Entitlements—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—threaten to bankrupt the nation. The unsustainable tsunami of spending on these programs will accelerate as 77 million baby boomers flood into them. Read More.
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the… Read more
Statement before Committee on Finance United States Senate July 7, 2011 … Read more
Abstract: In March 2012, two years after the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Supreme Court will hear challenges to the federal health care legislation. One issue the court will take up is whether the PPACA’s Medicaid expansion constitutes… Read more
Abstract: The current trend of rapidly rising health care costs is unsustainable. Many proposed reforms to curb spending rely on some type of rationing imposed by an unaccountable government body. A better alternative would be to allow individual consumers to make their own decisions… Read more
Abstract: Fifty years ago, America began a grand experiment by transferring to the federal government the fiscal responsibility for individuals with mental illnesses. During that half-century, it has become increasingly clear that the experiment has been a costly failure, both in terms of human… Read more
Abstract: During its five years of operations, Florida’s Medicaid Reform Pilot has been a decided success. It has improved the health of enrolled patients, achieved high patient satisfaction, and kept cost increases below average, saving Florida up to $161 million annually. Since then, Florida… Read more
Runaway spending and deficits continue to grow unabated in part because any attempts to rein them in are relentlessly demagogued by defenders of big government. The latest example is the budget recently authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and passed by the House of Representatives. … Read more
Saving the American Dream is The Heritage Foundation’s plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government… Read more
On April 15, the House of Representatives passed a budget that addresses the Medicaid crisis. Introduced by Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI), it repeals Obamacare and its costly Medicaid expansion and puts Medicaid on a more fiscally sustainable path. Ryan’s Medicaid reform ends the open-ended federal reimbursement of state… Read more
Abstract: While targeted public assistance can work, Medicaid has become far too large and unwieldy to serve those who truly need it. A variety of research shows that Americans enrolled in Medicaid have less access to health care, and when they do receive care,… Read more
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits… Read more
No class of American professionals will be more negatively impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act than physicians. Third-party payment arrangements already compromise the independence and integrity of the medical profession; Obamacare will reinforce the worst of these features.… Read more
The Administration’s health policy agenda—embodied in Congress’s two giant health care bills (H.R.3590 and H.R.4872)—is now law. The justification for the new law’s burdensome taxes, unprecedented mandates, deficit spending, and stifling government regulation is that millions of Americans will now be insured. But the real impact Obamacare will have… Read more
Families have good reason to be concerned about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010[1] will affect them. While the law will deliver a health insurance entitlement to millions of individuals and families, many of its provisions weaken family choice of coverage, undermine… Read more
Fulfilling their promise to voters, the U.S House of Representatives has already taken critical steps toward full repeal of Obamacare. But Congress cannot stop at repeal. Lawmakers should also set in place an alternative that will permanently fix the broken parts of the health care sector. Unlike Obamacare, Congress should… Read more
Abstract: If implemented as enacted, Obamacare will impose significant new Medicaid costs on states and constitute a major federal usurpation of long-standing state authority in regulating private insurance. This will be expensive and disruptive for those Americans who rely on individual or employer-based insurance… Read more
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has unveiled an ambitious health care plan that is comprehensive in scope, sparse in detail, and therefore uncertain in its cost and savings estimates. His proposals focus on three stated objectives: offering affordable, comprehensive, and portable coverage; containing spiraling health care costs and improving quality of care; and promoting… Read more
Abstract: On its one-year anniversary, Obamacare’s unpopularity is growing. Its hodgepodge of mandates and regulations have reduced competition in health insurance markets and increased the cost of coverage. Overall, Obamacare has increased government control of Americans’ health care choices and limited consumer choice. The… Read more
Americans want health care reform—but not the reforms put in place under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (PPACA). The new law moves America’s health care system in the wrong direction, transferring vast powers to Washington bureaucrats who will control the dollars and decisions that should be in… Read more
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for years 2012 to 2022 yesterday, and as...… Read more
Dark clouds hover over the nation’s finances and threaten a perfect storm of massive debt and crushing taxation unless...… Read more
As outlined in a Foundry post last week, the Justice Department’s objection to South Carolina’s new voter ID law is...… Read more
Florida’s Medicaid Reform Pilot is pro-patient and pro-taxpayer, and the Obama Administration agrees. In original...… Read more
Today, the Supreme Court released the oral argument schedule for the consolidated Obamacare challenges. The Court...… Read more
In January 2012, Medicare physicians face a 27.4 percent cut in their payment for treating senior and disabled...… Read more
Americans knew the negative impact Obamacare would have on the nation before the law even passed. Millions of Americans...… Read more
Driving the conversation: President Obama released his deficit reduction plan on Monday, which would reduce the...… Read more
In its yearly survey of health insurance coverage, the U.S. Census Bureau published figures that underscore the trend...… Read more
Last week's presidential debate at the Reagan Library elevated Social Security as a national issue that could reshape...… Read more
Senior Research Fellow, Health Policy Studies
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs
Director, Health Policy Studies