Healthcare Complexity, Union Politics and Insurance Markets
Critics question the unwieldy complexity of current healthcare legislation.
A compromise version of the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” gains momentum in Congress.
Florida Rep. Scott Plakon challenges Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to present his assessment of competition in the state.
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.
1. HEALTHCARE
Critics question the unwieldy complexity of current healthcare legislation.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on how healthcare “reform” efforts could contain hidden tax penalties:
“ObamaCare won’t just raise taxes on the rich, and impose tax penalties on people without approved health-insurance plans. It will also dramatically change tax laws so that ‘taxpayers will be fined for honest mistakes,’ explains prominent New York tax lawyer James M. Peaslee. That’s true even if the mistake resulted from a confusing tax rule, and the taxpayer ‘tried in good faith to comply with the law.’”
2. BUSINESS
A compromise version of the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” gains momentum in Congress.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on what labor insiders are saying about the EFCA:
“Asked about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), [Former Secretary of Labor Elaine] Chao described it as an effort by unions to turn the tide on their declining fortunes. ‘They are losing membership and clout, and they want to change the rules of the game,’ she said. She added that Democrats in Congress, who got considerable help from organized labor in gaining their majority in 2006, and expanding it in 2008, want to reward that loyal constituency.”
3. INSURANCE
Florida Rep. Scott Plakon challenges Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to present his assessment of competition in the state.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on the central problem with the Florida insurance market:
“The problem is pretty simple. An insurer operating in Florida needs to diversify its risk somehow and, because all of Florida is so storm-prone, it probably can’t do that through simply diversifying its own portfolio. Thus, it has two choices: it can either go to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund—which provides cheap coverage but can’t pay its likely claims—or buy reinsurance which is likely to costs a lot more.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.