PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH ON HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
June 09, 2015
The President's Speech to the Catholic Health Association on Health Care in America

Today, at the invitation of the Catholic Health Association, President Obama will address their annual conference and thank them for their dedication to helping ensure all Americans have access to health care. The President will discuss how the passage of the Affordable Care Act reflects our values and the kind of country we strive to be.  He will also describe how the Affordable Care Act has become part of the fabric of an improved American health care system, one where we and our children can rely on health security throughout our lives, and make the most of our opportunities as a result.

Additionally, the White House released updated data on how the Affordable Care Act is working in every state in the country. Five years after healthcare reform became a reality, more than 16 million Americans have gained coverage, and the Affordable Care Act has improved coverage for virtually everyone who already had insurance.  Americans can no longer be discriminated against for having pre-existing conditions, women can't be charged more just for being women, and there are no longer lifetime limits on the care Americans receive.  And hospitals, doctors and other providers are changing the way they operate to deliver better care at lower cost.

The White House also launched a new interactive long form webpage -- "Health Care in America" -- which includes an embedded letter to the President written by the late Senator Ted Kennedy as he endured brain cancer, having instructed his wife to send the letter to the President after he passed away. A lifelong champion for health reform, Senator Kennedy encouraged the President to endure the fight for health care reform and thanked him "one last time" for carrying it forward. The page also includes an interactive timeline that contextualizes a century-long fight for real health reform in America, dozens of stories of Americans whose lives have benefited from reform, and a live player that will stream the President's remarks tomorrow.

President Obama’s remarks will be livestreamed HERE, and excerpts of his prepared remarks are included below:

“The rugged individualism that defines America has always been bound by a set of shared values; an enduring sense that we are in this together. That America is not a place where we simply ignore the poor or turn away from the sick. It’s a place sustained by the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper. That we have an obligation to put ourselves in our neighbor’s shoes, and to see the common humanity in each other.

So after nearly a century of talk, after decades of trying, after a year of sustained debate, we finally made health care reform a reality for America.”

…

“Five years in, what we’re talking about is no longer just a law. This isn’t about the Affordable Care Act. This isn’t about Obamacare. This isn’t about myths or rumors that won’t go away.

This is reality. This is health care in America.”

ALLEGED HEALTHCARE FRAUD BUSINESS BANNED FROM SELLING PRODUCTS

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

FTC Settlement Bans Bogus Trade Association from Selling Healthcare-Related Products

Alleged Fraudsters Stole Millions of Dollars from Consumers Seeking Health Insurance

A group of marketers who allegedly tricked consumers into buying phony health insurance are permanently banned from selling healthcare-related products under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The settlement resolves claims that the defendants, who operated as the bogus trade association Independent Association of Businesses (IAB), preyed on consumers who sought health insurance. Consumers submitted their contact information to websites purportedly offering quotes from health insurance companies. They paid an initial fee ranging from $50 to several hundred dollars, and a monthly fee ranging from $40 to $1,000 purportedly for comprehensive health insurance coverage, but instead they were enrolled in an IAB membership. The program included purported discounts on services such as identify-theft protection, travel, and roadside assistance, as well as certain purported healthcare related benefits, including limited discounts and reimbursements on visits to certain doctors or hospitals, subject to broad exclusions and limitations.

In 2012, the FTC charged the IAB defendants and those who ran IAB’s largest telemarketing operation with violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). A federal court halted the operation until the case was resolved. A settlement order announced in 2013 bans the telemarketing defendants from selling healthcare-related products.

The settlement order announced today permanently bans the remaining defendants from selling healthcare-related products. They are IAB Marketing Associates LP, Independent Association of Businesses, HealthCorp International Inc., JW Marketing Designs LLC, International Marketing Agencies LP, International Marketing Management LLC, Wood LLC, James C. Wood, his sons, James J. Wood and Michael J. Wood, and his brother, Gary D. Wood. It also resolves the FTC’s claims against relief defendant Tressa K. Wood, James C. Wood’s wife, who benefitted from but did not participate in the alleged scheme.

The order also prohibits the defendants from violating the TSR, misrepresenting material facts about any goods or services, and selling or otherwise benefitting from consumers’ personal information.

The order imposes a $125 million judgment that will be partially suspended once the defendants surrender assets valued at almost $2 million, including $502,000 in IRA funds and personal property that includes five luxury cars (a Lamborghini, two Mercedes, a Porsche, and an MG Roadster). A separate settlement order requires relief defendant Avis. K. Wood to pay $60,000 from an IRA account that was funded by the defendants’ allegedly unlawful activities.

The Commission vote approving the proposed stipulated final order was 5-0. The order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division on October 10, 2014. The Commission vote approving the proposed stipulated final order against Avis S. Wood was 5-0, and it was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on August 8, 2014.

WHITE HOUSE REPORT ON CONSEQUENCES OF STATES NOT EXPANDING MEDICAID

FROM:   THE WHITE HOUSE 

White House Report: Missed Opportunities and the Consequences of State Decisions Not to Expand Medicaid

 Today, the Council of Economic Advisers released a report, Missed Opportunities: The Consequences of State Decisions Not to Expand Medicaid, which details the effects of state decisions regarding Medicaid expansion on access to care, financial security, overall health and well-being of residents, and state economies. 

The Affordable Care Act has expanded high‐quality, affordable health insurance coverage to millions of Americans. One important way in which the Affordable Care Act is expanding coverage is by providing generous financial support to States that opt to expand Medicaid eligibility to all non‐elderly individuals in families with incomes below 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

To date, 26 States and the District of Columbia have seized this opportunity, and since the beginning of the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period, 5.2 million people have gained Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage in these States, a tally that will grow in the months and years ahead as Medicaid enrollment continues. In contrast, 24 States have not yet expanded Medicaid—including many of the States that would benefit most and sometimes because State legislatures have defied even their own governors—and denied health insurance coverage to millions of their citizens. Researchers at the Urban Institute estimate that, if these States do not change course, 5.7 million people will be deprived of health insurance coverage in 2016. Meanwhile, these States will forgo billions in Federal dollars that could boost their economies.

This analysis uses the best evidence from the economics and health policy literatures to quantify several important consequences of States’ decisions not to expand Medicaid. That evidence, which is based primarily on careful analysis of the effects of past policy decisions, is necessarily an imperfect guide to the future, and the actual effects of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act could be larger or smaller than the estimates presented below. However, this evidence is clear that the consequences of States’ decisions are far‐reaching, with implications for the health and well‐being of their citizens, their economies, and the economy of the Nation as a whole.

EMAIL SPAMMER CHARGED WITH AFFORDABLE CARE ACT FRAUD SCHEME

FROM:   FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 
FTC Charges Email Spammer with Tricking Consumers With Phony Information About the Affordable Care Act

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against a website operator that allegedly tricked consumers – in advance of the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – with spam emails that falsely claimed that consumers would be violating the ACA if they did not immediately click a link to enroll in health insurance.

The case against Kobeni Inc. and its president, Yair Shalev, is the first the agency has brought alleging ACA-related fraud.  According to the FTC’s complaint, from at least May 2013 through August 2013, the defendants sent consumers email with statements such as:

Today is the deadline to make your election or be in violation of federal law

Must Receive Your Election Or You Will Be In Violation of Federal Law.

Effective Monday (08-05-13) health coverage is REQUIRED BY LAW.

Why is this mandatory? New Federal Law signed by the President made it mandatory for all U.S. residents to have active coverage.  You will be in violation and face penalties if you do not elect.

You Must Select One of These 5 Options

As stated in the complaint, links in the email messages led to websites with advertisements for insurance.  The websites’ operators paid the defendants when consumers clicked links contained in the ads.  Insurance companies whose ads appeared on the websites did not authorize the email messages.

The FTC charges the defendants with violating the FTC Act by falsely representing that consumers would violate federal law if they did not select health insurance by the dates that appeared in their email messages.  The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the CAN-SPAM Act by not providing consumers who received the spam email messages with a clear and conspicuous notice that they had the right to opt out of receiving future commercial email messages from the defendants, and by sending commercial email messages that did not include the sender’s physical postal address.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 4-0.  The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

NEW HEALTH CARE LAW IMPLEMENTATION MOVES FORWARD

Photo:  President Obama Signs Affordable Care Act Into Law.  Credit: White House. 
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE
The Administration makes resources available to help states implement Affordable Insurance Exchanges.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today a new funding opportunity to help states continue their work to implement the health care law -- the Affordable Care Act.  When the law is fully implemented in 2014, the affordable insurance exchanges will provide people and small businesses with one-stop shops to find, compare and purchase affordable, high-quality health insurance.  Today’s announcement makes more funding available to build all models of affordable insurance exchanges available to states. HHS also issued further guidance today to help states understand the full scope of activities that can be funded under the available grant funding as they work to build exchanges.

“The federal government and our state partners are moving forward to implement the health care law,” Secretary Sebelius said.  “This new funding opportunity will give states the resources they need to establish affordable insurance exchanges and ensure Americans are no longer on their own when shopping for insurance.”

The funding opportunity announced today will provide states with 10 additional opportunities to apply for funding to establish a state-based exchange, state partnership exchange, or to prepare state systems for a federally facilitated exchange.  To date, 34 states and the District of Columbia have received approximately $850 million in Exchange Establishment Level One and Level Two cooperative agreements to fund their progress toward building exchanges.

Under the new announcement, states can apply for exchange establishment cooperative agreements through the end of 2014. These funds are available for states to use beyond 2014 as they continue to work on their exchanges. This ensures that states have the support and time necessary to build the best exchange for their residents.

The guidance HHS issued today provides information on the exchange-building activities that states can fund with establishment cooperative agreements.
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HHS will conduct regional implementation forums in coming months to assist states and stakeholders on the work to be done in building exchanges, and to address their questions.  HHS will also engage with tribes, tribal governments, and tribal organizations on how exchanges can serve their populations.

For more information on exchanges, including fact sheets, visithttp://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/05/exchanges05232011a.html