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Senate Republicans Pitch ObamaCare Alternative on Eve of Presidential Address

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Seizing on the public’s continued anxiety over the ObamaCare rollout, a trio of Republican senators on Monday unveiled a sweeping alternative proposal they say would gut the law’s mandates and taxes while preserving consumer protections.

Sens. Orrin Hatch, of Utah; Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma; and Richard Burr, of North Carolina, announced their plan one day before President Obama delivers his State of the Union address. It is his first such address since the launch of the state and federal health care exchanges.

The GOP proposal, dubbed the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act, would repeal the president’s marquee legislative achievement while instituting new reforms the senators say would give states and individuals more flexibility and purchasing power.

“Americans deserve a real alternative, and a way out,” Coburn said.

Under the plan, insurances companies would not be able to impose lifetime limits on patients and would be required to allow dependent coverage up to the age of 26, as ObamaCare currently does. The Republican proposal would address the issue of pre-existing conditions by creating a new “continuous coverage” standard that would prevent any individual moving from one insurance plan to another from being denied on the basis of a pre-existing condition so long as that individual was continuously enrolled in a health plan.

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Cruz: Obama Should Apologize to Nation in State of the Union (+video)

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By Andrew Johnson.

With the bungled launch of HealthCare.gov and the Affordable Care Act causing millions to lose their health-care coverage, Ted Cruz urged the president to use Tuesday’s State of the Union address to apologize to the American people.

“For the State of the Union, one of the things President Obama really ought to do is look in the TV camera and say to the over 5 million Americans all across this country who’ve had their health insurance canceled because of Obamacare, to look in the camera and say, ‘I’m sorry — I told you if you like your health-insurance plan, you can keep it…’”

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Photo Credit: Examiner File/Graeme Jennings

Photo Credit: Examiner File/Graeme Jennings

Sen. Ted Cruz: Obama should say sorry for Obamacare

By Zack Colman.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said President Obama should apologize for Obamacare during his Tuesday State of the Union address.

“One of the things President Obama really ought to do is look in the TV camera and say to the over five million Americans all across this country who’ve had their health insurance canceled because of Obamacare, to look in the camera and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ ” Cruz said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

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Supreme Court Exempts Nuns from Obamacare Birth Control Mandate While Case is Fought

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

A Catholic organization won’t have to comply with the Obamacare contraception mandate until a final decision has been made on the case, the Supreme Court announced Friday.

The entire court extended a temporary injunction put in place on December 31 by Justice Sonia Sotomayor that allowed the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Colorado convent and charity, to forgo filling out contraception mandate paperwork while their case against the Obama administration is ongoing.

Sotomayor’s initial injunction, which garnered her accusations of being part of a Catholic, anti-women’s rights conspiracy from some on the left, would have lasted just until the federal appeals court, which is now reviewing the case, makes a decision. Now the Little Sisters will be free from the mandate at least until a final decision is made.

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Bloomberg Gave $10M Contract to Company Behind Botched ObamaCare Rollout

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration awarded a $10-million-plus contract to update the city’s non-emergency call system to the same company fired for the botched ObamaCare rollout, according to The New York Daily News.

The administration awarded the contract to Montreal-based CGI on Dec. 31, just hours before Democrat Bill de Blasio was sworn in as mayor.

The contract was approved because Bloomberg considers the 311 hotline one of the legacies of his three terms, the newspaper said.

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Can ObamaCare Survive? Moody’s Slashes Outlook On Insurers

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Credit ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday lowered its outlook for health insurers to “negative” from “stable,” citing “uncertainty” swirling around the rollout of President Obama’s health care law.

In a new report, the agency said that the outlook for insurance companies is no longer clear because the law’s insurance exchanges haven’t been attracting enough younger individuals. In addition, Moody’s analysts were concerned that the Obama administration has been changing regulations after insurers had already set prices for the year.

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Administration Fears Part of Health Care System so Flawed it Could Bankrupt Insurance Companies

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

While the administration publicly expresses full confidence in its health care law, privately it fears one part of the system is so flawed it could bankrupt insurance companies and cripple ObamaCare itself.

“Week after week, month after month,” says John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, “the Obama administration kept telling us everything’s working fine, there’s no problem and then they turn on a dime and fire their contractor.”

To justify a no-bid contract with Accenture after firing CGI as the lead contractor, the administration released documents from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that offered a rare glimpse of its worst fears, saying the problems with the website puts “the entire health insurance industry at risk” … “potentially leading to their default and disrupting continued services and coverage to consumers.”

Then it went even further, saying if the problems were not fixed by mid-March, “they will result in financial harm to the government.”

It even added that without the fixes “the entire health care reform program is jeopardized.”

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Maryland’s ObamaCare Exchange has Been Directing Customers to a Seattle Pottery Store

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Mary Katharine mentioned the other week that Maryland’s state-run ObamaCare exchange — which crashed the first day it was launched last fall and has been stuck in an interminable loop of fail ever since — had been accidentally directing Maryland insurance-seekers in search of help to other states’ ObamaCare navigators. Apparently, however, that was hardly the least facepalm-worthy of the website’s proffered misguidance, via the Baltimore Sun:

Critics said Saturday that the latest problem to hit Maryland’s online health exchange — an incorrect help-line number that directed hundreds of callers to a Seattle-based pottery business — was another symptom of the poorly operating website.

“You can’t make this stuff up, and I guess if it wasn’t so serious, it could be funny,” said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican.

The website mistakenly listed a 1-800 number that sent some Marylanders attempting to pick a health insurance provider to Seattle Pottery Supply instead of Maryland’s call center. The number appears under the words “State Advantage” and “call a representative.” The correct number for help shows up multiple times on the site before the incorrect number appears…

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Will it Ever Stop? Another Obamacare Provision for Employers Delayed

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Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB

Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB

The Obama administration plans to delay enforcement of yet another Obamacare provision, according to a New York Times report.

This line in the law would ban employers from discriminating “in favor of highly compensated individuals” when it comes to health insurance eligibility or benefits. Effectively, the provision prevents employers from providing their top executives cushy health benefits while low-level employees are given less optimal health insurance options.

The IRS will not enforce the provision in 2014 because they simply haven’t yet gotten around to actually writing the regulations that employers must follow, even though the Affordable Care Act was signed into law almost four years ago.

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Report: Obamacare to Blame as Job Opportunities Slip in Michigan (+video)

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Were it not for Obamacare, there would be at least 1,000 more workers in West Michigan, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday by researchers at Grand Valley State University, found that companies are opting out of hiring and cutting hours due to President Obama’s signature health-care law.

“Firms are choosing not to hire more workers in reaction to the Affordable Care Act,” said Grand Valley economics professor Leslie Muller, who conducted the research with colleague Paul Isely, in a statement.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare Time Bomb: Heirs May Face Bill for Your Healthcare

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Millions of new enrollees are signing up for Medicaid due to its expansion under Obamacare, but many will be shocked to learn that their estates can be held liable for the costs of their healthcare.

As part of the 1993 budget reconciliation bill, Congress required states to implement the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) to seek reimbursement of payments for nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Obamacare, officially known as The Affordable Care Act, greatly expanded the services for which reimbursement can be pursued, and states can now use liens to recover money spent by Medicaid for services beyond long-term care.

States have discretion in how to implement the law, with some seeking to collect nearly all medical expenses.

Yevgeniy Feyman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the intent of the program was to discourage people from using Medicaid as a free long-term health insurance plan while hiding their assets.

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