Galen Institute

Highlights: May & June 2015

Impact and Highlights

Our first tweet after the Supreme Court decision: “Shocking #SCOTUScare decision today. The biggest loser is the Rule of Law. The final verdict now goes to the American people in 2016.”

The only appeal for a Supreme Court decision is the American people. ObamaCare will continue to be a major issue in the 2016 elections, and we will be working to advance patient-centered reform that gives people many more choices of plans offered by their states with portability of coverage and protection against major medical costs.

And the problems with ObamaCare haven’t gone away because of the Supreme Court decision. We explained in our latest Wall Street Journal article yet another ObamaCare failure in the co-op fiasco, and we also have updated our list of changes to the law to 54, at least 34 made by the administration without benefit of legal authority. Read on for details about our extensive efforts over these last two months to help craft a viable and attractive plan had we prevailed in King v. Burwell. The efforts continue because the battle for freedom never ends!

Publications

The New York Times published our column, Obamacare Is Proof That We Need Choices and Affordability on June 11.

The Wall Street Journal published our op-ed with Tom Miller of the American Enterprise Institute, Another ObamaCare Dream Goes Bust on June 23, which introduced our latest paper, ObamaCare Co-ops: Cause Célèbre or Costly Conundrum?

We posted an updated commentary to the Galen Blog, Fifty-four Changes to ObamaCare…So Far on June 30.

Grace-Marie testified on May 20 before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight for the hearing, “Examining the Use of Administrative Actions

in the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

Our article, “Congress is Pledged to Offer Coverage for All, No Matter How the Court Rules,” was published May 9 in a number of papers across the country, including the Austin American-Statesman, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, The Fresno Bee and the Spartanburg Herald Journal.

Forbes published our columns:

On May 28, the Galen Institute officially re-launched our website, ObamaCareWatch.org, a source for credible, substantive news and commentary about ObamaCare from top thought leaders.

Galen in the News

Fox Business invited Grace-Marie for live response with Stuart Varney as the Supreme Court decision was being handed down June 25 in King v. Burwell. She was invited the next day to discuss the case and its implications for After the Bell.

Grace-Marie provided commentary with radio interviews on:

  • The Vicki McKenna Show on WIBA-AM, May 18
  • The David Webb Show on the Sirius/XM Patriot Channel, May 18
  • The Dave Wallace Show, May 18
  • The Sandy Rios Show on American Family Radio, May 19
  • The Drew Mariani Show, May 27
  • CBS Radio with Barry Bagnato, June 10
  • Sandy Rios in the Morning by the American Family Association, June 10
  • WPXI Radio, Pittsburgh, June 11
  • I Spy Radio of Oregon, June 19
  • The Drew Mariani Show, June 25
  • The Brian Thomas Show, KRC Cincinnati, June 30
  • The Small Business Advocate Show with Jim Blasingame, June 30

In other news:

On May 5, Grace-Marie was interviewed by Medical Travel Today to discuss the Galen Institute, its mission and position in the industry, as well as Grace-Marie’s perspectives on the opportunity for patients to travel to Centers of Excellence (in the U.S. and abroad).

Grace-Marie was interviewed by Sandra Swirski for Bridge to Better Health Care on May 20 about her testimony before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee about the use of administrative actions in the implementation of ObamaCare.

On June 11, Grace-Marie was interviewed for the health care segment of the “Leave Us Alone Coalition” for PJ Media, where she discussed how to re-enact liberty and steer the country away from regulations and restrictions in the health care sector.

The Galen Institute was cited in numerous blogs and publications throughout the country in May and June:

Speeches, Meetings, and Events

In May and June, Grace-Marie met with governors, state legislators, and numerous members of Congress and their staff to discuss preparations for solutions in the aftermath of the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case, free market health policy initiatives, and the new vision for health reform.

Among these included:

Governor Mike Pence (R-IN)
Governor John Kasich (R-OH)
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Congressman Phil Roe (R-TN)
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

  • Grace-Marie attended the National Review Institute Ideas Summit from April 30-May 2.
  • Grace-Marie traveled to Louisville, KY to give a speech at Health Enterprises Network entitled, “ACA: Too Big to Fail?” on May 7.
  • On May 12, Grace-Marie attended the House Energy & Commerce meeting about post-King v. Burwell solutions.
  • On May 13 and June 9, Grace-Marie attended the Repeal Coalition meeting on Capitol Hill.
  • On May 13, Grace-Marie attended the Alexandria Rep Roundtable featuring Ed Feulner – Co-Founder/Heritage Foundation. His speech was entitled “State of American Conservatism.”
  • Grace-Marie attended the biannual meeting of the Conservative Action Project entitled “Conservative Leadership Summit” on May 14.
  • Grace-Marie was invited to speak on a webinar on May 19 by Pharmaceutical Market Access in the USA.
  • We facilitated our monthly State Leaders call on May 26, which is jointly hosted by Galen Institute, the Institute for Policy Innovation, and the State Policy Network. We discussed the difficulty of setting up a state exchange, with the Oregon fiasco as poster child.
  • On May 20, Grace-Marie was invited to testify before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on oversight to discuss executive overreach.
  • Grace-Marie traveled to Atlanta, Georgia on May 20 to speak at the states Attorneys General Retreat about the King v Burwell Supreme Court case.
  • Grace-Marie participated in a meeting of the Steamboat Institute’s national advisory board annual conference call on May 21.
  • On May 22, Grace-Marie spoke with script writers from “The Good Wife” to discuss assisted suicide and how the Affordable Care Act addresses this difficult issue.
  • Grace-Marie spoke with Kristina Peterson of the Wall Street Journal on May 26 about GOP challenges and opportunities in dealing with King v. Burwell.
  • Grace-Marie spoke with Meghan McCarthy of the Morning Consult on May 27 about the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case.
  • On June 4, Grace-Marie attended a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, “Rewriting the Law: Examining the Process That Led to the ObamaCare Subsidy Rule.”
  • Grace-Marie participated in the Republican Governor’s Association (RGPPC) Policy Call to discuss the impact of King v. Burwell on June 10.
  • Grace-Marie participated in the Burwell Coalition conference call hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) on June 15.
  • Grace-Marie attended the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual dinner on June 11.
  • On June 16, Grace-Marie was invited to the Lupus Dinner for the Lupus Foundation of America.
  • We held our State Leaders call on June 18, in which guests Naomi Lopez Bauman of the Goldwater Institute and Nina Owcharenko of the Heritage Foundation discussed, “Could States Regain Control of Their Insurance Markets with King v. Burwell Ruling?”
  • On June 19, Grace-Marie participated in a conference call with the Tea Party Patriots to talk about the debate over subsidies should the petitioners prevail in King v. Burwell.
  • On June 24, Grace-Marie attended a meeting hosted by Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform to discuss likely congressional action after the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case.
  • On June 25, Grace-Marie gave a speech to the Network of enlightened Women (NeW) on health reform and how conservative women can get involved.