‘Cadillac Tax’ On Expensive Health Plans Raising Concerns Among Business Leaders
The tax, which goes into effect in 2018, is expected to help fund the health law. In other news, Republicans weigh whether to set up new oversight of the health law and an Arkansas congressman wants to use some health law money to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.
The Wall Street Journal:
CFOs Seek To Avoid Bite Of Health Law’s ‘Cadillac Tax’
Finance chiefs grappling with rising health-care costs face a new dilemma: how to avoid paying hefty taxes on generous employee health-care plans. The Affordable Care Act calls for an excise tax on high-cost health plans, starting in 2018. The tax is meant to help fund insurance for previously uncovered Americans through the new health law. The levy, often called the “Cadillac tax,” is 40% a year on the amount by which employer-sponsored plans exceed government-set thresholds. (Johnson and Murphy, 5/25)
The Fiscal Times:
The GOP Wants A Watchdog for Obamacare
In perhaps one of the most telltale signs that Republicans are starting to accept that Obamacare isn’t going away anytime soon, GOP lawmakers are rolling out legislation that would create a new independent agency to keep tabs on how the law is administered. (Ehley, 5/22)
Arkansas News/Times Record:
Westerman Proposes Putting Medicaid Expansion Money Into Highways
An Arkansas congressman has set his sights on the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion to shore up an insolvent federal Highway Trust Fund that has required nearly 30 short-term extensions since 2009. U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, filed his Prioritizing American Roads and Jobs Act of 2015 on Thursday as a long-term solution to help fund a nearly $16 billion annual shortfall with the Highway Trust Fund and pay down some of the national debt. (Lovett, 5/22)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Convincing Young 'Invincibles' To Enroll In Healthcare
When Ilana Valinsky got her 2015 calendar, she flipped to May and circled the 18th, the day she would receive her master's degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. Valinsky's focus shifts this week to finding a job and health insurance. Covered by a school plan through July 31, Valinsky doesn't want to risk being uninsured for a day. And for good reason: seven years ago, her mother died from breast cancer. (Calandra, 5/24)
USA Today reports on the difficulties doctors and other health providers have found in moving to electronic health records.
USA Today:
Government Backs Down On Some Requirements For Digital Medical Records
Government regulators are backing down from many of their toughest requirements for doctors' and hospitals' use of digital medical records, just as Congress is stepping up its oversight of issues with the costly technology. Under Obamacare, doctors and hospitals are being pushed to switch from paper to electronic records or be penalized. ... Now the Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a series of revisions to its rules that would give doctors, hospitals and tech companies more time to meet electronic record requirements and would address a variety of other complaints from health care professionals. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 5/25)
USA Today:
Patient Advocate Fights For Access To Digital Records Through Her Art
Regina Holliday was a toy store clerk and preschool art teacher when her husband died of kidney cancer in 2009. Despite her grief and background, Holliday has emerged as a colorful patient advocate with a command of electronic health record rules to rival any button-downed lobbyist. The color comes in the form of more than 330 pictures she's painted on jackets to tell the stories of patients, doctors and others involved in health care. Those who get the free paintings agree to wear them to at least two medical conferences a year, which creates a "Walking Gallery of Healthcare" that 43 other artists have joined. (O'Donnell, 5/25)