Health Care Reform - Obamacare
eNews Commentary
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December 12, 2012
Obamacare creates a privacy nightmare. Have you heard of the "HUB"? Last week in the USA Today, two authors laid out the national database being built by the Obama administration as part of Obama's federal exchange system. This is the "Federal Data Services Hub " (HUB). Back to eNews.
Public Documents
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December 11, 2012
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services answered a few questions in a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about how the intrusive centeralized ACA database -- the federal data services hub (HUB) -- will work. They include a comment that all states must use, connect to and share data with the HUB for Medicaid even if the state refuses to expand Medicaid under the ACA.
Public Documents
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December 11, 2012
Nevada's Silver State Health insurance Exchange sent a 26 page document of questions to HHS, including on the illusive FEDERAL DATA SERVICES HUB. In their introductory statement, they note, "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) [Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO)] has issued multiple proposed, interim final and final regulations to implement the ACA. However, complete guidance has not yet been issued....Questions, concerns and confirmation requests are provided in bold text. The number of asterisks indicates the priority of the questions. Items with five asterisks need to be answered within a month so that Nevada can maintain the implementation deadline..." (Questions about the federal data services HUB begin on page 10)
Press Releases
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December 10, 2012
The new, extended deadline for states to declare their intentions with regard to a state health insurance exchange is December 14, by which time HHS has asked states to declare whether they intend to shoulder the responsibility of creating and operating an ACA health insurance exchange in their state. Costs are determined by a state’s population and the anticipated usage of the Exchange, with costs estimated to be between $15 million for very small states with low populations, to upwards of $300 million for heavily populated states like California. The costs are not only staggering, but could decimate the budgets and financial standing of states already struggling under a difficult economy.
Public Comments
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December 06, 2012
Ask for an extension of the 30-day public comment period on four proposed Obamacare regulations. Below is a comment you can use. It’s easy! Just go to each of the 4 the websites listed below, paste your comment in the “Type Comment” field, provide your country, state, zip code and category -- and CLICK “SUBMIT.”
Federal Reform
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December 03, 2012
Press Releases
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December 03, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health met last Wednesday to hear testimony on ways to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare system. While few deny the need to reform Medicare and cut payments based on fraudulent claims by common thieves, the lack of definitions around “fraud,” “waste,” and “abuse” are troubling, according to the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF). A sample of the various definitions...
This document contains a sample of the various definitions of the terms “Fraud, Waste, and Abuse” from government agencies and health plans. There are more. The lack of a concrete definition in law should give pause as cost containment initiatives increase. Here are a few questions to consider:
Public Documents
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November 27, 2012
CMS has issued a request for comments, including a list of questions, on how to redesign health care through the Exchanges. It's under the rubric of Obamacare's "National Quality Strategy" (Section 3011) and it follows the Section 1311 requirement that Exchanges pay health plans more if they improve health outcomes through government reporting, case management, care coordination, chronic disease management, medication and care compliance initiatives, health IT, wellness activities, and reduction of "health disparities." Read the questions for clarity of intrusions to come.
Press Releases
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November 26, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently refused implementation of a Wisconsin owned and operated health insurance exchange, citing lack of design freedom and potentially undisclosed costs to taxpayers as impetus for his refusal. His decision letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted that Wisconsin is already able to provide healthcare to 90 percent of its citizen population without an exchange, and the new system would not improve coverage for state citizens.