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.

"Healthcare Sticker Shock In California", Reason.com

Obamacare "high-risk' pools for "pre-existing" conditions go over budget despite enrolling only a fraction of the anticipated number of eligible patients. This is a perfect example of government incompetency in estimating costs of subsidized programs.

"Before ObamaCare's state-based high risk pool program—the pre-existing condition insurance plan (PCIP)—went into effect, critics warned that enrollment in the program would run high and that as a result the program would go overbudget.

In California, at least, it turns out that prediction was half wrong. Enrollment in the program is much lower than expected. But program administrators are now worried it might go over budget anyway".


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"Indiana Places A Big Bet On Consumer-Driven Health Insurance", Stateline

“The prevalent model of health plans in this country,” the Republican Daniels argued recently in a Wall Street Journal commentary, “signals individuals they can buy health care on someone else’s credit card.” He called today’s health care system “a machine perfectly designed to overconsume and overspend.”

Consumer-driven health plans have been gaining momentum in the private sector, albeit slowly, for more than a decade. When paired with a federal tax-preferred health savings account, employees end up paying lower monthly premiums and companies report reduced employee benefit costs.



To achieve savings, the plans rely on employees to spend their health dollars wisely. States and companies save money on the actual cost of medical care, not on health insurance premiums. The savings come from reduced use of the health care system and from cheaper prescription drugs.



Indiana employees on the consumer-driven plan had fewer emergency room and doctors’ office visits than their counterparts in the traditional plan, and they opted more often for cheaper generic drugs.


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"Obamacare To Push 1 Million New Yorker's Into Medicaid", New York Post

Medicaid is the number one or two largest expense on most state's budgets. There is every reason to believe the story below will evolve in every state capitol over the next few years as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

Nearly one-third of the state’s population will be on Medicaid in three years if ObamaCare is upheld by the US Supreme Court, state officials said. State officials say the reason for the expected surge is clear: the federal Affordable Care Act, which requires citizens to obtain health insurance or face financial penalties.