Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

A Patient’s Story–How Much Can or Should– Your Doctor Tell You About Potential Risks?

AB Introduction: For a while now, Angry Bear has been featuring some of Maggie Mahar’s articles about Healthcare, the PPACA, and costs. Besides being a former 20th Century Foundation Fellow Maggie’s has also written as a financial journalist for Barron’s, as well as articles for Time Inc., The New York Times and other publications. Her […]

Health Care Spending Spikes: Why?

You may have read that health care spending in the private sector picked up both in the fourth quarter of 2013, and during the first two months of this year. Recent data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) show that during the last three months of 2013 spending on health care rose at an […]

How Much Will You Pay for Health Care in 2015? What You Need to Know About Healthcare Inflation

Maggie Mahar: You probably have seen headlines like this one: “O-Care premiums to skyrocket.” The warning, which was posted on The Hill, seemed designed to cheer conservatives distraught by Obamcare’s enrollment numbers. It began by announcing that next year, “premiums will double in some parts of the country. The sticker shock will likely bolster the […]

How Many of Obamacare’s New Enrollees Were Uninsured Last Year? Why It Doesn’t Matter

Maggie Mahar on the Uninsured: As I explain in an earlier post, Charles Gaba, the enrollment guru who has been tracking Obamacare sign-ups since October, now estimates that by April 15, some 17 million Americans will have purchased their own insurance policies either in the Obamacare Exchanges (8 million) or off-Exchange (9 million) But how […]

Obamacare Enrollment Heads for 17 million

by Maggie Mahar at The Health Beat Blog. Charles Gaba, who has become the “Nate Silver” for Obamacare enrollment numbers; now predicts that by April 15, 17 million Americans will have purchased their own healthcare coverage. His back-of-the-envelope estimate includes “a nice round 8 million”  who buy policies in the government marketplaces. In parentheses, he […]

Obamacare Enrollment Hits 7 Million, Putting Downward Pressure on 2015 Premiums; Word-of-Mouth Spreads the Truth

Maggie Mahar at The Health Beat Blog has been keeping track of the progress made by people in enrolling in the PPACA. Cross posted from The Health Beat Blog. As the “train wreck” called Obamacare pulls into the station it’s becoming clear that some 7 million Americans are signing up to purchase insurance in the […]

How A CBS Video About An Obamacare Victim Misled Millions – Part 2 (What the ‘Victim’ Revealed in Our Final Interview)

run75441: This portion of a report by Maggie Mahar at The Health Beat Blog is a masterful piece of investigative reporting doing much of the groundwork which CBS should have performed well before going to broadcast or publication. You can begin to see how much of the news concerning the PPACA is being manipulated and […]

Next Year, Will Your Employer’s Insurance Cover 62 Services and Products with No Co-Pay or Deductible? How Much Will You Save? Maggie Mahar Health Beat Blog

Under the ACA,  some 62 preventive services and products will be free (in the past much of the preventative medicine was charged to patient on a non-negotiated rate. Today, they are financed through regulations applied to the insurance industry): no copays and the deductible will not apply. The list includes vision checks for children, birth […]

Was the Nov. 30 Deadline the Make-or-Break Moment for Obamacare? No . . .

Somewhere in the future months, one of us is going to have to eat crow here on the success of the PPACA. The Republicans, Teabaggers, Healthcare Insurance Companies, Gerrymandered Republican Districts, ALEC, Koch Bros, etc. are working their hardest to make this much needed change in how people gain coverage fail. Meanwhile healthcare insurance companies […]

The Truth About Obamacare’s Exchanges

Maggie Mahar at The Health Beat Blog writes bout the exchanges. Paul Krugman: “There are two remarkable things about this kind of doomsaying. One is that the doomsayers haven’t rethought their premises despite being wrong again and again — perhaps because the news media continue to treat them with immense respect.” If you Google “Obamacare,” […]