Research Briefing

ObamaCare Hurting Care Providers And Slowing Economic Growth

HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION HALTED OVER “UNCERTAINTY” FROM OBAMACARE

South Shore Hospital In Massachusetts Puts Breaks On $52 Million Expansion Because Of “Uncertainty” From ObamaCare. “Meanwhile, at least one hospital in this area is tapping on the brakes on its plans for growth. South Shore Hospital in Weymouth says it is delaying its $52 million expansion because of the economy and the uncertainty over effects of the federal overhaul of the health care system. ‘We’re in a good financial situation right now, very stable, but we’d like to see the economy bounce back a little more before we start,’ said hospital spokesman Sarah Darcy. ‘We’re also looking at how the health care [law] will change the way hospitals are reimbursed - just like every other hospital in the nation is looking at it. That impacts our finances, so we are erring on the side of caution. We’re looking at spring of 2011 right now.’” (Johanna Seltz, “Hospital Puts New ER On Fast Track,” The Boston Globe, 4/18/10)

Even Though “They Need The Space” As The Hospital’s Occupancy Rate Is “Over 95 Percent.” “The hospital hoped to start construction this spring, adding 60 beds to the 385-bed facility. ... ‘They need the space,’ said Joan Gorga, who reviews construction proposals for the state Department of Public Health. ‘They are experiencing a very high occupancy rate — over 95 percent. People get sick regardless of the economy.’” (Johanna Seltz, “Hospital Puts New ER On Fast Track,” The Boston Globe, 4/18/10)

PATIENTS FACING CRISES AS DOCTORS START TO LEAVE THEIR PRACTICES

Patients Around The Country Asking Doctors Questions They Can’t Answer About Government-Run Health Care.  “After months of public wrangling and brinkmanship in Washington, the nation’s doctors now find themselves having to answer questions about a 2,400-page law that many do not understand themselves, and which they may have opposed… ‘Quite honestly, I don’t know how to answer their concerns,’ said Dr. Deborah A. Sutcliffe, a solo practitioner in Red Bluff, Calif. ‘Sometimes they’re more informed than I am, sometimes they’re not. I haven’t read the damn thing.’” (John Leland, “Doctors Hear Many Questions About Health Law,” The New York Times, 4/19/10)

Oklahoma Internist Says Doctors Will Quit Because “They Can’t Pay People What They’re Paying Us And Expect Us To Stay In.” “Oklahoma City internist Dean Drooby has already opted out of Medicare in September 2008 and Medicaid in 1989. … ‘They can’t pay people what they’re paying us and expect us to stay in,’ said Drooby, who makes house calls and meets two hours face-to-face with new patients. He’s already watched many of his colleagues sell their practices to private hospitals or let hospital networks manage their practices.” (Paula Burkes, “Health Care’s Reform Gets Mixed Reactions In Oklahoma,” The Oklahoman, 4/18/10)

• Drooby Says Communities Will Turn To Local Clinics And See “A Drop In Their Quality And Continuity Of Care.” “With the reform, Drooby believes communities will set up local clinics where patients on subsequent visits will see physician assistants or nurse practitioners, not doctors. ‘There’ll be a drop in their quality and continuity of care,’ he said.” (Paula Burkes, “Health Care’s Reform Gets Mixed Reactions In Oklahoma,” The Oklahoman, 4/18/10)

Kentucky’s Doctor Shortage – Especially In Rural Areas – Will Worsen Under ObamaCare, Become “Crisis In 10 Years.” “Doctor shortages are a longstanding and worsening problem in largely rural Kentucky, and some health care experts say they may continue to worsen as tens of thousands of additional Kentuckians become insured under health care reform. ‘It’s going to be a crisis in 10 years,’ said Dr. Baretta Casey, director of the Hazard-based University of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Rural Health and a supporter of programs like the one that Sherman is involved in, through the local Area Health Education Center.” (Laura Ungar, “Program Gives Aspiring Doctors Taste Of Rural Work,” Louisville Courier-Journal, 4/16/10)

NEW TAXES WILL SLOW INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Executive Director Of InMotion Orthopaedic Research Center In Memphis Says ObamaCare’s Medical Device Tax Will Hurt Startups, Small Businesses. “Dick Tarr, executive director of InMotion Orthopaedic Research Center, says the tax could also affect how startup companies operate. Larger device companies may be able to deduct or pass on the cost, but smaller companies will see it come directly from sales.” (Michael Sheffield, “Medical Devices Drive Expansion,” Memphis Business Journal, 4/16/10)

CEO Of Wright Medical Technology Inc. In Arlington, TN: “A Lot Of Companies Would Have To Cut Back On Research And Development, Which Cuts Back On Innovation… The U.S. Has Been A Leader In Medical Devices Forever. It Would Be A Shame If We Lost That Position.” (Michael Sheffield, “Medical Devices Drive Expansion,” Memphis Business Journal, 4/16/10)

Virginia Tanning Salon Owner Doesn’t Know How ObamaCare’s Tanning Tax Will “Pay All The Extra Costs Associated With The New Health Care Package.” “Just hours after Brutsche signed a new, five-year lease for her Reston location, she got word that new health care legislation, which became law last month, would put a 10 percent tax on all beds, sun lamps and stand-up booth operations. … ‘How in the world is taxing tanning salons going to pay all the extra costs associated with the new health care package,’ she said. ‘It beats me.’” (James Fink, “Tanning Salons Feel They Got Burned In Health Law,” Washington Business Journal, 4/17/10)

• Brutsche: “It’s A Regressive Tax That Has, And Will, Hit The Middle Class…” (James Fink, “Tanning Salons Feel They Got Burned In Health Law,” Washington Business Journal, 4/17/10)

AND NEW REGULATIONS WILL RAISE COSTS

New York State’s Failed Insurance System “A Working Laboratory” And “An Expensive Lesson” For ObamaCare. “New York’s insurance system has been a working laboratory for the core provision of the new federal health care law — insurance even for those who are already sick and facing huge medical bills — and an expensive lesson in unplanned consequences. Premiums for individual and small group policies have risen so high that state officials and patients’ advocates say that New York’s extensive insurance safety net for people like Ms. Welles is falling apart.” (Anemona Hartocollis, “New York An Insurance Lab On Skyrocketing Rates,” The New York Times, 4/18/10)

• New York’s Experience Based On “A Leap Of Faith” That Government-Run Health Care Will Reduce Rates. “‘In this new marketplace that we envision, this requirement that everybody be covered, that should draw better, healthier people into the insurance pool, which should bring down rates,’ said Mark Hall, a professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University. But he added, ‘You have to sort of take a leap of faith that that’s going to happen.’” (Anemona Hartocollis, “New York An Insurance Lab On Skyrocketing Rates,” The New York Times, 4/18/10)
•  New York’s Failed System Is “Federal Health Reform On Steroids.” “Mark L. Wagar, the president of Empire BlueCross BlueShield, said New York’s problem was not deregulation of rates, but the lack of an effective mandate for everyone to buy insurance. To illustrate, he offered a statistic on how many people in the 18-to-26 age group, who are largely healthy, have bought individual insurance coverage through his company: 88 people out of 6 million insured by his company statewide. New York is ‘the bellwether,’ Mr. Wagar said. ‘We have the federal health reform on steroids in terms of richness and strictness.’” (Anemona Hartocollis, “New York An Insurance Lab On Skyrocketing Rates,” The New York Times, 4/18/10)

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Says Insurance Rates Will Increase. “‘There’s so much information yet to come as to how this will all take place,’ Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland said. … Meanwhile, Holland said she doesn’t see a reduction in insurance rates. ‘If anything, they’re going to go up.’” (Paula Burkes, “Health Care’s Reform Gets Mixed Reactions In Oklahoma,” The Oklahoman, 4/18/10)