Healthcare
Cutting red tape on Pa.’s nurse practitioners
Originally published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Expanding health care access has been a major political issue in recent decades — first, during the Clinton health care plan of the…
Read More: Cutting red tape on Pa.’s nurse practitionersUnder 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.
Healthcare
Voters Send Mixed Messages on Health Care
Michael Tanner on polls about health care and the divergent proposals , concluding, “as November approaches, voters will reach a fork in the road, and as Yogi Berra says,…
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An American Cure for Reforming Health Care
Tom Coburn presents his proposal to reform our health care system at the Manhattan Institute. Here is the core of the argument: How do we create a real…
Media
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More evidence on the failure of RomneyCare
Michael Tanner blasts positive media coverage of a new report on Massachusetts health care, pointing out the many reasons why RomneyCare is a failure (from the same report). Tanner…
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Fixing Health Care in the States
The Wall Street Journal has two articles about health insurance reform in other states. First, from Florida, where the state has enacted a law that will allow low-cost, mandate…
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The New Big Dig
Wall Street Journal on the pitfalls of RomneyCare.
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PA liability for state retiree health: $8.8 billion
The PA Office of the Budget released their actuarial report on retiree health care liabilities, revealing that the estimated unfunded liablity as of July 1, 2008 is $8.8 billion…
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Address the Cost of Health Care
Here is a letter to the editor I sent to the York Daily Record on health care reform: I am responding to a May 4 op-ed by Rep. Eugene…
Media
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Medicaid Reform: Mending the Holes in Pennsylvanias Health Care Safety Net
Politicians and school officials frequently point to student performance on state tests as a primary measure of the quality of public education. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the…
Report
Read More: Medicaid Reform: Mending the Holes in Pennsylvanias Health Care Safety NetHealthcare
Health Care Reform (the right kind) in the states
Georgia enacted a few of the health care reforms we have been touting. From the SPN Blog: Georgia eliminates a major tax inequity by allowing individuals to…
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Savings from McCain’s Health Care Tax Credit
With the re-release of John McCain’s health care plan came a lot of criticism (along with praise) over who benefits from his tax credit. McCain would offer…
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High Risk Pools
One of the key recommendations from Rick Dreyfuss’s health care testimony last week which received a number of questions was creating a state high risk pool. CAHI has…
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Healthcare Affordability
Healthcare Reform Principles Every reform action should be tested against two criteria: • Does it take costs out of the system?• Does it price insurance in proportion to expected…
Testimony
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Health Care Affordability Debated
Today’s health care hearing, at which Commonwealth Foundation Senior Fellow Rick Dreyfuss testified, will be airing on PCN tonight; check here for future airings. The York Dispatch also did…
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Q& A on State Health Care Reform
The NCPA has a new report on State Health Care Reform: Key Questions and Answers, highlighting many of the key policy questions, including “Does universal health coverage lower health…
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Health Savings Sabotage
The Wall Street Journal has a column on a bill that passed the US House that would undermine Health Savings Accounts (also see the SPN blog on this…
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The Health Insurance Mafia
Here is a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal on how the health insurance industry acts like the Mafia: Most discussions about the rising…
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“Stupid Hicks” Oppose Big Government
I wasn’t going to post anything on Barack Obama’s comments about people “clinging” to guns and religion, until Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer offered his Obama can…
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When is a college basketball game “over”?
If you like sports and you like math then Bill James’s calculator to determine when a college basketball game is out of reach should be interesting (if not, then…
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Why McCain has the best health-care plan
Fortune Magazine article on the health care proposals of the presidential candidates, along with the overarching question of whether we should move to government-run insurance or offer consumers greater…
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MCare: End it, Don’t Extend It
Governor Rendell and House Democrats have refused to extend the MCare abatements unless it is tied to their Cover All Pennsylvania’s/PA ABC plan (read my commentary…
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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…
Commentary
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