Free Republic

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday that President Obama´s healthcare law has helped keep costs under control while providing new benefits to millions of Americans. The number of double-digit increases in healthcare premiums has dropped significantly in the three years since Obama signed the law, she said on MSNBC´s "Morning Joe." "What we´re seeing is costs really come down for the first time in a very ling time," Sebelius said. "Medicare costs are significantly lower than they were." Greater access to preventive medicine will help

The White House on Sunday stepped up pressure on Republicans to adopt a short-term budget patch that would cancel the $85 billion in spending “sequesters” due on March 1, saying that government spending is still needed to prop up a stubbornly sluggish economy. Late last week, White House officials laid out a list of potential cuts they would have to make if the sequesters aren’t averted, saying they’d be forced to kick children out of the Head Start education program and cut federal loans to small businesses. The officials even warned that more American workers could die as a result...

Remember that Nancy Pelosi told us that we needed to pass ObamaCare to find out what’s in it. Barack Obama promised to “bend the cost curve,” too. Looks like both of them were right, at least according to the Paper of Record, which discovers to its surprise that dumping nebulous mandates on insurers causes them to bend the cost curve sharply upward (via Instapundit): Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid...

Democrats had to have a plan to tie all Republican candidates to that crazy notion floated by Paul Ryan to transform Medicare into a premium-support plan, an idea so radical that no Democrat or even sane person could possibly support. Why, even Newt Gingrich called it “right-wing social engineering”! Barack Obama could get up on the stump all year and tell seniors that only he could hold back the hordes of crazy Tea Party activists that would throw Grandma to the mercy of — quelle horreur — insurance companies. Wait, I wrote that inaccurately. It should have been eeeeeeeeeevil insurance...

In a study published last week by the Laffer Center, my colleagues Wayne Winegarden, John Childs and I estimate that these costs alone are a staggering $431 billion annually. This is a cost markup of 30 cents on every dollar paid in taxes. And this is not even a complete accounting of the costs of tax complexity.

My parents, both in their 70s, just recieved this in the mail. Be on the look out for your's. Friends: Your UCT Medicare Supplement premium will increase substantially soon. This increase will occur on your next policy anniversary date. You will receive a 24.5% rate increase. If you are not happy with this, pleaxe give me a call. I am with other companies with much lower premiums for the same plan you have now. Feel free to call at anytime. Sincerely, (Not signed) (Insurance Agent's Name) (Insurance Agent's Phone Number) Now, ... after I calm down ... I want...

In a shot across the bow to the insurance industry Tuesday, President Obama warned companies facing higher costs in part because of his health care law not to hike their prices, saying “we’ll be watching closely.” Backing up his rhetoric behind the scenes, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is quietly working on a new regulation to determine when insurance price increases are “unreasonable” and potentially prohibited by law. The move may provide political cover heading into November’s elections as the President tries to keep the public from linking recent premium hikes to his newly-passed health care law.

The American people should rise up and refuse to pay for Obamacare, whether it is through withholding, social security or whatever. We need to start a giant tax revolt, throw the government spending programs into a tizzy.

FDIC Ups Deposit Insurance Premiums; ABA Cautious By PAUL JACKSON December 16, 2008 Most banks are set to see their deposit insurance premiums double next year, after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Tuesday it had voted to adopt a final rule increasing risk-based assessment rates uniformly by 7 basis points (7 cents for every $100 of deposits), on an annual basis, for the first quarter of 2009. The move comes as a spate of bank failures, including large failures tied to IndyMac Bank and Washington Mutual earlier this year, have drained the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund, and forced a...

FDIC Fund Strained by Bank Failures May Lift Premiums (Update2)

Austrians pay a premium for native English speakers By Katie Binns Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 19/01/2007 Here in Austria nobody bats an eyelid when they see I have a degree from a redbrick university that has a good reputation at home and abroad. Nor do they care that I studied languages. Nor does translating my CV and adapting it to the local style seem necessary. If I want prospective employers to look at me twice I reveal my greatest talent – that my mother tongue is English. Being an English native speaker in Vienna offers job opportunities and a chance...

I have a question for the many, knowledgeable freepers out there regarding employer health insurance. Open enrollment is upon us and this year, and the company I work for has sprung a new twist that shockeked myself and my coworkers.As in past years, we are expected to shoulder more of the burden of our health insurance premiums and this year is no different with an $80 to $120 increase in our protion of the monthly premiums. Nobody likes it, but it's a fact, but that's not what concerns me.We are offered employee+spouse and family plans, each with its own, higher,...

California business owners saw the average annual premium for workers' compensation insurance drop between 13.9 percent and 16.6 percent in the last six months, according to records from the state Department of Insurance. These would be the first double-digit percentage rate cuts since deregulation in 1995, savings that arose out of legislative overhauls the last two sessions. "Rates are coming down. Right now, it appears medical cost inflation has been impacted by the reforms. Medical costs were one of the primary drivers pushing rates up," said Jack Hannan, a spokesman for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California, an...

I've had several conversations with posters about good beers and I tried a new one (for me) last night ... and it was fantastic. I picked up a 6-pack of a beer named Stella Artois which is a premium lager. It is brewed in Leuven, Belgium and claims to date back to the year 1366. The beer was incredibly smooth and delicious. While their politics may be messed up, those Europeans sure know what they are doing when it comes to beer.

Hello, Hre is a question but first I would like to give my situation. I am a healthy 31 yr old male who happens to have a brain tumor that is partially removed. It is not cancerous, technically although it may come back as the type of tumor is slow growing. Do I have any prayer of getting insurance if I choose to look? Do small companies and people team up to provide lower costs? I know, it's probably a pipe dream but I want to know.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 - Medicare has suddenly emerged as a volatile issue in this year's elections, as Democrats are vowing to roll back a sharp increase in premiums announced this month and the Bush campaign is seeking to blame lawmakers, including Senator John Kerry, for the rise. The trading of accusations reflects efforts by both parties to seek advantage with older voters. Democrats, hoping to reclaim an issue central to their success in past elections, said they would try to block the 17.4 percent increase that will come out of Social Security checks next year.