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Obamacare still faces these big (five) challenges
Yahoo Finance ^ | 6/25/15 | Rick Newman

Posted on 06/25/2015 12:05:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

The Affordable Care Act “is here to stay,” as President Obama said following the Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell that upheld the law in full. The justices could have ruled that federal subisidies—integral to the functioning of the law—were invalid in 34 states that rely on the federal healthcare exchange rather than running one of their own. Instead, the court ratified the status quo, which means nothing changes.

But the controversial law still faces a bumpy future. Here are five challenges the ACA will face during the next several years:

Healthcare costs are still too high. As many enrollees are discovering, the “Affordable” Care Act is somewhat misnamed. Healthcare costs continue to rise faster than wages or overall inflation, putting a financial burden even on people who have healthcare. A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund found that 23% of Americans who have healthcare coverage are “underinsured,” meaning their out-of-pocket spending on healthcare is more than 10% of their income in a given year. Deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs have been rising because consumers and businesses have been opting for plans with lower premiums—which usually require the patient to bear more of the cost before 100% coverage kicks in. The irony is that insurance has gotten more affordable, but actual healthcare hasn’t.

The ACA includes several long-term provisions meant to explore ways to lower costs, but they may not be nearly enough to offset other trends pushing costs up, such as the retirement of the baby boomers and the development of expensive new drugs. If Congress ever gets serious about improving the ACA rather that faux-repealing it, cost will be the thing to focus on.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aca; challenges; faces; obamacare
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1 posted on 06/25/2015 12:05:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Is the writer serious?? Taxes will be raised on the “rich” to fund this. Every illegal can now have coverage. The U.S. is toast as a functioning society.


2 posted on 06/25/2015 12:06:56 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone

....”Taxes will be raised on the “rich” to fund this. Every illegal can now have coverage. The U.S. is toast as a functioning society”......

Not only illegals....but every Refugee now coming here is immediately signed up.


3 posted on 06/25/2015 12:08:57 PM PDT by caww
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To: ealgeone

Health insurance for all in the U.S. is unsustainable. Challenge or no challenge, the biggest hurdle for SCOTUScare is collapsing under its own weight.

As long as there are healthcare lobbyists inside the beltway, ACA will be propped up as much as possible. Single payer will destroy the money printing healthcare machine. And they don’t that now...do they.


4 posted on 06/25/2015 12:10:37 PM PDT by Up Yours Marxists
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To: ealgeone
"Taxes will be raised on the “rich” to fund this.?

I don't think taxes will be raised on the rich.

They'll just borrow the funds.

I think the debt will increase and increase until our economy implodes.

5 posted on 06/25/2015 12:12:18 PM PDT by FroggyTheGremlim (Hunga Tonga-Hunga.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Good thing I just started a job and signed up for Insurance, so my costs can be somewhat controlled.

I’ll drop out if if goes up during open enrollment...


6 posted on 06/25/2015 12:17:33 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: NormsRevenge

But the controversial law still faces a bumpy future.


No it doesn’t. This was a legal brick wall and it broke through like it was tissue paper.

The writing is on the wall regarding the future of this country. Lunacy prevails, and it is based on info I don’t have. We know six justices are not idiots, so something else is afoot.


7 posted on 06/25/2015 12:33:06 PM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: ealgeone

“Taxes will be raised on the “rich” to fund this”

Don’t worry about the Rich, they can afford it. The lion share of the tax burden will fall on the Middle class>


8 posted on 06/25/2015 12:43:20 PM PDT by martinidon
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To: NormsRevenge

“The irony is that insurance has gotten more affordable, but actual healthcare hasn’t.”

This is not ironic but kinda meaningless.


9 posted on 06/25/2015 12:44:32 PM PDT by cymbeline
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To: cuban leaf

We are under God’s judgement and there is only one thing we can do to change this course. The Bible is the owner’s manual for our country and our world, so when all else fails, read the directions. 2Ch 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.


10 posted on 06/25/2015 12:59:09 PM PDT by excalibur21
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To: martinidon

You mean the last remnant of the middle class? They’re dying, and will soon go away.

I considered myself middle class growing up, and consider myself upper middle class (by income) today. However, the buying power of my salary has dwindled and is continuing to decrease with each passing paycheck it seems.

Eggs at $2.00 (or more) a dozen, milk at $5.00 a gallon, gas fluctuates from $2.50 to $3.50 (or more) a gallon.

Honestly, it’s enough to make me want to just throw it all away, live in a shack on the beach somewhere and get out of the ‘rat race’; especially since my cheese is smaller and smaller.


11 posted on 06/25/2015 1:02:46 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. ItÂ’s been found hard and not tried')
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To: Up Yours Marxists

“Challenge or no challenge, the biggest hurdle for SCOTUScare is collapsing under its own weight.”

And Boehner will rush to its rescue to prevent that from happening.


12 posted on 06/25/2015 1:03:47 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: excalibur21

excal..... AMEN!!


13 posted on 06/25/2015 1:06:49 PM PDT by willibeaux (de ole Korean War vet age 85)
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To: Vendome
I was employed FT through mid-Sept 2014. My premiums were $492 every two weeks + $9,000 in deductibles. About $24,000 out of my pocket before any benefits are paid. I got cut to 12 hours/week in mid-Sept. First time I haven't been full time in 35 years of working. HR wanted to jack up my premiums to $750 every two weeks. Nice. Every penny I earned would be consumed by premiums and not a penny left for deductibles or nice stuff like food/shelter/utilities. I dropped the medical insurance. My wife's employer offered similar coverage with ZERO out of pocket. We went that way.

In December, I picked up work again. 32 hr/week. As of this week, I'm back to 40 hr/week. Note I've continued to work 50 - 70 hr weeks all along. The hours noted were the PAID hours.

Article speaks to out of pocket costs of 10% of annual income. The premiums + deductibles X 10 is significantly more than my gross household income. I simple can't afford to be on my employer's program. My wife just had over $50k in medical services for breast cancer. We're whittling down $16k of charges not covered by the insurance. I sure miss the days when I paid $25/month for Kaiser Permanente for my whole family.

14 posted on 06/25/2015 1:09:17 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: lowbridge

“And Boehner will rush to its rescue to prevent that from happening.”

Mr. Boner can only hand out lollypops wrapped in “Federal Reserve” labeled wax paper. So, you could say that Mr. Boner is a puppet of his federal reserve masters.


15 posted on 06/25/2015 1:13:20 PM PDT by Up Yours Marxists
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To: Up Yours Marxists

Glad to see you that you used Justice Scalia’s newly minted term, SCOTUSCARE. Obamacare would be dead if it had not been resusitated by this rogue court. The egomaniac president loves the idea that his name has been given to socialized medicine in the U.S., so we should not allow him the satisfaction.


16 posted on 06/25/2015 1:37:12 PM PDT by txrefugee
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To: Up Yours Marxists

Glad to see you that you used Justice Scalia’s newly minted term, SCOTUSCARE. Obamacare would be dead if it had not been resusitated by this rogue court. The egomaniac president loves the idea that his name has been given to socialized medicine in the U.S., so we should not allow him the satisfaction.


17 posted on 06/25/2015 1:38:12 PM PDT by txrefugee
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To: NormsRevenge

America is imploding, the fundamental change is destroying it from the inside out.


18 posted on 06/25/2015 2:26:02 PM PDT by Typical_Whitey (This is the fundamental transformation.)
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To: caww

Not only healthcare......but voting.


19 posted on 06/25/2015 2:35:41 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: Typical_Whitey

The seeds were planted long ago.

OL’ Joe was right.


20 posted on 06/25/2015 3:26:33 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (SEMPER FI!! - Monthly Donors Rock!!)
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