Medicaid Expansion Is Not Needed by the Hospitals
Although the expansion of Medicaid has been defeated in the Virginia General Assembly, the advocates of Obamacare and for expansion of Medicaid under this program vow to keep this issue alive. It could well be an issue in this fall’s state elections. Last September the Thomas Jefferson Institute published a study that showed the profit […]
Obamacare is a Federal Problem
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge to the Affordable Care Act this month, a case known as King v. Burwell. The case hinges on four words, but it could have big implications for the future of Obamacare. The ACA established insurance marketplaces known as exchanges in which people can purchase coverage. As […]
Reform Health "Need" Regulations
In recent years the federal government has continued to impose burdensome new regulations on the states, especially in the area of health care. Strict new rules handed down as a result of Obamacare are forcing insurance companies to cancel coverage for roughly 250,000 Virginians this year, and costs are continuing to increase for everyone. Virginia […]
Reform Health "Need" Regulations
In recent years the federal government has continued to impose burdensome new regulations on the states, especially in the area of health care. Strict new rules handed down as a result of Obamacare are forcing insurance companies to cancel coverage for roughly 250,000 Virginians this year, and costs are continuing to increase for everyone. Virginia […]
A Tale of Two Health Care Programs
While the General Assembly and Governor McAuliffe debated Medicaid expansion in Richmond earlier in the year, the federal government bureaucracy tried to change the Medicare Part D program into a Medicaid type program. Let me explain. When Congress passed Medicare Part D in 2003 and added prescription drug coverage to the health insurance plan that […]
Hospital Finances Look Pretty Good
The hospitals have weighed in on the debate to expand Medicaid to an additional 400,000 people here in Virginia. They have said they need this expansion to help them because of a federal entitlement system that loses them money. Even though the Governor and backed off wide expansion by Executive Order, this issue could easily […]
Medicaid Expansion Is Bad Policy, Period
(The Jefferson Policy Journal ran a column on June 19, 2014 highlighting the positive aspects of how Indiana has expanded Medicaid, This column offers another perspective.) It is time to stop, take a breath and ask some basic questions about health care: Do we want to see greater government control over health care dollars and […]
Indiana Could Chart a Path for Medicaid Reform
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels created the Healthy Indiana Plan in 2008 as a way to expand sensible health coverage to uninsured Hoosiers. The program is a model of how to expand coverage but in a fiscally responsible way that also provides incentives for participants to help manage their health spending. Daniels’ successor, Gov. Mike […]
What If They Gave a Health Care Plan and Nobody Paid?
(Publisher’s note: As we in Virginia continue to debate whether to expand Medicaid coverage and rely on the federal government to pay 90% of the cost forever, it is important for us to understand that the entire health care program is still very unstable financially.) Here’s the news you heard: More than 8 million Americans […]
Some Thoughts on Expanding Medicaid
There are two policy issues involved in whether Virginia should expand Medicaid: first, is whether the budget should be the vehicle through which a major new government entitlement program is determined; and second, whether expanding Medicaid is a sound policy overall. Holding the budget hostage to this debate is serious business. Our elected officials need […]