As the end of the open enrollment period on March 31 draws near, the Covered California state health insurance exchange is engaged in a final push for enrollees that will bring it beyond its baseline enrollment goals, launching a new advertising campaign and resolving application issues caused by a software glitch in February. Throughout the … Continue reading »
Affordable Care Act
Why you shouldn’t succumb to defeatism about the Affordable Care Act
Whatever happened to American can-do optimism? Even before the Affordable Care Act covers its first beneficiary, the nattering nabobs of negativism are out in full force. “Tens of millions more Americans will lose their coverage and find that new ObamaCare plans have higher premiums, larger deductibles, and fewer doctors,” predicts Republican operative Karl Rove. “Enrollment numbers will … Continue reading »
The NY Times uncovers conservative attacks, then prints one; both are on the front page
On Thursday (Nov. 21), the New York Times front page reported on the conservative attacks against the President Obama and the Affordable Care Act. On Sunday, the Times front page contained a conservative attack on President Obama and the Affordable Care Act mixed in with news stories. Here is an analysis of both. For decades, … Continue reading »
Having the backbone to set minimum standards for health insurance
Democrats are showing once again they have the backbones of banana slugs. The Affordable Care Act was meant to hold insurers to a higher standard. So it stands to reason that some insurers will have to cancel their lousy sub-standard policies. But spineless Democrats (including my old boss Bill Clinton) are caving in to the … Continue reading »
Sub par reporting on the ACA
In a story that purports to illustrate how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will hurt fast food businesses, Venessa Wong at Bloomberg News inadvertently shows how small those impacts are likely to be in reality. She gives the example of Firehouse Subs, which currently does not offer health benefits to anyone working 30 hours a … Continue reading »
Where federal health care reform falls short, local reform steps up
San Francisco is an exciting place to be — especially because of its history of progressive politics and culture of grassroots organizing. The city’s passage of the Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) in 2006 represented an attempt to implement near-universal health care throughout San Francisco and reaffirmed the city’s commitment to vulnerable people. No doubt … Continue reading »
The Supreme Court’s health care decision and the problem with relying on the taxing power
Yesterday (June 28th), the Supreme Court finally revealed its decision in the health care cases. A majority of the Justices voted to uphold the constitutionality of most of the Affordable Care Act (aka, “Obamacare”). There are many summaries and analyses of the decision available online. I won’t attempt anything approaching a summary here. Instead, I’ll … Continue reading »
Roberts’ switch
Today (June 28) a majority of the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare in recognition of its importance as a key initiative of the Obama administration. The big surprise, for many, was the vote by the Chief Justice of the Court, John Roberts, to join with the Court’s four … Continue reading »
A good day for America
The Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act. We are fortunate to live in a state that has been working overtime to implement those parts of the law that have already gone into effect and to prepare for implementation of the remaining elements of the law in January 2014. The law has already had … Continue reading »
Now it’s time to learn what the Affordable Care Act really does
The verdict is in (although not yet posted in full). The Affordable Care Act is constitutional: “the mandate can be regarded as establishing a condition — not owning health insurance — that triggers a tax — the required payment to IRS.” This, the court found, is a legal use of existing congressional power. So now … Continue reading »