California
California
Medi-Cal system encourages abuse
After more than a year, California’s politicians and health insurers have finally agreed to and passed last month what California Healthline calls a “tax hike in name only” to finance Medi-Cal. If only it were that simple. Funded jointly by the state and federal governments, Medi-Cal is the subject of ...
California
Key Brown Education Legacy Program Comes up Short
In his 2016 State of the State address, Governor Jerry Brown touted the centerpiece of his education agenda, the Local Control Funding Formula, which simplifies the way in which local school districts are funded. Yet his key legacy program has experienced critical implementation problems and has exposed, once again, the ...
Business & Economics
Pension reforms in peril if leaders don’t defend them
Unfunded public pensions threaten the fiscal solvency of states and localities across the country. And California is not immune. Back in 2012, San Diego voters recognized the threat and overwhelmingly supported Proposition B, a set of pension reforms that is helping San Diego stabilize its long-term budget outlook. Thanks to ...
Commentary
The Right Way to Replace Obamacare’s Subsidy
On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, nine candidates for the Republican presidential nomination remain. All are staunch critics of Obamacare. But they differ on what they’d put in its place. One point of tension? How to replace Obamacare’s overly complicated subsidy system. The GOP roughly falls into two ...
California
CAPITAL IDEAS: Freedom, Not Union, Key to Teachers’ Case
Almost everybody agrees that an employee – public or private – should be judged on his or her individual qualifications and performance. Yet, for many of the nation’s teachers, their freedom to be treated as individuals is barred by a collective bargaining process that treats them as a group. This ...
California
Obama vetoes an Obamacare repeal: Here’s what comes next
President Obama wasted no time earlier this month vetoing a bill that would’ve repealed large parts of Obamacare. To the president and his fellow Democrats, the entire process was pointless. Sixty-one previous repeal efforts by the GOP have failed. Obamacare is almost six years old, here to stay and Republicans ...
Commentary
Obamacare Enrollment Has Tapped Out
Obamacare’s third open enrollment period ends in a few days. The White House insists that it’s been an unequivocal success. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, the exchanges have seen “unprecedented demand” for coverage and “steady progress signing up new customers.” Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers ...
California
Admission By California’s State Attorney May Blow Union’s Case
During this week’s much-anticipated oral arguments in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association U.S. Supreme Court case, which challenges mandatory teacher-union fees, a critical exchange took place between Justice Antonin Scalia, who is viewed as the swing vote in the case, and the attorney representing the State of California. The ...
Commentary
Here’s how to create a better health policy than Obamacare
One in 2 Americans now opposes Obamacare. It’s not hard to see why. Premiums will increase this year by an average of 7.5 percent for the law’s midlevel “silver” plans. More than half of Obamacare’s nonprofit insurance co-ops have failed, forcing 740,000 people to find new, often more expensive insurance. ...
Commentary
The Way Out Of Obamacare
Republicans just took an unprecedented step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare. Last week, the GOP-led Congress passed a bill that would gut President Obama’s deeply unpopular health law. This effort was different than Republicans’ previous 61 attempts to repeal the law — it’s the first one to reach the president’s ...
Medi-Cal system encourages abuse
After more than a year, California’s politicians and health insurers have finally agreed to and passed last month what California Healthline calls a “tax hike in name only” to finance Medi-Cal. If only it were that simple. Funded jointly by the state and federal governments, Medi-Cal is the subject of ...
Key Brown Education Legacy Program Comes up Short
In his 2016 State of the State address, Governor Jerry Brown touted the centerpiece of his education agenda, the Local Control Funding Formula, which simplifies the way in which local school districts are funded. Yet his key legacy program has experienced critical implementation problems and has exposed, once again, the ...
Pension reforms in peril if leaders don’t defend them
Unfunded public pensions threaten the fiscal solvency of states and localities across the country. And California is not immune. Back in 2012, San Diego voters recognized the threat and overwhelmingly supported Proposition B, a set of pension reforms that is helping San Diego stabilize its long-term budget outlook. Thanks to ...
The Right Way to Replace Obamacare’s Subsidy
On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, nine candidates for the Republican presidential nomination remain. All are staunch critics of Obamacare. But they differ on what they’d put in its place. One point of tension? How to replace Obamacare’s overly complicated subsidy system. The GOP roughly falls into two ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Freedom, Not Union, Key to Teachers’ Case
Almost everybody agrees that an employee – public or private – should be judged on his or her individual qualifications and performance. Yet, for many of the nation’s teachers, their freedom to be treated as individuals is barred by a collective bargaining process that treats them as a group. This ...
Obama vetoes an Obamacare repeal: Here’s what comes next
President Obama wasted no time earlier this month vetoing a bill that would’ve repealed large parts of Obamacare. To the president and his fellow Democrats, the entire process was pointless. Sixty-one previous repeal efforts by the GOP have failed. Obamacare is almost six years old, here to stay and Republicans ...
Obamacare Enrollment Has Tapped Out
Obamacare’s third open enrollment period ends in a few days. The White House insists that it’s been an unequivocal success. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, the exchanges have seen “unprecedented demand” for coverage and “steady progress signing up new customers.” Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers ...
Admission By California’s State Attorney May Blow Union’s Case
During this week’s much-anticipated oral arguments in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association U.S. Supreme Court case, which challenges mandatory teacher-union fees, a critical exchange took place between Justice Antonin Scalia, who is viewed as the swing vote in the case, and the attorney representing the State of California. The ...
Here’s how to create a better health policy than Obamacare
One in 2 Americans now opposes Obamacare. It’s not hard to see why. Premiums will increase this year by an average of 7.5 percent for the law’s midlevel “silver” plans. More than half of Obamacare’s nonprofit insurance co-ops have failed, forcing 740,000 people to find new, often more expensive insurance. ...
The Way Out Of Obamacare
Republicans just took an unprecedented step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare. Last week, the GOP-led Congress passed a bill that would gut President Obama’s deeply unpopular health law. This effort was different than Republicans’ previous 61 attempts to repeal the law — it’s the first one to reach the president’s ...
