The Pelican Institute, a Louisiana-focused organization, says that health reform “based on President Obama’s principles” will cost the state significantly.
Specifically, economic growth will be 4.3 percent lower over a 10-year period than it would otherwise be. In addition, “the current net present value of funding health care reform based on President Obama’s priorities will be $4,427 for every person in Louisiana.”
State-by-state figures are not released until Friday, but today the state released August employment and unemployment figures. After decreasing in July, Michigan's unemployment rated inched back to 15.2 percent.
This was similar to the national trend, where the rate increased from 9.4 to 9.7 percent.
So you’ve seen the news. The Senate Finance Committee has come out with its version of a government takeover of health care. On the plus side, no “public option” (aka, government-run health insurance company).
But there are a lot of negatives.
How does the plan pay for all this? First there’s an excise tax on high-dollar insurance plans. This actually isn’t the worst feature of the bill. You can make the case that some high-dollar plans are actually very expensive pre-paid forms of medical care that the tax code should not underwrite. And any plan to create a personal tax credit so that people can buy insurance on their own would likely affect the same people as this excise tax would.
Current Medicaid law lets some people in Medicaid get home and community-based services (HCBS) rather than having to go to a hospital, clinic or other institution. Understandably, it’s more attractive to patients, though not necessarily cheaper for taxpayers.
Uh oh. Looks like one potentially useful reform in Florida isn’t going anywhere fast. From the Palm Beach Post:
“Florida Health Choices, pushed as a solution to the state’s high rate of uninsured last year by Republican House leaders, still has no insurers or businesses signed up.”
Maybe this next item tells us that we have little to fear from more government in health care, since we’re already being watched. Or maybe it tells us something else. The Los Angeles Times says that California has updated a new database meant as a tool against drug abuse.
There’s nothing quite like your doctor being in the UAW, isn’t there?
At the risk of overreaching, may I present to you the case of Michigan day care workers. The state of Michigan gives low-income families subsidies for day care. A state agency, in conjunction with the United Auto Workers, claims that these subsidies make day care providers — even those working independently out of their homes — state employees subject to a collective bargaining bargaining agreement, and of course, union dues.
We need a massive health reform effort, complete with 1,000 pages of federal legislation, because insurance companies cancel policies when people get sick. This happens all the time.
Right?
Well, it’s a powerful story, but it doesn’t happen all the time. In fact, “recissions,” as they are technically called, usually happen because the person with insurance lied on the application. At least that’s what the insurance companies say.
President Obama makes another promise: “I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.”
No bureaucrat? Sorry, Mr. President. It’s already happening. Michael F. Cannon relays a report from a bureaucrat working within the government agency that runs Medicaid and Medicare. Cannon concludes, “If the president thinks it’s a good idea to give the federal government more power to ration medical care, he should say so. It’s a defensible position. But to claim that’s not what he’s proposing, or that the government doesn’t do that already, is a ... oh, what’s the word ...?”
I just opened up an e-mail from a major airline and got this pitch:
Have LASIK at participating LasikPlus centers and earn up to 25,000 miles. At LasikPlus, you’ll experience the latest advances in laser eye surgery technology. Schedule your free exam today to determine if LASIK can help you see your life and your travels in focus.
A longstanding cry for health care reform has been “cover the uninsured.” But who are the uninsured and what do we know about them? Deven Herrick of the National Center for Policy Analysis looks at the latest numbers from the Census Bureau:
In other words, “the uninsured” are not all the same. Herrick recommends several steps to make health insurance and health care more affordable to all.
Coal has become the bête noire of the environmental movement. Environmentalists would eliminate coal (coal-fired power plants produce 48.5 percent of the of the nation’s electricity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy) by making it so expensive to use that other forms of alternative energy could compete economically.
There’s nothing like running for higher office to bring out the sharp words from a politician. But is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty truly committed to patient-friendly, individual-centered health reform?
Pawlenty has had his share of accomplishments. Thanks in part to his pleasant demeanor and good looks, he’s been elected as a Republican in a strongly Democratic state. His most famous policy position to date has been his adherence to a “no new taxes” pledge, which he fudged by calling for a 75-cents-a-pack “fee” on cigarettes a few years ago.
The Arizona Star recently ran a story on tenth-amendment proposals bubbling up in various states, which would block laws requiring participation in any particular health care system.
It’s an interesting topic, certainly — who is starting these efforts, what do they say, what do opponents say, how successful are they in getting political support. But the Associated Press story starts out like a pro-Obama op-ed:
The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has lauded the “Commonwealth of Connector” of Massachusetts finds some people willing to give it some glowing words.
Randall Bovbjerg of the Urban Institute says that both liberals and conservatives should like the connector:
A letter to The Detroit News challenges the opinion that Michigan’s model of relying on nonprofit insurance provider Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is one for the country to replicate.
Under Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s control, competition and innovative cost-savings models are squashed. But Blue Cross and hospitals prosper while families, businesses and individuals suffer.
The Pelican Institute, a Louisiana-based think tank, released a report yesterday (PDF) on the economic costs of federal health care reforms in their state.
From the press release:
The report was produced by Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics, the research firm of internationally renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer. It models the general concepts included in the health care reform proposals by President Obama and the congressional leadership.
Jarrett Skorup has an excellent article on the false impression some in the health care reform debate have about the intentions of insurers versus the intention of bureaucrats.
While it’s true that insurers are primarily concerned with their bottom line, rather than acting benevolently, it’s not true that we should expect any more goodwill from a government bureaucrat.
Here’s something interesting from the White House, via MSNBC:
Cross-posted from State House Call.
One of my grandfathers (now deceased) used to be a member of of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, one of many such organizations that still dot the land, especially in small towns. I know his lodge to be a place where he would go to smoke, drink, bowl a few frames and talk with his buddies. I never knew about lodge medicine, a practice that is discussed in this short essay published by the Foundation for Economic Education. Lodge medicine was likely past its prime during his day (he was, after all, a member of a trades union).
The good news is that Americans are living longer than ever. The bad news is that this fact, combined with laws that encourage dependency on government to pay for long-term care, is putting a great strain on state budgets.
Last year, Rhode Island received a “global waiver” from the U.S. Health and Human Services department, which lets it revamp its Medicaid program. Medicaid is a common way for nursing home residents and others to pay for long-term care.
Scott Harrington, in a Wall Street Journal piece, fact-checks some of President Obama’s more dramatic stories in his speech last week.
He finds that two of the president’s stories about insurance being dropped left out important information, that he inflated the market share of Alabama’s top insurer and downplayed the satisfaction of that insurer’s policy holders.
As the health care debate continues, President Obama has a major problem: The majority of Americans who are happy with their health insurance.
In a bid to convince them reform is necessary, Obama refers to new statistics saying that nearly half of Americans lost their insurance coverage for one month or longer at some point between 1997 and 2006.
Should government forbid insurance companies from putting conditions on the policies they write – for example, forbidding “pre-existing conditions” limitations?
Sheldon Richman says it would be more intellectually honest to create a new welfare program, paid for with a tax on everyone. Here’s what he says President Obama should have told Congress last week:
As Nick Gillespie reminds us, a well-working industry makes prices transparent and lets people know how much things will cost.
Current Minnesota law (enacted a few years ago) requires that all health care providers disclose their prices if asked.
A new website in the state goes much further. It takes data from the top four health plans and calculates the average reimbursement for about 100 procedures for almost all clinics statewide. This means that you can learn what they accept for reimbursements from the health plans rather than the outrageous list prices.
