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Alaska Physician Shuts Down Practice, Citing Obamacare

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller After a long list of Obamacare failures in Alaska, one physician is shutting down his decades-old practice, charging that the health-care law and other federal PROGRAMS are “unsustainable” for practicing doctors.

Dr. William Wennen, a plastic surgeon, is closing his Fairbanks practice after 38 years of working in the state. Dr. Wennen blames federal HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS, citing Obamacare, Medicaid and MEDICARE, for shutting down his practice.

“It is an unsustainable system,” Dr. Wennen wrote to his customers in a letter obtained by The Daily Caller. “I am personally writing off upwards of three quarters of a million dollars annually in free/uncompensated care.”

“My reasons for closing down the office are simply economic,” Wennen wrote. “The governmental agencies that are supplying ‘medical insurance’ to the elderly, the disadvantaged, the indigent and the sick, injured, or disabled have placed an unrealistically low value of worth on physician’s services.”

Medicaid typically has the lowest physician reimbursements of any federal program. Doctors have been protesting pay cuts for services through Medicaid and Medicare. It’s increasingly difficult for customers to actually find health care providers that accept the coverage — especially in private practice, where doctors are more hard-pressed to be profitable than at big-budget hospitals.

Read more from this story HERE.

Automatically Re-Enrolling in ObamaCare Could Pose Dangers, Analysts Warn

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Photo Credit: Fox News After the rocky rollout last fall of the ObamaCare website, the administration wants to re-enroll those already in the system in hopes of avoiding another technological embarrassment.

But analysts warn that just blindly re-enrolling could mean trouble for consumers.

“This notion of just sit back and re-enroll is really misleading and I think could cause a lot of harm to people,” said Bob Laszewski of Health Policy and Strategy Associates.

“The automatic renewal, it’s easy, it will keep people getting ObamaCare,” added Rosemary Gibson of the Hastings Center. “But you have to trust but verify. You have to go look. You just can’t be on automatic pilot for health insurance.”

That’s because of the way subsidies are determined. They’re pegged to the cost of the second lowest silver level plan, but that cost is likely to change and with it, the subsidy a consumer would get.

Read more from this story HERE.

HealthCare.gov Actually Cost Over $2.1 Billion — And Counting (+video)

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HealthCare.gov alone has cost federal taxpayers $2.1 billion so far, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis — and the feds still aren’t finished building it.

The Obama administration’s most recent estimate on spending related to HealthCare.gov was just $834 million through February 2014. Health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell projected in May that through fiscal year 2015, additional costs would bring HealthCare.gov’s grand total to just above $1 billion. (RELATED: HealthCare.gov Will Cost OVer $1 Billion To Build)

“The way in which Obamacare has been rolled out has been very messy,” Peter Gosselin, the study author, told Bloomberg News. “One of the reasons it has been implemented in the way it has been, financially, is precisely to deny opponents of the law a clear target.”

Federal officials intentionally spread out HealthCare.gov spending across “dozens of contracts,” according to the report, in a concerted effort to prevent transparency on the health-care website’s true cost.

Read more from this story HERE.

Family of 6 Says They’ll Go Uninsured Before Paying Obamacare’s ‘Abortion Fee’

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Photo Credit: Bracy FamilyBarth Bracy has devoted his life to his Catholic faith. He spent 15 years in the Philippines as a missionary, where he met his wife, Abbie.

The two got married in 2002. Barth and Abbie Bracy reside in Dayville, Conn., with their four young sons, whom she home-schools throughout the year. Bracy commutes 45 minutes to his job as executive director of Rhode Island Right to Life. He also is a deacon at a local church in Connecticut.

Bracy, 47, says he never imagined the family would have to go without health insurance—or that he would find himself in a high-stakes lawsuit against the federal government.

‘If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep It’

On Oct. 25, 2013, Barth received a letter from his insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, saying the family’s health insurance didn’t comply with the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. On Dec. 1, 2014, the plan would be canceled.

Read more from this story HERE.

Vitter: Obama Admin ‘Bending Over Backwards To Give Obamacare To Illegal Immigrants’

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Photo Credit: GettyThe Obama administration is “bending over backwards to give Obamacare to illegal immigrants,” Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter charged on Monday.

Sen. Vitter wrote to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Marilyn Tavenner on Monday with a hard line of questioning about the agency’s months-late effort to verify Obamacare sign-ups’ citizenship and IMMIGRATION STATUS.

“The Obama Administration is bending over backwards to give Obamacare to illegal immigrants — but won’t protect hard working American citizens who are losing their health care coverage,” Vitter said. “The Obama administration has been granting deadline extensions, making excuses, and turning a blind eye to falsified documents by illegal immigrants.”

Obamacare’s first open enrollment period, originally scheduled to end March 31, was extended through April 15. But five months later, the Obama administration is still getting around to ensuring that those who have been using Obamacare coverage — and likely taxpayer subsidies — are actually eligible.

Read more from this story HERE.

The 15 Most Shocking Statements in ObamaCare Architect's 'Die at 75' Article

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Photo Credit: APLast week, esteemed doctor and one of our ObamaCare Architect Overlords penned a column for the Atlantic that should win a Pulitzer Prize for passive-aggressive shaming. Although Emanuel claims that *he* doesn’t want to live past the age of 75, the article itself could have been a listicle titled, “Top 15 Reasons No One Over 75 Should Receive Healthcare.”

Emanuel even includes a monstrous but brightly colored graph that is meant to tell anyone over 75 that their “last contribution” to society likely occurred more than a decade ago.

Good God.

The phrase “the banality of evil” gets bandied about a lot. Emanuel’s column, which in reality is a public service announcement meant to begin a debate about the way in which we prioritize healthcare, takes the prize in that department.

And yes, Emanuel’s article is an act of evil, written by a soulless bureaucrat with no respect or compassion for the individual. Emanuel’s only concern is for the collective, the State. And he is exactly the kind of “medical professional” many feared would grab hold of our healthcare system if the Federal government got their hands on it — which it now has.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Census Data: Uninsured Rate…Increased in 2014?

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Photo Credit: TownHallWait, what? We’ve expressed a healthy skepticism of the administration’s “official” enrollment numbers, and for good reason — but even I must admit to being a bit flummoxed by the United States Census Bureau’s new findings that America’s uninsured population increased in 2014 over 2013. That data, via Phil Kerpen:

A separate government metric indicated that the uninsured population has decreased by 3.8 million overall, which falls far short of the administration’s alleged numbers, but is at least an uptick. Writing at Forbes, policy analyst Joseph Antos delves into the numbers:

This week’s double-barreled release of government statistics on HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE leaves us with only one question: How many Americans are insured because of Obamacare? Remarkably, the two highly regarded government surveys released this week do not even agree whether the number of uninsured increased or decreased. The survey that received a great deal of attention said there were 3.8 million fewer uninsured. The other, which was hardly noticed, found that there were 1.3 million more uninsured…The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported preliminary results on the expansion of HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.

Read more from this story HERE.

Tax Refunds Will be Cut for ACA Recipients

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Photo Credit: Tim Boyle, Getty ImagesA significant benefit of the Affordable Care Act is the opportunity to receive money-saving tax credits up front to cut the overall cost of HEALTH INSURANCE, but now hundreds of thousands of consumers could owe back some of that money next April.

Those affected took advance payments of the premium tax credit for HEALTH INSURANCE. Some married couples could owe $600 or $1,500 or $2,500 or even more. It might feel like a raw deal for some who are already suffocating under the escalating costs of HEALTH INSURANCE.

“Health insurance is confusing enough, and now they’re adding the complexities of the Tax Code,” said Lorena Bencsik, a member of the Michigan Association of CPAs and owner of Prime Numbers in Ferndale.

When you file that 2014 tax return next year, the Internal Revenue Service will compare your actual income for the year with the amount you estimated when applying for exchange-based health insurance under the HEALTH INSURANCE LAW.

The next open enrollment period begins Nov. 15. But notices were sent this week to some consumers whose incomes don’t match up to such things as 2012 tax return information.

Read more from this story HERE.

ObamaCare Architect Ezekiel Emanuel has Announced the 'Optimal Age of Death – and You Won't Like It (+video)

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Photo Credit: CainTVBy Robert Laurie.

Democrats seem to love death. Whether they’re yammering about ABORTION or “end of life” planning, they just can’t get enough of talking up the myriad ways people can exit life’s stage. They always claim this is simply a discussion about personal responsibility and individual choice but, since they despise those ideals in virtually every other matter, it’s a hard argument to buy.

Enter Ezekiel Emanuel.

Emanuel was one of the chief architects of ObamaCare and is, of COURSE, the brother of Rahm. Over at The Atlantic, he’s penned an article about his own death and he’s made a shocking announcement about the perfect age at which he hopes to die. While he very specifically rules out euthanasia, Emanuel says he hopes his ticker shuts down at the not-particularly-old age of 75.

The reason? 75 is, apparently, the perfect age for a human to buy the farm. According to Emanuel, people who live longer than that risk struggling through a less-than-perfect existence.

Doubtless, death is a loss. It deprives us of experiences and milestones, of time spent with our spouse and children. In short, it deprives us of all the things we value.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Study: Obamacare ‘Family Glitch’ Could Hit Up To 2 Million People

By Sarah Hurtubise.

Close to 2 million Americans could be restricted from Obamacare’s coverage expansions due to the health-care law’s so-called “family glitch,” according to a study from the American Action Forum.

Obamacare has expanded eligibility to Medicaid in 27 states and Washington, D.C., and the health-care exchanges offer subsidies and coverage to those who aren’t offered affordable, employer-based coverage nationwide.

The “family glitch,” instituted by an IRS ruling, occurs when an employer offers individual coverage through that Obamacare regulations deem affordable (less than 9.5 percent of their income), but doesn’t extend it to their workers’ spouses or children.

The IRS requires this “affordable” coverage only for individuals — meaning that when workers’ families aren’t offered affordable coverage, they’re not eligible for exchange or MEDICAID COVERAGE instead.

Read more from this story HERE.

More than 1,000 ObamaCare Plans Include Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Coverage

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Photo Credit: ReutersThe Government Accountability Office (GAO), the non-partisan government watchdog, has issued a new report that identifies 1,036 Obamacare plans that cover abortion on demand at the expense of taxpayers through subsidies, a fact that confirms the provision in the health reform law requiring individuals to pay separately for abortion coverage is being widely ignored.

As FoxNews.com reports, Republican lawmakers say the “bombshell” finding demonstrates the Obama administration misled the American people when it insisted that under Obamacare, abortions would not be paid for with federal funds.

According to a press release by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List (SBA-List), the GAO discovered that nearly all of the insurance issuers sampled are not itemizing the required separate abortion surcharge on their bills, again confirming that the Obama administration is ignoring the law’s abortion accounting gimmick.

The GAO report also reveals that disclosure of abortion coverage in plans is inconsistent, a claim that has been made by both pro-life and pro-abortion individuals and suggests that coverage transparency is lacking.

“The report directly contradicts President Obama’s 2009 promise that ‘under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions’ and his claim of being ‘the most transparent administration in history,’” states SBA-List.

Read more from this story HERE.