Consumers In States Hostile To ACA To Receive Higher Average Rebates Than Residents In States That Support It

Consumers In States Hostile To ACA To Receive Higher Average Rebates Than Residents In States That Support It: By requiring everyone to purchase health insurance coverage in 2014, the Affordable Care Act provides millions of new customers to private health insurers. But the law also guarantees that companies don’t swindle premium dollars away on corporate profits and CEO bonuses. Under the law, insurers have to comply with a new Medical Loss Ratio or [...]/p

Obamacare will save Medicare $200 billion by 2016

Obamacare will save Medicare $200 billion by 2016
"The actual experience Medicare beneficiaries, and particularly seniors, have had with the Affordable Care Act has lessened some of the fear, and according to the March Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll, for the first time the law is seen more favorably by seniors than not."

Report: Obama’s Affordable Care Act Will Save Medicare $200 Billion

Report: Obama’s Affordable Care Act Will Save Medicare $200 Billion: pThe Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care reform law, will reportedly save Medicare more than $2 billion by 2016, while saving seniors nearly $60 billion in out-of-pocket costs, according to a new report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). According to the report, Medicare’s largest savings come from “cuts to [...]/p

Ryan’s Medicaid Cuts Would Have Cost States $555 Billion Over Past Decade

Ryan’s Medicaid Cuts Would Have Cost States $555 Billion Over Past Decade: States would have lost $555 billion over the past decade if House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed Medicaid cuts had been in effect starting in 2001, analysis from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows. Under Ryan’s plan, which would convert Medicaid to a block grant, federal Medicaid funds in most [...]/p

Health Care in an Age of American Decline » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Health Care in an Age of American Decline » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The U.S. has very little to show for its insanely expensive health arrangement.  Its per capita costs are twice those of other advanced OECD nations (11).  However, it ranks pretty low in health outcomes such as infant mortality and and life expectancy (12)."

Cashin' In Regular Jonathan Hoenig Suggests Eliminating Medicare and Medicaid

Cashin' In Regular Jonathan Hoenig Suggests Eliminating Medicare and Medicaid
"Republicans like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are basically saying the same thing Hoenig did here with their goal of destroying our social safety nets. They're just a little more subtle about it."

Patients Rarely Considered in Press Coverage of Medicare

Patients Rarely Considered in Press Coverage of Medicare
"For the elderly and disabled, catching up on the daily news during the latest Beltway brinkmanship—the deal to extend payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and current Medicare doctor fees—could be an exercise in frustration."

The Real Health Care Debate | Common Dreams

The Real Health Care Debate | Common Dreams
"Medical bills already lead to 62 percent of personal bankruptcies, and nearly 80 percent of those declaring personal bankruptcy because of medical costs had insurance. The U.S. spends twice as much per capita on health care as other industrialized nations, $8,160. Private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume 31 percent of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment through a single, nonprofit payer would save more than $400 billion per year, enough, the PNHP estimates, to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans."

Report: 15 Million Would Have Received $2 Billion In Rebates If ACA Provisions Were Enacted In 2010

Report: 15 Million Would Have Received $2 Billion In Rebates If ACA Provisions Were Enacted In 2010: About $2 billion in health insurance rebates would have been issued to over 15 million American consumers if the Affordable Care Act’s new medical loss ratio (MLR) rules had been in effect in 2010, a new study from The Commonwealth Fund reveals. The MLR rules, which were enacted in 2011, require a minimum percentage — [...]/p

PERRspectives: Romney-Ryan Plan is the Real 2012 Republican Platform

PERRspectives: Romney-Ryan Plan is the Real 2012 Republican Platform
Here, then, is an overview of the Romney-Ryan Plan, also known as the 2012 Republican Platform.

• Massive Tax Cuts for the Rich
• Ending Medicare as We Know It
• Shredding the Safety Net
• Increased Defense Spending
• What Loopholes Get Closed? That's a Secret!
• Trillions in New Debt

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers
"The Republican Medicare plan, which does indeed end Medicare as we know it (just a little bit slower than the Paul Ryan budget they adopted last year) isn't finding much support outside the party"