The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is out with a new report on the societal impacts of raising the Medicare Age from age 65 to age 67. Basically, the report says that raising the age would increase the number of people who are uninsured and negatively impact the amount people pay for outside insurance as well the quality of coverage many people may have.
You can read the Talking Points Memo article by Sahil Kapur here: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/cbo-raising-medicare-age-will-lead-to-more-uninsured-with-reduced-access-to-care.php. Kapur also has a link to reading the entire CBO report. As soon as I've had a chance to digest the full report, I will have more comments. In the meantime, happy reading!
Followers of last year's debt reduction debate may recall that President Obama had privately offered to put the Medicare Age increase on the table but seems to have subsequently dropped it. It died a quick death along with the discussions between John Boehner and President Obama last summer. Probably not a bad thing.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Tracking the Health Care Reform Debate - 2012
Good morning, everyone and a belated Happy New Year!
With the kerfuffle that is the current Republican primary and Congress' on-going flap over payroll taxes, I was afraid that we had lost the national discussion on the health care reform debate. Until this morning, that is. The big news this morning is that the Obama Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed it's brief in the U. S. Supreme Court case Health and Human Services v. Florida. Not surprisingly, DOJ is defending the Administration's position that the Affordable Care Act's minimum coverage provisions (also known as the individual mandate) is constitutional on two grounds: (1) Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce and (2) Congress' power to tax. For those of you eager for updates on this epic struggle, please read Brian Beutler's article on the Talking Points Memo website by following this link: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/doj-files-brief-defending-key-health-care-law-provision-to-scotus.php.
Mr. Beutler's article has a link to the actual brief for those of you interested in court filings.
The case is due to be argued in Spring 2012 and a decision expected by the end of this Supreme Court term. Happy Reading!
With the kerfuffle that is the current Republican primary and Congress' on-going flap over payroll taxes, I was afraid that we had lost the national discussion on the health care reform debate. Until this morning, that is. The big news this morning is that the Obama Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed it's brief in the U. S. Supreme Court case Health and Human Services v. Florida. Not surprisingly, DOJ is defending the Administration's position that the Affordable Care Act's minimum coverage provisions (also known as the individual mandate) is constitutional on two grounds: (1) Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce and (2) Congress' power to tax. For those of you eager for updates on this epic struggle, please read Brian Beutler's article on the Talking Points Memo website by following this link: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/doj-files-brief-defending-key-health-care-law-provision-to-scotus.php.
Mr. Beutler's article has a link to the actual brief for those of you interested in court filings.
The case is due to be argued in Spring 2012 and a decision expected by the end of this Supreme Court term. Happy Reading!
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