Billions of Dollars Later, Veterans Health Administration Still Failing

Back in July 2014, I described how Congress was preparing to reward the Veterans Health Administration for its failure to ensure veterans get timely, adequate care, with a multi-billion dollar bailout.

Because Republicans had taken the majority in both Houses of Congress, the bailout was camouflaged as a method of allowing veterans more choice of healthcare providers, outside the government bureaucracy. The results are pretty bad, according to a report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Read the entire entry at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Will You Ever Understand Your Medical Bill?

It is hard to exaggerate how painful medical billing is for patients. A new crop of entrepreneurs is trying to solve the problem. However, their success will be limited without policy changes.

Read the entire column at Forbes.

Do We Have To Work For Nuns to Dodge Obamacare's Mandates?

Obamacare’s opponents are cheering the Little Sisters of the Poor’s apparent victory over Obamacare’s mandate to cover artificial contraception, about which I wrote when the controversy first erupted.

The Little Sisters defied the mandate, which is contrary to their Catholic faith. The mandate is (obviously) not relevant to the nuns themselves, but to their lay employees who work in the Little Sisters’ nursing home and are covered by their plan.

Bravo to the nuns for standing up to Uncle Sam. However, I am increasingly concerned that advocates of small government have surrendered a lot of ground in the fight for individual liberty. Unless a person or persons have a sincerely held religious objection to a federal mandate, they have to obey. This principle is problematic.

Read more at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Workers Increasingly Prefer Pay to "Benefits"

The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), a research organization with a mission “to contribute to, to encourage, and to enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research and education” includes members as diverse as AARP, Aetna, Boeing, Charles Schwab, and Wal-Mart.

EBRI’s latest research on how employees view their benefits should give some encouragement to reformers who want to change the tax treatment of health insurance, and weaken the iron triangle of big business, big labor, and big government which enforces the discrimination against individually owned insurance. From EBRI’s latest Note: "There appears to be the start of a trend away from being satisfied with the current mix of benefits and wages, toward more preference for fewer health benefits and higher wages"

Read more at NCPA'ss Health Policy Blog.

Pittsburgh Insurer Highmark Swings For the Fences on Obamacare Bailout

Health insurers have not had much to cheer about lately, when it comes to Obamacare. They have been losing money on exchanges, and there is little hope that will change. So, a large health plan in Pittsburgh has asked judges to give it Obamacare money the Administration promised, but Congress declined to appropriate.

Read the entire column at Forbes.

Consumer Price Index: Medical Inflation Controlled

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April confirmed medical inflation is matching the broad measure of price changes. For the second month, price changes for medical care (0.3 percent) were in line with all-items (0.4 percent). Although, it looks like a jump in energy prices drove the CPI up. If energy price increases moderate, we can expect prices for medical care to increase faster than CPI.

Read more at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Producer Price Index: Pharma Prices Stand Out

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand goods grew 0.2 percent last month, or 0.3 percent less food and energy. Prices for pharmaceutical preparations and most medical devices grew significantly faster, at 1.0 percent and 0.5 percent, although prices for X-Ray and similar equipment were flat.

With respect to final demand services, for which prices rose 0.1 percent (or 0.3 percent, less trade, transportation, and warehousing), prices of medical services changed similarly. However, prices for health insurance jumped 0.8 percent.

Read more at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.