Enrollment in Medicaid has been much higher than expected in expansion states, significant errors and problems permeate state eligibility determinations, and many enrollees are ineligible, Blase and Yelowitz explain in a detailed analysis of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. States are responsible for monitoring who enrolls in Medicaid, but the federal government foots … [Read more...] about The ACA’s Medicaid Expansion: A Review of Ineligible Enrollees and Improper Payments
Why Obama Stopped Auditing Medicaid
The share of recipients who aren’t eligible has grown sharply since the expansion began in 2014 Improper spending in the Medicaid program more than tripled in 2019, according to an analysis by scholars Brian Blase and Aaron Yelowitz, pointing to misuse of the program since it was dramatically expanded under Obamacare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a … [Read more...] about Why Obama Stopped Auditing Medicaid
Three Cheers for Transparency
Hospitals and insurers will howl, but the Trump administration today took a big step toward consumer empowerment with administrative actions designed to increase price transparency for hospital and other medical charges. Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase, who was instrumental in developing the executive order on price transparency issued in June, congratulated the administration for its … [Read more...] about Three Cheers for Transparency
ObamaCare Made Individual Market Worse
The Wall Street Journal published another commentary by Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase about the damage the ACA has done to individual health coverage. He also describes efforts by the Trump administration to broaden choices and make insurance more affordable. Here are highlights:Biden’s Plan for Health is Already a FailureObamaCare was supposed to improve the individual market. It … [Read more...] about ObamaCare Made Individual Market Worse
Medicare For All Would Fail Patients
“Before now, Warren’s radical proposal never would have been introduced by someone with a serious shot at becoming president,” Galen Senior Fellow Brian Blase explains in a piece for RealClearPolitics. “But the health care status quo is failing too many Americans. She is right that health care prices are generally too high, that provider consolidation is a serious problem, and … [Read more...] about Medicare For All Would Fail Patients
No Choice but to Move On
Respected health policy analyst Bob Laszewski concludes that Obamacare has failed and that is why Democrats want to move on. “Obamacare is ‘Stable’ at an Incredibly Unstable Place,” he writes, “The Democrats Want to Move Beyond Obamacare Because We Have No Other Choice.” “Simply, we went from a pre-Obamacare system that hurt the poor and the sick to a post-Obamacare system that … [Read more...] about No Choice but to Move On
What You Should Know about the Uninsured
Last month’s Census Bureau report on the uninsured overlooked an important point: More than 99 percent of Americans have access to health coverage, regardless of their income or medical condition. The overwhelming majority of those lacking insurance could have obtained coverage but did not enroll. Many of those with lower incomes may not sign up for subsidized coverage because they know they … [Read more...] about What You Should Know about the Uninsured
Not ‘Junk’: Setting the Record Straight on Short-Term Health Coverage Plans
Several Democrats on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee at a hearing Wednesday derided short-term health-insurance plans as “junk,” accusing the Trump administration of “sabotaging” the health care system with a rule that expanded people’s ability to purchase these plans. The accusations are without merit. While I was at the National Economic Council, I coordinated the … [Read more...] about Not ‘Junk’: Setting the Record Straight on Short-Term Health Coverage Plans