Medicaid
Commentary
The Big Beautiful Bill Fixes One Drug Problem—But Highlights An Even Bigger One
Buried within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law July 4, is a provision that could improve or even save the lives of the 30 million Americans suffering from rare diseases. That provision is the Orphan Cures Act, which exempts certain drugs that treat ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 21, 2025
Commentary
No, Donald Trump didn’t just slash Medicaid
Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now law. Democrats have wasted no time accusing the GOP of enshrining devastating “cuts” to Medicaid, the joint federal-state entitlement that provides health coverage for low-income Americans. That’s rubbish. The measure takes steps to restrain Medicaid’s rampant growth in recent years so that ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 14, 2025
Commentary
Don’t believe the CBO’s spin on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In a recent letter to top Democrats, the Congressional Budget Office claimed that the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act would kick millions of people off their health insurance. That warning is misleading. Millions of people are improperly enrolled in Medicaid and taxpayer-subsidized plans through Obamacare’s exchanges. Republicans are rightly ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 18, 2025
Commentary
Away With Provider Taxes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published a rule targeting “provider taxes,” a financing gimmick states use to harvest extra Medicaid dollars from the federal government. Good on the Trump administration. Over the last decade and a half, states have exploited provider taxes and other financing loopholes to ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 27, 2025
Commentary
Republicans are right to reform Medicaid
House Republicans held the mark-up last week for their reconciliation package, which includes several significant reforms to Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement that provides health benefits to roughly one in five Americans. The package is not perfect. But it would restore some measure of fiscal sanity to the program by, among ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 19, 2025
Commentary
Medicaid isn’t a federal entitlement
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recently ripped into progressives for opposing Medicaid reform. “Medicaid is meant to be a state-federal partnership,” Cassidy, who has an M.D., wrote on X. “States are supposed to pay for 40% of the cost. Most states are paying for less than 15%. … People should not ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 5, 2025
Commentary
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 5, 2025
Commentary
Trump is right: Housing isn’t healthcare
The Trump administration shut off federal funding through Medicaid for non-healthcare-related services such as housekeeping, groceries, and internet earlier this month. It’s about time. Medicaid exists to provide health benefits to the nation’s neediest, not to subsidize a laundry list of liberal priorities. Over the last two decades, it has ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 21, 2025
Commentary
Common-Sense Fixes in Medicaid Could Save Hundreds of Billions, Making Reform Less Daunting Than Pundits Suggest
Congressional Republicans are currently negotiating a budget reconciliation package that aims to wrest $880 billion in savings from Medicaid over the coming decade. Democrats have asserted that this effort will be devastating to Medicaid’s beneficiaries. They underestimate just how widespread waste, fraud, and abuse are in the program. Read the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 21, 2025
Commentary
California can’t afford free health care for undocumented immigrants
California’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit could soon grow worse. State tax revenue dropped over 14% in the recession that followed the dot-com bubble, nearly 14% during the Great Financial Crisis from 2008 to 2009, and almost 8% during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with financial markets reeling thanks ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 21, 2025
The Big Beautiful Bill Fixes One Drug Problem—But Highlights An Even Bigger One
Buried within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law July 4, is a provision that could improve or even save the lives of the 30 million Americans suffering from rare diseases. That provision is the Orphan Cures Act, which exempts certain drugs that treat ...
No, Donald Trump didn’t just slash Medicaid
Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now law. Democrats have wasted no time accusing the GOP of enshrining devastating “cuts” to Medicaid, the joint federal-state entitlement that provides health coverage for low-income Americans. That’s rubbish. The measure takes steps to restrain Medicaid’s rampant growth in recent years so that ...
Don’t believe the CBO’s spin on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In a recent letter to top Democrats, the Congressional Budget Office claimed that the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act would kick millions of people off their health insurance. That warning is misleading. Millions of people are improperly enrolled in Medicaid and taxpayer-subsidized plans through Obamacare’s exchanges. Republicans are rightly ...
Away With Provider Taxes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published a rule targeting “provider taxes,” a financing gimmick states use to harvest extra Medicaid dollars from the federal government. Good on the Trump administration. Over the last decade and a half, states have exploited provider taxes and other financing loopholes to ...
Republicans are right to reform Medicaid
House Republicans held the mark-up last week for their reconciliation package, which includes several significant reforms to Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement that provides health benefits to roughly one in five Americans. The package is not perfect. But it would restore some measure of fiscal sanity to the program by, among ...
Medicaid isn’t a federal entitlement
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recently ripped into progressives for opposing Medicaid reform. “Medicaid is meant to be a state-federal partnership,” Cassidy, who has an M.D., wrote on X. “States are supposed to pay for 40% of the cost. Most states are paying for less than 15%. … People should not ...
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
Trump is right: Housing isn’t healthcare
The Trump administration shut off federal funding through Medicaid for non-healthcare-related services such as housekeeping, groceries, and internet earlier this month. It’s about time. Medicaid exists to provide health benefits to the nation’s neediest, not to subsidize a laundry list of liberal priorities. Over the last two decades, it has ...
Common-Sense Fixes in Medicaid Could Save Hundreds of Billions, Making Reform Less Daunting Than Pundits Suggest
Congressional Republicans are currently negotiating a budget reconciliation package that aims to wrest $880 billion in savings from Medicaid over the coming decade. Democrats have asserted that this effort will be devastating to Medicaid’s beneficiaries. They underestimate just how widespread waste, fraud, and abuse are in the program. Read the ...
California can’t afford free health care for undocumented immigrants
California’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit could soon grow worse. State tax revenue dropped over 14% in the recession that followed the dot-com bubble, nearly 14% during the Great Financial Crisis from 2008 to 2009, and almost 8% during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with financial markets reeling thanks ...