Tag: Affordable Care Act

Surprise Benefit of Obamacare: Less Spending

On March 7th, Kathleen Sebelius of Health and Human Services announced that there has been a slowdown in medical spending since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Obamacare, Sebelius said, is due the credit for increased efficiency and slowed medical spending growth.

“The health care law’s push for coordinated care and paying for quality rather than quantity is putting downward pressure on medical costs, the article reports,” Sebelius wrote in a blog post. “It’s improving the way health care providers do business, and that’s good news for patients.”

Sebelius cited a USA Today study that found the ACA’s cost-control measures are working.

Hobby Lobby Defies Court By Refusing to Cover Morning-After Pill

When the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act on June 28, 2012, it required employers to provide insurance that covers emergency contraception. The craft store Hobby Lobby refuses cover the morning after pill, citing religious convictions.

In an effort to prevent the $1.2 million daily fines they would be facing, Hobby Lobby took the issue to court. Justice Sotomayor and the Supreme Court refused to grant Hobby Lobby an injunction, and on Friday, December 28, 2012, the company announced its refusal to adhere to the federal order.

Misinformation about the causes and effects of the morning-after pill, often known by the popular brand name Plan B, promulgates the belief that it induces abortions. This is not true.

Hobby Lobby and its sister company, Mardel, have decided to accept whatever fines the government levies against them for failing to follow the law.

Religious organizations that were exempt from implementing the required contraception coverage will no longer be allowed to deny coverage after August 1, 2013. Contraception coverage applies even to organizations and groups run by religious organizations that oppose contraception, including Christian hospitals and charities. This controversial decision was made after the Institute of Medicine found that contraception is medically necessary “to ensure women’s health and well-being”.