Discussions of the ethics of health care financing typically focus on issues of equity and social justice. Yet such discussions are more often about means than ends. Contrary to the impression given by occasionally heated political rhetoric, there, in fact, exists a broad consensus across the political spectrum that modern societies have an obligation to ensure that all…
In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) completed data collection for its third-grade follow-up study of Head Start, a federal preschool program designed to improve the kindergarten readiness of low-income children. Four years later, just before Christmas, the agency finally published the results of the congressionally mandated evaluation. The report’s…
Recent decisions by the Obama Administration concerning the health care exchanges and Medicaid expansion underscore what a risky proposition the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is for the states. Congress presumed in PPACA (Obamacare) that the states would agree to build and run exchanges and could be forced to expand Medicaid. The Supreme Court,…
Abstract: The rush to issue regulations for implementing the most popular parts of the President’s health insurance bill resulted in eight “economically significant” regulations of remarkably poor quality, according to Jerry Ellig of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and Christopher Conover of Duke University. They detailed major deficiencies in the…
In July of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted itself authority to “waive compliance” with all of the work provisions in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. HHS has declared that the work requirements written in the law are no longer legally binding on state governments and that they can and will be replaced by…
Obamacare is under review by the Supreme Court because of its constitutionally suspect provisions, namely the “individual mandate” and the coercive Medicaid provisions. Certainly, the Court would do the country an immense favor by striking down the entire law so the decks were cleared for a sensible, market-based reform plan. But in the event that the Court does not…
On March 21, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (referred to herein, either individually or in any combination of these or certain other federal government sources, as the “Government” or the “Obama Administration”) published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the…
Abstract: James Madison once wrote that “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” Yet this sacred property is now under assault from an increasingly avaricious federal government. The contraceptive mandate—a regulatory mandate issued pursuant to Obamacare—requires that religiously affiliated institutions provide contraceptives or abortifacients. Providing such…
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 lives and in terms of dollars. The outcome was, in fact, clear as early as…
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 the nation’s ongoing health care debate will center on the impact of Obamacare’s…
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 as contraception, sterilization, and…
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 premiums based…
The FY 2013 version of the Appropriations Tracker is available here. 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 Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 monitors the progress of appropriations bills as they move through the…
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 Under Section 1501, individuals will be assessed a monetary penalty if they do not purchase a health insurance plan that meets the…
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, will experience very substantial reductions in the value…
Obamacare’s threats to religious freedom were denounced on the floor of the House of Representatives this week. “All...…
This week, the Obama Administration agreed to allow the sale of Plan B One-Step, also known as the “morning-after”...…
The states play an important role in protecting citizens against this flawed federal health care law–from challenging...…
Three family businesses were in court this week asking federal judges for relief from a coercive Obamacare mandate...…
Over the past week, the Obama Administration has been hit with scandal after scandal. The Internal Revenue Service...…
Members of the House of Representatives are scheduled to vote Thursday to repeal all of Obamacare. Given that the...…
President Obama had been seeking ways to circumvent the 1996 welfare work requirements since coming to office,...…
On Tuesday, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the non-prescription sale of Plan B One-Step to girls as...…
As action to stop Obamacare languishes in Washington, the debate continues at the state level. Heritage is hosting a...…
On Monday, hundreds of thousands of public comments flooded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as...…