Blog and News

Welcome to D4PC "Morning Rounds", your daily review of healthcare news and information from Washington, DC and around the nation. These briefings will keep you up to date on recent developments and our effort to replace the PPACA with patient-centered reforms that protect the doctor-patient relationship and preserve individual freedom of choice.

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"Obamacare And The Limits Of Government", The Wall Street Journal

"If Congress can require individuals to buy or otherwise obtain and maintain health insurance simply because they may be said to impact commerce by their very existence, without regard to any particular activity in which they have chosen to engage, then there is no limit on federal power. For example, if
Congress can require you to buy health insurance because your lack of insurance may, at some point in the future, impose costs on the wider economy, then on the same theory it can require the purchase (or sale) of virtually any good or service, since the failure to have or use the relevant product can always be said to have some economic impact".


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"HHS Announces Lower Medicare Premiums For 2012 Than Initially Projected",
The Hill

D4PC Debunks Another Obamacare Myth:

When, if ever, did a government bureaucracy "overestimate" the cost of one of their programs? Last month, the Obama administration attempted to claim this year’s lower-than-expected increase in Medicare Part B premiums was due to Obamacare’s ability to lower costs through vehicles like “investments” in prevention. Unfortunately for the Administration, the Kaiser Family Foundation – a left-of-center think-tank generally supportive of the law – released an analysis undermining that claim.

Kaiser's analysis found that quarterly physician office visits by Americans under age 65 started declining in 2008 (before Obama was even elected),dropped precipitously at the end of 2009 – (before Obamacare was enacted) – and has remained at low levels ever since. As the liberal think-tank notes,
this pattern is NOT symbolic of Obamacare reducing health costs – it is consistent with a bad economy stifling them:

As the economic downturn worsened, the number of physician visits among the privately insured started a downward trend, which has continued even as the recession technically ended in June of 2009….Even people who are insured are going to the doctor less. Likely, consumers are reacting to the severe economic downturn and significant job-loss which has defined the economy over the last several years by cutting back on health spending.

The Kaiser study is also consistent with what the non-partisan Medicare actuary concluded was responsible for the slowdown in health cost growth: “Estimated spending growth in 2010 was slow due to continuing declines in employment and private health insurance coverage associated with the recent
recession.”

In other words, spending growth was slower – and the Medicare premium hike lower – than projected NOT because Obamacare worked, but because the economy is in a perpetual downturn. Just to remind you, candidate Obama promised to CUT health insurance premiums by an average of $2,500 per family. ANY premium increase, by definition, means the law has failed to achieve its promised savings.
It appears this administration wants to take credit for the lower-than-expected increase in Medicare premiums. In doing so, it also needs to accept some blame for the terrible economic conditions that were its primary cause.


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"Wal-Mart Care", National Center For Policy Analysis

"Wal-Mart can indeed improve on the current system. But here’s the catch. It can do so only if it continues doing what it and other retail medical outlets are already doing: ignore the third-party payers. Almost everything that’s wrong with our health care system is the direct result of third-party payment; and some of the most striking examples of efficient care are emerging in those parts of the market where third-party payment is either nonexistent or of marginal importance.

So as not to be misunderstood, I am not saying that our problems are being created by health insurance. There is nothing in principle wrong with insurance. The source of our problems is using insurance companies to pay medical bills. It’s insurance companies acting pro emptore — in place of the buyer".


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"Reflecting Large Shift, Wells Fargo Moves To High-Deductible Health Plans",
Des Moines Register

"The move reflects a larger shift toward what the health care industry calls “consumer-driven health plans,” where lower premiums and a high deductible encourage consumers to be more cost-conscious and more cautious about undergoing expensive procedures. Companies across Iowa and the U.S. are
desperate to find ways to slow the growth of health care costs".



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"North Dakota House Rejects New Health Benefit Agency", Bismarck Tribune

Obama healthcare law continues to unravel around the nation. There are responsible and accountable state lawmakers out there who are refusing to squander taxpayer money to set up "state exchanges" at least until the Supreme Court rules in 2012 and the next presidential election takes place.Why would any reasonable state official rush to set up these expensive new bureaucracies when the law may be ruled unconstitutional and we may have a president in 2012 who will repeal this unpopular monster?