Obama delays major part of health law: coverage for > 50 workers pushed to 2015

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Obama delays major part of health law

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a major concession to business groups, the Obama administration Tuesday unexpectedly announced a one-year delay, until after the 2014 elections, in a central requirement of the new health care law that many companies provide coverage for their workers or face fines....

...Under the health law, companies with 50 or more workers must provide affordable coverage to their full-time employees or risk a series of escalating tax penalties if just one worker ends up getting government-subsidized insurance. Originally, that requirement was supposed to take effect Jan. 1. It will now be delayed to 2015....

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130702_ap_64cb93773b99471d955f92b876c2edce.html#w8VI97jHBUJM0TrZ.99

Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

Politician of any ilk want a trifecta in elections.

That agenda is evident in EVERYTHING they do and in the amount of time they spend being concerned with elections vs. any other productive activity.

I am not sure that it is reasonable to blame this POTUS for the state of affairs in government that WE have allowed for a long, long time.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

disappointing

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Politician of any ilk want a trifecta in elections.

That agenda is evident in EVERYTHING they do and in the amount of time they spend being concerned with elections vs. any other productive activity.

I am not sure that it is reasonable to blame this POTUS for the state of affairs in government that WE have allowed for a long, long time.

Yes, the voters are too wrapped up in, and mesmerized by, the royalty that is politics. They (too) often put party before reason, symbolism over substance, and a politician's promises over reality. Our government - the people we hire at each election - have become the ruling class, and they are reveling in the power we have given them. Too many of us have settled for a belief that more government is the answer to, rather than the cause of, our problems.

This has continued for several decades as they rule and we have become subjects. Many of us have seen their methods fail elsewhere, but somehow believe they will work here for us. We will most certainly learn otherwise; it may take years or decades, but it will happen as more people choose to simply follow their favorite political party as though it was a favorite sports team.

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I firmly believe that the U.S. is is dire need of healthcare reform. It's disgusting that we are the country we are, and have so many without any insurance. I have so many patients who would gladly pay a ridiculous amount to be able to get ANY type of insurance, but due to pre-existing conditions are not able to find any insurance carrier who will accept them. If you are too young for Medicare and have too much is savings (retirement accounts, life insurance policies, etc) you do not qualify for Medicaid. We need to provide better options.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

I agree xoemmylou the thought of growing older and then possibly not having insurance - why even try to save any money - it almost seems one is better off just to qualify for Medicaid.

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I have a feeling these state exchanges insurance premiums will resemble the high risk pools that states set up for people who were denied insurance due to poor health. The end result will be high costs and many people unable to afford the premiums. This is no solution to national healthcare! We need single payer national healthcare like all the rest of the civilized world!

Obamacare is modeled after New York and other states that have "all in" insurance. That is here you cannot be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions and so forth. In turn we have some of the highest health insurance rates in the USA, especially for those whom much purchase plans on their own. Not surprisingly this lead to many persons not bothering and those that did take insurance was usually because they or family member required.

In essence the entire country now is "all in" because insurance companies no longer can deny coverage. However if no one but those who *need* healthcare sign up it will cost insurers big money, hence the individual mandate; that scheme aims to deal with the other part as mentioned above, persons who opt out of health insurance. What the WH and others are hoping is that the number of well/healthy persons with low health insurance needs will pay into the system while making few if any demands, in short subsidizing those with heavy use.

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Our government cannot get one single thing done but yet they still get paid. I used to be a democrat, now I am neither, both parties lie, cheat, and are out of touch with middle class Americans. I am so frustrated that I pay $75/visit(which is on top of our premium we pay each month) for anyone in my family to see any kind of doctor but the lady down the street keeps poppin' her kids out for free and they can go to the ped all the time because it doesn't cost her a dime. I am a bit off topic here and usually I don't get fired up about stuff but this makes me mad that this policy is being pushed back. When I go to work and can't get anything done i face being fired, our government does it and they vote themselves a raise and a vacation. Ugh.

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Yup... that just about sums it up. There are some problems with health insurance coverage, mostly because of the government regulations, but we then expect the same government to ride in on a white horse to fix it and save us. Sort of like calling the arsonist to put out the fire that he started.

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Hey, why not just go ahead and push it off until right after the 2016 elections? I mean come on. . . I am past ready for everyone to have health insurance but this legislation was poorly written, tossed together and run through. Why should the current administration have to bear any responsibility for anything (i.e. implementation) when they can just ride the wave of credit for having enacted healthcare reform and put off any nuts and bolts actual implementation to the next administration?

nice..

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Politician of any ilk want a trifecta in elections.

That agenda is evident in EVERYTHING they do and in the amount of time they spend being concerned with elections vs. any other productive activity.

I am not sure that it is reasonable to blame this POTUS for the state of affairs in government that WE have allowed for a long, long time.

Twedles, I think we agree on something.

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Being as all this may am waiting for the government or anyone else for that matter to address the often unspoken heath crisis: dental care.

We know the health issues that are related to poor oral health yet few if any employer sponsored health plans offer dental, and of those that do coverage can be spotty. Medicare does not offer dental coverage at all IIRC, and Medicaid is spotty.

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yep I have also observed that. there are only few health plans/insurances that cover dental care..

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