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

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.

There has not been much news coverage on a January 25, 2016 Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report: “Budget and Economic Outlook: 2016 to 2026.” The likely reason is the news about the Affordable Care Act is not good.  However, some health policy experts are not shy about telling us what is going on.

On January 12, 2016, President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address.  During his address, President Obama cited some of his accomplishments while in office:  the millions of people with healthcare, the increase in jobs and decrease in unemployment, and the great investments in renewable energy across the country.  What President Obama did not acknowledge was the deep impact his healthcare law has had on the national debt, the cost and waste associated with the energy tax credits and their extension, and the sharp increase in federal regulations during his term.

Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, by a vote of 240-181.  One Democrat (Peterson, Minn.) joined the Republicans in voting for the bill, while 3 Republicans (Hanna and Katko, N.Y.; Dold, Ill.) sided with the minority.  Thirteen members (9 Democrats, 4 Republicans) did not vote, while one seat in Congress remains vacant following Speaker Boehner’s departure.

This evening, the House Rules Committee will meet to set the debate parameters for H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, a reconciliation bill that would essentially cripple Obamacare.  Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 in order to expedite spending- and budget-related legislation, the reconciliation process addresses only areas of spending, revenue, and the debt limit.  Only one bill (addressing one, two, or all of these subjects) can be considered each year.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare, did not have a very good October and it will only get worse for the President’s vaunted healthcare “reform” plan.  Temporary walls that were built to protect Obamacare from market forces and normal consumer responses are starting to collapse.

On October 14, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) interpretive rule that ordered pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide substantial drug discounts under the 340B program for orphan drugs that were used off-label.  The agency had first written a proposed rule in 2011 that was in clear violation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, and had stubbornly fought to implement it.

Citizens Against Government Waste was pleased to learn that presidential candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agrees that Congress and their official staff have been given a special exemption under the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, and that it must be abolished.  He joins fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in calling for its repeal.

Presidential candidates Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla) offered their ideas for reforming healthcare on Tuesday, August 18.  Gov. Walker’s is a relatively detailed 13-page document and while Sen.