Krugman points out that despite the success of ACA many liberals he's spoken to wonder if it can ever be turned around!
"The current state of public opinion on health reform is really peculiar. If you’ve been following the issue at all closely, you know that the Affordable Care Act is one of the great comeback stories of public policy: after a terrible start, it has dramatically exceeded expectations. But hardly anyone seems to know that."
"But the real story hasn’t even gotten through to many people who should know better.
It's not just run of the mill liberals that have cocktails with Krugman who don't get it-even Obama himself gave into blackmail recently.
"Last week, the Obama administration surrendered to intense lobbying pressure from the insurance industry and members of both parties in Congress, turning a proposed pay cut to Medicare private plans into a raise."
"The initial proposal by the Department of Health & Human Services was to reduce rates for Medicare Advantage plans by 1.9 percent in 2015. It reversed course and decided to increase pay by 0.4 percent, following a TV ad blitz from the insurance industry and howls of outrage from Republicans who turned it into a 2014 campaign issue, which led to calls from top Democrats for averting the cuts."
"Medicare Advantage is the private option in Medicare, covering about 30 percent of beneficiaries. It pays about 103 percent of what traditional Medicare pays to cover an individual. As HHS explains, the proposed reductions were a result of Obamacare, which cut $156 billion from the program over 10 years. While HHS had flexibility in how quickly to impose the cuts, the backtracking on the 2014 rates may require steeper cuts in future years in order to meet that bar."
"But the political backlash and subsequent reversal by the administration raises questions about whether the cuts will ultimately go into effect. If not, it would reduce the savings under Obamacare, which fund its large coverage expansion. Jonathan Blum, a top Medicare official, insists that the Affordable Care Act savings are on track to be actualized in full."
"The reversal comes on the heels of a February letter by 40 senators -- led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) -- voicing "serious concerns" about the proposed cut to Medicare private plans. The senators called on the administration to protect seniors from "disruptive changes" in 2015.
But how disruptive would the cut have been?"
"Austin Frakt, a health policy expert at Boston University, explains that Medicare Advantage rates have trended downward in the last five years, and far from damaging the program, the number of plans offered has stayed largely constant and enrollment has risen. "It's not like these cuts don't have an effect," he said. "I think they matter, but they're not going to kill the program by any stretch. The program is growing. It's thriving." The chart below, via Kaiser Family Foundation, details enrollment in recent years."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/medicare-advantage-cuts-reversal-politics
However, when do the facts actually start to matter? I think at some point it will seep through on ACA but you wonder how long it will take.
"The current state of public opinion on health reform is really peculiar. If you’ve been following the issue at all closely, you know that the Affordable Care Act is one of the great comeback stories of public policy: after a terrible start, it has dramatically exceeded expectations. But hardly anyone seems to know that."
"But the real story hasn’t even gotten through to many people who should know better.
Over the weekend I had dinner in NYC with some very smart, sophisticated people; yes, all of them liberals. And almost everyone in the group was under the impression that Obamacare is still going badly — they wanted me to tell them whether it could still be turned around."
"Meanwhile, New York (which created its own exchange) is a huge success story: enrollment is 60 percent higher than federal projections, premiums have been cut in half."
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/obamacare-the-unknown-ideal-continued/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0It's not just run of the mill liberals that have cocktails with Krugman who don't get it-even Obama himself gave into blackmail recently.
"Last week, the Obama administration surrendered to intense lobbying pressure from the insurance industry and members of both parties in Congress, turning a proposed pay cut to Medicare private plans into a raise."
"The initial proposal by the Department of Health & Human Services was to reduce rates for Medicare Advantage plans by 1.9 percent in 2015. It reversed course and decided to increase pay by 0.4 percent, following a TV ad blitz from the insurance industry and howls of outrage from Republicans who turned it into a 2014 campaign issue, which led to calls from top Democrats for averting the cuts."
"Medicare Advantage is the private option in Medicare, covering about 30 percent of beneficiaries. It pays about 103 percent of what traditional Medicare pays to cover an individual. As HHS explains, the proposed reductions were a result of Obamacare, which cut $156 billion from the program over 10 years. While HHS had flexibility in how quickly to impose the cuts, the backtracking on the 2014 rates may require steeper cuts in future years in order to meet that bar."
"But the political backlash and subsequent reversal by the administration raises questions about whether the cuts will ultimately go into effect. If not, it would reduce the savings under Obamacare, which fund its large coverage expansion. Jonathan Blum, a top Medicare official, insists that the Affordable Care Act savings are on track to be actualized in full."
"The reversal comes on the heels of a February letter by 40 senators -- led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) -- voicing "serious concerns" about the proposed cut to Medicare private plans. The senators called on the administration to protect seniors from "disruptive changes" in 2015.
But how disruptive would the cut have been?"
"Austin Frakt, a health policy expert at Boston University, explains that Medicare Advantage rates have trended downward in the last five years, and far from damaging the program, the number of plans offered has stayed largely constant and enrollment has risen. "It's not like these cuts don't have an effect," he said. "I think they matter, but they're not going to kill the program by any stretch. The program is growing. It's thriving." The chart below, via Kaiser Family Foundation, details enrollment in recent years."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/medicare-advantage-cuts-reversal-politics
However, when do the facts actually start to matter? I think at some point it will seep through on ACA but you wonder how long it will take.
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