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In rural Georgia as well as in the rest of the country people are finding that Obamacare is just too expensive and are not going to join. The area of southwest Georgia has higher premiums than Beverly Hills or Pittsburgh. Many of the people are not eligible for the government handouts to make the healthcare more affordable. Even when the government picks up the tab for the Bronze plan the people are left with huge deductibles.
It appears that healthcare.gov is coming back to the spotlight. When it made mistakes and those it was negligent to appeal, the site can not do anything. The Obama administration has not mentioned this in any talks about Obamacare. When asked the press secretary said it is not a big deal. He didn't have the problem. There is currently no infrastructure available for the appeals. This is in spite of the law that says that the appeals are guaranteed. As of now the only way to appeal is via paper that is then scanned onto the computer and then the process comes to a halt. Another CMS screw-up.
The CBO has issued a report stating Obamacare will cost the country 2.5 million jobs over the nest several years or it will reduce people's hours working so they can get the fed payments for their health insurance. The administration sees the report differently. They contend the report means people can care for their children, start their own business or retire early. Yeah, right.
In the 15 largest cities only 45% of physicians accept Medicaid. This is mostly do to the low low low payments. This goes along with the Oregon study that showed that Medicaid patients do not improve their healthcare over those with no insurance.
The administration said that over 6 million signed up for Medicaid under Obamacare. The facts are that most of them would have joined regardless of the law. The administration also state that 3 million signed up for private plans but in fact most of those already had insurance that was taken away form them by the law. The number reported by the administration is those that have enrolled but not necessarily paid. In fact some estimates are that only 51% of those that enrolled have actually paid and therefore actually have insurance. In a recent NY Times piece they estimated that 20% of those enrolled have not paid a premium so have no insurance. CMS has no clue about how many have actually paid a premium, according to the article.
Bloomberg reports specialty hospitals such as children's hospitals with great outcomes have been removed from insurers panels under Obamacare to keep premiums low. They do not care about quality, only costs.
Kaiser has stated that almost 3 million people will not be able to afford Obamacare. The administration only needs to look at their own mandates to see why this problem exists.
Bloomberg writes that only under 2 million people have actually signed up for new Medicaid insurance under Obamacare. The remaining 4 million already had Medicaid or could have signed up but didn't.
The LA Times states that those who actually signed up for Obamacare are finding a new snag, physician offices. This is due to the narrowing of networks by the insurance companies.
Millman reports that the $150 billion in taxes extorted form the insurers to play in the Obamacare game are being shifted to Medicaid and other premiums. That average family should expect to pay an additional $400 per year to cover this cost. Good going Pelosi and Reid.
Moody's investors Service has blasted Obama for his changing the insurance rules in mid stream. The service believes this will lead to higher premiums and less policies sold.
In California 1/4 of those who signed up for Obamacare live in Los Angeles County. 84% of those qualified for a federal subsidy.
In the People's Republic about 50,000 people are without health insurance due to a backlog in processing paper applications. This will take months to fix. They are bringing in private contractors to help fix the broken system. About 120,000 people were going to loose their coverage on March 31 but now they have a reprieve thanks to the feds grants the Republic a three month delay.
In a recent article it was reported that mammograms did not reduce breast cancer deaths. This has been known for about twenty years but there is finally an article that proves it. The article also showed a 22% false positive rate. Again this has been known since about 1990. All this shows is that the test is fallible but there is no denying it is the best we have. Top
The country's concierge practices are growing by 25% per year according to the American Academy of Private Physicians. This may be even larger as the populace understands how much the Obamacare deductibles are. If people have to pay money anyway they can at least get the attention of the physician.
The NY Times had an article about the physicians switching from private practice to hospital salaried jobs. They feel a lot of this is due to the uncertainty from the federal Obamacare law. As of now about 75% of primary physicians, 50% of surgeons and 25% of surgical subspecialists are employees. The article cautions that this may lead to more expensive care in the short run. It may lead to better cheaper care in the long run. The article cautions that the hospitals are prone to add facility fees that drive u[ prices as well as giving bonuses for ordering more tests at the hospitals. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.