In response to the Supreme Court’s review of the Affordable Care Act, multiple media reports have interpreted President Obama’s comments. The review suggests that the court will overturn the law, which will ultimately set the stage for a political fight later in the year.

USA Today reports, “President Obama cautioned the Supreme Court against overturning his landmark health care law Monday, a move he said would be ‘unprecedented’ and ‘extraordinary.’”

According to Jake Tapper, on ABC World News, the President “fired a warning shot” because “White House officials are concerned” by last week’s “barrage of skepticism” from the justices. On the CBS Evening News, Norah O’Donnell reported that the President’s “strong language…could suggest this White House is bracing for a loss.”

The New York Times notes that the President “rejected the idea that the individual mandate could be struck down without crippling the whole law. I think the justices should understand that, in the absence of an individual mandate, you cannot have a mechanism to insure that people with pre-existing conditions can actually get health care,’ he said.”

President Obama was also quoted as saying “there’s not only an economic element to this, and a legal element to this, but there’s a human element to this. And I hope that is not forgotten in this political debate.” The White House has defended the health care law, citing its benefits for younger people who can stay on their parents’ health insurance for a longer period of time and seniors who pay less for prescription drugs.

The Washington Post also reports that the President “emphasized the costs associated with overturning a law that his administration already has begun to implement. He said 2.5 million young people have coverage who otherwise would not and tens of thousands of Americans with preexisting conditions also are covered by insurance thanks to the legislation. Thirty million more Americans stand to benefit once the law is fully implemented by 2014, Obama said.”

Health and Human Services officials haven’t issued final regulations for mental health parity because they want the requirements for this coverage to be part of the health care law implementation. This information was provided by the agency’s Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Sherry Glied.

Glied also stated that she does not think it is a “hold-up around parity. Implementing the health care law includes the challenge of building this regulatory infrastructure around the insurance industry that should incorporate [mental health benefits’.” Glied does not believe that mental health should stand out as a separate entity, but rather it should be “part of the fabric of what we do.”

There has been a recent report of a revised CBO estimate that was released Tuesday which says the healthcare reform law coverage provisions “will cost less but cover fewer people than first thought.” This estimate predicts about 2 million fewer people gaining coverage by 2016, which will reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 30 million instead of the 32 million projected a year ago. Consequently, about 27 million people will be left uninsured in 2016, which is two years after the law’s insurance exchanges are put online. In addition, the coverage provisions “are now expected to cost $1.083 trillion over the next 10 years, $50 billion less than the $1.131 trillion projected last year.”

Another report notes that the uptick in healthcare costs can be attributed to the slow economic recovery. Although the deficit does not suffer as a result, the level of coverage achieved will be less than once hoped, as suggested by the numbers.

The CBO has even stated that it now expects people to get health insurance from different places, explains another report. The CBO now expects more people to acquire coverage through Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance program, or non-group arrangements. Fewer people are expected to be insured through employers or insurance exchanges.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand exactly what it is that specific health plans cover. But now, the Obama Administration has issued regulations that will require health plans to describe what they cover in clear and standardized language. This will allow consumers to become more knowledgeable of their health plans and consequently become more protected. These changes will begin in the fall, when insurers and employers that offer health coverage will be required to provide a six page document that details basic plan information. This form will include information about deductibles, co-pays, and in-network and out-of-network medical service costs.

The form also includes examples explaining how much it might cost to be treated for Type 2 diabetes, or deliver a baby. A section summarizing the costs for a patient with breast cancer was removed due to arguments that the condition was “too complex to be easily summarized.”

Insurance companies must produce these documents by September 23, when they will be made available to consumers. This should allow enough time for consumers to review the documents and make a decision about their 2013 health plans. There is some opposition from employers and insurance providers who contend that the requirement could be expensive and lead to confusion, but consumers support this change. As noted by Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “Markets work best when people have the information they need to make informed decisions.”

On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, the House voted to repeal a part of President Obama’s health care law. The basis for this vote stemmed from their allegations that the law seemed “unsustainable by his own administration.” The bill has been sent to the Senate, where Democrats have indicated that they are not ready to kill the long-term care program in question. However, over two dozen House Democrats joined Republicans in a 267-159 vote to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. This program was in fact suspended by Kathleen Sebelius (Secretary of Health and Human Services) because she claimed she could not find a way to make it pay for itself.

However, the White House does not support repealing the CLASS Act, which allows workers to pay a monthly premium during their career and collect daily cash benefits if they become disabled later on in their lifetime.

The Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Obama’s opposition to the GOP effort, saying that his resistance to the bill is “based on his determination to win reelection in November” by blaming prior administration for the poor economic recovery.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, however, claims that the CLASS Act is critical to successfully providing long-term health care for those in need. Instead of repealing the CLASS Act all together, he proposed that everyone put their ideas on the table and debate the components of the act.

Much to the surprise of those who viewed the 2010 health care law with a negative outlook, it has been reported that Medicare Advantage premiums have dropped an average of 7% while enrollment has grown by 10%. These figures have been reported by the Department of Health and Human Services on February 1, 2012. Opponents of the health care law incorrectly predicted that premiums would rise and enrollment would decline. The Medicare Advantage plan has continually disproven the negative predictions made about it. Also, the Affordable Care Act has provided “new tools to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities are getting the best value out of their coverage” according to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

HHS analysts predicted in September that premiums would fall 4%. However, since 2010 they have fallen by 16%. Spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, Robert Zirkelbach, stated that health plans are working to keep coverage innovative and affordable. This is more good news for the new law.

Below is a beautiful essay written in 1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. It poetically describes her experience with having a special needs child.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this……

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills….and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy… and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away… because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But… if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things … about Holland.

The nursing home industry is proposing its own ideas on ways to reduce uncontrolled Medicare spending in an effort to fend off significant Medicare cuts. The American Health Care Association is proposing that instead of taking a $2 billion hit, this money can be saved by ensuring that patients discharged from the hospital stay healthy.

In 2010, patients readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of discharge cost Medicare over $17 billion. The AHCA has consequently devised a plan that will provide incentives for hospitals to reduce the amount of readmissions. As a result, nursing providers will focus on providing top quality care and Medicare costs will decrease.  The AHCA Public Affairs Vice President Greg Crist was told that CMS officials were impressed that the sector was so willing to take such a bold initiative. Crist also hopes that the new proposal is favorably received by the Obama administration. The AHCA will also be urging the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp and the Senate Finance Committee to consider and ultimately accept this approach.

Each advisor will be paid $20,000 to perform this task. During the first six months of the program, the 73 members will attend seminars and spend the remaining time testing new ways to implement their proposed changes.

These 73 people were selected from over 900 applications. What are your thoughts on this decision? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think!

Below are the top 15 reasons why every working American should have paycheck protection in case of becoming disabled:

1. At age 32, the chance of being disabled for 90 days is 6.5 times greater than the chance of death.
2. More than 51 million Americans – 18 percent of the population – are classified as disabled.
3. Almost one-third of Americans entering the workforce today – three out of 10 – will become disabled before they retire.
4. 34,017 fatal crashes occurred in 2008, the lowest rate since 1961. But what about those who survived the carnage? In 2008, 2.35 million people were injured in car accidents. Car crashes are the leading cause of acquired disability in the United States.
5. Seventy-five percent of disabilities are caused by an illness rather than an accident.
6. Seventy percent of American workers in the private sector have no long-term disability protection.
7. A Harvard University report reveals that 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007 were due to the inability to pay for medical expenses.
8. The likelihood of being disabled for more than three months is greater than dying in any given year.
9. Accident or illness will force 1 in 5 U.S. employees to miss work for at least a year before they turn 65. Furthermore, the average long-term disability absence lasts 2 years.
10. In the past hour, almost 3,000 Americans became disabled. That’s 49 disabilities every minute.
11. Every year, 350,000 personal bankruptcies are attributed to injuries and unexpected illnesses.
12. In the first year following paraplegia, living expenses average $259,531 per person.
13. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. From 1995 to 2005, the stroke death rate fell 29.7 percent and the actual number of stroke deaths declined 13.5 percent.
14. Only a small fraction – 10 percent – of disabling accidents and illnesses are work related. The other 90 percent are not, which means workers’ compensation doesn’t cover them.
15. The average monthly benefit paid by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is $1,004 a month.