Medicaid
California
California’s move away from retrogressive politics?
Public employee unions took a deserved beating when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Janus vs. AFSCME ruling, and their pain will eventually trickle down to the Democratic Party. The worst, though, is not over for them. What’s ahead has the potential to alter California’s political landscape. The 5-4 Court ...
Kerry Jackson
July 30, 2018
Health Care
NEW STUDY: Medicare Competitive Bidding Process Should Be Reformed
Proposed reforms to the Medicare competitive bidding process for wheelchairs, home breathing equipment, and other durable medical equipment underscore the findings of a recently-released Pacific Research Institute study showing that patient health is being negatively impacted by an inefficient system plagued by low provider payments and lack of access to ...
Wayne Winegarden
July 26, 2018
Commentary
California’s Costly, Inaccessible Healthcare System
More than one-third of California’s $200 billion budget goes toward health care. Private health insurance spending in the state, meanwhile, exceeds more than $100 billion a year. Unfortunately, all that spending doesn’t appear to make health care more accessible. That’s the troubling finding of a comprehensive new analysis of health ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 23, 2018
Commentary
States Must Save Themselves from Medicaid Expansion
This month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill that will expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 400,000 low-income, able-bodied adults in the state. The governor praised the expansion as “the right thing for our people.” His heart may be in the right place. But Medicaid has a well-documented history of ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 22, 2018
Blog
When the Public Option Is the Only Option
Single-payer has failed abroad and at home. Yet the call for single-payer from progressives has never been louder. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his dedicated followers have been the loudest. In his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, he promised “Medicare for All.” In September 2017, he ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 1, 2018
Commentary
The State’s Dangerous Flirtation with Drug Rationing
Massachusetts may soon stop paying for some of the lifesaving medicines its poorest residents count on. State officials recently requested permission from the federal government to restructure MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. If their waiver is approved, a small group of state bureaucrats will determine which drugs are off limits ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 22, 2018
Commentary
North Carolina’s Fiscally Irresponsible Medicaid Reversal
A fundamental management tenet advises organizations to understand their core competencies, and solely focus on these functions. All other tasks should be outsourced to organizations who specialize in providing these services. For more than a decade the North Carolina state government has been following this advice with respect to its ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 18, 2018
Commentary
Liberals Sue Gov. Paul LePage For Protecting Them From Fiscal Disaster
Activist groups in Maine are suing Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, for refusing to participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. The suit comes months after Maine became the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid via a ballot vote. Expansion advocates claim that growing the program would enable thousands of ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 17, 2018
Business & Economics
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Will Not Improve Health Care Outcomes in Illinois
Due to its national implications, last week’s introduction of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) blueprint on drug prices is garnering all the attention. Despite its importance, HHS’ blueprint should not overshadow the many poor, and even unconstitutional, policy proposals that are occurring at the state level. For ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 17, 2018
Commentary
In Progressive America, All Roads Lead to Single-Payer
Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., recently introduced the “Choose Medicare Act,” which would give every American the option to buy into Medicare. Their colleagues have already rolled out three other bills that would provide for a more limited Medicare buy-in, a Medicaid buy-in, and a full-fledged, government-run, ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 14, 2018
California’s move away from retrogressive politics?
Public employee unions took a deserved beating when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Janus vs. AFSCME ruling, and their pain will eventually trickle down to the Democratic Party. The worst, though, is not over for them. What’s ahead has the potential to alter California’s political landscape. The 5-4 Court ...
NEW STUDY: Medicare Competitive Bidding Process Should Be Reformed
Proposed reforms to the Medicare competitive bidding process for wheelchairs, home breathing equipment, and other durable medical equipment underscore the findings of a recently-released Pacific Research Institute study showing that patient health is being negatively impacted by an inefficient system plagued by low provider payments and lack of access to ...
California’s Costly, Inaccessible Healthcare System
More than one-third of California’s $200 billion budget goes toward health care. Private health insurance spending in the state, meanwhile, exceeds more than $100 billion a year. Unfortunately, all that spending doesn’t appear to make health care more accessible. That’s the troubling finding of a comprehensive new analysis of health ...
States Must Save Themselves from Medicaid Expansion
This month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill that will expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 400,000 low-income, able-bodied adults in the state. The governor praised the expansion as “the right thing for our people.” His heart may be in the right place. But Medicaid has a well-documented history of ...
When the Public Option Is the Only Option
Single-payer has failed abroad and at home. Yet the call for single-payer from progressives has never been louder. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his dedicated followers have been the loudest. In his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, he promised “Medicare for All.” In September 2017, he ...
The State’s Dangerous Flirtation with Drug Rationing
Massachusetts may soon stop paying for some of the lifesaving medicines its poorest residents count on. State officials recently requested permission from the federal government to restructure MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. If their waiver is approved, a small group of state bureaucrats will determine which drugs are off limits ...
North Carolina’s Fiscally Irresponsible Medicaid Reversal
A fundamental management tenet advises organizations to understand their core competencies, and solely focus on these functions. All other tasks should be outsourced to organizations who specialize in providing these services. For more than a decade the North Carolina state government has been following this advice with respect to its ...
Liberals Sue Gov. Paul LePage For Protecting Them From Fiscal Disaster
Activist groups in Maine are suing Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, for refusing to participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. The suit comes months after Maine became the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid via a ballot vote. Expansion advocates claim that growing the program would enable thousands of ...
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Will Not Improve Health Care Outcomes in Illinois
Due to its national implications, last week’s introduction of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) blueprint on drug prices is garnering all the attention. Despite its importance, HHS’ blueprint should not overshadow the many poor, and even unconstitutional, policy proposals that are occurring at the state level. For ...
In Progressive America, All Roads Lead to Single-Payer
Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., recently introduced the “Choose Medicare Act,” which would give every American the option to buy into Medicare. Their colleagues have already rolled out three other bills that would provide for a more limited Medicare buy-in, a Medicaid buy-in, and a full-fledged, government-run, ...