The Heartland Institute

The name of President Barack Obama’s health care law is, of course, the Affordable Care Act. But a major clash has broken out in Washington regarding what that word “affordable” really means--and billions of dollars in subsidies hang in the balance. As we’ve noted in the past, Richard Burkhauser of Cornell was the first to ...

The average Illinois household could be facing higher hospital bills under Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s $33.8 billion proposed budget, which decreases how much the state compensates providers treating patients on Medicaid. Quinn’s office said under normal circumstances Medicaid spending should jump by $2.7 billion. But spending on ...

A group of Republican lawmakers in Washington, DC introduced a new plan to return more power to the states by combining Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program into a single block grant. The State Health Flexibility Act—sponsored by Indiana Republican Rep. Todd Rokita, with Republican Reps. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas ...

In March, Oregon Democrat Gov. John Kitzhaber signed two key pieces of legislation affecting the state’s health care system. Senate Bill 1580 establishes Medicaid “coordinated care organizations,” and House Bill 4164 will implement Oregon’s health insurance exchange under President Obama’s health care law, instead of waiting for ...

Kentucky’s $6 billion Medicaid system provides health care to more than 700,000 low-income residents. As with many states, the size and cost of the program has increased dramatically in recent years. This expansion and an attempt to shift to managed care have caused problems in several key areas, according to an evaluation ...

In a controversial decision that could change how low-income women receive health services, the state of Texas has pushed forward in its anti-abortion battle, igniting a public relations skirmish with the federal government. The state director of Health and Human Services , Commissioner Tom Suehs, signed a new rule that will ...

An audit of the state Department of Health Services, which administers Wisconsin’s medical assistance programs under the umbrella of Medicaid, has raised red flags pointing to potential fraud, waste, and inefficiencies which may have cost taxpayers millions. The evaluation by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB), a nonpartisan service ...

Patients enrolled in Medicaid have worse survival rates than those with private insurance or even no insurance at all, according to a new study focused on Ohio Medicaid recipients published in the journal Cancer . Researchers Siran Koroukian, Paul Bakaki, and Derek Raghavan compared survival and five-year mortality with Medicaid ...

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 ...

The White House has let it be known to its allies and friends that President Barack Obama is not going to stand idly by while his signature domestic policy founders below 30 percent approval. It’s time for campaign season, and the central case is for Obamacare: The White House is preparing a campaign to publicly defend ...

For the past year, we’ve been warning you about the evidence that Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges will be larger, and far more costly, than the administration originally claimed. The subsidies within the exchanges are simply too appealing, and it makes all too much mathematical sense for employers to shed coverage and ...

The news last week from the states is about continued pushback against President Barack Obama’s conscience overreach, as seven states filed suit against the administration for its latest mandate on all institutions to cover contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient services. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning took the lead ...

Washington, DC witnessed a confrontation last week that encapsulates, for good and for ill, the dire situation facing the United States – and the choice we must make if we are to recover and return our nation to prosperity. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the last standing member of President Barack Obama’s “economic dream ...

Last week, in the wake of incredible backlash from faith communities and employers across the country, President Barack Obama proposed a modified version of his conscience overrun: Instead of requiring employers to violate their consciences by funding contraception and abortion services without copays, he would instead require insurers ...

Welcome to the Consumer Power Report. Actuarial firm Milliman, Inc. is out with a major new study, which you can see here , conducted for the Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA), which examines the costs shifted to states as a result of Obama’s health care law over the next few years – particularly focused on the ...

In a few recent editions, we’ve discussed the ramifications and possibilities of whether the next president, if a Republican, will engage the political capital necessary to “repeal and replace” President Barack Obama’s health care law. This week, Norm Coleman – the former senator from Minnesota and a prominent advisor for Mitt ...

The new year brings us good, if not great, news within the annual cancer statistical projections for 2012, according to an annual report from Dr. Ahmedin Jemal. Here is a USA Today article on the report , and here is the report itself. During the most recent 5 years for which there are data (2004–2008), overall cancer incidence ...

Based on evidence Florida’s attempt to reform Medicaid is bearing fruit for the Sunshine State, Republican Gov. Rick Scott is seeking to expand it beyond its initial test counties. Florida passed its Medicaid Reform Pilot for five counties with bipartisan support in 2006. The program shifted health care from the government-controlled ...

Expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals results in better reported health and greater financial well-being, but also higher costs and greater utilization of care, according to a new study by researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Oregon Health Study Group. In early 2008 Oregon added 10 ...

Early in 2011, Oregon lawmakers passed legislation mandating the state’s Medicaid system be reorganized to use coordinated care organizations to provide health care services to recipients. State policymakers tout this transformation of the Medicaid system as a way to save money and improve care, but it’s unclear whether that will ...