Medicaid
Commentary
New Study Championing Medicare for All Is Bogus
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2017 Medicare for All bill (S.1804) would guarantee exceptional care to all Americans while reducing health spending by $5.11 trillion. At least that’s what a new study from researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute, which is co-directed by Professor Robert Pollin, claims. Sound too good ...
Blog
Sacramento’s “Funniest Unfunny Man” Prepares to Exit Stage Left
Gov. Jerry Brown was once described by my former boss, Connie Conway, as the “funniest unfunny man” she’d ever met. For anyone who had the opportunity to watch his “exit interview” at the Sacramento Press Club, you’d know that this is an apt description. When asked to make a particularly ...
Commentary
‘Unconstitutional’ ObamaCare is deeply flawed, and it’s time to do away with it
Last week, a federal district court judge in Texas ruled that ObamaCare – in its entirety – is unconstitutional. ObamaCare’s defenders plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. The legal fight could drag on for ...
Commentary
ObamaCare continues to fail
Open enrollment in the 39 states that use the federal HealthCare.gov insurance exchange looks like it will end with a whimper this Saturday. Through the first month, sign-ups are down 11 percent compared to the same period last year. It’s easy to see why. The cost of insurance is unmanageable ...
Commentary
After Midterms, Democrats Inch Toward Government-Run Health Care
The midterm elections were good to Democrats. They took the majority in the U.S. House and captured several state legislatures. Public frustration with health care was a big reason why. Just before the election, seven in 10 voters said that the issue was “very important” when deciding whom to vote ...
Commentary
Private companies are the best stewards of public funds for healthcare
Iowa saved $126 million in fiscal year 2018 by privatizing its management of Medicaid, according to a November report from the state auditor. These savings shouldn’t be a surprise. Private companies are better at managing public funds than the government because they have an incentive to cut costs: It affects their bottom ...
Commentary
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Commentary
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Commentary
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Commentary
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
New Study Championing Medicare for All Is Bogus
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2017 Medicare for All bill (S.1804) would guarantee exceptional care to all Americans while reducing health spending by $5.11 trillion. At least that’s what a new study from researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute, which is co-directed by Professor Robert Pollin, claims. Sound too good ...
Sacramento’s “Funniest Unfunny Man” Prepares to Exit Stage Left
Gov. Jerry Brown was once described by my former boss, Connie Conway, as the “funniest unfunny man” she’d ever met. For anyone who had the opportunity to watch his “exit interview” at the Sacramento Press Club, you’d know that this is an apt description. When asked to make a particularly ...
‘Unconstitutional’ ObamaCare is deeply flawed, and it’s time to do away with it
Last week, a federal district court judge in Texas ruled that ObamaCare – in its entirety – is unconstitutional. ObamaCare’s defenders plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. The legal fight could drag on for ...
ObamaCare continues to fail
Open enrollment in the 39 states that use the federal HealthCare.gov insurance exchange looks like it will end with a whimper this Saturday. Through the first month, sign-ups are down 11 percent compared to the same period last year. It’s easy to see why. The cost of insurance is unmanageable ...
After Midterms, Democrats Inch Toward Government-Run Health Care
The midterm elections were good to Democrats. They took the majority in the U.S. House and captured several state legislatures. Public frustration with health care was a big reason why. Just before the election, seven in 10 voters said that the issue was “very important” when deciding whom to vote ...
Private companies are the best stewards of public funds for healthcare
Iowa saved $126 million in fiscal year 2018 by privatizing its management of Medicaid, according to a November report from the state auditor. These savings shouldn’t be a surprise. Private companies are better at managing public funds than the government because they have an incentive to cut costs: It affects their bottom ...
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
