Grace-Marie Turner

Jordan Rau of Kaiser Health News writes about a new study showing death rates are rising at rural hospitals, and Medicare's prop-up payments aren't helping. For 15 years, Congress has bestowed special privileges to some small remote hospitals, usually in rural areas, to help them stay afloat. Medicare pays them more than it pays most hospitals and exempts them from financial pressure to operate … [Read more...] about KHN: Death Rates Rise at Rural Hospitals

by Thomas P. Miller Finding economically feasible and politically safe options for cutting costs in Medicare has proven to be no easy task. A variety of government organizations, including the Congressional Budget Office and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and health policy researchers, such as MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, have put forth plans to improve the program, but they often … [Read more...] about Miller on Medicare: Daring to be Cautious

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said on Wednesday in an address to a joint convention of the General Assembly that he will not pursue expanding the state’s version of Medicaid, called TennCare.  The health overhaul law, known as ObamaCare, allows states to expand Medicaid to families earning up to $30,000 a year, but the governor clearly recognizes the hidden costs of expansion.  He can be a leader … [Read more...] about Tennessee Gov. decides against Medicaid expansion

Jim Capretta explains clearly to any governor thinking about expanding Medicaid why this is a short-sighted, destructive idea.  His piece at National Review Online is entitled “End Medicaid’s Crony Federalism.  GOP governors should refuse the White House’s deals and fight for Medicaid reform.” Capretta, a scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Institute, says that the Obama administration is … [Read more...] about Demand real Medicaid reform

Tennessee Gov. Haslam has sent messages to the legislature opposing a bill by State Republican Rep. Jeremy Durham that would block Medicaid expansion, but the governor said he also opposes one by Senate Democrats that would allow expansion.  An aide to the governor said he wants to keep his options open. Michael Cannon of Cato and I were in Nashville last week, testifying before both houses of … [Read more...] about Tennessee Gov. undecided on Medicaid expansion

Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland, annihilated an administration official during a hearing earlier this week for overstating the effects of the sequester. The exchange that ensued is not to be missed! Byron York first captured the story for the Washington Examiner about questioning by Rep. Harris, a physician, during a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, … [Read more...] about Witness Squashed for Sequester Hype

The Obama administration has released a draft of the 21-page application form which people will have to fill out if they want to get subsidized health insurance through the ObamaCare exchanges. It looks like they went to the IRS for help in making the form “simple” and “user friendly.”   The state of California believes it will need 20,000 people just to help residents enroll in the insurance. … [Read more...] about Hot off the presses: 21-page ObamaCare application

David Hogberg makes a strong case in a Washington Examiner op-ed for repeal of the current ban on physician-owned hospitals.  ObamaCare banned new physician-owned hospitals, even though existing ones were among the top recipients of bonus payments from the new Hospital Value Based Purchasing Program – which rewards hospitals for providing higher quality of care. ObamaCare bans creation of any … [Read more...] about David Hogberg: Lift limits on physician-owned hospitals