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The New York Times, May 20, 2014 As a Republican senator, Trent Lott was among those who successfully dug in against the Clinton-era health overhaul. Tom Daschle, then the Senate Democratic leader, fought Republicans on their prescription drug plan. John B. Breaux, a centrist Democrat who led a blue-ribbon Medicare commission, often found himself at odds with both parties. Now these three … [Read more...] about Carl Hulse: Ex-Senators on Both Sides of Aisle Join Forces on Health Care

Chicago Tribune, May 11, 2014 Is more federal funding for the National Institutes of Health the best bang for the buck when it comes to using precious tax dollars to advance public health? No. The NIH budget is about $30 billion. But what does that buy? Where do discoveries that advance public health really come from? Some do come from NIH-funded research — but not nearly the … [Read more...] about Peter Pitts: Federal funds should go to medicine-makers

The Federalist, May 12, 2014 Kyle Cheney of Politico is a solid, straight news reporter.  So I was a little surprised this morning to see his analysis of state Obamacare exchange spending features numbers much smaller than the ones I have been using, most notably a figure of $248 million for Oregon and just $57 million for Massachusetts.  Total federal grant funding to Oregon’s failed … [Read more...] about Phil Kerpen: Actually, Obamacare State Exchanges Have Wasted $1.2 Billion

e21, May 7, 2014 The most important, and uncertain, provision of Obamacare remains the individual mandate. Obamacare’s authors believed it was crucial to the viability of the law to impose a new obligation on U.S. citizens and legal residents to enroll in government-approved health insurance. This new obligation was to be enforced by a penalty on the non-compliant, collected through the … [Read more...] about James Capretta: How Many People Will Pay The Individual Mandate Tax For 2014?

Real Clear Markets, May 7, 2014 When Capitol Hill Republicans and other conservative health policy analysts focus on developing viable "replacement" alternatives to Obamacare, they usually start with changing how the tax code subsidizes purchases of health insurance coverage. The two main proposals would expand the benefits of the current tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) … [Read more...] about Tom Miller: Debate Over How To Replace Obamacare Comes to a Fork In the Tax Code

Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2014 With the unveiling of the Affordable Care Act's website, the public experienced a painful reminder of the consequences of the government's new authority over health care. While millions signed up for insurance, millions of others abruptly lost their existing coverage and access to their doctors because that coverage didn't fit new ObamaCare … [Read more...] about Scott W. Atlas: The Coming Two-Tier Health System

The Weekly Standard, April 29, 2014 Recent polling conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the 2017 Project asked Americans, “If you could undo one thing that President Obama has done as president, what would it be?” The choices that the poll provided were “overregulation of the economy,” “high deficit spending,” “tax increases,” “the economic stimulus package,” and “Obamacare.” And the … [Read more...] about Jeffrey Anderson: Obamacare the #1 Thing Americans Would Undo

Obamacare’s defenders are doing their best to sustain a triumphant mood these days. In the wake of the late-March surge in exchange enrollment, many proponents of the law have insisted it can no longer be rolled back. As the president put it in his April 1 Mission Accomplished speech announcing the enrollment figures, “The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.” But just as conservative … [Read more...] about James Capretta and Yuval Levin: The Obamacare Opportunity