The recent Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate under Obamacare, requiring nearly all insurance plans to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, has sparked heated debate across the country. Although proponents of Obamacare have attempted to frame the debate differently, one question remains fundamentally at issue: Can the federal government…
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…
Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the…
House appropriators deserve two cheers for their recently released bill funding the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2012.[1] Disappointingly, the legislation only slightly reduces federal spending. Nevertheless, its policy riders take important steps in the right direction.…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) new preventive services guidelines are a disaster for freedom of conscience and a fresh illustration of the political hammerlock “reproductive rights” organizations have on the Obama Administration. Forcing private insurance plans to pay for morally controversial offerings such…
Abstract: Imagine that the 2010 health reform legislation goes into effect as planned. If the skeptics are correct and it fails to control long-term federal health spending, what could a future Congress do to modify it? There are three approaches. Congress could (1) clamp…
Abstract: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is not so much a set of norms to regulate conduct as an authorization to administrators to produce norms to regulate conduct. Implementation of the Act will require many years and literally thousands of administrative…
Among Obamacare’s hundreds of pages was tucked a new government-run long-term care program, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Program.[1] CLASS was poorly designed, and actuaries criticized it as being unsustainable well before the passage of Obamacare.[2] It appears from three recent congressional appearances…
Testimony before Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives United States House of Representative …
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are private insurance options available to Medicare beneficiaries. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)[1] cuts deeply into the projected payments to MA plans. Millions of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in MA plans, or who would have been enrolled if not for the cuts,…
With enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),[1] Congress is imposing a mandate on citizens, effective January 1, 2014, to purchase a federally approved level of health insurance.[2] Summary …
Abstract: Based on Washington’s record of health policymaking, ending or rolling back Obamacare is anything but implausible. Now that President Barack Obama has signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, much of the focus of…
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…
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)[1] sets new federal insurance rating rules that bar insurers and employer-sponsored health plans from imposing preexisting-condition exclusions under any circumstances, require insurers to provide individual insurance coverage on a guaranteed-issue basis, and limit the extent to which insurers can vary…
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),[1] the federal government, through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is legally required to sponsor at least two national health insurance plans beginning in 2014.[2] These OPM-sponsored plans would automatically be eligible to compete against private health…
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),[1] Congress has enacted record-breaking Medicare payment reductions. Most of these are reductions in Medicare payment updates to non-physician providers. To a lesser degree, these reductions are attributable to certain health care delivery reforms.[2] The Office of the…
Obamacare: Impact on Taxpayer Funding of Abortion The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will spawn a new wave of federal and state legislative debate—as well as judicial action—on abortion funding. Moreover, the executive order signed by President …
The Department of Health and Human Services has inked a $20 million contract with a top public-relations firm to sell...…
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Virginians witnessed an important victory for religious liberty last week. On Monday, Governor Bob McDonnell (R) signed...…
While the Supreme Court deliberates whether the Affordable Care Act should stand, the Obama Administration is busy at...…
Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) has found a new ally in its fight against the Health and Human Services (HHS)...…
Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate has raised many questions about freedom. One of them is whether religious liberty is...…
Today, thousands of Americans gathered peacefully at over 140 capitols, government buildings and historical sites...…
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) submitted a final rulemaking on the state health insurance...…
The fact that the Obamacare anti-conscience mandate undermines religious liberty for faith-based organizations has been...…
Journalists and pundits are chalking up President Obama’s plummeting approval rating to the high cost of gasoline. No...…