Obamacare – Page 3 – Healthcare-NOW

Lower Health Insurance Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices

From the New York Times – Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama’s health care law. But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers. From California to Illinois to New Hampshire, and in…

AFL-CIO Reaffirms Commitment to Single Payer–Demands Fixes to ACA

From All Unions for Single Payer – The just concluded AFL-CIO convention reaffirmed its commitment to a single payer health care system while demanding that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) be fixed to protect Taft-Hartley (multiemployer) plans, to end the excise tax, to make employers cover workers who average 20 hours a week, to require…

Health law’s ailments can be cured by single-payer system

All the shortcomings of the healthcare restructuring result from the decision to leave it in the hands of private insurers. By Michael Hiltzik for the LA Times – With the Oct. 1 rollout of a major facet of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, you’ll be hearing a lot about the glitches, loopholes and…

ObamaCare’s architects reap windfall as Washington lobbyists

By Megan R. Wilson for The Hill – ObamaCare has become big business for an elite network of Washington lobbyists and consultants who helped shape the law from the inside. More than 30 former administration officials, lawmakers and congressional staffers who worked on the healthcare law have set up shop on K Street since 2010.…

Laborers call for a fix to ACA’s “destructive” impact on unions

From Unions for Single Payer – The Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) was one of a handful of unions that did not support the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA). LIUNA was concerned that the law would have an adverse impact on the multiemployer plans on which…

Sen. Reid: Obamacare ‘Absolutely’ A Step Toward A Single-Payer System

By Avik Roy for Forbes – When I speak to conservatives about health care policy, I’m often asked the question: “Do you think that Obamacare is secretly a step toward single-payer health care?” I always explain that, while progressives may want single-payer, I don’t think that Obamacare is deliberately designed to bring about that outcome.…

‘Obamacare’ Bends for Big Business… Again

Critics blast Obama’s decision to delay mandated employer health insurance in Affordable Care Act that was already a concession to private industry By Sarah Lazare for Common Dreams – The one-year delay of what Obama touted as a 'key provision' to his plan will apply to businesses that employ 50 or more full-time workers. The…

30 Million to Remain Uninsured Under Obamacare

Harvard and CUNY researchers say 4.9 million Texans and 3.7 million Californians will still be uninsured in 2016 A study released today on the Health Affairs blog finds that between 29.8 million and 31.0 million people will remain uninsured after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2016 and breaks down those figures by…

New York Times Gets So-Called “Cadillac Tax” Wrong

By Benjamin Day, Healthcare-NOW! Director of Organizing – Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac Tax” will accelerate the erosion of quality health insurance as employers demand higher copays and deductibles from their workers to keep their premiums low enough to avoid the tax. While the Times is correct about…

Some unions protest Obamacare’s impact on Multiemployer Health Plans

By Kay Tillow – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, also known as Obamacare, presents challenges to the multi-employer plans through which some unions bargain collectively to provide health care insurance for their members. These plans, often called Taft Hartley Plans, currently cover about 26 million workers, families, and retirees. Unless there is a…