Many Pennsylvanians face chronic unemployment, welfare dependency, and the cycle of poverty. This happens because labor incentives have been overridden by bad policies that keep millions out of the workforce and enact excessive red tape. We can reverse this trend by ending the practice of waiving work requirements on able-bodied Pennsylvanians with no dependents, removing barriers to employment for those seeking a fresh start, and creating a healthcare system without burdensome regulations.

Health Care

States Fix Medicaid

  • April 26, 2013

That's why leaders in statehouses across the country should do the right thing and follow Pennsylvania's lead. Instead of waiting for dollars and dictates from D.C. to expand a broken…

Commentary

Read More: States Fix Medicaid

Taxes & Economy

Name Change Won’t Fix Welfare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 23, 2013

Pennsylvania’s welfare system is broken, and significant reforms are needed to help lift individuals out of poverty. Changing the name of the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of…

Media

Read More: Name Change Won’t Fix Welfare

Welfare

Reforms Bringing Sanity to Welfare

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 16, 2013

Last year the Pa. Department of Public Welfare implemented—and Commonwealth Foundation touted—a new asset test on food stamps to ensure those with means were not benefiting from programs intended…

Media

Read More: Reforms Bringing Sanity to Welfare

Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Myths and Facts

  • April 2, 2013

For our fiscal health, and the health of families, we desperately need the flexibility to allow state officials to design a solution that fits the needs of Pennsylvanians-not an…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Medicaid Expansion Myths and Facts

Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Deals Don’t Deliver

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 1, 2013

Time is ticking for President Obama to get more buy-in on a pivotal part of Obamacare—Medicaid expansion. States are under immense pressure to accept an influx of federal funds in…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Expansion Deals Don’t Deliver

Health Care

Will Medicaid Expansion Boost Pennsylvania’s Economy?

  • Priya Brannick
  • March 29, 2013

A new study commissioned by the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania predicts that if the state expands Medicaid, the program will produce $3.2 billion in annual growth over…

Media

Read More: Will Medicaid Expansion Boost Pennsylvania’s Economy?

Health Care

Note to Lawmakers: The Power Is Yours!

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 22, 2013

One of my favorite cartoon’s growing up was Captain Planet. The cartoon’s catchy theme song ended with an emphatic, “The power is yours!” It’s a message all of our state lawmakers…

Media

Read More: Note to Lawmakers: The Power Is Yours!

Health Care

Expanding Medicaid: Eat Now, Starve Later

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 20, 2013

When the governor released his budget last month, the loudest opposition hinged on Medicaid - government insurance for the poor and disabled. Advocates of expanding the program via the Affordable…

Commentary

Read More: Expanding Medicaid: Eat Now, Starve Later

Health Care

Sequester-Sized Savings

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 15, 2013

We’ve already busted the myth that federal money for the expansion of Medicaid is somehow “free.” As Nathan Benefield explains, government only distributes what if first taxes out of…

Media

Read More: Sequester-Sized Savings

Health Care

Facts, Not Hate, In Medicaid Debate

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 6, 2013

“A few dying residents won’t matter to these people…”  So say supporters of implementing Obamacare in Pennsylvania about our friends at Americans for Prosperity.  AFP launched a new action…

Media

Read More: Facts, Not Hate, In Medicaid Debate

Health Care

Medicaid “Free Lunch” Nauseates Lawmakers

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 4, 2013

Following news that Gov. Corbett was going to meet with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and rumors he might reverse his opposition to expanding…

Media

Read More: Medicaid “Free Lunch” Nauseates Lawmakers

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

Read More: No “Free Lunch” with Medicaid Expansion

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

Read More: Where Does Government Get Money?

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

Taxes & Economy

Welfare Traps Good People in Broken System

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 6, 2013

CBS 21’s Chris Papst presents a chilling story showing how easy it is for Pennsylvania families to get trapped in the welfare system. Investigators discovered a single mother of two making $20,000 in Pennsylvania can…

Media

Read More: Welfare Traps Good People in Broken System

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

Read More: Medicaid Expansion: The Price was Wrong

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

Read More: Lawmakers: Medicaid Expansion Not the Answer

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

Read More: Affordable Care Act: Costs to Pennsylvanians

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

Read More: Federal Funds Create Perverse Incentives

Criminal Justice Reform

Milestone Corrections Reform Offers Taxpayer Savings

  • January 9, 2013

On the heels of Pennsylvania’s historic decline in prison population—the largest one-year decline in four decades—the Department of Corrections announced today the imminent closure of two older prisons.

Media

Read More: Milestone Corrections Reform Offers Taxpayer Savings

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

Read More: Hidden Costs of Obamacare Exposed