APRIL 1, 2008 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Give Consumers Choices in Health Care

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed a modified version of Governor Rendell’s "Cover All Pennsylvanians"—renaming it PA ABC (Access to Basic Care). Despite the clever acronym, the program is a repackaging of failed proposals that will once again fail to solve the problems in health care today.

MARCH 28, 2008 | Commentary by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION

Affordable Health Care Agenda

The Commonwealth Foundation has joined with over two dozen organizations to form the Health Care Freedom Coalition. Below is a Statement of Principles.

We, the Health Care Freedom Coalition, believe the solution to the nation’s health care problems is to make health care affordable for all Americans through a competitive, open, and transparent health care system where America’s families choose their own doctor and health care plans.

FEBRUARY 24, 2008 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

RendellCare: What Would Jesus Do?

Remember the passage in the Bible where Jesus called upon the Roman Empire to provide universal, government-run health insurance? What! There’s no such passage? Perhaps someone should point that out to Governor Ed Rendell.

JANUARY 14, 2008 | Policy Points by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION

"Cover All Pennsylvanians" Covers Very Few

Governor Rendell’s proposed “Cover All Pennsylvanians” claims to provide health insurance for an Administration-estimated 800,000 currently uninsured Pennsylvania adults at a cost of $1 billion dollars in just four years. However, “Cover All Pennsylvanians” falls short of reducing the number of uninsured, if at all.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Health Care Reform: Diagnose, Then Prescribe

Following the latest Census Bureau report that 47 million Americans are without health insurance, the talking heads and newspaper editorial boards are renewing their call for “something to be done.” Too often, that “something” implies more government spending on health insurance. Unfortunately, that solution fails to address the real problems in health care costs and access.

JANUARY 29, 2007 | Commentary by RICHARD DREYFUSS

The Pension and Healthcare Non-Crisis

Despite the well-documented unfunded liabilities in Pennsylvania’s largest public employee pension plans (PSERS and SERS), the response from Harrisburg to the coming fiscal crisis ranges from denial to paralysis. Following the release of the February 2006 report, Beneath the Surface: Pennsylvania’s Looming Pension and Healthcare Benefits Crisis, the response was (1) a visceral reaction from the defenders of the system to the description of the situation as a “crisis”, and (2) a misappropriation of the blame for this crisis on taxpayers for “underfunding” the pension plans. Both of these responses fail to understand the problem.

JANUARY 25, 2007 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Governor Rendell's Healthcare Misdiagnosis

As healthcare costs continue to rise faster than consumers’ ability to pay, it is clear that we need to alter how we pay for healthcare. Recently, Governor Rendell unveiled a far-reaching healthcare reform proposal. However, while some of the cost savings mechanisms in the Governor’s plan merit consideration, the core of his proposal only addresses the symptoms, not the causes, of rising healthcare costs.

JANUARY 23, 2007 | News Release by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION

CF Responds to Democratic Party Chairman on RendellCare

TJ Rooney
Democratic State Committee
300 North 2nd Street
8th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101

Dear TJ:

I am writing in response to your personal letter to me (which I have yet to receive, but came across it online as a news release to media outlets).

JANUARY 22, 2007 | Commentary by MATTHEW BROUILLETTE

Treating the Symptom Rather than the Cause

Governor Rendell wants to expand health insurance to 767,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians by increasing taxes on employers and tobacco users, to name just a few. The full costs have yet to be quantified, but they are sure to be underestimated from the get-go, like all other government-run healthcare programs.

OCTOBER 10, 2006 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Uncovering Cover All Kids

This past summer, state legislative leaders sent Governor Rendell a letter promising legislation by October authorizing the Governor’s “Cover All Kids” initiative. They included over $2 million in the state budget to start up the program in January 2007.