The Heartland Institute

This Obamacare thing is not going as well as some had hoped. Democratic senators, at a caucus meeting with White House officials, expressed concerns on Thursday about how the Obama administration was carrying out the health care law they adopted three years ago. Democrats in both houses of Congress said some members of ...

James Capretta makes an argument on the Medicaid strategy states ought to use that is worth considering and warns against accepting the Arkansas deal without knowing what’s in it: The GOP governors engaged in these direct negotiations with the White House are playing a loser’s game, and throwing away a historic opportunity ...

A New York judge has halted Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on sodas of unusual size . “The judge ruled the regulations are "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences," noting how there would be uneven enforcement within a single city block. The regulations didn't affect the Big Gulp at 7-11 because supermarkets and convenience ...

For governors who can’t just say no to the Medicaid expansion for political reasons, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s stance is going to be the guide: expansion into the exchanges, not the Medicaid program. Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) announced Wednesday that Wisconsin will not accept federal funding under the Affordable ...

You might think the Affordable Care Act’s primary aim, as the name indicates, would be to make affordable health insurance available to every American. You’d be wrong: Its aim was actually to make health insurance available to every American and empower the federal government to manage the insurance marketplace from on high ...

Much of the conversation during this election season has revolved around the word “access,” particularly within the health care space. What you ought to understand by now is that when most liberal politicians say “access,” what they mean is “taxpayer subsidies.” This is not exclusively the terminology of the left, but it is ...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recent proposal to ban the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks has received national attention. The ban would apply to virtually all sugary beverages—from energy drinks to sodas to pre-sweetened iced teas—at eating establishments such as fast food restaurants, delis, and sports ...

Last week I shared Ten Things Everyone Should Read About Health Care , which focused on big-picture debates on health care, entitlements, and broad reform of the American system. Today, I’d like to share ten things everyone should read about President Barack Obama’s health care law, which is such a divisive and significant ...

Yesterday, at the Republican National Convention, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice gave a superb speech covering many important issues. One issue she touched on that regrettably hasn’t been talked about enough this campaign season is education reform. For the United States to have sustained economic prosperity ...

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday morning, a report from the other end of the monopolization of health care services – what happens when a hospital buys out your specialist. Here’s an example: After David Hubbard underwent a routine echocardiogram at his cardiologist’s office last year, he was surprised to learn that ...

With the selection of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Mitt Romney’s running mate in the coming election, the issue of Medicare reform is likely to be the subject of loud demagoguery from now until November. This is nothing new; it’s already been going on for some time, in fact. But it’s likely to become much ...

Of all the absurd memes repeated by the policy-bereft media these days, the idea that Republicans have no plan to replace Obamacare is one of the most irritatingly false. Here’s the latest example at Politico , headlined “Still no GOP plan to ‘replace.’” Keep in mind how bizarrely ignorant this piece is by considering this ...

This likely represents the final edition of the Consumer Power Report prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care law. As I’ve noted in the past, the likeliest outcome is a partial strikedown – one that eliminates the individual mandate as well as the attached requirements of community rating ...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sodas and other sugary drinks is just the most recent, and most ridiculous, act by the self-appointed chief of food police for the nation, I write at the American Thinker: In the press conference announcing the move, Bloomberg rejected the idea that this would annoy people ...

As Medicaid continues down a fiscally unsustainable path, states are searching for ways to lessen waste, fraud, and abuse in the system. The state of New York employed aggressive fraud-prevention efforts, but objections from providers have caused the state to alter its approach. In 2006, Republican Gov. George Pataki created ...

The policy centerpiece of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposal this year is his Medicare reform. While Ryan’s approach builds on prior efforts, it differs in important ways from his prior legislative solutions, including last year’s Path to Prosperity. Ryan’s modified approach is essentially the same as one ...

At long last, two years after its passage, President Barack Obama’s nationalized government takeover of health insurance is headed to the Supreme Court’s chambers. This week marks the beginning of unprecedented arguments about a number of legal topics related to the law and its constitutionality. But this event is not just a ...

Some New York Medicaid recipients are scheduled to begin receiving health care services through new “health homes” beginning January 1, 2012. The program is intended to provide better quality care while saving the state millions of dollars, but the state still hasn’t let counties know much about how the new system will work ...

As states begin to estimate the price of implementing President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), one costly component of the law has yet to receive much-needed attention: accountable care organizations (ACOs). According to Obamacare proponents, ACOs will be federally financed organizations for Medicare ...

Some critics claim these clinics sacrifice quality for expediency, and collectively pose a threat to high standards of care offered in a traditional doctor’s office setting. However, this Research & Commentary package demonstrates: Retail health clinics actually help doctors’ offices by decreasing the burden associated with treatment ...