ebri.org Notes, April, 2014 In 2001, a handful of employers started offering health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)—a then-new type of health plan. The most prevalent HRA-plan design then had a deductible of at least $1,000 for employee-only coverage along with a tax-preferred account that could be tapped by workers and their families to pay out-of-pocket health care expenses. The Medicare … [Read more...] about Characteristics of the Population With Consumer-Driven and High-Deductible Health Plans, 2005–2013 by Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., in Employee Benefit Research Institute Notes
Labor-force Participation Rates of the Population Ages 55 and Older, 2013, by Craig Copeland, Ph.D., in Employee Benefit Research Institute Notes
ebri.org Notes, April, 2014 The labor-force participation rate for those ages 55 and older rose throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, when it began to level off but with a small increase following the 2007–2008 economic downturn. For those ages 55–64, the upward trend was driven almost exclusively by the increased labor-force participation of women, whereas the male participation rate was … [Read more...] about Labor-force Participation Rates of the Population Ages 55 and Older, 2013, by Craig Copeland, Ph.D., in Employee Benefit Research Institute Notes
Court upholds the rule of law
by Grace-Marie Turner The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld the rule of law in its decision that the health law does not allow tax subsidies to be distributed through the federal government's health insurance exchange. The Obama administration's Internal Revenue Service issued regulations in 2012 authorizing the flow of funds after two-thirds of the states … [Read more...] about Court upholds the rule of law
John McLaughry in National Review Online: The First Single-Payer Domino
National Review, July 15, 2014 As Obamacare, beset with calamities, enters its fourth year, the cerulean-blue state of Vermont is well into its fourth year of preparing to astonish America by installing Canadian-style single-payer health care. To understand the political dynamics of this plan, it’s necessary to go back to the 2010 election for governor. After eight able years at the helm, … [Read more...] about John McLaughry in National Review Online: The First Single-Payer Domino
Josh Archambault, Jonathan Ingram and Christie Herrera in Forbes: Intervention: Will North Carolina Clean Up its Medicaid Program?
Forbes, July 10, 2014 Most state legislative sessions have come to a close, but this hasn’t stopped Medicaid debates across the country from raging on. In 2014, just one state, New Hampshire, has implemented ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. The failure of ObamaCare advocates to convince more states may explain the dearth of reporting on this issue from a mainstream media that often seems … [Read more...] about Josh Archambault, Jonathan Ingram and Christie Herrera in Forbes: Intervention: Will North Carolina Clean Up its Medicaid Program?
Joseph Antos and James Capretta in HealthAffairs: A Health Reform Framework: Breaking Out Of The Medicaid Model
HealthAffairs, July 10, 2014 A primary aim of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to expand insurance coverage, especially among households with lower incomes. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that about one-third of the additional insurance coverage expected to occur because of the law will come from expansion of the existing, unreformed Medicaid program. The … [Read more...] about Joseph Antos and James Capretta in HealthAffairs: A Health Reform Framework: Breaking Out Of The Medicaid Model
Awaiting critical ObamaCare lawsuit
By Grace-Marie Turner Supporters of ObamaCare are nervously awaiting a decision by the D.C. Court of Appeals that could have even more dramatic consequences for the law’s ability to function than the Supreme Court’s religious liberty decisions issued last week. Judge Thomas B. Griffith presided in March over arguments in one of the four cases – Halbig v. Burwell – challenging the Obama … [Read more...] about Awaiting critical ObamaCare lawsuit
Ramesh Ponnuru in National Review Online: Reform Conservatism
Adapted from the February 24, 2014, issue of National Review It was an important step forward for Republicans. They could have continued to deploy their anti-spending fervor against the discretionary side of the budget rather than taking on the larger, faster-growing, and politically trickier entitlements. They could, that is, have adopted a posture rather than a policy. Medicare reform was a … [Read more...] about Ramesh Ponnuru in National Review Online: Reform Conservatism