Tag Archives: PPACA
9 out of 10 business owners: no gov’t health insurance for us!
Based on a November poll of more than 1,000 respondents, the Small Business Authority Market Sentiment Survey reveals concerns of independent business owners. Only 9% of respondents believe they will have to purchase health insurance from the government while 53% believe the cost of health care is going to increase in the next two years. Continue reading
House Panel Votes to Repeal CLASS Act
Members of the health subcommittee at the House Energy and Commerce Committee today passed H.R. 1173, a bill that would officially kill a federal voluntary long-term care (LTC) benefits program, by a voice vote.
H.R. 1173, the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act bill, would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program provisions that were part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA).
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Gang of Six: Kill CLASS; Cut Social Security, Health Spending
One specific recommendation calls for eliminating the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS Act) long term care program. The CLASS Act is supposed to create a voluntary, worker-funded LTC program. Critics have argued that the program would be actuarially unsound and eventually would have to charge higher and higher rates as healthier workers began to avoid it.
The proposal would encourage Congress to reform or replace the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate formula and offset the cost with savings on other health care expenditures. A parenthetical note in the proposal seems to suggest that drafters believe that move could save $298 billion over 10 years.
The drafters say the government also should seek $202 billion in additional health savings while maintaining the essential health care services on which the poor and elderly depend.
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Legal Alert: Employers’ concerns over PPACA carry some weight
By Kate Bongiovanni March 11, 2011 It appears that employers can be optimistic that federal agencies are reviewing and considering their public comments on regulatory guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In November 2010, the Departments of … Continue reading
Vinson Declares PPACA Unconstitutional
Vinson, a judge in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., says in a ruling on State of Florida et al. vs. United States Department of Health and Human Services et al. (Case Number 3:2010-cv-00091-RV), that Congress has no authority under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the “minimum essential coverage provision” in PPACA.
The PPACA minimum coverage provision would require individuals to buy health coverage. If the provision takes effect as enacted, it will require many people with incomes above a certain level who do not get health coverage from their employers to buy a minimum level of health coverage or else pay a penalty. The provision, set to take effect in 2014, provides exceptions for individuals with religious objections to owning health coverage and for some individuals who cannot find affordable health coverage.
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