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- News
Temp Agency: Obamacare Is Causing Businesses to Hire Part-Time, Not Full-Time, Employees
Under pressure to comply with the Affordable Care Act, some South Carolina businesses are cutting back by hiring more part-time rather than full time employees. Although unemployment levels have dropped to pre-recession levels at 6.1 percent nationally, a staffing agency in South Carolina reports that this number may be skewed. Many employees have returned to…Philip Wegmann -
- Opinion
It’s Not True that 20 Million Americans Gained Coverage Under Obamacare
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund claims 20 million Americans “gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act as of May 1.” But a closer look at that number reveals it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. First, the authors, Dr. David Blumenthal, president of Commonwealth, and Vice President Sara Collins, get to the…Alyene Senger -
- News
This Chart Shows How Many Obamacare Enrollees’ Self-Reported Citizenship Status Doesn’t Match Federal Data
According to a report released by the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month, “the online federal marketplace could not resolve nearly 90 percent (or 2.6 million) of its 2.9 million data ‘inconsistencies,’ which include citizenship status, income, incarceration status, and Social Security numbers,” as Marguerite Bowling reported last…John Fleming -
- News
Obamacare Awash in Millions of Data ‘Inconsistencies,’ Report Finds
Little more than eight months ago, the bungled rollout of the government’s Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov, touched off an avalanche of bad news for President Obama and his health care team. Now comes a new federal report that gives more details on the technical woes of the online insurance exchange — problems that could result in…Marguerite Bowling -
- Opinion
Obamacare Is Working Out Great (If You Ignore the Problems)
Obamacare had a bad week at the Supreme Court. Actually Obamacare has had a pretty bad four years. Not surprisingly, most Americans still don’t like Obamacare. So the Obama administration’s allies are insisting that the unpopular law is working very well, thank you very much. For example, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says, “The…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
Q&A: How the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby Decision Affects Obamacare
Yesterday morning, the Supreme Court ruled against the coercive Obamacare HHS mandate, prohibiting the government from forcing two family businesses, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, to provide coverage of potentially life-ending drugs and devices. The Court held that the HHS mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as it applied in this case. In…Sarah Torre -
- Opinion
After Hobby Lobby, Another Part of the Obamacare Mandate Could Fall
Today’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which are for-profit companies, raises questions about the fate of the HHS mandate accommodation for which certain religious non-profit employers are eligible. Under the accommodation, non-profit employers self-certify to their insurance provider or third-party administrator that they have a religious objection to…Elizabeth Slattery -
- Opinion
The Fight Isn’t Over: Nuns, Others Still Face Obamacare Mandate Despite Today’s Hobby Lobby Decision
Despite today’s Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the fight against the coercive HHS mandate is far from over. More than 300 other family businesses, schools, and religious organizations still must decide whether to violate their beliefs or face government penalties. Charitable organizations such as Little Sisters of the Poor and Mother Angelica’s…Sarah Torre -
- News
What Does New Auto-Enrollment Rule Mean for Obamacare Customers?
Insurance customers on HealthCare.gov will be automatically enrolled in their current plans for 2015 unless they buy new coverage through federal and state-run online exchanges, the Obama administration announced. The Health and Human Services Department’s proposed rules are meant to reduce potential drop-off for any of the 8 million Americans who, the administration said, selected a…Marguerite Bowling -
- News
Two-Thirds of Manufacturing Executives Fear Obamacare Will Hurt Growth
Manufacturers are worried about how Affordable Care Act regulations will affect their costs, according to a recent survey by the tax and consulting firm McGladrey Inc. More than two-thirds of executives surveyed believe government regulation will stunt their companies’ future growth. The Affordable Care Act garnered the most blame and was cited by 69 percent…Philip Wegmann -
- News
Pictures of Faith at Work: This Family Waits, Prays for Obamacare Ruling
The Supreme Court is expected to decide as early as today whether the government can force two family businesses, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, to provide employee health plans that cover abortion-inducing drugs and devices. Countless other faith-based family businesses face devastating fines under Obamacare if they don't break their moral and religious convictions and comply with the same…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Insurers on Obamacare Exchanges in 2015: What to Watch For
There have been a number of recent news reports about additional insurers applying to offer coverage in Obamacare exchanges in 2015. Although it is too early to draw any conclusions—since this is just the beginning of a three-month process—it is still likely that at least a few more insurers will participate in the exchanges next…Edmund Haislmaier -
- News
Obamacare Exchanges Are ‘Disappointing’ With Fewer Than 4 Million Newly Insured. The Government Hoped for 26 Million.
In April, President Obama told the nation that “marketplace” or “exchange” enrollment, at 8 million customers as of March 31, had exceeded expectations and costs were lower than expected. Many in the news media accepted the selectively released statistics, despite the Obama administration’s record of sometimes providing inaccurate or incomplete information on HealthCare.gov. Even today, the…Sharyl Attkisson -
- News
Why One Family-Owned Business Is Fighting Against Obamacare
LORETTO, Minn.—Doug Doboszenski moves tons of dirt in his excavation business, but that’s nothing like trying to move the mountain known as the federal government. Under the Affordable Care Act, Doboszenki and Sons must provide health coverage in employee medical plans that contradicts the owners’ religious beliefs—or face thousands of dollars in Internal Revenue Service…Tom Steward -
- News
Obamacare’s Risk-Management Programs Could Cost Billions, Experts Tell House
Obama administration officials insisted that Obamacare’s risk-management programs are temporary and budget neutral, but others at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today argued the programs will be a boondoggle for taxpayers. “All of you ought to be very concerned about the way the risk corridors program is being implemented”…Marguerite Bowling -
- Opinion
Obamacare Anti-Conscience Mandate: Court Says Being Complicit in Sin Isn’t a Sin
Last week, in Michigan Catholic Conference v. Burwell, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the appeal of Catholic nonprofit groups in their challenge to the Obamacare anti-conscience mandate. The court got it wrong by second-guessing the religious beliefs of these groups. Formal houses of worship and their integrated auxiliaries (e.g., church-run…Elizabeth Slattery -
- News
18 States Delay ‘Employee Choice’ in Obamacare for Small Businesses
President Obama has allowed 18 states to continue delaying a key part of Obamacare’s health insurance exchange for small businesses—“employee choice”—from being implemented until 2016, if then. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently approved petitions from the states, which didn’t want to implement the “employee choice” feature in their online exchanges in…Marguerite Bowling -
- Opinion
Obamacare’s Medicare ‘Reforms’ Result in Little Savings
Promoted as a way to move away from an outdated payment structure in Medicare, Accountable Care Organizations were expected to deliver better care at lower costs. But, two years later, like many of Obamacare’s promised savings, this experiment is falling short. As part of the “Medicare Shared Savings” program under Obamacare, ACOs join together doctors…Alyene Senger -
- News
Obamacare Can’t Handle the Truth: Data Not Adding Up for Enrollees
Obamacare prompts one huge headache right off the bat for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the newly confirmed secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Vast discrepancies in data on Obamacare enrollees could put at least 2 million newly insured Americans at risk, according to a government report provided to Associated Press. Officials found data from…Marguerite Bowling -
- Opinion
Obamacare’s New Implementer-in-Chief
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. On Thursday, 78 Senators, including 24 Republicans, voted to confirm Sylvia Burwell to be Obamacare’s implementer-in-chief for the rest of his term. Burwell’s predecessor Kathleen Sebelius had become inextricably linked to the botched rollout, soaring premiums and a never-ending series of unilateral alterations of law, and conventional wisdom…Mike Needham
