Senate GOP'er Says Healthcare Debate Flying Under The Radar

By Janie Amaya

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act has flown under the radar as of late, and it’s benefitting Democrats.

Hatch suggested that the individual mandate, which he said requires individuals to purchase health insurance and punishes those who don’t, is being kept under the table by some members because skepticism is mounting over the provision’s constitutionality.

“Rather than defend the law, [lawmakers] have decided to lay low and grind their way to 2014,” Hatch said. “The impact of this law on the nation’s health care system has yet to be fully realized and the hope of the left is that by the time that Obamacare is fully operational, it will be too late to repeal it.”

Hatch argued that a plurality of Americans believe the infamous individual mandate violates the Constitution. The law has been heard by three apellate courts. The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit struck down the individual mandate, the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati ruled that the bill was, in fact, constitutional and the Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit tossed the case entirely.

“The Supreme court will get to decide whether forcing individuals to purchase health insurance is an appropriate use of powers to regulate interstate commerce or to tax and spend for the general welfare,” Hatch said.

GOP Governors Say Health Care Reform Does Not Fit All States

By Anna Cameron

Governors Gary Herbert (R-Utah), Deval Patrick (D-Mass.) and Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) explained to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Tuesday how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is affecting Medicaid and healthcare reform in their respective states.

Though Patrick defended the PPACA, he emphasized the necessity of a sustained commitment to reducing the cost of health care nation-wide. Noting that the government of Massachusetts continues to work hard to reduce system costs, Patrick praised the PPACA for providing several helpful tools utilized to facilitate the process.

“The Affordable Care Act actually supports our efforts to bring down costs. We are using the authority of the national reform to develop guidelines and incentives,” said Patrick. “[It] is helping us coordinate care for individuals who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare and thereby bring cost savings to the Medicare program.”

As a result of its market-based, hybrid system similar to that of the Affordable Care Act, Massachusetts provides more than 98 percent of its residents with coverage, including 99.8 percent of its children.

Governors Herbert and Barbour remained disenfranchised with the federal requirements instituted by the PPACA, reiterating their shared belief that “what is good for one state, isn’t necessarily good for another.”

“Different states have different problems [and] ideas,” Barbour told the Committee. “While you may not believe this,…we love our constituents just as much as [you] do and we want to do right for them. But we want to do what we can afford and sustain.

Proposing greater flexibility in Medicaid management, Barbour and Herbert emphasized the program cuts and tax hikes that would occur in their states based on the rising costs they expect to result from PPACA provisions. Herbert referred to the current relationship between the states and the federal government as “a partnership that is one sided and puts the states in a subservient role.”

“I emphasize that real health care reform…will arise from the states, the laboratories of democracy, not from the ‘one size fits all’ approach proposed by the federal government,” Herbert said.

Implementation Of Health Care Reform Presents A Challenge, Says AHIP Executive

By Antonia Aguilar - University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News Service

Although the debate over health care reform may be over, a significant struggle remains, an executive for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) said Friday.

“Everyone who thought getting a bill done was the hard part, you're in for a surprise," said Scott Keefer, the Vice President of Policy Development for AHIP's Center for Policy and Research. "Implementation in many ways is going to be an equal challenge."

Alliance for Health Reform Chairman Ed Howard, who appeared with Keefer, outlined a number of the changes that private insurers will soon need to tackle.

“There are sweeping changes in store for the private insurance industry and they are going to effect what gets sold, to whom, at what cost and in what form the sale gets made,” said Howard.

Health Care Reform Not Responsible For Rising Cost Of Premiums, Say Democrats

By Chingyu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) told reporters Friday that the rising cost of health care premiums does not mean that health care reform is not working.

"The purpose of this is to slow the growth. Premium rates are going to continue to go up, they are just not going to go up at the unsustainable pace they were," Franken said.

"[A higher premium] doesn't mean that we didn't bring down the growth of the premium," Franken added.

Franken pointed out that a provision in the new law requiring insurance providers to put at least 80% of premiums toward actual health services, instead of marketing campaigns, salaries or administrative costs, is expected to help curb increases.

Schakowsky added that measures in the law to boost transparency will also play a role in stemming costs. According to the Illinois Congresswoman, insurance providers will be required to provide customers with the justifications for rate increases. Schakowsky noted that companies that fail to provide this service will be banned from participating in the insurance exchanges set up through the law.

Lawmakers Give Healthcare Reform Mixed Reviews During Hospital Association Conference

By Chingyu Wang
Talk Radio News Service

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) thanked members of the American Hospital Association (AHA) during its their annual conference Tuesday for supporting the Democratic health care reform bill, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) reminded the audience that "you and I found ourselves on a different page."

The AHA, a national organization formed by almost 5,000 hospitals and medical care providers and 37,000 individual members, displayed packets during the conference that praised the new health care reform law for expanding health coverage to an estimated 32 million Americans in the next ten years.

Citing a new report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Cornyn told members of the audience that health care costs will rise to $311 billion by the year 2020, and said his "biggest disappointment" with the law is that it will worsen America's long term fiscal situation.

Pelosi, on the other hand, said hospitals stand to benefit the most from the new law due to "32 million patients [having] an insurance card...fewer uncompensated emergency room visits...[and] reduced costs and improving care."

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who followed the Speaker, discussed the case of Well Point Inc. attempting to decline health coverage to breast cancer patients, and called on the AHA to help discourage such "illegal" behavior on the part of insurance companies.