Our Health Policy Matters

The latest Obamacare navigator “compromise” may calm one small battle in Florida.  But it won’t end the war on Obamacare being waged by hypocritical public officials around the country. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Congressional effort to undermine the Obamacare navigation program in its entirety.  A House Committee has ordered nonprofits winning navigation grants to produce reams of material, and promises to punish those that have failed to comply.  Source: US Census Bureau Navigators will assist people in applying for public or private insurance to pay for their health care.   Navigators are not a new concept, created by Obamacare.  They are as old as Marco Rubio, and Obamacare is not the first federal initiative ever to fund them.  In fact, I implemented the policy of the Nixon Administration as a VISTA paralegal 35 years ago, navigating underinsured elders to the Medicaid program. So we know that navigators can be ...

The latest Obamacare navigator “compromise” may calm one small battle in Florida.  But it won’t end the war on Obamacare being waged by hypocritical public officials around the country. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Congressional effort to undermine the Obamacare navigation program in its entirety.  A House Committee has ordered nonprofits winning navigation grants to produce reams of material, and promises to punish those that have failed to comply.  Source: US Census Bureau Navigators will assist people in applying for public or private insurance to pay for their health care.   Navigators are not a new concept, created by Obamacare.  They are as old as Marco Rubio, and Obamacare is not the first federal initiative ever to fund them.  In fact, I implemented the policy of the Nixon Administration as a VISTA paralegal 35 years ago, navigating underinsured elders to the Medicaid program. So we know that navigators can be ...

In the nervous run-up to a possible military strike in Syria, fifteen members of Congress last week took time from their busy vacations to sign a letter demanding more information from governmental contractors.  But the targets of their attention were not the defense contractors who received $161 billion for their services.   They were universities, legal aid organizations, and small nonprofits who will share $67 million to help citizens apply for health insurance beginning in October. The Congressional Gang of 15 included Fred Upton from Michigan, Pete Olson, Joe Barton and Michael Burgess from Texas, Tim Murphy and Joseph Pitts from Pennsylvania, Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, Phil Gingrey from Georgia, Steve Scalise from Louisiana, Gregg Harper from Mississippi, Corey Gardner from Colorado, Morgan Griffith from Virginia, Bill Johnson from Ohio, Billy Long from Missouri, and Renee Ellmers from North Carolina. They sprang into action after the grants were a...

In the nervous run-up to a possible military strike in Syria, fifteen members of Congress last week took time from their busy vacations to sign a letter demanding more information from governmental contractors.  But the targets of their attention were not the defense contractors who received $161 billion for their services.   They were universities, legal aid organizations, and small nonprofits who will share $67 million to help citizens apply for health insurance beginning in October. The Congressional Gang of 15 included Fred Upton from Michigan, Pete Olson, Joe Barton and Michael Burgess from Texas, Tim Murphy and Joseph Pitts from Pennsylvania, Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, Phil Gingrey from Georgia, Steve Scalise from Louisiana, Gregg Harper from Mississippi, Corey Gardner from Colorado, Morgan Griffith from Virginia, Bill Johnson from Ohio, Billy Long from Missouri, and Renee Ellmers from North Carolina. They sprang into action after the grants were a...

Last week, I wrote about the states that have decided not to expand Medicaid this year.  The decision will cost them in money and lives.  But the 24 (and counting) states that have chosen to expand Medicaid will face challenges of their own.  As a new article in Health Affairs Blog reveals, expanding states will have plenty to do to assure that the benefits of expansion reach those most in need. The article, entitled Lessons of Early Medicaid Expansions Under the Affordable Care Act , reviews the experiences of five states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid benefits to additional populations using authority granted to them under Obamacare.  The five states were Connecticut, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington. All of the states were able to capture federal dollars to support state or local low-income insurance programs.  But, according to the authors, there were seven lessons these states learned that could be warnin...

Last week, I wrote about the states that have decided not to expand Medicaid this year.  The decision will cost them in money and lives.  But the 24 (and counting) states that have chosen to expand Medicaid will face challenges of their own.  As a new article in Health Affairs Blog reveals, expanding states will have plenty to do to assure that the benefits of expansion reach those most in need. The article, entitled Lessons of Early Medicaid Expansions Under the Affordable Care Act , reviews the experiences of five states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid benefits to additional populations using authority granted to them under Obamacare.  The five states were Connecticut, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington. All of the states were able to capture federal dollars to support state or local low-income insurance programs.  But, according to the authors, there were seven lessons these states learned that could be warnin...