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June 29th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) — Supporters of the Obama
administration’s health care reform law said Thursday that the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision upholding the landmark legislation protects the
health of millions of Americans, but critics claim it does so at the
expense of key civil liberties and exacts a high economic toll.
The 5-to-4 ruling “means millions of Americans can look forward to the
coverage they need to get healthy and stay healthy,” Dr. Jeremy Lazarus,
president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement.
“This decision protects important improvements, such as ending coverage
denials due to preexisting conditions and lifetime caps on insurance, and
allowing the 2.5 million young adults up to age 26 who gained coverage
under the law to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies,”
Lazarus said.
Already, about 54 million Americans are benefiting from expanded
preventive and wellness care coverage, Lazarus noted.
But many of those who oppose the legislation fear the federal
government is intruding into the lives of private citizens.
“I’m disappointed that the Court is willing to give the federal
government the power to tell you what has to be in your health care plan
down to your contraceptives and mammograms,” said John Goodman, president
and founder of the National Center for Policy Analysis. “That’s a great
deal of power.”
Economically, the Affordable Care Act “is one reason economic recovery
has been so anemic,” he suggested. Although hours worked across the United
States are now what they were before the recession, hiring is not at
pre-recession levels, he said, attributing that lag to “Obamacare”
insurance requirements.
“The mandates come with a big price tag for employers and employees,”
Goodman said. The cost of family coverage works out to $6 an hour, he
added.
Whether for or against the law, experts voiced relief that a decision
was reached.
“We’re very relieved and eager to move forward from here now that we
have some certainty,” said Dr. Glen Stream, president of the American
Academy of Family Physicians.
The law’s comprehensive primary-care initiative ensures funding for
important health practices related to the “medical home” approach, he
said. Preventive services, such as wellness coaching, dietitians and
electronic record-keeping programs, are now accessible to many Americans
through public and private payers, he noted.
Another benefit, according to Stream, is the provision for primary care
work-force training. “Federally qualified community health centers have
the capacity to train family physicians, which is critical,” he said.
“Now we can work on other meaningful reforms,” he said, mentioning
liability reform.
Alison Renner Manson, manager of government affairs and policy for the
National Coalition on Health Care, predicted that Congress has some hard
work ahead. In some ways, the ruling was only the tip of the iceberg, she
noted.
“The decision upholds existing law, so we’re not looking at major
changes,” she said. “A lot of decisions on health care need to be made
over the next year that will have a larger impact.”
For instance, even with the Affordable Care Act in place, as much as
one-third of U.S. health spending benefits no one’s health, Manson
said.
“It’s an ongoing problem we have to deal with one way or another,” she
said. These issues include unnecessary or duplicated tests and services,
excessive administrative costs, and instances of fraud and abuse, she
explained. “We want to get more for our health-care dollars, but we don’t
want people to go without services,” she said. And for that to happen,
consumers, politicians and policy makers will have to work together, her
group believes.
Because the court decision upheld the individual mandate of the
Affordable Care Act under a constitutional tax provision, there could be
surprise financial implications, some say.
Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans
(AHIP), said in a statement that she anticipates financial obstacles as a
result of the ruling. AHIP is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association
representing the health insurance industry.
“The law expands coverage to millions of Americans, a goal health plans
have long supported, but major provisions, such as the premium tax, will
have the unintended consequences of raising costs and disrupting coverage
unless they are addressed,” she noted.
“Health plans will continue to work with policymakers on both sides of
the aisle to make coverage more affordable, give families and employers
peace of mind, and promote choice and competition,” she said.
Figures reviewed by AHIP indicate that the minimum essential health
benefits requirement “will result in less affordable coverage for
individuals, families and small employers by forcing them to ‘buy up’ and
purchase more coverage than they may want or need,” she added.
More information
To learn more about a medical home, see the American College of Physicians.
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