Econ Comments
WSJ | Medicare for a New Century
Paul Ryan's plan would modernize a program stuck in 1965.
NRO | Is AARP a Business?
The organization supported Obamacare to line its own pockets, a report suggests.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Premium Support in Medicare: What It Is and What It Isn’t
Yesterday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) unveiled his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. The transformative proposal would reverse the current trajectory of out-of-control federal spending largely due to the inclusion of a bold proposal to reform the currently unsustainable Medicare program.
Heritage Foundation | New Analysis Reveals Obamacare Will Cost More Than Expected
Heritage research reveals that “a close examination of what CBO said, as well as other evidence, makes it clear that the deficit reduction associated with [Obamacare] is based on budget gimmicks, sleights of hand, accounting tricks, and completely implausible assumptions.”
Econlog | If Economists Designed Health Policy
They would come up with something like this:
Heritage Foundation | New York Times Highlights Medicaid’s Problems
Recently in The New York Times, Robert Pear highlighted the major problems with the Medicaid program. His findings reveal that having a Medicaid card in one’s wallet is of little use if it doesn’t give beneficiaries access to the care they need.
Heritage Foundation | Side Effects: Report Reveals Another Flawed Obamacare Program
A temporary reinsurance program to run through 2014, the ERRP is an attempt to encourage companies to continue employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Heritage analyst Brian Blase pointed out in a recent report that this program “appears to be mostly a bailout for public-sector and union health benefit programs for early retirees.” However, shifting the cost of benefits for government and other union employees onto federal taxpayers isn’t the only problem with the program.
Econlog | Why Not Health Care Austerity?
Austerity has two major advantages over more "constructive" free market reforms:
Reports
Cato Institute | The New Health Care Law's Effect on State Medicaid Spending: A Study of the Five Most Populous States
Unless it is repealed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 promises to increase state government obligations for Medicaid by expanding Medicaid eligibility and introducing an individual health insurance mandate for all U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
