Impact
With IRS scandals dominating the headlines in May, it became clearer and clearer why Americans should be very worried about the 47 new powers assigned to the agency under ObamaCare. We enumerated the new IRS powers in our website’s featured article and also wrote for The Wall Street Journal about the extensive and intrusive information the federal government will need to gather from those who are seeking ObamaCare subsidies.
The problems with implementing the law are becoming more apparent every day. But a word of caution: Bureaucratic “train wrecks” are hard to cover. All of these problems could get masked by a few positive stories the White House will promote about the president’s legacy law.
Read on for more about our activities in May:
Publications
The Wall Street Journal published Grace-Marie Turner’s commentary about the complexities of the ObamaCare application forms, “Applying for ObamaCare-Still Not Simple.”
Grace-Marie had an article published about Medicaid expansion in The New York Times:“Better Health, or Just More Spending?” written for the Times’ Room for Debate.
Forbes.com published Grace-Marie’s column about the need for a standard track-and-trace system for pharmaceuticals: “Secure the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from Risky Counterfeiters.”
Modern Healthcare posted our commentary on the Medicare drug benefit, “A Model for Reform.”
We published and distributed a paper about state-based high-risk coverage:
Pro-Patient Minute: We sent a briefing message to our Pro-Patient coalition detailing the 47 new IRS powers under ObamaCare.
We published 7 posts to the Galen blog:
- “Why states should not expand Medicaid ”
- “Florida Speaker offers positive alternative to Medicaid expansion”
- “Adding more people to Medicaid isn’t the answer”
- “Applying for ObamaCare-Still not Simple”
- “Another attack on innovative care”
- “The IRS and its 47 new powers to enforce ObamaCare”
- “Secure the pharmaceutical supply chain from risky counterfeiters”
Galen in the News
The Galen Institute was also on the airwaves with radio interviews around the country, including CitizenLink Radio with Kim Trobee, the Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio,Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate, and the Jeanine Turner Show in Houston.
Grace-Marie was quoted in Robert J. Samuelson’s column in The Washington Post, “Is the health-care spending slowdown for real?”
Speeches and sessions
Grace-Marie spoke with and participated in a variety of conferences in May:
She gave a speech at the PNC Healthcare Advisory Board annual meeting in Philadelphia, “Update on Health Reform.”
Grace-Marie made a keynote presentation at the CBINet Medicare Conference in Orlando, where she spoke with people involved in Medicare payment policy on “Health Reform and the Impact on Pharma in the Near Term.”
Grace-Marie was invited to participate in a terrific Liberty Fund Colloquium in Indianapolis, IN, to explore the question of “Health, Responsibility, and Liberty.”
Meetings and Events
We attended the AEI annual dinner, which Rep. Paul Ryan calls the “think tank prom,” and participated during the month in meetings of the Repeal Coalition and a number of other policy discussions on Capitol Hill.
Our May Health Policy Series featured speakers Bob Moffit, Heritage’s Center for Health Policy Studies, and Walt Francis, health care economist and author of the FEHBP Checkbook, who talked with Capitol Hill staffers about “What the Affordable Care Act means for Congress and staff” and the future of their health benefits.
We facilitated our monthly State Leaders call, jointly hosted by Galen Institute, the Institute for Policy Innovation, and the State Policy Network, on “State-Based High Risk Pools” featuring J.P. Wieske, legislative liaison and public information officer for the Wisconsin Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
We also participated in numerous meetings with health industry executives, attended a session of the Long Term Care Discussion Group, and met with policy colleagues to discuss new initiatives for market-based health reform.