Recipients lose a lot by not working. More than 12 million nondisabled, working-age Americans are enrolled in Medicaid. They receive medical care that is virtually free, and in most states they are under no obligation to work or seek work. Sounds like a great deal. Until you consider how much these “free” benefits may cost a recipient over the course of a lifetime. That could … [Read more...] about Medicaid Work Requirements Could Help the Poor
Medicaid
Save The Safety Net Drug Program For Patients Who Need Help
A poster on the side of a bus stop in downtown Washington D.C. read: “Let 340B,” clearly a sign of an organized campaign asking Congress not to interfere with the gravy train for some hospital systems that this obscure provision has become. The safety net drug program, usually referred to as 340B for the section authorizing it in the Public Health Service Act, was created by Congress in 1992 to … [Read more...] about Save The Safety Net Drug Program For Patients Who Need Help
Resetting the Scoreboard: Why CBO Should Abandon Its Flawed Analysis of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
One of the impediments to repealing and replacing Obamacare has been a belief by the Congressional Budget Office that substantial federal savings will be achieved by innovative demonstration projects in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program called for under the law. The CBO bases this conclusion about these savings not on analyses of projects that have been undertaken but … [Read more...] about Resetting the Scoreboard: Why CBO Should Abandon Its Flawed Analysis of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
Health Reform: Helping the States Help the Poor
Many Catholics, especially Catholic leaders, have been conflicted over bills that have been presented to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act: They strenuously object to the ACA’s affront to religious liberty yet they know it offers access to health insurance for millions, including those who have been left behind in our bifurcated system. Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, … [Read more...] about Health Reform: Helping the States Help the Poor
The Medicaid FMAP under the ACA
Congress is currently pursuing Medicaid reform as part of the American Health Care Act. Most people agree that Medicaid should help the poor, particularly those whose poverty is related to their age and disability. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the federal government to pay a much greater share of the medical bills for nondisabled, nonpregnant adults than it does for elderly … [Read more...] about The Medicaid FMAP under the ACA
CBO Is Wrong And Its Numbers Shouldn’t Deter Needed Reform
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) launched its latest mistaken Obamacare-related estimate this week, predicting that a House-passed bill to repeal and replace the embattled law would lead to 23 million more uninsured people by 2026. Although CBO itself acknowledges that this latest prediction is “especially uncertain,” one thing is especially certain: CBO is wrong. We explain why at … [Read more...] about CBO Is Wrong And Its Numbers Shouldn’t Deter Needed Reform
New Taxes Won’t Lower Drug Prices
Prescription drug prices continue to be a hot political issue, with the Trump administration preparing to release an action plan as soon as repeal and replace legislation clears Congress. Mick Mulvaney, who heads the White House budget office and is participating in the talks, floated an idea last week that should quickly be crossed off the list of policy ideas. He told the LIGHT 2017 Forum at … [Read more...] about New Taxes Won’t Lower Drug Prices
Medicaid Per Capita Caps: When Democrats Supported and Republicans Opposed Them, 1995–1997
by Doug Badger ABSTRACT: Congressional Republicans have called for restructuring Medicaid, reviving a debate that has largely remained dormant for two decades. During the mid-1990s, Congress and President Clinton advanced competing Medicaid reform proposals. Republicans urged that the federal government issue Medicaid block grants to states. The White House and congressional Democrats … [Read more...] about Medicaid Per Capita Caps: When Democrats Supported and Republicans Opposed Them, 1995–1997