Grace-Marie Turner Archives | Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Tag: Grace-Marie Turner

ObamaCare’s Cascade of Taxes Pounds U.S. Taxpayers

posted 5 years ago on May 6th, 2014 by admin 2 Comments

By Grace-Marie Turner and Tyler Hartsfield President Obama promised middle-income families they would not see their taxes go up “one single dime” as a result of ObamaCare. But millions of such Americans are indeed paying to finance the gargantuan health overhaul law through hidden taxes and fees, many of which already are driving up the cost of their medical care and health insurance. In total, the 21 taxes in ObamaCare will extract $1 trillion over a decade, nearly double the $569 billion that Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation estimated at the time the law passed in 2010. The first wave hits many higher-income people who got a rude awakening about the health law’s new and higher taxes when they filed… View Article

Ten Obamacare Predictions for 2014

posted 6 years ago on January 6th, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

By Grace-Marie Turner To kick off 2014, Kathleen Sebelius is reportedly papering the country with op-eds about the wonders of the “Affordable” Care Act. But her PR campaign aside, things will continue to deteriorate for Obamacare in 2014. Here are ten ways it’ll happen: 1. Many won’t pay: A sizable share of the 2 million people who selected a private insurance plan before the 2013 deadline will not pay their share of the premiums and therefore won’t be covered by the plans in which the White House says they “enrolled.” Enrolling, by the White House definition, is actually just selecting a plan — the same as putting an item in the shopping basket at Amazon. Until you pay, you… View Article

Here’s Why You Should Worry About the Affordable Care Act

posted 6 years ago on December 3rd, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Grace-Marie Turner and Tyler Hartsfield All eyes have been focused on the functionality of the HealthCare.gov website — or the lack thereof — since its launch October 1. But another rolling disaster is underway that is much more significant: Despite the president’s assurances to the contrary, virtually everyone — not just the 15 million Americans with individual policies — will feel the brunt of Obamacare’s sweeping changes. Once members of the public begin to see the costly changes to their health plans and the limits on their access to doctors, the issue will dominate the debate through 2014. Earlier this year, the president asserted that “for the 85 to 90 percent of Americans who already have health insurance . … View Article

Friday Facts: April 12, 2013

posted 6 years ago on April 12th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

April 12, 2013 It’s Friday! Events April 23: The deadline is April 19 to register for “Telehealth: Taking Health Care to The Next Level,” the Foundation’s next Leadership Breakfast, at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 23, at Cobb County’s Georgian Club. The moderator is Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald of the Georgia Department of Public Health, with telemedicine expert panelists Dr. Jeffrey English, Dr. Jeffrey Grossman and Paula Guy of the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth. The cost is $25 to attend; register online at http://tinyurl.com/ck6v4yt. Find out more at www.georgiapolicy.org/?p=9075. (Attire: business, business casual.) April 18: Retired Georgia Tech Professor James H. Rust, a policy adviser for the Heartland Institute, gives a talk, “The Role of… View Article

Checking Up On Health: March 5, 2013

posted 6 years ago on March 5th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Health Policy Briefs Compiled by Benita M. Dodd Update on ObamaCare: Florida’s Legislature, not Gov. Rick Scott, will have the final word on whether the state expands Medicaid. And every indication shows that key legislative leaders understand the dangers ahead, according to Grace-Marie Turner and Roy Avrik of the Galen Institute. The two released a paper this month giving reasons that Florida should not expand Medicaid rolls, including that expansion will worsen the cycle of dependency. Under ObamaCare, the federal government is supposed to pay 100 percent of the cost of a targeted expansion of Medicaid for two years, dropping to 90 percent by 2020. The authors note that according to The Heritage Foundation, Medicaid spending will increase dramatically… View Article

Friday Facts: January 25, 2012

posted 6 years ago on January 25th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

January 25, 2013 It’s Friday! Upcoming: Did you know that Georgia had the nation’s fourth-highest foreclosure rate in 2012? Who’s to blame? Greedy bankers? Corrupt politicians? Ignorant homeowners? Find out at the Foundation’s Leadership Breakfast at Cobb County’s Georgian Club, 8 a.m. on Tuesday, February 19. The Cato Institute’s Randal O’Toole keynotes “American Dream, American Nightmare,” an explanation of the forces at play in the housing market in Georgia and in the nation, and how to rebuild the American Dream of homeownership. This event will cost $25 to attend. Register by Friday, February 15, at http://tinyurl.com/7ldaqnk. Quotes of Note “Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in their manners. [I]ndustry will increase, and… View Article

Congress Works to Dismantle and Defund ObamaCare

posted 6 years ago on January 24th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Grace-Marie Turner Facing a presidential veto pen blocking repeal of ObamaCare, the House is working to defund, dismantle, and delay implementation of the unpopular health overhaul law to avert at least some of its damage in the near term. The Fiscal Cliff deal chipped away at ObamaCare, eliminating one of its programs completely and cutting funding for another. Farewell, CLASS: The CLASS Act, a long-term-care insurance program that had been championed by late Sen. Edward Kennedy, was blessedly eliminated. The administration had said last year it couldn’t figure a way to assure the program would be financially solvent for 75 years before it was put into place – as the law requires. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote in a… View Article

As 2013 Begins, Get Ready for an ObamaCare Tax Onslaught

posted 7 years ago on January 7th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Grace-Marie Turner The third wave of ObamaCare taxes began on January 1, the latest blitz before the tsunami of changes from the health overhaul law hit in 2014. These new and higher taxes are being levied to partially pay for ObamaCare’s massive new subsidies for private health insurance and expansion of Medicaid. The most controversial of the latest ObamaCare taxes is the Medical Device Tax that hits entrepreneurial firms making equipment such as heart valves and hip replacement parts. They face a 2.3% profit on gross sales – a tax they must pay even if they have no profit at all. Many firms say this tax – slated to collect $29 billion over 10 years – will soak up… View Article

Friday Facts: November 9, 2012

posted 7 years ago on November 9th, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of Note “The most important political office is that of the private citizen.” – Justice Louis D. Brandeis “They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare. … [G]iving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they… View Article

What the President’s Re-Election Means for ObamaCare

posted 7 years ago on November 8th, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Grace-Marie Turner ObamaCare will continue to barrel toward implementation in 2014, but its failings will become clearer and clearer every day. The law is in diametric opposition to the workings of our economy and the spirit of freedom on which this country was founded. This is not a political assessment but rather a recognition of the reality of the unworkability of the law — its mandates on otherwise free citizens who will resist, massive new entitlement spending we can’t afford, and centralization of decision-making over health care, even life and death decisions. We now face the very real danger, as Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned, that this law will change “the relationship of the Federal Government to the… View Article