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Give him points for cleverness. President Obama’s birth control “accommodation” was as politically successful as it was morally meaningless. It was nothing but an accounting trick that still forces Catholic (and other religious) institutions to provide medical insurance that guarantees free birth control, tubal ligation and morning-after abortifacients — all of whichviolate church doctrine on the … [Read more...] about Charles Krauthammer: Overreach: Obamacare vs. the Constitution

Senators Richard Burr (R–NC) and Tom Coburn (R–OK) have just unveiled a bold Medicare reform proposalbased on the free-market forces of choice and competition. The Senators’ proposal adds further momentum to the effort to reform and improve America’s largest and most challenging entitlement program. The Burr–Coburn proposal is a welcome addition to the emerging consensus on Medicare reform. Baby … [Read more...] about Bob Moffit on The Foundry: Building a Better Medicare Program: The Burr–Coburn Proposal

In 2010, Congress passed a tax on medical devices to offset a portion of the $1 trillion cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act(ACA). Beginning in 2013, a 2.3 percent tax will be imposed on the manufacture and importation of medical devices. Devices typically sold by retailers to consumers — including toothbrushes and bandages — are exempt from the tax, whereas devices purchased … [Read more...] about Devon Herrick: The Job-Killing Medical Device Tax

Enrollment in health savings accounts (HSAs) and heath reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) continues to grow, but contribution patterns to these account-based health plans are changing, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Collectively, HSAs and HRAs are known as “consumer-driven” health plans. According to the latest EBRI/MGA Consumer … [Read more...] about EBRI: Employer and Worker Contributions to Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements, 2006–2011

Most small businesses that aren’t hiring say they don’t want to bring on new employees at this time because of concerns about the economy, as well as fears about the cost of health care, according to a new poll Wednesday. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed said revenues/sales wouldn’t justify hiring additional workers, while 66 percent expressed worries about the overall economic situation, … [Read more...] about M.J. Lee in Politico: Poll — Small-business owners fear economic situation

U.S. small-business owners who aren't hiring -- 85% of those surveyed -- are most likely to say the reasons they are not doing so include not needing additional employees; worries about weak business conditions, including revenues; cash flow; and the overall U.S. economy. Additionally, nearly half of small-business owners point to potential healthcare costs (48%) and government regulations (46%) … [Read more...] about Gallup: Health Costs, Gov’t Regulations Curb Small Business Hiring

In an effort to rally its base in the upcoming November election, the Obama administration seems more interested in punishing religiously based opposition to contraception and abortion than in marginally increasing access to contraception services. It is the combination of the political motive, together with the exclusion of so many employers from the mandate, that has profound constitutional … [Read more...] about David Rivkin, Jr. and Edward Whelan in The Wall Street Journal: Birth-Control Mandate: Unconstitutional and Illegal

The nation’s two largest private health insurers, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, have recently decided to change the way they pay physicians and in some cases the way their network hospitals are paid. It is about time. America’s traditional medical payment system, fee-for-service, based on a labyrinth of codes and procedures and slowly adjusting arcane price schedules, has been broken for … [Read more...] about William Winkenwerder in Forbes: Reform Of the Health Care System That Is Overdue