If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Union Support Waning for the Affordable Care Act: Look for the Union Label on Obamacare? Perhaps Not
Peeling the Obamacare onion is divulging how it works, layer by layer, year by year. Unions to date, collectively one of the strongest supporters of Obamacare are changing their tune, "Look for the union label" will not likely continue when it applies to the Affordable Care Act.
Until we face the music and change the current model to one that actually makes people pay more for reckless health behavior themselves rather than making others pay for them one they have to pay the piper, it is unclear to this writer that things will fundamentally turn around.
Just over three years ago, we witnessed the historic passage of the Affordable Care Act, a groundbreaking law that will soon make affordable health insurance available to millions of consumers. But many Americans may be asking themselves, "What does it mean for me?"
CDC's report, Problems Paying Medical Bills: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January 2011-June 2012, provides some encouraging news. The data show fewer Americans have trouble paying their medical bills.
The real health care battle in this country isn't the one being fought over the bill everyone now calls "Obamacare." The real battle is the one millions of Americans face every day as they struggle to pay medical bills that now average nearly $10,000 per year -- if they're "lucky."
Fearing someone may get something for nothing and scam the system, we punish the least among us who deserve respect and contribute to society as best they are able.
If you have not been sick lately, you may not be aware that Obamacare is actually already being implemented, and the implementation is going fairly smoothly.
One thing is for sure. If insurers have to insure you, regardless of your health habits and profile, and can't charge you more for poor health habits, they are going to charge more overall.
Although some progressive healthcare providers have begun to transition to digitization, enabling faster and more complete access to patient data, we still have a long way to go toward achieving seamless process and business innovation in healthcare.
There's a problem: hordes of people are getting sick as a result of these very poor lifestyle choices and costing the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars -- and healthy people who are still able to work are being asked to pay for it.
As the video of the hearing shows, instead of allowing me to explain how common industry practices contribute to the dwindling number of small businesses being able to offer coverage, Rep. Blackburn gave me only one-third of one minute to talk when it was her turn to ask questions.
Three years ago Saturday, President Barack Obama put pen to paper and signed into law a sweeping health care reform law that aims to extend health ins...
March 23 marks the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. As we celebrate this year's birthday, let's make sure that all communities, including those who don't speak English, are able to benefit.
This year, America has a once-in-a-generation chance to fix our broken health care system. As policy-makers discuss implementation of the Accountable Care Act, they should learn from China's experience and decide whether they see medical care as a commodity or social provision.
In his extraordinarily well-documented expose on the medical-industrial complex, Steven Brill explains thoroughly and repeatedly what serious pundits, policy experts and policymakers have failed to see or have feared to say: there is no free market in health care.
The headlines make it seem like bad news. But it's not. It is good news that half the states are refusing to have anything to do with the new health insurance marketplaces being set up under the Affordable Care Act.
