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Washington Post, December 14, 2014 Has the monster of exploding health costs finally been slain? After five years of slow spending growth, it’s tempting to think so. This would be a momentous development, because rising health spending has had damaging side effects. It has reduced workers’ take-home pay, as employers devoted more compensation dollars to insurance and fewer to wages and salaries. … [Read more...] about Robert Samuelson: Health spending — under control?

Small businesses have turned their backs on the Affordable Care Act, says healthcare expert Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a public policy research organization. "They call it the shop exchange [and] the coverage that's offered through these shop exchanges is really substandard. It's very expensive," Turner said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV. "The … [Read more...] about Grace-Marie Turner: Obamacare Is No Friend of Small Businesses

In the 2014 midterm elections, opposition to the Affordable Care Act — i.e., Obamacare — was a clear political winner. That’s obvious from the election results themselves but also from polling that consistently finds that far more of the electorate disapproves of the law than approves of it. It is therefore to be expected that the incoming Congress, fully under the control of the GOP, will vote … [Read more...] about James C. Capretta: How to Replace Obamacare

A year after the Obama administration temporarily shelved an unfinished part of HealthCare.gov intended for small businesses, it has opened with reports of only modest technical flaws — but with doubts that it will soon benefit the millions of workers at little companies with inadequate health insurance or none at all. Insurance brokers are, at times, having trouble getting into their accounts … [Read more...] about Amy Goldstein: HealthCare.gov’s insurance marketplace for small businesses gets off to a slow start

The Weekly Standard, November 24, 2014 In their final push to enact Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi urged her fellow Democrats to “pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” They probably should have found out first. Now they need the Supreme Court to “find” once again in their favor. Last week, the Court announced that it will hear King v. Burwell, one of several challenges to the … [Read more...] about Adam J. White: Obamacare’s State of Crisis

The Hill, November 23, 2014 By Doug Badger Republicans have won the elections. They have not won the public's trust. Earning that trust will require them to prove that they put the public interest ahead of their own. A good first step would be for GOP members of Congress to deal transparently with their health insurance subsidies. Congressional employees have no legal entitlement to such … [Read more...] about How the Republican Congress Can Win the Public’s Trust: GOP Members of Congress Should Deal Transparently With Their Health Insurance Subsidies

The "Selfish, Selfless" Health Care Worker By Reed S. Wilson, MD, FACC, FACP, President of Private Practice Doctors As a physician, my job includes treating the disease at hand, managing patient expectations and dealing with the psychological aspect of the patient’s illness.  It’s part of the beauty and the burden of taking care of people.  That is why I find it so disconcerting to read … [Read more...] about Reed S. Wilson, MD, FACC, FACP: The “Selfish, Selfless” Health Care Worker

BloombergView, November 3, 2014 Republicans and Democrats have little occasion to agree on anything in these toxic times. Nowhere are their differences more acute than on health-care policy. The two of us disagree on whether the Affordable Care Act is improving the U.S. health system, whether it is good policy, and whether it should continue to exist. It’s such a lightning rod that broad … [Read more...] about Lanhee Chen and Topher Spiro: Health Care Everyone Can Agree On