Five 'ObamaCare' provisions to watch in 2013

[Geee]

The Hill:

2013 will be a big year for President Obama's signature healthcare law.

By next New Year's, almost all of the law's major provisions are scheduled to be fully in effect. And that means 2013 will represent a mad dash to get ready — both in the states and in the Health and Human Services Department.

In addition to the intensive preparation for 2014, next year will see several key provisions take effect, among them some of the law's most controversial provisions, including new taxes that will hit millions of employees.

And though congressional Republicans have largely acknowledged they won’t be able to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act, they’re focusing on intense oversight and hoping for targeted repeal votes on a handful of specific provisions, some of which have garnered bipartisan support.

[Valin]

@Geee

 

Beyond Defeat or Defiance

Redefining state-based health reform under Obamacare.

Thomas P. Miller

12/27/12

 

This month, the post-election rollout of the Obama administration’s plans to implement insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in time for January 1, 2014 enrollment was met with substantial state government opposition, more questions than answers, and warning signs of a train wreck ahead. A clear majority of states (32) are not fully on board with running their own ACA-compliant exchanges. At least 20 of those states would rather leave the daunting implementation process entirely in the hands of federal officials.

 

This strong state resistance to enlisting as junior partners, or sorcerer’s apprentices, in building the key regulatory architecture for Obamacare’s plans to expand subsidized health insurance coverage surprised the law’s advocates. To some degree, it represents a continuation of bitter divisions over the still-unpopular health law. It’s also good short-term politics for Republican state officials looking to avoid the blame for its ongoing complications and contradictions.

 

But one way or another, taxpayer subsidies for new ACA coverage for at least several million Americans will start flowing out of Washington in 2014. The results of the 2012 election, as well as last June’s Supreme Court decision upholding the health law as constitutional, mean that Obamacare’s plans for even more doses of health care subsidies, regulations, and mandates cannot be fully stopped. However, changing the terms of how this happens and reshaping the future nature of our health system remain possible.

 

Obamacare critics will need a broader strategy to regain the high ground in reframing the next round of exchange implementation debate. They must offer more than disengaged defiance, yet avoid succumbing to defeatist accommodation. The case against ACA-style exchanges will be strengthened if opponents begin to explain more clearly what they want to do to improve insurance choices and health outcomes, and why the Obama administration’s implementation plans stand in the way.

 

(Snip)