Another Obamacare Glitch

Natalie Webb, Bankrupting America: The past week was another data heavy week with the Census Bureau releasing statistics on income, poverty and health insurance coverage for 2013. The Census Bureau initially released the national averages, and later in the week followed up with the American Community Survey results for the state and local levels. In addition, this week, the Obama administration announced that it will cut off subsidies to purchase health care insurance for about 360,000 people. Read on for the top stories for the week:

In 2013, Real Median Household Income Was $51,939 And The Poverty Level Was 14.5 Percent. According to Census data, the median household income in the U.S. in 2013 was $51,939. From 2012, real median household income increased $180, or .3 percent. The Census viewed this as not statistically significant. While the poverty level decreased .5 percent to 14.5 percent in 2013, the number of people in poverty was not significantly different from 2012. Also noted in the report, “In 2013, real median household income was 8.0 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession.”

White House Announced That 360,000 Individuals Might Lose Their Obamacare Subsidies. According to The Hill, “The Obama administration announced Monday it will cut off tax subsidies to about 360,000 people if they do not offer proof of their income in the next two weeks. Officials will send final notices this week to individuals who signed up for ObamaCare with income levels that didn’t match government records. The announcement marks the administration's first move to tackle the politically charged issue of income verification, which has remained a key GOP argument against the healthcare reform law.”

ACS: Overall, 28 States Had Median Income Levels Lower Than The U.S. Average. The Census Bureau reported, “In 2013, the states with the highest median household incomes were Maryland ($72,483) and Alaska ($72,237), which were not statistically different from each other. Mississippi had the lowest ($37,963).” In addition, “the poverty rates for New Hampshire (8.7 percent) and Alaska (9.3 percent) were among the lowest in the country, while Mississippi (24.0 percent) had the highest rate, followed by New Mexico (21.9 percent).”

A New CMS Glitch Involving Electronic Health Records Will Cost Doctors Millions In Penalties. Politico reported, “Physicians who just spent hundreds of millions of dollars to install new electronic health record systems will face millions in federal penalties due to a technical glitch that affects their compliance with a federal program, vendors and doctors say. The Catch-22 stems from the shifting rules that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has established in a $30 billion program intended to incentivize physicians and hospitals to switch from paper to electronic health records. Since the program started in 2011 most providers who have Medicare or Medicaid patients have installed the electronic systems. But starting next year they can be penalized if they don’t. The program requires providers to show they are improving health care delivery with the electronic systems—for example by giving patients portals to look up their health records, and by recording important health data and sharing patient records with other doctors or hospitals.”

MERCATUS: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Projected Higher Deficits And Debt In The Future. This week, the Mercatus Center released charts detailing the CBO’s projection as a part of their updated Budget and Economic Outlook over the next decade. Mercatus noted, “The first and second charts, display historical and projected trends in baseline federal debt held by the public and deficits, respectively, in real 2013 dollars. The third chart displays the cumulative fiscal effects of various policy changes that, if enacted, could increase or decrease projected deficits over the coming decade.”

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