The Arkansas Project — Health Care Reform

The Health Care Boondoggle: Medicaid Doesn’t Improve Health Outcomes

May 2, 2013 Nic Horton 4 Comments

Any government program is, by definition, a failure -- unless it improves peoples’ lives. Some conservatives think that improving people’s lives through government is difficult at best (and sometimes impossible), and that the burden of proof is on the advocates of social programs to demonstrate that they truly help people. I tend to agree. So I watched in disbelief as many Arkansas Republican legislators recently went along with Governor Beebe’s plan to expand the Medicaid program -- … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arkansas Legislature, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: Arkansas, Avik Roy, economy, Forbes, Government, Greg Leding, health care, legislature, medicaid, obamacare, Reform, spending, stimulus, taxes

Fig Leaves & “Moving On”

May 1, 2013 Nic Horton 7 Comments

Advance Arkansas Institute President Dan Greenberg was recently asked to summarize the battle over Medicaid reform for The Heritage Foundation. His piece is on their blog, The Foundry. Here's a taste: In plain English, the maneuver Arkansas was contemplating would gain the state no additional flexibility on benefits or cost sharing beyond the (very limited) scope allowed under current federal Medicaid rules. Thus, the notion that the “private option” could somehow produce significantly … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: advance arkansas institute, Arkansas, Heritage Foundation, medicaid, obamacare, Policy, Republicans

Obama Admin Admits Medicaid Expansion Won’t Protect Hospitals

April 17, 2013 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you two news items that could change the shape of the Medicaid expansion debate happening at this very moment in Little Rock. First, you must read this article by Michael Cannon of Cato Institute that reveals: 1. The PPACA is not likely to reduce uncompensated care in 2014. 2. The PPACA won’t reduce the deficit. 3. Hospitals can stop crying poverty. 4. States don’t need to expand Medicaid to protect hospitals. How do we know all of this? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: Arkansas, cato institute, Healthcare, little rock, medicaid, obama, obamacare, Reform

“I Want to Believe” This Isn’t Obamacare

April 17, 2013 Nic Horton 1 Comment

X-Files fans are familiar with the poster in Fox Mulder’s office. If you weren’t an X-files watcher, you probably don’t know that Mulder, an investigator of paranormal phenomena, gradually uncovered an interplanetary alien conspiracy to take over our planet. It’s a free country: people are entitled to believe in interplanetary alien conspiracies, or indeed to believe in whatever they want. But if Fox Mulder were in the Arkansas state senate, that would be a problem. When people who are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: AAI, Arkansas, Friedman, Heritage, medicaid, obama, obamacare, Policy, senate

New Poll Shows Plurality Less Likely to Support “Private Option,” Oppose Medicaid Expansion

April 8, 2013 Nic Horton 3 Comments

Today, as the Advance Arkansas Institute kicks off their Medicaid town hall tour across the state, AAI has released a new scientific poll on the “private option” plan. The Senate passed the plan on Friday, although the results of this survey suggest that a 75 percent vote (which will be required in order to spend Medicaid money) will be difficult to achieve. According to the poll, a plurality of Arkansans are “less likely” to support expansion under the private option model -- they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Democrats, Arkansas Legislature, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: advance arkansas institute, Arkansas, expansion, health care, legislature, medicaid, Mike Beebe, obamacare, private option, Republicans

The Private Medicaid Option: From the Sphinx’s Mouth

March 27, 2013 Nic Horton 5 Comments

Yesterday, I attended a meeting of conservative activists and legislators at the Capitol. Senator David Sanders and Representative Randy Alexander were the guest speakers. The topic was Medicaid reform / expansion / the ”private option.” Winston Churchill famously said “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." Compared to the Medicaid “private option,” Russia is a first-grade textbook. Although Senator Sanders gave an extensive talk about the private option, its … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Gallery, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: Arkansas, Churchill, David Sanders, health care reform, insurance, medicaid, News, obamacare, Policy, Reform

Medicaid Expansion Carries Hefty Price Tag for Arkansas Taxpayers

March 22, 2013 Nic Horton 3 Comments

There’s been a lot of talk about the wonders of Medicaid expansion from the Arkansas media and from Republican and Democratic policymakers, but there’s been very little attention paid to the real cost. I have previously written that the expansion could cost Arkansans up to an additional $148 million per year. Now, the Heritage Foundation has released a study that shows a more complete picture: As you can see, expansion will cost Arkansas taxpayers a net $665 million through 2022 and will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: Arkansas, Democrats, health care, Heritage, legislature, Medicaid expansion, obamacare, Reform, Reginald Murdock, Republicans, spending, taxes, taxpayers, waste

Talking Obamacare, Medicaid Expansion With Paul Harrell

March 22, 2013 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

Yesterday I went on The Paul Harrell Program for our weekly segment. We spent the duration of the segment discussing Medicaid expansion, The B-S Plan, and how Arkansas can stop Obamacare. You need to hear this: … [Read more...]