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2010-03-31 Home Front: Politix

The ObamaCare tax hike that loses five times what it brings in ( Bad news for Patty Murray)

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Posted by tipper 2010-03-31 12:14|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 I think this pile of legal poo bill will hang around the necks of dhimocrats for a long time. Not to mention that it violates 3-5 of the Bill of Rights amendments.

Posted by DarthVader 2010-03-31 12:25|| 2010-03-31 12:25|| Front Page Top

#2 How's Obamcare lite working in Massachusetts?

The original estimate in 2006 was $84 million, this year it will be over $900 million. They have the highest healthcare costs in the nation, Emergency room visits are up 17%.

In February 2008, the Boston Globe reported that Commonwealth Care covered 169,000 people and had a projected cost of $618 million for the fiscal year. By June 2011 enrollment is projected to grow to 342,000 people at an annual expense of $1.35 billion. The original projections were for the program to ultimately cover approximately 215,000 people at a cost of $725 million. Enrollment in the Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Program reached approximately 170,000 by April 1 of 2008. Enrollment in the Commonwealth Choice Plans, offered through the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, was almost 18,000 by the same date. Enrollment in the Commonwealth's Medicaid program, MassHealth, was up by 50,000 by January 2008. Data from the Massachusetts Association of Health plans suggest that enrollment in employer-sponsored health insurance was up by 85,000, but the number of people with individual coverage increased by less than 10,000.

In March 2008, the Boston Globe reported that some "safety-net" hospitals serving low-income individuals in urban areas were facing budget shortfalls due to the combination of reduced "free-care" payments from the state and low enrollment in Commonwealth Care. The reduced state payments anticipated that by reducing the number of uninsured people Commonwealth Care would reduce the amount of charity care provided by hospitals. In a subsequent story that same month the Globe reported that Commonwealth Care faced a short-term funding gap of $100 million and the need to obtain a new three-year funding commitment from the federal government of $1.5 billion. The Globe reported that a number of alternatives were under consideration for raising additional funding, including a $1 per pack increase in the state's cigarette tax. Health care costs in the state were rising at an annual rate of 10%, and the state budget deficit was $1.3 billion.

A paper published to be published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice analyzes the impact of Massachusetts approach to health financing reform, insurance mandates, on the rate of new business starts in Massachusetts versus New Hampshire. Along with an earlier dissertation published in April of 2008, it finds that new business starts were reduced in Massachusetts by 16%, and that this reduction included displacement of new firm starts across the state line into New Hampshire.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-03-31 13:10|| 2010-03-31 13:10|| Front Page Top

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