Republicans' outreach to minorities FAIL

[conamer]

Perhaps some lib can explain the rationale for the "Cadillac plan" tax for me, because I personally can't fathom the logic in taxing a good healthcare benefit if the goal is to provide a good healthcare benefit. That is something that is so ridiculous I am sure only liberals can get behind it.

It's called 'fair'. I call it spreading the misery.

 

[Deacon001]

It's called spreading the wealth around. You take from the person who earned, and give to the person who didn't

So it has nothing to do with providing health care?

 

[GarfieldJL]

UPS is not dumping coverage for it's employees.

I normally consider family coverage to be a part of health insurance coverage for employees...

Partly blaming the health law, United Parcel Service is set to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere.

Many analysts downplay the Affordable Care Act's effect on companies such as UPS, noting that the move is part of a long-term trend of shrinking corporate medical benefits. But the shipping giant repeatedly cites the act to explain the decision, adding fuel to the debate over whether it erodes traditional employer coverage.

Rising medical costs, "combined with the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost," UPS said in a memo to employees.

UPS won't insure spouses of many employees
​

Kudos to USA Today for a random act of journalism.

 

[MachZer0]

So it has nothing to do with providing health care?

It's all about power and control

 

[HonestTruth]

Republicans have been successful in only one outreach campaign = reaching out to the 1% elitists.

 

[GarfieldJL]

Republicans have been successful in only one outreach campaign = reaching out to the 1% elitists.

If that were the case then Hollywood would be supporting Republicans, not Democrats.

 

[conamer]

Republicans have been successful in only one outreach campaign = reaching out to the 1% elitists.

Like delaying the employer mandate in ObamaCare?

 

[TLK Valentine]

If that were the case then Hollywood would be supporting Republicans, not Democrats.

How do you figure? Hollywood needs the hoi polloi to buy tickets...

 

[USincognito]

I normally consider family coverage to be a part of health insurance coverage for employees...

Then perhaps you should not have written this:

Try looking at UPS and other companies that are dumping health coverage for employees...

For most people "employees" means "employees".

 

[HonestTruth]

If that were the case then Hollywood would be supporting Republicans, not Democrats.

It's been there all right: Walt Disney, Robert Taylor, John Ford, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, etc.

 

[HonestTruth]

Like delaying the employer mandate in ObamaCare?

Republicans want to continue the holocaust they have created by denying health care reform but the tide has turned against them:

 

[GarfieldJL]

Republicans want to continue the holocaust they have created by denying health care reform but the tide has turned against them:

So now you're trying to compare Republicans to the Nazis...

So first you violate Godwin's Law, then you try an appeal to emotion that is rather misleading...

There is a difference between insurance coverage and health care... All Obamacare is doing is causing thousands of people to lose their health insurance coverage or their health insurance coverage is a lot worse than before.

Considering the number of doctors that plan to stop practicing due to Obamacare, it is also going to make it so everyone in this country will have a harder time getting quality health care...

You really need to stop believing rhetoric when basic common sense makes it rather obvious that the rhetoric is a bunch of hot air.

 

[stamperben]

Considering the number of doctors that plan to stop practicing due to Obamacare, it is also going to make it so everyone in this country will have a harder time getting quality health care...

You really need to stop believing rhetoric when basic common sense makes it rather obvious that the rhetoric is a bunch of hot air.

Speaking of hot air... You got numbers - concrete numbers - on that statement?

 

[GarfieldJL]

Speaking of hot air... You got numbers - concrete numbers - on that statement?

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 9,539 doctors who had accepted Medicare payments opted out of the program last year. That seems like a large number, but 685,000 doctors nationally were enrolled as participating Medicare physicians in 2012.

Eight-one percent of them were family doctors, a drop from 83 percent in 2010, the American Academy of Family Physicians reports. The journal Health Affairs, however, reported this month that one-third of primary-care physicians did not accept new Medicaid patients in 2010-2011.

Part of the problem is that Medicare payment rates have not kept pace with inflation, and Medicare reimbursements could be slashed by 25 percent next year unless Congress delays the cuts. In addition, the amount of paperwork and information required from doctors and providers is massive.

"Family physicians have been fed up for a long time and it's getting worse," said Jeffrey Cain, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

When doctors opt out of programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, they can practice based on patients' needs instead of worrying about reimbursement rates, he said.


Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com Obamacare Fallout: More Doctors Opting Out of Medicare

​

http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/medicare-survey-results-0510.pdf

Get ready to shell out more money for individual health insurance under Obamacare ... in some states, that is.

While many residents in New York and California may see sizable decreases in their premiums, Americans in many places could face significant increases if they buy insurance through state-based exchanges next year.

That's because these people live in states where insurers were allowed to sell bare-bones plans and exclude the sick, which has kept costs down. Under Obamacare, insurers must offer a package of essential benefits -- including maternity, mental health and medications -- and must cover all who apply. But more comprehensive coverage may lead to more expensive insurance plans.

Under Obamacare, all Americans must have insurance coverage starting in 2014 or face penalties of $95 or 1% of family income, whichever is greater. Enrollment in the exchanges begins October 1, with coverage kicking in in January. Plans will come in four tiers, ranging from bronze to platinum.

Some lightly regulated states, including Indiana, Ohio, Florida and South Carolina, have recently released preliminary rate information highlighting steep price increases. Unlike the blue states of California and New York, these are Republican-led states that have strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act, as Obamacare is officially known.

Comparing this year's and next year's plans isn't easy because the structure of the plans is so different. Each state comes up with its own method.

Behind the numbers in 3 key states. In Florida, for instance, officials constructed a hypothetical silver-level plan based on the offerings available today. Then they looked at how the cost of that plan compares to the average silver plan that will be available on the exchange. Florida found premiums will rise between 7.6% and 58.8%, depending on the insurer. The average increase would be 35%.

The main driver of the premium increases is the Obamacare mandate that coverage be offered to everyone, said Kevin McCarty, Florida's insurance commissioner. There are just short of a million enrollees in the individual market in Florida, while 3.8 million are uninsured. The state does not allow new entrants into a "high-risk pool," which provides coverage to the sick.

"People who are in their 50s with high blood pressure have no coverage options," he said.

Ohio, meanwhile, said there would be an average increase of 41% by comparing a trade association's report of premiums for all plans available today with the average premium expected on the exchange.

Indiana officials said prices would rise an average of 72%. But they were looking at the cost of providing care, not actual premiums.
Where Obamacare premiums will soar - Aug. 6, 2013

​

 

[TLK Valentine]

Hmmm... 9,539 doctors who want more money vs. 17 million children who want to live past puberty.

Am I the only one who sees this as a no-brainer?

 

[Skaloop]

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 9,539 doctors who had accepted Medicare payments opted out of the program last year. That seems like a large number, but 685,000 doctors nationally were enrolled as participating Medicare physicians in 2012.

Eight-one percent of them were family doctors, a drop from 83 percent in 2010, the American Academy of Family Physicians reports. The journal Health Affairs, however, reported this month that one-third of primary-care physicians did not accept new Medicaid patients in 2010-2011.

Part of the problem is that Medicare payment rates have not kept pace with inflation, and Medicare reimbursements could be slashed by 25 percent next year unless Congress delays the cuts. In addition, the amount of paperwork and information required from doctors and providers is massive.

"Family physicians have been fed up for a long time and it's getting worse," said Jeffrey Cain, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

When doctors opt out of programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, they can practice based on patients' needs instead of worrying about reimbursement rates, he said.


Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com Obamacare Fallout: More Doctors Opting Out of Medicare

​

http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/medicare-survey-results-0510.pdf

Get ready to shell out more money for individual health insurance under Obamacare ... in some states, that is.

While many residents in New York and California may see sizable decreases in their premiums, Americans in many places could face significant increases if they buy insurance through state-based exchanges next year.

That's because these people live in states where insurers were allowed to sell bare-bones plans and exclude the sick, which has kept costs down. Under Obamacare, insurers must offer a package of essential benefits -- including maternity, mental health and medications -- and must cover all who apply. But more comprehensive coverage may lead to more expensive insurance plans.

Under Obamacare, all Americans must have insurance coverage starting in 2014 or face penalties of $95 or 1% of family income, whichever is greater. Enrollment in the exchanges begins October 1, with coverage kicking in in January. Plans will come in four tiers, ranging from bronze to platinum.

Some lightly regulated states, including Indiana, Ohio, Florida and South Carolina, have recently released preliminary rate information highlighting steep price increases. Unlike the blue states of California and New York, these are Republican-led states that have strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act, as Obamacare is officially known.

Comparing this year's and next year's plans isn't easy because the structure of the plans is so different. Each state comes up with its own method.

Behind the numbers in 3 key states. In Florida, for instance, officials constructed a hypothetical silver-level plan based on the offerings available today. Then they looked at how the cost of that plan compares to the average silver plan that will be available on the exchange. Florida found premiums will rise between 7.6% and 58.8%, depending on the insurer. The average increase would be 35%.

The main driver of the premium increases is the Obamacare mandate that coverage be offered to everyone, said Kevin McCarty, Florida's insurance commissioner. There are just short of a million enrollees in the individual market in Florida, while 3.8 million are uninsured. The state does not allow new entrants into a "high-risk pool," which provides coverage to the sick.

"People who are in their 50s with high blood pressure have no coverage options," he said.

Ohio, meanwhile, said there would be an average increase of 41% by comparing a trade association's report of premiums for all plans available today with the average premium expected on the exchange.

Indiana officials said prices would rise an average of 72%. But they were looking at the cost of providing care, not actual premiums.
Where Obamacare premiums will soar - Aug. 6, 2013

​

I'm not seeing anything in there about doctors planning to stop practicing.

 

[GarfieldJL]

Hmmm... 9,539 doctors who want more money vs. 17 million children who want to live past puberty.

Am I the only one who sees this as a no-brainer?

Unless you're proposing that we should reinstitute the institution of slavery, the fact those doctors are saying they will not take medicare because it doesn't provide enough reimbersement is actually a cause of alarm.

I'm not seeing anything in there about doctors planning to stop practicing.

WASHINGTON -- Most physicians have a pessimistic outlook on the future of medicine, citing eroding autonomy and falling income, a survey of more than 600 doctors found.
Six in 10 physicians (62%) said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years, a survey from Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found. That perception is uniform across age, gender, and specialty, it said.

Another 55% of surveyed doctors believe others will scale back hours because of the way medicine is changing, but the survey didn't elaborate greatly on how it was changing. Three-quarters think the best and brightest may not consider a career in medicine, although that is an increase from the 2011 survey result of 69%.
Survey: More Docs Plan to Retire Early

​

Article continues:

Four in 10 doctors reported their take-home pay decreased from 2011 to 2012, and more than half said the pay cut was 10% or less, according to Deloitte. Among physicians reporting a pay cut, four in 10 blame the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and 48% of all doctors believed their income would drop again in 2012 as a result of the health reform law.
Survey: More Docs Plan to Retire Early

​

The article then tries to whitewash things by saying fewer doctors have objections to Obamacare, which doesn't sound plausible given the information I quoted above.

 

[Creech]

If Republicans think MLK is conservative, in another 60 years Republicans will be calling Obama a conservative hero.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Unless you're proposing that we should reinstitute the institution of slavery, the fact those doctors are saying they will not take medicare because it doesn't provide enough reimbersement is actually a cause of alarm.

I see -- doctors not getting "enough" reimbursement = slavery.

Feel free to be alarmed; I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

[GarfieldJL]

I see -- doctors not getting "enough" reimbursement = slavery.

If the money they are taking in as reimbersement for services rendered exceeds the operational costs of their practice, then they are losing money simply be seeing patients.

I know someone that is in medical school right now and he's probably going to be $300,000 in debt by the time he finishes. Contrary to what you'd like to believe, many doctors are not super-wealthy individuals.

Feel free to be alarmed; I won't lose any sleep over it.

That's cause you didn't consider all the relevant information for whatever reason.