.