The Republican Party has an ACAÂ problem. Â The ACA is deficit reducing. Â Most of that was because it raised taxes on upper income families and cut back Medicare reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage. Â The Republicans are ideologically indifferent to cutting back Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates especially as Medicare Advantage has continued to grow in popularity so …
Tax Policy
HSAs, tax deductions and help for those who don’t need it
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are going to be a big component of whatever passes as Republican health policy over the next couple of years. An HSA is a tax advantaged savings account that can be used to pay for out of pocket expenses and premiums. They are initiated and contribution eligible when the owner is …
HSAs, tax deductions and help for those who don’t need itPost + Comments (16)
Repeal and Delay with the Norquist problem
Right now, the current Republican plan is Repeal and Delay as the NY Times reports: Republicans in Congress plan to move almost immediately next month to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as President-elect Donald J. Trump promised. But they also are likely to delay the effective date so that they have several years to phase …
Repeal and Delay with the Norquist problemPost + Comments (57)
Double D’s and Subsidies
I always like to look at the 12-DD box on my W-2. friendly reminder: 100% of the employer sponsored market is subsidized, and has mostly higher premiums https://t.co/eQ4MgLdMFX — Seth Trueger (@MDaware) September 6, 2016 This box tells me how much my employer sponsored insurance (ESI) actually costs between premiums and Health Savings Account (HSA) …
Federalizing Medicaid funding
#Oklahoma #Medicaid agency announces 25% provider rate cuts https://t.co/HgISSTpHiC — Jessica Kahn (@JessPKahn) April 1, 2016 And another story from Oklahoma: Facing a $1.3 billion budget hole, the Oklahoma House has passed legislation that would cut 111,000 Oklahomans from Medicaid. House members on Wednesday passed the bill 65-34 mostly along partisan lines and sent it …
What’s a couple trillion among friends
Turns out Bernie overestimated revenue from his single-payer offsets, falling $3T+ short: https://t.co/RKsoIcFpoz pic.twitter.com/bAn2q9H58H — Loren Adler (@LorenAdler) February 3, 2016 The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ran the numbers on the Sanders’ healthcare plan and its financing and depending on the assumptions, the Sanders plan is either $3 trillion dollars short over 10 …
Less stupid fucking in Maryland
At least that is the the public health take-away of a recent study analyzing the public health impacts of an increase in the alcohol tax in Maryland. The Baltimore Sun: Maryland recorded 7,400 cases of the bacterial infection in 2010, when alcohol, like other goods, was taxed at 6 percent. But two years later, with …