By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: PPACA Waivers: New Nonsense From John Sununu
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > PPACA Waivers: New Nonsense From John Sununu
Health ReformPolicy & Law

PPACA Waivers: New Nonsense From John Sununu

DavidEWilliams
DavidEWilliams
Share
3 Min Read
SHARE

For some reason the Boston Globe devotes its top slot on today’s Opinion page to a tired and faulty argument (If a law doesn’t work, waive it away?) from former US GOP Senator John Sununu against the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Department of Health and Human Services has granted waivers to some employers to allow them to continue offering plans with low annual caps (aka mini-med plans).

For some reason the Boston Globe devotes its top slot on today’s Opinion page to a tired and faulty argument (If a law doesn’t work, waive it away?) from former US GOP Senator John Sununu against the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Department of Health and Human Services has granted waivers to some employers to allow them to continue offering plans with low annual caps (aka mini-med plans).

Here’s how Sununu puts it:

A note to social engineers of all parties: If you have to protect 3 million people from a brand-new law, it probably wasn’t very well written in the first place. That this was an unintended consequence is clear from the fact that the law never contemplated a need for waivers in the first place. In a stroke of bureaucratic magic, HHS simply granted itself the power, and started dispensing the passes.

More Read

Healthyroads, Inc. Chooses Santech to Enhance Mobile Technologies for Total Health Improvement
5 Key Elements of the Peer Review Process
Healthcare Spend at Historic Low
Can the Gang of Six Change the Way We Pay For Health Care?
Healthcare Technology Can Shift The Industry’s Service Goals Higher

This is a real cheap shot. PPACA is being rolled out between 2010 and 2014. The waivers are temporary and expire by 2014, when health insurance exchanges and subsidies for lower income employees are to be in place. The temporary nature of these waivers isn’t even hinted at in the article.

The objective of health reform is to get more people into coverage, not to toss them out. So the waivers are a very reasonable and rational form of government flexibility. As a commenter notes:

Agencies grant waivers all the time, regardless of whether the underlying law specifically contemplated it. Waivers are contemplated for anything that is not a clear statutory requirement (i.e. clearly stated in the law), it is not required that the underlying statute specifically allow it. Otherwise, we would be granting administrative pronouncements of the Executive Branch the same force as laws passed by Congress.

One reason health reform is so messy is that it represents a pragmatic approach. Rather than trying to shift everyone suddenly to a utopian system (such as single payer), reform leaves employer-sponsored insurance in place alongside government programs like Medicaid and Medicare. The real world is messy, something Sununu should at least be willing to acknowledge.

 

Share


TAGGED:health reformhealthcare policy
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Value Based Purchasing
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

Shifting Risk: A Pharmacy Perspective on Value-Based Purchasing

May 8, 2014
prefilled syringe
Global HealthcareMedical DevicesMedical Innovations

Prefilled Syringes: A Ready Answer to Saving Billions of Dollars and Mitigating Medical Errors

December 2, 2014
medication adherence important
Policy & LawPublic Health

Medication Adherence: Taking Daily Steps for Healthier Outcomes

October 19, 2013

Why Not Let the Dead Pay for Medicare?

June 30, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?