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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
National Journal | Senate Finance Dems Vow to Block Altering Medicaid
On Tuesday, House and Senate Republicans introduced legislation to free states from a federal provision that forbids them from tightening Medicaid enrollment so that benefits are harder to get or beneficiaries are dropped altogether. The measure has support from Republicans and some Democratic governors, who say they welcome the additional flexibility in the face of severe budget shortfalls.
Politico | Eric Cantor: I’m still with Paul Ryan on Medicare
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is denying a published account claiming Republicans are preparing to ditch Rep. Paul Ryan's ambitious plan to revamp Medicare in pursuit of a debt ceiling compromise with Democrats - but both sides have begun seeking common ground on oil subsidies, sources say.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
Cato Institute | Paul Ryan's Medicaid Block Grants: Good for Maryland
What they mean is that they want to preserve the open-ended, perennial bailout that Medicaid has always offered.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Heritage Foundation | The State Flexibility Act: Moving Closer to Successful Medicaid Reform
Spending on the two big health entitlement programs—Medicare and Medicaid—poses the threat of a fiscal meltdown if Washington does not act to contain their costs. Medicaid, the federal-state partnership to provide health care for the poor and disabled, is also a main driver of growing state budget shortfalls.
Cato@Liberty | Obamacare on Appeal
As advocates gear up for the first appellate argument in the ongoing Obamacare lawsuits — Tuesday in Richmond — today marks an important milestone: the filing of two eloquent briefs responding to the government’s appeal of Judge Roger Vinson’s January ruling that found the individual mandate unconstitutional and non-severable, thereby striking the entire legislation.
Heritage Foundation | Doctors Need a Permanent Fix to the Medicare Payment Mess
Type the sentence(s) summarizing the link here.
Cato@Liberty | How Not to Criticize Medicare Vouchers
Over at The Incidental Economist, Austin Frakt challenges a couple of claims I made on NPR about Medicare reform. My claims are pretty simple.