Lately, Obamacare health program has been in the middle of fierce discussion. Skeptics believed that his program will contribute to a rationing health system. However, Commonwealth Fund conducted a survey proving the opposite. The number of delaying medical care has decreased.
Even though, Obama’s health care program has raised many questions from the beginning, not it has proved to be a complete success. The Commonwealth Fund’s survey has showed that the delay of medical care due to high prices has decreased by 14 million people.
The highest number of health delays has been register in 2012. The Commonwealth Fund noted that Americans between 19 years to 64 years were not paying their doctor’s visit because the price would be too steep for their pockets. However, the situation had a complete turnover last year. More and more people began to trust the health care system and adhere to it.
Even if Obamacare projects bring along high deductibles and higher costs, recent surveys have shown that the insurance coverage rate has increased. The main cause of that is the support of the Affordable Care Act. This data also presents a lowering of financial barriers regarding care systems.
The initial survey by Commonwealth Fund was realized in the final quarter of last year. A group of 4,251 adults participated in the survey. Its findings differ from the ones published by Gallup.
Gallup’s results showed that almost one third of the participants delayed their medical treatment because of high prices. The difference in numbers between the two studies, that of Commonwealth and Gallup’s one consisted of a slighted different range of people. Besides the standard age range, Gallup’s surveys also interviewed people who aged more than 65 years old. This particular category of people is eligible for Medicare. This group was not taken into consideration by Commonwealth Fund.
Even if more than 66 million Americans still delay their medical bills, a significant increase has been seen in those who pay their health care.
Nevertheless, the Affordable Care Act did not act on any of the cost problems regarding health care systems in the U.S.
The rate of uninsured people was double in comparison with those having health insurance. The positive aspect of this whole story is that the 28 percent of the insured Americans said that without that insurance they could not have afforded the necessary health care they needed.
Image Source: madison
Administration to Adapt Contraception Coverage after Wheaton College Case
Obamacare faces new challenges, although not insurmountable ones, as it will have to adapt contraception coverage. After the Hobby Lobby case determined important changes in how the Affordable Care Act obliges employers to cover the contraception costs for female employees, another case reflecting religious opposition on the matter will lead to further policy adaptation.
Religious non-profits declining to offer contraceptives through insurance coverage can opt-out by filling a Form 700. But the final decision of the Supreme Court regarding the Wheaton College case is about to change that. The Illinois based Wheaton College is an evangelical institution which legally complained against the procedure. The reason was that by filling a form, they acknowledge a system contravening their religious principles, even if third-parties would manage the affair.
Recently, after the Hobby Lobby case, the State of New York decided to solve the matter at state level. After noticing that three out of five pregnancies are unplanned, the state administration decide to cover post-birth contraception costs.
The government will adapt contraception coverage within a month
The Supreme Court agreed with Wheaton College and concluded that the religious non-profits do not have to fill the required form. Instead, they will have to simply inform the administration about their religious views. According to the Washington Post, the three female court judges harshly criticized the decision. Judge Sonia Sotomayor is discontent with the Court’s decision. “After expressly relying on the availability of the religious-nonprofit accommodation to hold that the contraceptive coverage requirement violates RFRA as applied to closely held for-profit corporations, the court now . . . retreats from that position,”, she stated on Thursday.
Now, the Obama administration has to find another way to make sure that employees have access to contraceptives while taking into consideration the Supreme Court’s latest decision. The Hobby Lobby case leaves marks in the Affordable Care Act. “The administration believes the accommodation is legally sound but in light of the Supreme Court order regarding Wheaton College, the Departments intend to augment their regulations to provide an alternative way for objecting non-profit religious organizations to provide notification, while ensuring that enrollees in plans of such organizations receive separate coverage of contraceptive services without cost sharing,” a White House official stated, The Hill notes. The administration decided to take action, even if the Wheaton Case injunction does not determine the Supreme Court to oblige the government to take a certain action. No further details were stated on how exactly the administration will adapt contraception coverage in the light of the court’s decision.
Federal Judge Rules Out GOP Senator Johnson Case against Obamacare
U.S. Republican Senator of Wisconsin Ron Johnson sued Obama administration on the grounds of how the Affordable Care Act is applied. Senator Johnson Case against Obamacare claimed that Congress members must not enjoy preferential treatment in what regards health insurances. Congress subsidies its members’ premiums and Johnson attempted to change it by filling a case to the Federal Court in January 2014. Senator Johnson’s action comes after Office of Personnel Management decided that lawmakers and their teams should continue to enjoy their previous insurances and covered around 75 percent of their premium costs.
Federal Judge William C. Griesbach, appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, had not found any reasons to take the case further. “I conclude that any injury traceable to the contested regulation is too speculative and undeveloped to constitute a redressable injury,” Judge Griesbach stated.
The Affordable Care Act is still under attack. A short while ago, the Hobby Lobby case at the Federal Court ended with a win for the closely held corporations. According to the decision, corporation owners can refuse to cover birth control insurance costs.
Senator Johnson Case against Obamacare might continue with an appeal
Senator Johnson is not happy with the result. “I believe that this executive action by the Obama administration is unlawful and unfair, and that it is only one of many examples of this president’s abuse of his constitutional duty,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson said. “Unfortunately, those actions will go unchallenged for now, because the district court granted the administration’s motion to dismiss based on the legal technicality of standing.” Johnson wanted to avoid a potential conflict arising at the workplace, because the law obliged him to choose who qualifies for subsidized insurance.
Earlier this month, Johnson said he assigned ‘a majority’ of his circa 40 people staff to use the small-business exchanges, even though he considers the move illegal. Senator Johnson considers Judge Griesbach’s decision unfair as the case was ruled out because of a technicality. Senator Johnson was concerned that the law obliges him to act in a way which will make his voters view him negatively. The Federal Judge declared Johnson did not provide any proof to support the claims. At the moment, Senator Johnson Case against Obamacare might continue with an appeal, after consultations with lawyers.
The case is Johnson v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 14-cv-00009, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin (Green Bay).
Post Birth Contraceptives Covered by New York State
Offering women more options to guard themselves against unwanted pregnancies is a historical pressing matter. Medicaid has sought to start solving the issue. But the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby case represents a drawback. The Supreme Court decided that closely held corporations will have the possibility to refuse paying for the female employees’ contraception drugs if the owners have displayed sincere religious views which are incompatible with contraception. New York sees to overcome the effects with post birth contraceptives.
The state of New York plans to counteract the effects of the Hobby Lobby case. But the newest decision is consistent anyway with the state’s recent strategy towards the health of pregnant women. Associated Press recalls how this spring, the state of New York started covering intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants through Medicaid. The devices are sold for prices ranging from $350 to $700. Women with low-income are the main target of the policy.
Post birth contraceptives because three out of five pregnancies are unplanned
New York City annually becomes the home of around 195.000 new born babies. But three out of every five pregnancies are not planned. Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett says, according to Associated Press, that it is important to offer women the chance to better plan a subsequent pregnancy. So they insist that hospitals must offer women access to birth control devices immediately after they deliver. These devices are 99 percent effective in stopping further unwanted pregnancies and do not affect the capacity to bear children is removed. When a woman is able to control when she remains pregnant, she can better protect her health. She can focus on the well-being of her any future and present children. Medicaid covers around 85 percent of the devices’ cost and the state of New York covers the rest.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman declared “As a senator, I fought for a strong law to protect women from discrimination in healthcare coverage because we must have one set of rules for everyone. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s deeply misguided Hobby Lobby decision, we need to go further to empower the women of New York State with the information they need to make their own healthcare choices. That is what the Reproductive Rights Disclosure Act would accomplish.” Will other states follow New York’s solution of offering post birth contraceptives?
Uninsured Rate Decreased Clearly Thanks to Obamacare
While Obama still wrestles the immigration issue, there are great results he should enjoy.Supporters of the Affordable Care Act promised two goals, to reduce the number of uninsured people and to cut the health costs. Not one, but three surveys reached the conclusion that Obamacare achieved a partial success so far. In total, around 8 to 9.5 million people got a health insurance, so it is clear that uninsured rate decreased. For the last half a year, Urban Institute claims that the uninsured rate decreased from 17.4 percent to 13.9%. Gallup presents almost identical numbers, while Commonwealth Fund found a larger decrease of the uninsured rate, from 20 to 15 percent. Official numbers will be available only in the next fall, but these initial estimations are positive.
Uninsured rate decreased strongly in Texas and Massachusetts
During the first open registration until 31st of March, around 8 million people enrolled for insurance. Six million people now have access to Medicaid. Thanks to Commonwalth Fund, we found out that the largest decrease in the uninsured rate happened in low and middle income groups and Latinos. About 60 percent of the people covered now by Obamacare reported at least a visit to the doctor, filling a prescription or getting hospitalized. For a similar 60 percent of them, they could not have accessed these services prior to Obamacare. Massachusetts only had around 5 percent of uninsured population in January, the lowest for any state, while Texas, the highest, had 27 percent.
While access to health care is crucial, there are other conclusions as well. In April only 43 percent of the Americans supported the law and 51 percent did not. Even if the strongest opponent did not support the Democrats, it is bad news for the party for the primaries in November. The Republicans will definitely have an advantage on the longer term.
Unfortunately, the Afordable Care Act has not been very popular to start with and the trend of losing popular support is there, even is minor. For Obomacare to actually work, it needed young people to enroll in order to have a counter financial balance for the older population. The younger people might have health issues more than expected.
The $95 dollars fine for not buying a health insurance is a strong reason for more than half of the pople to obey the law.
Medical costs are going down, but it is not yet certain if Obamacare has a direct implication over the process. The uninsured rate decreased for now, with more info coming in the next period.
What the Supreme Court Decision in Hobby Lobby Case Means
Obama’s health care law received a blow today as the Supreme Court has reached a decision in the Hobby Lobby case. The vote behind the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby ended with a 5-4 result in favor of ‘closely’ held business’s right to oppose mandatory contraception insurance coverage due to sincere religious belief.
Hobby Lobby is a business owned by a devout religious family who filed a law suit against the Department of Health and Human Services in September 2012. The reason was that under the Affordable Care Act, the company would be obliged to provide health insurance covering contraception for their female employees. The principle would violate their religious belief, the files stated.
Statements regarding the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act lies at the foundation of today’s Supreme Court’s decision, Justice Alito stated as a spokesperson for the five winning voters, all Republican named Justices. More precisely, the decision applies in the cases of companies with 50 percent of the stock in the hands of maximum five people, if they have a clear religious belief.
On the other side, Democrat named Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided a 35 pages harsh rebuttal of the decision. She stated that providing no-cost contraception for women is “a compelling interest in public health and women’s well being.” Moreover, she added that companies were not enforced in any way to act in opposition to the owners’ religious beliefs, as the Affordable Care Act “calls on the companies covered by the requirement to direct money into undifferentiated funds that finance a wide variety of benefits under comprehensive health plans.”
The Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case has wider implications. The former president of the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, Dr. Jeanne Conry, says that the Supreme Court’s decision puts the medical personnel in a difficult position to provide health care in the best interest of the female patients. “This clearly puts an employer in the exam room with me and my patient, and that’s untenable”, Dr. Jeanne Conry added.
There is a whole new world of possibilities opening up after this decision has been stated. One of them is that ‘closely’ held business does not necessarily mean small – Cargill, Koch Industries, Dell, and Heinz, for example, have tens of thousands of employees and dozens of $ billions in revenues, but they are closely held. It means that a Pandora’s Box has been opened. Due to the fact that the First Amendament does not differentiate between human speech and corporate speech, the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case could influence subsequent decisions on how political campaigns might get funded.
US President defends his signature health law ‘Obamacare’
Amid the Republican rivals doing their level best to defund and delay the implementation of health care law of Barack Obama, the US president defended his signature health care law passed three years ago saying in the wealthiest country on earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick.
“For a long time, America was the only advanced economy in the world where health care was not a right, but a privilege. We spent more, we got less. We left tens of millions of Americans without the security of health insurance,” Obama said during a speech in US state of Maryland.
The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, was passed by both the houses of Congress despite all the obstacles and was signed into law in 2010. The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional last year.
The president noted, “Five days from now — on October 1, millions of Americans who don’t have health insurance because they’ve been priced out of the market or because they’ve been denied access because of a preexisting condition, they will finally be able to buy quality, affordable health insurance.”
Starting October 1, Americans without health care insurance can begin signing up for coverage through online marketplaces named “exchanges” set by governments in different states, under the Obamacare. Americans have a six-month enrolment period for the exchanges if they want to avoid a fine for not buying insurance.
