Bucshon Unsure Whether Poor Areas of ACA Can Be Fixed - “Larry Bucshon is a heart surgeon, a Republican and a congressman. He has had employees who have reached lifetime insurance caps and ended up on Medicaid. He paid about $40,000 a year in medical malpractice insurance, a figure that is much lower than in most states. And he is a vociferous critic of the Affordable Care Act, and has consistently urged its repeal.” (Evansville Courier & Press; 12/8/2013)
Politifact 2013 Lie of the Year: ‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it’ – “‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it,’ President Barack Obama said — many times — of his landmark new law. But the promise was impossible to keep. So this fall, as cancellation letters were going out to approximately 4 million Americans, the public realized Obama’s breezy assurances were wrong.” (Politifact; 12/12/13)
ObamaCare: Another Deadline Slips – “Another Obamacare deadline was pushed back on Thursday and now the White House is asking insurers to accept late payments and still give individuals coverage in the interim. The Department of Health and Human Services extended the deadline for individuals who want to be covered on the first of the year to Dec. 31 from Dec. 23. HHS is asking insurers to accept payments through this extended date and give consumers additional time to pay their first month’s premium while still offering coverage starting on Jan. 1.” (Fox News; 12/12/13)
High Deductibles Fuel New Worries of Health-Law Sticker Shock – “As enrollment picks up on the HealthCare.gov website, many people with modest incomes are encountering a troubling element of the federal health law: deductibles so steep they may not be able to afford the portion of medical expenses that insurance doesn’t cover.” (WSJ; 12/8/2013)
ObamaCare Exchanges Have Limited Physician, Hospital Networks – “As hundreds of thousands of Americans shop for health insurance plans on the new online marketplaces, they’re finding that many insurers have limited their choice of physicians and hospitals.” (Cincinnati Inquirer; 12/8/2013)
Harvard Poll: 57% of Millennials Disapprove of ObamaCare – “Perhaps more troubling for Obama, the poll showed 40% of young Americans believe Obamacare will bring worse care, 51% believe it will bring higher costs and 57% said they disapprove of the president’s signature law.” (USA Today; 12/4/2013)
California health Exchange Shares Consumers’ Data Without Permission – “The California health exchange has admitted it has been divulging contact information for tens of thousands of consumers to insurance agents without their permission or knowledge in an effort to hit deadlines for coverage.” (Fox News; 12/7/2013)
Emails: Administration Decided on ObamaCare Delay in August –Â “Officials in the Obama administration had already decided they needed to delay new health insurance options for small businesses even as officials were testifying before Congress that the program would be ready, according to newly released internal emails.” (National Journal; 12/6/2013)
New ObamaCare Headache: Is Your Enrollment Real? –Â “Obama administration officials acknowledged today that some of the roughly 126,000 Americans who completed the torturous online enrollment process in October and November might not be officially signed up with their selected issuer, even if the website has told them they are.” (ABC News; 12/2/2013)
The holiday season can be so crazy with family, decorations, parties, shopping, and everything else you may feel like decking the halls or rocking the Christmas tree. This year the challenge is to find the calm. Look for moments that you can spend with your spouse that don’t involve tinsel or toys, plans or parties. Need some help?Try one these with your spouse:
