Tag: obamacare

Insurance Commish explains folly of G.A.’s refusal to implement Obamacare

February 13, 2013 at 7:30 amCategory:Uncategorized

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Wayne GoodwinAnother public servant  who actually knows what he is talking about has weighed in on the absurdity of the legislation advanced by Governor McCrory and conservative lawmakers to try to block the important reforms and expanded coverage made possible by the Affordable Care Act. North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin issued the following statement after yesterday’s action by the House Health and Human Services Committee:

“I believe that North Carolinians know what’s best for North Carolina. State-based regulation best protects our consumers and promotes a healthy insurance marketplace. At the earlier direction of the General Assembly, the Department of Insurance and the Department of Health and Human Services have laid the necessary groundwork to implement a state-based health insurance exchange and other provisions of the federal health care law. I am disappointed that state leaders now want to cede more control of our health insurance market to the federal government. Read More…

Note to NC Officials: You can’t fix no-Obamacare bill so NC can get Obamacare money

February 8, 2013 at 4:13 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Health careIt would seem like a no-brainer.  The NC Senate passed and the NC House is expected to act shortly on a bill that would reject expanding Medicaid to 500,000 North Carolinians under the Affordable Care Act.  If that wasn’t enough, the bill would also reject the establishment of a state-federal partnership health exchange under Obamacare where people can buy health plans with tax credits to make coverage more affordable.  When NC was on track to develop a state/federal partnership health exchange the state received $74 million in Affordable Care Act money two months ago to update our computer systems and establish the exchange.  The no-Obamacare bill would force NC to return this money.

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NC Medicaid: Lowest annual spending growth in United States

February 1, 2013 at 2:12 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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There was criticism of NC’s innovative Community Care of NC program and the NC Medicaid program as a whole in yesterday’s audit of Medicaid being trumpeted by the McCrory Administration.  Let’s take a broader look at the facts.  For the period 2007-10 (the latest year annual stats are available) North Carolina’s annual spending growth in Medicaid was 3.5% – almost half the national average and the lowest rate of spending growth of any Medicaid program in the United States.  A “broken” program?  No.

So much for a chance at real debate or public input

January 30, 2013 at 4:45 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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What is it about complete power and the temptation to overreach? The conservatives running the General Assembly have huge and insuperable majorities; they can pass or stop anything they want.

And yet, on just the first real day of the session, they have already spoken loudly and clearly that they have no real intention of  allowing the public to speak or the opponents of their plans to have a say on a series of controversial bills that they plan on ramming through the General Assembly in the coming days.

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. Tomorrow, on the second day of the session, lawmakers will take up and apparently act on bills to: Read More…

Three Dumb Things that Happen if NC Rejects Obamacare’s Medicaid and Health Exchange

January 30, 2013 at 12:26 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Bills filed in the NC Senate and House today (See SB4) declare that NC must reject federal grant money to set up a Obamacare health exchange and that NC should not expand Medicaid that is 100% paid for by the federal government over the next three years under Obamacare (and 93% thereafter).  There are plenty of consequences here for NC, but here are three main ones:

1.  NC will have to return most of the $74 million federal grant it just got to help set up the exchange.  The majority of this money is to be for modernizing the state computer systems under Medicaid.

2.  Only legal immigrants under 138% federal poverty level will be able to get help with health care costs while 500,000 of NC’s citizens under 138% federal poverty level will be barred from getting affordable health care under Medicaid. Read More…