Council For Citizens Against Government Waste America's #1 Taxpayer Watchdog

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is bringing many changes in the healthcare space and few are as subtly transformative as the rapid increase in cross-industry consolidation.  A record breaking 115 mergers and acquisitions among hospitals and health systems occurred in 2017, an increase of 13 percent from 2016.

On Tuesday, February 20, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a long-awaited proposed rule that would change an Obama administration rule that curtailed short-term, limited-duration health insurance (STLDI) plans.  The HHS press release stated, “In dir

Open season for individuals to sign up for a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) healthcare plan started on November 1, 2017 and will close Friday, December 15, 2017.  With the average premium for the second-lowest cost silver plan, often called the “benchmark” plan, increasing by 37 percent for a 27-year-old, it seems likely that many people will decide not to purchase health insurance in 2018.

The House of Representatives and the Senate are vigorously working to pass a tax reform package before the end of the year.  Both the House and Senate passed their budget resolutions with reconciliation instructions by Thanksgiving, a necessary step in order to craft their respective tax reform packages.

Late Thursday night last week, President Trump announced his administration would stop providing Cost-Sharing Reduction (CSRs) payments to insurers.  What are CSRs?  They are subsidies, or reimbursements, given to insurers by federal taxpayers for issuing reduced deductibles and copayments to low-income individuals that participate in the Obamacare exchanges.  CSRs are not payments given directly to low-income people to help them buy insurance

Why did the President Trump state his administration could no longer provide the CSRs?  Because the subsidies were illegal.

Today, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO), "Promote Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States,” with the goals of bringing financial relief and more healthcare choices to millions of Americans. Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, was signed into law, Americans have seen their health insurance options limited while their premiums and deductibles have soared.

For seven years, Republicans in Congress have promised that repealing Obamacare would be a top priority.  They have failed, at least for now.

As Washington struggles with what may be its final chance to repeal Obamacare, the law’s problems in the states continue.  One major problem that has plagued Obamacare for years is that not enough young and healthy people are signing up for health insurance coverage.  The Obama admini

Citizens Against Government Waste’s February Waste Watcher, “Obamacare’s Cerberus,” discussed concerns with three organizations created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. They are the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI), the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI.) All have the capability to develop into government rationing boards.

Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, was signed into law on March 2010, the Obama administration has changed the law 43 times without Congressional approval. The Galen Institute has been keeping track of these administrative changes, which you can find here. Apparently another illegal administrative action, which will cost the U.S.