Commentary
California
No end in sight for higher Obamacare premiums
Weren’t health insurance premiums supposed to go down under Obamacare and its California exchange, Covered California? During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama predicted that, in his administration, “we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.” Covered California premium increases the past two years ...
Commentary
America Marches Blindly Toward Single-Payer
Hillary Clinton just dipped her toe a little bit further into the waters of single-payer health care, prodded by her competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders. Last week, she called for allowing more people to join Medicare — the government-run healthcare program for seniors — by allowing those ...
Commentary
As insurers leave Obamacare exchanges, doctors pay the price
Major insurers are no longer sure if they can afford to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare) insurance exchanges. That’s making the White House nervous. In late March, the Obama administration met with insurance industry representatives in what was officially billed as an effort to fix Obamacare’s “risk adjustment” ...
Commentary
Good riddance to Obama’s failing co-ops
Obamacare’s co-ops are about to go out of business. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the chief operating officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recently testified before a congressional subcommittee that eight of Obamacare’s 11 remaining co-op insurance plans are in serious financial trouble. That’s not surprising. Twelve co-ops went ...
California
Courts shouldn’t make education policy
In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal ruled that it was up to the California Legislature, not the judiciary, to set the level of spending for schools. The court’s ruling makes good sense, not only for legal reasons, but also in light of judicial history and education research. ...
Agriculture
Market-driven solution to relieve drought
Drought-weary Californians breathed a sigh of relief because another “March Miracle” series of storms soaked much of the northern half of the state. Sadly for the people of the Golden State, their relief is mostly misplaced. The state reported that the statewide snowpack is only 87 percent of normal and ...
Commentary
For GOP Health Reformers, No Sleep Til Cleveland
The Republican National Convention is less than three months away. The party may not have settled on a presidential nominee by then but if the GOP’s top elected official, Speaker Paul Ryan, has his way, Republicans will arrive in Cleveland with a brand-new plan for replacing Obamacare. The time is ...
Business & Economics
Tackling the Public Pensions Problem
State and local public pension systems are in deep financial trouble. The latest comprehensive assessment by Joshua Rauh of the Hoover Institution, which captured 97 percent of public pension assets, found that the unfunded liabilities of public pensions are in the trillions of dollars. The public pensions problem is a ...
Commentary
The coming collapse of health care exchanges
Two federal agencies just released some new research that probably isn’t going over too well in the White House. In its most recent baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 18 million people would have coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges in 2025. That’s 4 million fewer than ...
Commentary
Collapse of Obamacare a matter of when, not if
Two federal agencies just released some new research that probably isn’t going over too well in the White House. In its most recent baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 18 million people would have coverage through Obamacare’s exchanges in 2025. That’s 4 million fewer than it projected just ...
No end in sight for higher Obamacare premiums
Weren’t health insurance premiums supposed to go down under Obamacare and its California exchange, Covered California? During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama predicted that, in his administration, “we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.” Covered California premium increases the past two years ...
America Marches Blindly Toward Single-Payer
Hillary Clinton just dipped her toe a little bit further into the waters of single-payer health care, prodded by her competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders. Last week, she called for allowing more people to join Medicare — the government-run healthcare program for seniors — by allowing those ...
As insurers leave Obamacare exchanges, doctors pay the price
Major insurers are no longer sure if they can afford to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare) insurance exchanges. That’s making the White House nervous. In late March, the Obama administration met with insurance industry representatives in what was officially billed as an effort to fix Obamacare’s “risk adjustment” ...
Good riddance to Obama’s failing co-ops
Obamacare’s co-ops are about to go out of business. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the chief operating officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recently testified before a congressional subcommittee that eight of Obamacare’s 11 remaining co-op insurance plans are in serious financial trouble. That’s not surprising. Twelve co-ops went ...
Courts shouldn’t make education policy
In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal ruled that it was up to the California Legislature, not the judiciary, to set the level of spending for schools. The court’s ruling makes good sense, not only for legal reasons, but also in light of judicial history and education research. ...
Market-driven solution to relieve drought
Drought-weary Californians breathed a sigh of relief because another “March Miracle” series of storms soaked much of the northern half of the state. Sadly for the people of the Golden State, their relief is mostly misplaced. The state reported that the statewide snowpack is only 87 percent of normal and ...
For GOP Health Reformers, No Sleep Til Cleveland
The Republican National Convention is less than three months away. The party may not have settled on a presidential nominee by then but if the GOP’s top elected official, Speaker Paul Ryan, has his way, Republicans will arrive in Cleveland with a brand-new plan for replacing Obamacare. The time is ...
Tackling the Public Pensions Problem
State and local public pension systems are in deep financial trouble. The latest comprehensive assessment by Joshua Rauh of the Hoover Institution, which captured 97 percent of public pension assets, found that the unfunded liabilities of public pensions are in the trillions of dollars. The public pensions problem is a ...
The coming collapse of health care exchanges
Two federal agencies just released some new research that probably isn’t going over too well in the White House. In its most recent baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 18 million people would have coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges in 2025. That’s 4 million fewer than ...
Collapse of Obamacare a matter of when, not if
Two federal agencies just released some new research that probably isn’t going over too well in the White House. In its most recent baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 18 million people would have coverage through Obamacare’s exchanges in 2025. That’s 4 million fewer than it projected just ...
