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The Senate Finance Committee heard a report given by quality experts on how bad the healthcare quality measures are. There are over 1100 just for the Medicare program and many more for the private sector. No one knows them all and there is no coordination. The person in charge of the quality of course blamed Congress for not enough money. They got what the Democrats wanted them to have when they passed the law without reading it. Then the politicians made comments on medical care of which they know nothing.
Sebelius is having major problems getting information out on Obamacare. She is under investigation for some of her antics. The latest ploy to blow up is asking the NFL whose season coincides with the roll out to promote Obamacare. The NFL rightfully denied her request. The administration has also contacted MLB and the NHL but withdrew the offers for meetings with the organizations. Walgreen's and BlueCross have agreed to shill for the government.
The administration is finding out that Obamacare can not be done as originally thought. They have given a year reprieve until 1/1/15 for the large employers to do the required paperwork and give their employees insurance. No large (over 50 people) employer need comply with Obamacare for another year. The administration stated that the reason is to attempt to make it easier on large business to comply with the red tape. This also means that large business will not have to comply or pay a penalty of $3000 per person until after the 2014 election. This gives the employers a free year to put employees on the exchanges without any penalty. This along with the problems of communication bode poorly for the program. The real reason for the delay is more likely the fed is not close to being ready, especially for non C corporations. I must admit I would not know how to report as the fed states a full time person is one who works 30 hours per week, but general business practices have always been 35 hours per week for a full time employee. With the delay I do not understand how the fed will know who should be hit with a fine as an individual as they don't know who is an employee. It should also be noted that the law has no ability to delay any time periods.
The Washington Post states that there are three more delays in Obamacare. The feds confess they do not have the manpower to do the required checking on whether individuals were offered employee healthcare and are turning it over to the states but with a delay until 2015. The feds also will not check all the people who state they made less than 10% than the year before but only spot check. The fed also will allow an additional year for states to tell Medicaid people electronically what benefits they may receive.
The House GOP is now pushing a delay on the individual mandate as it is unfair to only delay the large business portion of Obamacare.
USA Today has a story on the Obamacare mandate that obesity must be a covered service. The insurers must help the obese attempt to lose weight but how they do it is up to the insurers. They can counsel by phone or do bariatric surgery.
New York has a law to be signed that requires all physicians urge their patient born between 1945 and 1965 get tested at least once for Hepatitis C. 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.