CRS: Administration Hasn’t Met HALF Its Mandated Obamacare Deadlines

While the Obama Administration insists its health care law’s implementation is on track, a previously unreleased Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis raises questions. The CRS memo, dated June 5, 2013, is the third in a series of reports reviewing the Administration’s compliance with Obamacare’s statutory deadlines.

CRS’s review cataloged the Administration’s missed deadlines during the first three years of the health care law’s implementation. As of May 31, the Administration had failed to meet a total of 41 out of 82 – 50 percent – of the law’s deadlines.

Implementation of the President’s law has been marked by a pattern of delays, missed deadlines, broken promises, special deals, and exclusive waivers. In fact, yesterday CRS confirmed that President Obama has signed 14 laws that amend, rescind, or repeal components of the health care law. The Obama Administration also delayed at least five key provisions of the law by administrative fiat.

• Consumer out-of-pocket costs cap delayed.
• Employer mandate and reporting requirements delayed.
• Consumer income and health insurance status verification requirements slashed.
• Final coverage contracts with insurance plans selling in the federal exchange delayed.
• Employers’ required exchange notifications delayed.
• Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) delayed.
• Employee auto enrollment provision delayed.
• HHS gives some states waivers to avoid Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirements.
• Early Retiree Reinsurance Program shut down after running out of money two years early. HHS admits using ERRP as a slush fund for state and local governments and labor unions.
• HHS stops enrolling patients in the temporary federal high risk pool. Even with lower than projected enrollment, the program ran out of money.
• HHS admits the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program cannot be implemented, and Congress repeals it.
• Annual benefit limit mandates force some employers to consider dropping insurance coverage or impose higher premiums. Administration creates a temporary waiver program to prevent cost increases and fewer insurance choices.

Health Care Headlines

Washington Times: “Obamacare has been amended or delayed 19 times: study” President Obama has already signed 14 laws that amend, rescind or otherwise change parts of his health care law, and he’s taken five independent steps to delay the Affordable Care Act on his own, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service, released Wednesday.

Politico: Poll: “Obamacare Opposition Climbs” More than half of Americans oppose most or all of the proposals in Obamacare, a sharp increase in opposition to the healthcare law from earlier this year, according to a new poll Wednesday. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed said they opposed most or all of the proposals in the law, while just 39 percent favored most or all of the law, according to a CNN/ORC International poll. The opposition rose from 44 percent in similar survey in January, while the support for President Obama’s signature healthcare law dropped from 51 percent.

Huffington Post: “Trader Joe’s to Drop Health Coverage for Part-Time Workers Under Obamacare: Memo” After extending health care coverage to many of its part-time employees for years, Trader Joe’s has told workers who log fewer than 30 hours a week that they will need to find insurance on the Obamacare exchanges next year, according to a confidential memo from the grocer’s chief executive.

Washington Post: “Using Obamacare as bait, scam artists target consumers and business owners” A number of health insurance scams have emerged in recent months as crooks try to cash in on confusion over the health care reform law. Scammers have set up bogus Web sites intended to look like the law’s new health insurance exchanges, where consumers and small business owners will be allowed to shop for coverage starting on October 1.

Health Affairs: “Small Increases to Employer Premiums Could Shift Millions of People to the Exchanges and Add Billions to Federal Outlays” Researchers conclude that changing theoretical premium contribution levels by just $100 could induce 2.25 million individuals to move to exchanges and increase federal outlays by $6.7 billion. Policy makers and analysts should pay especially careful attention to participation rates as the act’s implementation continues.

Forbes: “Interactive Map: in 13 States Plus D.C., Obamacare Will Increase Health Premiums by 24%, on Average” Obamacare makes many significant changes to the U.S. health care system, but one category stands out above all others: the degree to which the law reshapes the market for individually purchased health insurance.