Thursday, November 20, 2014

Stories Causing Atlas to Shrug, November 20th Edition | Hospitals Killing Folks, Obamacare Really Just Means Medicaid and Unfunded Pension Madness

California Hospitals Make Hundreds of Errors Every Year, Public is Unaware.  California hospitals reported 6,282 adverse events to the state in the last four fiscal years. They range from “death associated with an error”, to “stage 3 or 4 decubitus ulcer,” or bedsores. However, the state has no way of ensuring that every hospital is reporting every error that occurs.

Of the 8.5 million who enrolled in the Obamacare Exchanges during 2014, over 6 million enrolled in Medicaid (which is almost entirely taxpayer funded) as opposed to the Exchanges (which are about 75% taxpayer funded).

New CBO Study: 60% of Americans Receive More Government Benefit Than They Pay in Taxes

California has a $754 billion unfunded liability -- the highest among the 50 states. But overall, Illinois is probably worse off than Californitopia.

Here is what PPACA will bring to us on a national scale: Despite the healthy supply of physicians in Massachusetts, some patients must still wait as long as four months for a first-time visit with a primary care physician.

Under new Obamacare rules a company may not reimburse workers for their insurance premiums with after-tax money but an employer can just give an employee a raise and not specifically reimburse premiums.  Can the owner tailor the amount of additional compensation for each person to the cost of health insurance without crossing the line into reimbursement?  Probably so, according to the New York Times, but the raise must be unconditional.



According to the “Small Business Tax Index 2014,” the 15 best state tax systems are: 

  • 1) Nevada, 2) South Dakota, 3) Texas, 4) Wyoming, 5) Washington, 6) Florida, 7) Alabama, 8) Ohio, 9) Colorado, 10) Alaska, 11) Indiana, 12) Michigan, 13) Arizona, 14) North Dakota, and 15) Utah.
The 15 most inhospitable state tax systems for small business are:
  • 36) Delaware, 37) Wisconsin, 38) Idaho, 39) Rhode Island, 40) Nebraska, 41) Connecticut, 42) Oregon, 43) Vermont, 44) Maine, 45) New York, 46) Iowa, 47) Hawaii, 48) New Jersey, 49) Minnesota, and 50) California.