Studies
Health Care
In the Nick of Time: Rhode Island’s Medicaid Waiver Shows How States Can Save Their Budgets from Obamacare’s Assault
Key Points On the last day of the Bush Administration, Rhode Island won a federal waiver to reduce federal control and increase patient choice in the states Medicaid program. In 18 months following the waiver, Rhode Islands Medicaid spending was almost one-third less than budgeted: $2.7 billion versus $3.8 billion. ...
John R. Graham
January 18, 2011
Commentary
Why Retiring Baby Boomers Will find Medi-Cal a Bust on Long-Term Care
The new administration of Jerry Brown faces many challenges, including a tough one that will get worse on July 1, 2011. That’s when the federal funds that have propped up California’s troubled Medi-Cal system will disappear. That is bad news for retirees, including baby boomers, who in 2011 will be ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
January 12, 2011
Health Care
Medi-Cal Long-Term Care: Safety Net or Hammock?
San Francisco—The continuous expansion of Medi-Cal long-term care benefits could cause a financial catastrophe in California according to a new report by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank, in cooperation with the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. Medi-Cal Long-Term Care: Safety Net or Hammock?, by Stephen A. ...
Stephen Moses
January 5, 2011
Health Care
The End of the “Individual Mandate” Is Not the End of Obamacare
Last month Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli successfully argued that the so-called individual mandate in Obamacare was outside congressional competence. Advocates of individual choice in health care cheered a significant victory, but this is not the final judicial word on Obamacare. U.S. District judge Henry E. Hudson ruled that the ...
John R. Graham
January 5, 2011
Health Care
Medi-Cal Long-Term Care
Executive Summary Download Full Study Here. Watch the Video Here.* Long-term care is very expensive, whether provided in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or in someone’s home. Medi-Cal pays for most professional long-term care in California. It covers 65 percent of nursing home residents and ranks third in ...
Stephen Moses
January 4, 2011
Business & Economics
Going Down Swinging in 2010
Here at the Contrarian we would be lax in our duties if we ignored the sporting world. Our readers will recall that we took notice of Billy-Jean King, still crowing about her 1973 win over Bobby Riggs, a washed-up player old enough to be her father. We also noted that ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 7, 2010
Commentary
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Vicki E. Murray
November 29, 2010
Education
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
Vicki E. Murray
November 10, 2010
Commentary
Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?
Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
John R. Graham
November 8, 2010
Health Care
Beyond ObamaCare: The Ninth and Tenth Amendments and the “Right to Health Care”
Key Points: Libertarians and conservatives need not fear a “right to health care,” because defining such a right prevents ObamaCare and similar federal interference, according to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. A number of legislators and attorneys general have decided to challenge ObamaCare on constitutional grounds, citing the Tenth Amendment, ...
John R. Graham
November 5, 2010
In the Nick of Time: Rhode Island’s Medicaid Waiver Shows How States Can Save Their Budgets from Obamacare’s Assault
Key Points On the last day of the Bush Administration, Rhode Island won a federal waiver to reduce federal control and increase patient choice in the states Medicaid program. In 18 months following the waiver, Rhode Islands Medicaid spending was almost one-third less than budgeted: $2.7 billion versus $3.8 billion. ...
Why Retiring Baby Boomers Will find Medi-Cal a Bust on Long-Term Care
The new administration of Jerry Brown faces many challenges, including a tough one that will get worse on July 1, 2011. That’s when the federal funds that have propped up California’s troubled Medi-Cal system will disappear. That is bad news for retirees, including baby boomers, who in 2011 will be ...
Medi-Cal Long-Term Care: Safety Net or Hammock?
San Francisco—The continuous expansion of Medi-Cal long-term care benefits could cause a financial catastrophe in California according to a new report by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank, in cooperation with the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. Medi-Cal Long-Term Care: Safety Net or Hammock?, by Stephen A. ...
The End of the “Individual Mandate” Is Not the End of Obamacare
Last month Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli successfully argued that the so-called individual mandate in Obamacare was outside congressional competence. Advocates of individual choice in health care cheered a significant victory, but this is not the final judicial word on Obamacare. U.S. District judge Henry E. Hudson ruled that the ...
Medi-Cal Long-Term Care
Executive Summary Download Full Study Here. Watch the Video Here.* Long-term care is very expensive, whether provided in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or in someone’s home. Medi-Cal pays for most professional long-term care in California. It covers 65 percent of nursing home residents and ranks third in ...
Going Down Swinging in 2010
Here at the Contrarian we would be lax in our duties if we ignored the sporting world. Our readers will recall that we took notice of Billy-Jean King, still crowing about her 1973 win over Bobby Riggs, a washed-up player old enough to be her father. We also noted that ...
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?
Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
Beyond ObamaCare: The Ninth and Tenth Amendments and the “Right to Health Care”
Key Points: Libertarians and conservatives need not fear a “right to health care,” because defining such a right prevents ObamaCare and similar federal interference, according to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. A number of legislators and attorneys general have decided to challenge ObamaCare on constitutional grounds, citing the Tenth Amendment, ...