Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

PUBLICATIONS BY Greg D'Angelo

2009 Research

November 05, 2009
Doing Health Care Reform Right: The Empowering Patients First Act
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2682)
The Empowering Patients First Act could accomplish needed reforms while minimizing Washington's role in health care.

November 02, 2009
How Many Americans Could End Up on the Public Health Plan? A Look at the Estimates
By Greg D’Angelo
(Backgrounder #2334)
Congress will soon vote on massive health care legislation -- and on the amount of power the federal government will have over the entire U.S. health care sector. Many economists, politicians, and American citizens want to know: How many people could lose their current health insurance and end up on the so-called public option, a new government-run health plan? The numbers being tossed around are as dizzying as the array of health care bills.

October 28, 2009
Health Care Reform: Rational Alternatives to the Congressional Leadership Bills
By Greg D’Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D
(WebMemo #2666)
Three major bills sponsored by congressional Republicans contain promising conservative approaches to health care reform.

October 09, 2009
Congress's Health Care Reform Bills: The Unknown Costs
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #2646)
The CBO should produce a comprehensive assessment of the health care reform proposals--similar to the one produced during the Clinton era--before any legislation moves forward.

July 01, 2009
How Reforms to the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance Benefit the Middle Class
By Greg D’Angelo, Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Paul L. Winfree
(WebMemo #2518)
Health reform proposals recently introduced in Congress--such as the Patients' Choice Act of 2009--seek to replace the current income tax exclusion with a fairer, flatter form of tax relief for all Americans regardless of job status.

June 12, 2009
A New Public Health Plan: How Congressional Details Will Impact Doctors and Patients
By Greg D’Angelo
(WebMemo #2482)
Many in Congress are looking to Medicare as a model for a new public health plan, yet millions of Americans would lose the private coverage that they have today.

May 13, 2009
Time to Get Serious (Again) About Medicare Reform
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2441)
The Medicare Trustees Report shows that reform of the program is of urgent necessity.

March 16, 2009
Health Care Reform: Changing the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2344)
A proposal that gradually phases out the current income tax exclusion while phasing in a more equitable and efficient system is essential to achieving serious bipartisan health care reform.

January 26, 2009
The New SCHIP Bill: The Senate Must Protect Private Coverage
By Paul L. Winfree and Greg D’Angelo
(WebMemo #2246)
When the Senate considers the House legislation or a companion proposal to expand SCHIP to children in families with higher incomes, it should recognize that public program expansions would result in "crowd-out."

2008 Research

October 24, 2008
The Obama Health Care Plan: A Closer Look at Cost and Coverage
By Greg D'Angelo and Paul Winfree
(WebMemo #2114)
Barack Obama's health care plan would reduce the number of insured, but it would not control costs in any significant way. In fact, it would require considerable increases in federal expenditures.

October 24, 2008
The McCain Health Care Plan: A Closer Look at Cost and Coverage
By Greg D'Angelo and Paul Winfree
(WebMemo #2115)
John McCain’s health care plan would reduce the number of uninsured and help control costs, yet it would, as currently designed, require considerable increases in federal expenditures.

July 02, 2008
Health Care Reform in Massachusetts: Medicaid Waiver Renewal Will Set a Precedent
By Greg D’Angelo and Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #1979)
As the Medicaid waiver for Massachusetts's health care reform is up for debate again, federal and state officials should remember the intent of the original reform plan.

March 26, 2008
Congress Must Not Ignore the Medicare Trustees' Warning
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1869)
Congress should take steps to transform Medicare from a costly open-ended entitlement program to a defined-contribution program.

February 11, 2008
State and Local Governments Must Address Unfunded Health Care Liabilities
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1808)
Instead of seeking a federal bailout, state and local officials should enact creative, market-based reforms.

2007 Research

December 06, 2007
Expanding SCHIP: Not the Best Option for States
By Edmund F. Haislmaier and Greg D’Angelo
(WebMemo #1725)
The congressional proposal to expand eligibility for SCHIP would aggravate budget challenges that state governments will face in the coming years. 

November 28, 2007
Health Care Tax Credits: The Best Way to Advance Affordability, Choice, and Coverage
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1711)
Health care tax credits coupled with other state reforms would go a long way toward improving affordability and reducing the ranks of the uninsured.

September 19, 2007
SCHIP and "Crowd-Out": The High Cost of Expanding Eligibility
By Paul L. Winfree and Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1627)
Expanding SCHIP to cover children in higher income families is not an efficient or cost-effective way to reduce the number of uninsured children.

August 14, 2007
Expanding SCHIP Will Challenge State Finances: A State-by-State Analysis
By Greg D’Angelo, Michelle C. Bucci, and Marcus Newland
(WebMemo #1586)
State-by-state numbers on how Congress's SCHIP expansion plans would hit state budgets.

July 30, 2007
State Health Reform: How to Fund a Statewide Health Insurance Exchange
By Greg D'Angelo and Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #1573)
The five core financial components of a state health insurance exchange.

June 21, 2007
SCHIP and "Crowd-Out": How Public Program Expansion Reduces Private Coverage
By Andrew M. Grossman and Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1518)
As Congress considers expanding SCHIP up the income ladder, it should recognize that throwing more money into the program will increasingly "crowd out" private funding and coverage while doing less to expand overall coverage.

May 03, 2007
The 2007 Medicare Trustees Report: A Trigger for Reform?
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1442)
Congress should heed the trustees' funding warning and adopt the Medicare reforms in the President's most recent budget proposal.

April 17, 2007
The Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007: A Step Towards Government Interference
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1426)
Government negotiation of drug prices would substitute regulation and access restrictions for market competition and consumer choice in Medicare.

April 11, 2007
The VA Drug Pricing Model: What Senators Should Know
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1420)
Not only would the VA pricing model reap little savings in Medicare, but it would also fail to meet the needs of beneficiaries.

January 11, 2007
H.R. 4: A Confusing and Contradictory Prescription for Medicare Drugs
By Greg D'Angelo, and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1306)
The federal government cannot really "negotiate" drug prices in the Medicare program; it can only "set"prices, harming seniors in the process.

2006 Research

December 01, 2006
Why the New Congress Should Not Fix Drug Prices
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1270)
Fixing prescription drug prices in Medicare would likely raise costs and stifle innovation.

October 20, 2006
Building on the Successes of Health Savings Accounts
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1239)
How to improve HSAs and make all health insurance more affordable and better tailored to consumers.

2008 Commentary

September 15, 2008
Malpractice in Massachusetts: How Bay State Policy Undermines Health Reform
By Greg D'Angelo
Three years ago, faced with the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding, Massachusetts made a deal with Washington. No longer would those funds go directly to two “safety net” hospitals with little transparency or accountability. The money — along with anticipated reductions in uncompensated care — would, instead, be redirected toward helping the low-income uninsured buy health insurance.

July 08, 2008
Our health, ourselves
Yet feds have HSAs under the knife
By Greg D'Angelo and Ryan Lynch
To get a clearer picture of the competing visions for health-care reform, Americans need look no further than the surgery some in Congress want to perform on patient choice.

April 07, 2008
Costs will skyrocket as bureaucrats exert control over private health insurance
By Greg D'Angelo
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is mostly right when he says, "The reason people don't have health insurance isn't because they don't want it, it's because they can't afford it."
    Unfortunately, the Illinois freshman senator's big government, bureaucratic reforms would only push health-care costs higher.

2007 Commentary

July 28, 2007
Paying More to Help Fewer
By Robert Moffit and Greg D'Angelo
Among other proposals, the Senate is eying two plans to provide health coverage to those currently lacking insurance. Plan 1 would extend coverage to around 4 million Americans for billions of dollars. Plan 2 would extend coverage to 24 million for no more than we're spending now. Guess which approach Senate leaders are pushing?

July 26, 2007
The Middle-Class Welfare Kid Next Door
By Robert E. Moffit and Greg D’Angelo
Imagine three families with something surprising in common.