Obamacare
Commentary
What might the new Congress do on healthcare?
The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 13, 2022
Commentary
Dems Pose Biggest Threat to Medicare — GOP Will Save It
In a last-minute bid for undecided voters in the run-up to the midterm elections, Democrats are loudly claiming that a Republican Congress will be bad for seniors. As President Joe Biden put it at a campaign rally this week, “They’re coming after your Social Security and Medicare, and they’re saying it ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 7, 2022
Commentary
Veteran suicides testify to a healthcare travesty
The Department of Veterans Affairs has said that preventing veteran suicides is a top priority. Unfortunately, a new inspector general report suggests the department is failing in its mission. The report found that more than 1 in 10 VA staffers hadn’t completed their mandatory suicide-prevention training. As the report put it, “Lack of training ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 1, 2022
Commentary
Obamacare Open Enrollment Brings Election Day “Gift” To Voters
We’re about a week away from two notable dates on America’s civic calendar. On November 1, open enrollment begins on Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges. One week later, voters head to the polls for the midterm elections. Democrats have been aware of this reality for months. It was one of the reasons they ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 24, 2022
Commentary
Nothing Dysfunctional About US Healthcare – Period
Sen. Bernie Sanders took to the Senate floor last week to proclaim that the American people are deeply dissatisfied with the healthcare system. Citing a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, the Vermont socialist lamented that “just 12% of the American people believe that health care in general is ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 22, 2022
Commentary
Centennial State About to Discover Public Option’s Nightmare
Colorado is about to become the first state to implement a public health insurance option through Section 1332, a provision in Obamacare that allows states to waive many of the law’s regulations. The Biden administration approved the program, known as the Colorado Option, on June 23. The new state-sponsored health plan ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 5, 2022
Commentary
Let’s Not Be So Quick to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office takes a close look at one of the most wasteful and unnecessary healthcare proposals on the Democratic agenda — reducing Medicare’s eligibility age to 60. Joe Biden endorsed the idea as a candidate for president. But it’s never made much sense. Medicare’s Part A hospital insurance ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 6, 2022
Commentary
Generous Obamacare Subsidies Expire At The End Of The Year. That’s A Good Thing.
At the end of the year, the generous subsidies for health insurance purchased through Obamacare’s exchanges that were enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act last March are set to expire. People may start receiving notices that their premiums are increasing in October, just a few weeks before this fall’s midterm ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 6, 2022
Commentary
Expanding Obamacare is a Costly Prescription
Last month, President Biden proposed fixing the so-called “family glitch,” a quirk in Obamacare’s text that has prevented millions of people from purchasing subsidized coverage through the exchanges. It’s only the latest attempt to gift more people taxpayer-sponsored health coverage. The result will be rising premiums, fewer coverage options, and ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 11, 2022
Commentary
A bankrupt argument for single-payer health care
Are Americans going bankrupt because of medical debt? Leading progressives seem to think so. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently called for all medical debt to be canceled. “‘Medical debt’ and ‘Medical bankruptcy’ are two phrases that should not exist in the United States of America,” he said after the major ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 11, 2022
What might the new Congress do on healthcare?
The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
Dems Pose Biggest Threat to Medicare — GOP Will Save It
In a last-minute bid for undecided voters in the run-up to the midterm elections, Democrats are loudly claiming that a Republican Congress will be bad for seniors. As President Joe Biden put it at a campaign rally this week, “They’re coming after your Social Security and Medicare, and they’re saying it ...
Veteran suicides testify to a healthcare travesty
The Department of Veterans Affairs has said that preventing veteran suicides is a top priority. Unfortunately, a new inspector general report suggests the department is failing in its mission. The report found that more than 1 in 10 VA staffers hadn’t completed their mandatory suicide-prevention training. As the report put it, “Lack of training ...
Obamacare Open Enrollment Brings Election Day “Gift” To Voters
We’re about a week away from two notable dates on America’s civic calendar. On November 1, open enrollment begins on Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges. One week later, voters head to the polls for the midterm elections. Democrats have been aware of this reality for months. It was one of the reasons they ...
Nothing Dysfunctional About US Healthcare – Period
Sen. Bernie Sanders took to the Senate floor last week to proclaim that the American people are deeply dissatisfied with the healthcare system. Citing a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, the Vermont socialist lamented that “just 12% of the American people believe that health care in general is ...
Centennial State About to Discover Public Option’s Nightmare
Colorado is about to become the first state to implement a public health insurance option through Section 1332, a provision in Obamacare that allows states to waive many of the law’s regulations. The Biden administration approved the program, known as the Colorado Option, on June 23. The new state-sponsored health plan ...
Let’s Not Be So Quick to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office takes a close look at one of the most wasteful and unnecessary healthcare proposals on the Democratic agenda — reducing Medicare’s eligibility age to 60. Joe Biden endorsed the idea as a candidate for president. But it’s never made much sense. Medicare’s Part A hospital insurance ...
Generous Obamacare Subsidies Expire At The End Of The Year. That’s A Good Thing.
At the end of the year, the generous subsidies for health insurance purchased through Obamacare’s exchanges that were enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act last March are set to expire. People may start receiving notices that their premiums are increasing in October, just a few weeks before this fall’s midterm ...
Expanding Obamacare is a Costly Prescription
Last month, President Biden proposed fixing the so-called “family glitch,” a quirk in Obamacare’s text that has prevented millions of people from purchasing subsidized coverage through the exchanges. It’s only the latest attempt to gift more people taxpayer-sponsored health coverage. The result will be rising premiums, fewer coverage options, and ...
A bankrupt argument for single-payer health care
Are Americans going bankrupt because of medical debt? Leading progressives seem to think so. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently called for all medical debt to be canceled. “‘Medical debt’ and ‘Medical bankruptcy’ are two phrases that should not exist in the United States of America,” he said after the major ...