Vincent K Blair Insurance Blog RSS

Big Companies and Unions getting waivers from New Healthcare Law

Wednesday, November 03, 2010
The unintended consequences of the new health care law keep piling up... about 30 large corporations including McDonald's, and at least two unions, like the United Federation of Teachers, threatened to either raise premiums or drop health insurance  coverage altogether for their workers if they had to comply with it.  So what did the government do?  Exempted them from the new law, that's what! 

It's just another example of the hard truth that the new health care law does nothing to control health care costs and in fact will increase them. Read this article in USA Today to learn more.

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New Law predicted to raise healthcare costs

Friday, September 10, 2010
The new health care law was billed as a way to lower total health care costs in this country over time. Now the government is telling us the opposite is true - total health care spending will actually rise by 2019, as this article points out.  Now, granted, the increase is small - just $265 per American per year - but the trend is ominous.  After all, what will the estimate be next year!?

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Only a few dip their toe in Missouri's new high-risk pool

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

When the new health care law was passed earlier this year, much was made about new high-risk health insurance pools, run by individual states, which would offer coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.  Missouri's plan launched in July but so far it has received just 70 applications and approved 47. That's out of almost 170,000 Missourians who are eligible for the high-risk pool.

Why the low-turnout?  Program officials say they haven't started the "outreach" yet.  Don't you think they should have started to spread the word before the program launched?!  Read more about the Missouri high-risk health insurance pool here.


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Unintended consequences of Healthcare reform

Thursday, August 26, 2010
This is a  good TIME magazine article on some unpleasant consequences of the new healthcare reform law.  To summarize, independent brokers and agents, as well as many small insurers, could be forced out of business when the full brunt of the law comes into effect in 2014.

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Is this the start of the Death Panels?

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The FDA is considering revoking its approval of the drug Avastin for use on women with advanced breast cancer.  True, the drug may only extend life by a few months but the precedent is disturbing, as this article from a British newspaper points out. Will the FDA become the 'death panel' detractors of the healthcare law warned us about?


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Prop C sends loud message

Thursday, August 05, 2010
Missouri voters spoke loudly and clearly August 3 when 71% of them voted for Proposition C, a state law which prohibits the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them from paying for their own health care.

While several state legislatures have passed similar laws contesting the healthcare law's mandate to buy health insurance or else, and Virginia's attorney general has filed suit against it in that state, Missouri was the first state to put the question to the people.  It seems the battle over healthcare reform is far from over... it's just moved from the Congress to the courts.

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