Under Obamacare, Pennsylvania families have been forced to pay more for health care, and more than 800,000 Pennsylvania adults have received taxpayer-funded health coverage through a broken Medicaid system. Without Congressional action, states are unable to carry the full burden of Obamacare on their own. However, state policymakers can focus their own reform efforts on giving patients more control over health care and restoring Medicaid as a safety-net program. Access to health care should be measured, not by the number of those with insurance, but by the ability of individuals to independently secure the affordable, reliable care they deserve.

Health Care

No “Free Lunch” with Medicaid Expansion

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2013

If I offered you a "free lunch" every day for the rest of your life, you'd take it, right? Oh, but there are a few strings attached. The lunch may…

Commentary

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Health Care

Where Does Government Get Money?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2013

Where does the federal government get its money? Does it grow on trees? Does it fall from the sky like manna from heaven? Is there a genie who keeps granting…

Media

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Health Care

Medicaid Harms States, Poor & Taxpayers

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 25, 2013

A new report and commentary from the Galen Institute details the reasons why the “free money” promised by the federal government for expanding Medicaid is a bad deal…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Harms States, Poor & Taxpayers

Health Care

Medicaid Expansion: The Price was Wrong

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 6, 2013

Governor Corbett made the right call yesterday when he decided to recommend against expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania. Here is my letter to the editor to the Philadelphia Inquirer explaining…

Media

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Health Care

Lawmakers: Medicaid Expansion Not the Answer

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 4, 2013

Rep. Gordon Denlinger and 37 House members sent a letter to Governor Corbett, urging the governor not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare).

Media

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Health Care

Affordable Care Act: Costs to Pennsylvanians

  • February 4, 2013

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—often dubbed "Obamacare"—will cost Americans $1.2 trillion from 2012 to 2022 according to the Congressional Budget Office. These projections do not account for the…

Fact Sheet

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Health Care

Federal Funds Create Perverse Incentives

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 15, 2013

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, just like there’s no such thing as free money from the federal government. But you wouldn’t know that by reading a recent…

Media

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Health Care

Hidden Costs of Obamacare Exposed

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • December 14, 2012

While much has been written about the cost of the exchange and the Medicaid expansion, a mountain of hidden mandates could cost Pennsylvania taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over…

Media

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Health Care

Corbett Exchange Decision Right Call

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • December 13, 2012

Governor Corbett’s decision yesterday to refuse to implement a state-based health care exchange under the Affordable Care Act (which means Pennsylvania will revert to a federally-run exchange), was the…

Media

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Health Care

Corbett Defends Taxpayers, Rejects State-Based Exchange

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 12, 2012

Pennsylvania today joined 21 other states in refusing to create a state-based exchange or partnership exchange, one of the tenets of the Affordable Care Act. Thanks to Governor Corbett’s…

Media

Read More: Corbett Defends Taxpayers, Rejects State-Based Exchange

Health Care

Lawmakers Challenge Obamacare’s “Most Harmful Provisions”

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 6, 2012

On Tuesday Rep. Gordon Denlinger sent an updated version of a letter to Governor Corbett urging against the creation of a state exchange and expanding Medicaid under the Affordable…

Media

Read More: Lawmakers Challenge Obamacare’s “Most Harmful Provisions”

Health Care

But It’s Only A Few Billion More…

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 3, 2012

Medicaid spending will increase by more than one trillion dollars nationally over the next decade if all states participate in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, according to new analysis by…

Media

Read More: But It’s Only A Few Billion More…

Health Care

5 Must-Know Facts About Health Care Exchanges

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • November 26, 2012

The election has been settled, but the future of the Affordable Care Act is far from it, as decisions are now in the hands of governors and state lawmakers. One…

Media

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Health Care

What Does Election Mean for Obamacare?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 12, 2012

While exit polling shows a majority of voters support full or partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act, this outcome remains unlikely. President Obama will not reverse his…

Media

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Health Care

Contain Medicaid Fire, Turn Hose on Pension Crisis

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • October 23, 2012

Last night’s presidential debate (despite the focus on foreign policy) featured much talk on skyrocketing debt and unsustainable entitlement programs. Protecting the middle class from growing debt isn’t a problem…

Media

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Health Care

Why Repeal? The Affordable Care Act’s Costs to Pennsylvanians

  • October 23, 2012

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—or "Obamacare"—will take more than $500 billion from American taxpayers by 2022, raise costs to state governments and increase the cost of private health…

Poll

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Health Care

Principles for Health Care Reform

  • October 11, 2012

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands Medicaid, subsidizes health insurance for middle class families, and creates new federal health insurance regulations. To pay for this additional spending, the ACA makes…

Fact Sheet

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Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Bad Deal for Patients

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 3, 2012

Health care interest groups took to the press in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg to argue for expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania, but these advocates overlook the program’s flaws and its long-term…

Media

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Health Care

Saylor Broaches Biggest Budget Buster

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 26, 2012

Pensions and transportation top the list of crises the General Assembly won’t address in their short fall session, but little has been said about the biggest budget buster facing the…

Media

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Health Care

How Much Will Obama’s Health Care Cost You?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 18, 2012

How much will the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) cost you? Our new policy points look at the cost Pennsylvanians will shoulder under the sweeping health care reform law.

Media

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Health Care

Pennsylvania Medicaid Spending and the Affordable Care Act

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 17, 2012

Current Medicaid spending trends are unsustainable.  Medicaid spending (Medical Assistance and Long Term Care) consumes about 30 percent of Pennsylvania's total state operating budget.  In the past decade, Medicaid spending…

Memo

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