Thread: Another hidden Obamacare fee is revealed

Another hidden Obamacare fee is revealed

By Ricardo Alonso-Zalvidar
December 11, 2012 6:55 am

WASHINGTON (AP) - Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.

Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.

"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.

Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee.

The Obama administration says it is a temporary assessment levied for three years starting in 2014, designed to raise $25 billion. It starts at $63 and then declines.

Most of the money will go into a fund administered by the Health and Human Services Department. It will be used to cushion health insurance companies from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden from turning away the sick as of Jan. 1, 2014.

The program "is intended to help millions of Americans purchase affordable health insurance, reduce unreimbursed usage of hospital and other medical facilities by the uninsured and thereby lower medical expenses and premiums for all," the Obama administration says in the regulation. An accompanying media fact sheet issued Nov. 30 referred to "contributions" without detailing the total cost and scope of the program.
Of the total pot, $5 billion will go directly to the U.S. Treasury, apparently to offset the cost of shoring up employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees.

The $25 billion fee is part of a bigger package of taxes and fees to finance Obama's expansion of coverage to the uninsured. It all comes to about $700 billion over 10 years, and includes higher Medicare taxes effective this Jan. 1 on individuals making more than $200,000 per year or couples making more than $250,000. People above those threshold amounts also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income.

But the insurance fee had been overlooked as employers focused on other costs in the law, including fines for medium and large firms that don't provide coverage.

"This kind of came out of the blue and was a surprisingly large amount," said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues.

Word started getting out in the spring, said Young, but hard cost estimates surfaced only recently with the new regulation. It set the per capita rate at $5.25 per month, which works out to $63 a year.

America's Health Insurance Plans, the major industry trade group for health insurers, says the fund is an important program that will help stabilize the market and mitigate cost increases for consumers as the changes in Obama's law take effect.

But employers already offering coverage to their workers don't see why they have to pony up for the stabilization fund, which mainly helps the individual insurance market. The redistribution puts the biggest companies on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.

"It just adds on to everything else that is expected to increase health care costs," said economist Paul Fronstin of the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The fee will be assessed on all "major medical" insurance plans, including those provided by employers and those purchased individually by consumers. Large employers will owe the fee directly. That's because major companies usually pay upfront for most of the health care costs of their employees. It may not be apparent to workers, but the insurance company they deal with is basically an agent administering the plan for their employer.

The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.

It will phase out completely in 2017 - unless Congress, with lawmakers searching everywhere for revenue to reduce federal deficits - decides to extend it.


» Another hidden Obamacare fee is revealed » News -- GOPUSA

The Patriot Resistance to Obama-Care

Posted by Rev. Larry Wallenmeyer Admin II on December 11, 2012 at 2:30pm in Patriot Action Alerts
View Discussions



"You haven't lost until you QUIT."

-Vince Lombardi.


November 6th, 2012 is now over a month behind us.


But we continue the fight!


There are moves afoot to impeach Barack HUSSEIN Obama, to have him declared Constitutionally and legally ineligible to hold the office of U.S. President (he is NOT eligible), to have Obama charged with fraud, treason, bribery and extortion. There is a large movement among the States to make NULL AND VOID Obama-Care.


There is also a strong Nullification movement against The Federal Reserve (it too is un-Constitutional) and all other non-Constitutional "laws". See-

www.nullifynow.com

and,

www.tenthamendmentcenter.com


In short, we should not "roll over and play dead" for the FRAUDULENT, LIBERAL Regime of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer and, Waxman.


Here are some of the Avenues of Resistance-


1. Congress.

Congress: “ObamaCare has to go,” wrote House Speaker John Boehner. [My Note: He BETTER MEAN IT!]
Boehner went on to say there are three major ways to over-turn and repeal Obama-Care: The Courts, Presidential election, and the Congressional Oversight process.
Let US MAKE THEM mean it- AND DO IT!




2. State Governors.

So Far at least 21 States have said they will NOT set up the Exchanges, and will NOT participate, i.e. opt out of Obama-Care, with Ohio, Wisconsin, Maine, Nebraska, South Carolina, Georgia and Indiana most recently joining the opposition.

Notice the derisive manner in which ABC "News" handles this opting out by the States-

By Elizabeth Hartfield
@LizHartfield
Follow on Twitter

Nov 15, 2012 6:28pm

Health Care Law: GOP Govs Opt Out of State Exchanges

[Excerpts]
Despite President Obama’s victory, Republican governors say they’re not caving in on carrying out the Affordable Care Act – or as they’ve derisively dubbed it, “Obamacare.”...
...even though Obama’s re-election made the Affordable Care Act the law of the land and any refusal to set up the exchanges is largely symbolic. [My Note: Says WHO?!! WHO says it 'symbolic'?!!]...
...On Thursday, South Carolina governor and rising Republican star Nikki Haley sent a letter to Sebelius on Thursday saying that South Carolina “should not and will not set up a state-based health care exchange.”
Several other Republican governors, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a GOP leader who is frequently cited as a potential candidate in 2016, and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced that their states would also not set up an exchange.
“I am not going to set up a state-based exchange that will create a tax burden of up to $50 million on the people of Alabama,” Bentley said Tuesday.
Other states where the governors have made similar declarations include Kansas and Alaska. In Missouri, the Democratic governor announced on Thursday that the state would not set up an exchange either, but that announcement resulted from a ballot measure that forbade the governor from moving forward with an exchange without the approval of the state’s legislature, and Republicans control Missouri’s state legislature.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has said that he will make his announcement on Friday...
...Under the law [which is wholly unConstitutional! My Note.], if a state falls behind or opts not to set up the exchange, the federal government, specifically the Department of Health and Human Services, steps in and sets up the exchange. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors either, but the law forces each state’s executive to make a decision one way or the other.

Source-

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/11/health-care-law-gop-go...
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The Conservatives and Patriots at "Human Events" were much more supportive-

States rebel against ObamaCare

By: John Hayward
11/16/2012 02:29 PM

The election is behind us now, and President Obama won, but the state rebellion against ObamaCare has only grown stronger. On Friday two more states, Wisconsin and Ohio, announced that they would not create their exchanges. Most of the resisters and hold-outs have Republican governors, although in Missouri the Democrat governor, Jay Nixon, was obliged to pass on creating the exchange by referendum.
Source-

States rebel against ObamaCare | Conservative News, Views & Books
======================================

3. Businesses.

Businesses with 50 employees or more, (meaning SMALL BUSINESSES will be smashed as well, "Carl's Diner" will be oblietrated as well as WalMart!) are busily looking for ways to opt out of the Marxist, tyrannical, un-Constitutional MESS of Obama-Care.

[Excerpted example.]

Denny’s franchise owner John Metz of Florida said he would “love to cover all employees” with health insurance, “but to pay $5,000 per employee would cost us $175,000 per restaurant, and unfortunately, most of our restaurants don’t make $175,000 a year. I can’t afford it.”

Source-
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemarieturner/2012/12/10/a-resistanc...
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$

4. Religious Leaders.

Churches, Church owned/run charities (which is almost all of them), Church and Religious owned/ran businesses (hospitals, clinics, schools, Hobby Lobby...) are doing all they can to opt OUT of the immoral, murderous, Marxist Obama-Care.

[Excerpted example]

The Obama Administration’s decision to force employers to provide access to contraception, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization at no cost to their employees has prompted 40 lawsuits by Catholic dioceses and other organizations claiming it violates their First Amendment protection of religious liberty.
Although churches themselves are exempt, the mandate applies to religiously affiliated hospitals, colleges, charities and social service agencies. Cardinal Timothy Dolan recently said the Catholic Church will “not obey” the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate, a policy he classified as “immoral.”
[My Note: Hobby Lobby, a Christian owned and operated business tried to opt out on religious reasons citing the 1st Amendment and the Obama Regime said "Sorry pal, you aint a church!" !!!!]

Source-

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemarieturner/2012/12/10/a-resistanc...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lastly, 5. Citizens.

It will cost $95.00 per citizen to opt out, the Congressional Budget Office expects at least 6,000,000 citizens to opt out [I'm one of them! My Note.] And surely that number will RISE as the Patriot Resistance Movement grows.


Source-

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemarieturner/2012/12/10/a-resistanc...



Now, we can do as America's Founders designed it and trust people actually IN the field, in the PRIVATE Sector/FREE Market, who are LOCAL to decide how best to run their own business...or we can do as Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Clinton and Obama want and trust the care of the elderly, cancer patients, the new-born needing critical care to pompous, gas-bag, pencil-pushing, bean-counting, Marxist Bureaucrats in Washington D.C and some Collectivist, Central-Planning "Exchange" FORCED on us even when OUR State says "NO"!!


Below is a Pro-Obama/Pro-Obama-Care rally-




I choose to trust the way of America's Founders...how about YOU?





Let me echo and heartily agree with the sentiment in the below sign-

My parting shot as I close-

BE CONSERVATIVE.
WIN.


-Komrade Barack HUSSEIN Obama.
-Rev. Larry Wallenmeyer- P.A.N. Admin II.
"Disobedience to tyrants is Obedience to God." -Benjamin Franklin.




Tags: Barack+HUSSEIN+Obama, Capitalism, Communism, Conservatism, Constitutionalism, Democrat+Party, Free+Markets, Freedom, Healthcare+Exchanges, Liberalism, More…Liberty, Marxism, Nullify, Obama+Care, Robbery, Socialism, States+Rights, The+New+Party, Tyranny

The Patriot Resistance to Obama-Care - Patriot Action Network