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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Chris Cornell’s Death Raises Medical Ethics Questions
    December 19, 2018
    What If You Could Sell Your Vote?
    August 24, 2017
    The Sleepy American
    September 12, 2017
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • 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

Why Are There Disparities In Health Care? Because It’s Free.
Cancer Drugs: Why the High and Rising Prices?
5 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Health Administration
Calling All Medical Marketers: Is Your Digital Ad Campaign HIPAA Compliant?
8 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Healthcare in Australia

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

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
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Gruber Cherry-Picks the Evidence for RomneyCare

July 12, 2011
Health careTechnology

Here’s How To Choose Glasses You’ll Love To Wear

March 9, 2019

Lack Of Patient-Centered Communication Skills By Physicians [infographic]

September 17, 2013
health care transformation
Health Reform

The Coming Disruptive and Transformational Changes in Health Care Delivery

July 8, 2013
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?