Health Care
Pa. House’s Passage of HB 1512 Is a Victory for Patients
Harrisburg, Pa., April 10, 2024 — Today, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill (HB) 1512 by a vote of 197 to 3. The Commonwealth Foundation applauds the passage of the…
Read More: Pa. House’s Passage of HB 1512 Is a Victory for PatientsUnder 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
PPACA Will Put a Quarter of Pennsylvanians on Medicaid
There is no shortage of media coverage marking PPACA’s two year anniversary, but one statistic from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare did grab my attention: Instead of…
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Ending the Cycle: Reforming Welfare in Pennsylvania
Government welfare, with its goal to provide a helping hand to those in need, has instead become a vast series of programs that fall far short of the good intentions…
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CF Joins More than 400 State Lawmakers in Brief on Health Care Law
The Commonwealth Foundation joined 17 other organizations and 333 state legislators from across the country in an amicus curiae brief challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act passed…
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No Rush on Health Insurance Exchanges
In late November the Department of Insurance announced that Pennsylvania would begin implementing a state health insurance exchange as laid out in PPACA (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care…
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How Much Will Obamacare Cost You?
The federal health care overhaul will be paid for with spending cuts and an estimated $420 billion in new taxes. How much of that $420 billion will come out of your pocket?…
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Changing the Incentives in Medicaid
Medicaid spending is set to skyrocket under the federal health care overhaul in the next two years, but it already consumes 31 percent of Pennsylvania’s budget. It is no…
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Pennsylvania Welfare Spending & Medicaid
Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed FY 2011-12 budget would represent the first time General Fund spending on the Department of Public Welfare would exceed that for the Department of Education.
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Rescuing the States from Medicaid
State Medicaid spending has increased four times faster than elementary and secondary education spending and nine times faster than transportation spending over the past two decades. In Pennsylvania,…
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Still Learning “What’s in the Bill”
My brother sent me the following text message while at his local pharmacy: Just realized that OTC [over-the-counter] drugs are no longer covered by HSA thanks to Obama. I…
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Medicaid Reforms Needed as Welfare Spending Surpasses Education
Under Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal, Pennsylvania would spend more on welfare than education for first time. A large chunk of that welfare spending is in Medicaid, a joint state-federal program…
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Medicaid Reforms Start with the States
Medicaid spending threatens to consume the entire Pennsylvania state budget, and we aren’t alone. Without greater flexibility, states will be forced to cut services, raise taxes or drop out…
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Five Reasons Corbett Should Stop Implementing Obamacare
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has indicated the state will continue to implement federal health care mandates, such as an an insurance exchange, at least for the time being. Here are…
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More Bad News for ObamaCare
After Judge Roger Vinson declared that the entire healthcare overhaul is unconstitutional, Heritage analyst Conn Carroll explained how the decision effectively stops implementation in states (including Pennsylvania) that…
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What State Legislators Can Do to Protect Health Care Freedom
ALEC’s new State Legislators Guide to Repealing Obamacare is a wealth of ideas for state legislators and in turn, activists who are dedicated to implementing true healthcare freedoms.
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Read More: What State Legislators Can Do to Protect Health Care FreedomEducation
80 Ideas for a Prosperous Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania must undergo a rapid transformation to reverse the poor policy decisions that have eroded economic freedoms and brought the state to its present condition. To provide a roadmap for…
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Long-Term Care Reform
Long-term care is very expensive whether provided in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or in someone's home. Medicaid pays for most professional long-term care (LTC) in Pennsylvania. LTC…
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Medicaid: A State Budget Buster
Medicaid is gobbling up state budgets left and right, and Pennsylvania is no exception. State Medicaid costs from 2014 through 2020 are estimated to increase by $841.2…
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A Free Market in Health Care?!?
A commenter on our latest Policy Points on Health Care Reform describes health care as “the free market, unregulated situation at the time the Act was passed.” I’m not…
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Is FactCheck Recycling Talking Points on ObamaCare?
Here is an email I sent to FactCheck.org: Your recent article claims insurance premiums won’t go up. Are you kidding? Simple economics, or the experience of states like…
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Health Care Reform: An Update
Before enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Congress had to pass the bill before we'd find out what's in…
Fact Sheet
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Pelosi Explains the Health Care Bill
In a speech in Pittsburgh to the “Women of Steel”, which includes the Steelworkers union, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Supergirl, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi outlined what…
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