State attorney general says the federal health care law raises serious constitutional questions, including whether Congress
has the authority to enact a mandate that most Americans purchase health insurance.
Most employers in central Indiana are just beginning to figure out what the health insurance reform bill will mean for their
businesses. Caterpillar Inc., which employs nearly 1,500 at an engine plant in Lafayette, expects costs to rise about 20 percent.
With one of the nation’s largest tanning-bed manufacturers and dozens of salons in central Indiana, a 10-percent tax on tanning
could cost the region jobs.
Daniels told members of the Economic Club of Indianapolis that it’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest the nearly $1 trillion
health care overhaul signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama won’t add to the nation’s debt.
Attorneys general from 13 states filed suit to stop the overhaul just minutes after the bill signing, contending the law is
unconstitutional. Other state attorneys general may join the lawsuit later or sue separately.
The new federal health care bill will put 500,000 more Indiana residents on Medicaid and lead to higher state taxes, Gov.
Mitch Daniels said Monday, but a government insurance proponent said it will help families and businesses.
Attorneys general in at least 13 states have signaled they intend to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation in
court.
Drugmakers and insurers could gain millions of customers under the legislation, but the industry also will pay new fees and
face stricter rules that may shrink profit and fuel mergers.
To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it
from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000.
WellPoint Inc.’s Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut may constrain competition through contracts that require
that the insurer receives hospital discounts at least as favorable as any provided to a competitor.
Insurers WellPoint Inc. and others would get a delay in taxes on premiums and high-cost medical benefits, along with additional
funding for expanding Medicaid, under a White House proposal
Obama, seeking to break an impasse over health-care legislation, proposes a plan that includes the first Medicare tax on unearned
income such as capital gains and higher fees on drugmakers.
At the heart of the debate is the question of what should be a fair profit for health insurers. WellPoint CEO Angela Braly
will likely be grilled on the issue when she appears at a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
President Obama will release a proposal to restart the health-care debate before a bipartisan White House meeting on Feb.
25, one day after WellPoint officials testify before Congress about steep rate increases.
Stimulus funds will help university’s technical assistance service show doctors and nurses in small groups and in medically under-served areas how to adopt medical-records technologies.
Republicans in the Legislature have joined their counterparts in 25 other states in trying to prevent key aspects of reform
from taking effect in Indiana.
Indianapolis health care heavyweights are among those spending $635 million, employing 166 former aides to key congressional
leaders and committees in health reform process.
The Senate has passed President Barack Obama’s landmark health care overhaul in a climactic Christmas Eve vote, extending
medical insurance to 30 million Americans. But the Senate’s bill still must be merged with legislation passed by the House,
and there are significant differences.
Congress is on the cusp of transforming health insurance—if it can pass a health reform bill that was losing popularity
late in the year.
Landmark health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama passed its sternest Senate test in the pre-dawn hours early
Monday, overcoming Republican delaying tactics on a 60-40 vote that all but assures its passage by Christmas.
