The Private Medicaid Option: From the Sphinx’s Mouth

March 27, 2013 5 Comments
skeptical Churchill

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: , , , , , , , , ,

Politico Is Telling It Like It Is On Health Care Reform!

March 20, 2012
© Alliance - Fotolia.com

Listen, we've written a lot here (see "Related Posts" below) about the state-level implementation of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, in all its misshapen, ill-considered, shoddily-drafted glory. "Glory" is not the word I was looking for there, but never mind. This week we mark the two-year anniversary of the enactment of this policy-shaped turd, and the excitement (?) is heightened by the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear the constitutional challenge to the law next … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Health Care Reform Tagged With: , , ,

A Way Forward On Medicaid Reform?

March 12, 2012
Arkansas Medicaid Spending: Visual Rendering

You, there! The one wringing your hands, trying to figure out how to handle runaway state Medicaid spending! This might help: Our pals at the Advance Arkansas Institute (AAI) are out with a short policy paper encouraging state policymakers trying to crack the Medicaid nut to look to Florida's recent reform experience. Christie Herrera with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) writes in an AAI guest brief (PDF) that as Arkansas stares down an estimated $300 million Medicaid … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Health Care Reform Tagged With: , , , , ,

More Obamacare Fallout: Arkansas Needs Doctors, Stat! (Updated!)

February 24, 2012
history_western_medicine

A recent Washington Post piece points toward yet another of the weaknesses of the 2010 Affordable Care Act/Obamacare that will make implementing health care reform a nightmare: the shortage of primary care providers needed to care for an explosion of newly insured individuals. The WaPo story estimates the looming shortfall at some 30,000 doctors nationwide: The greatest threat to the health-care overhaul might not be the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear challenges to the law next … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Health Care Reform Tagged With: ,

Arkansas Lawmakers Sign On To Obamacare Challenge!

February 14, 2012

...And the worthy effort to topple the rickety structure of the Affordable Care Act continues apace. The libertarian Cato Institute and a host of other organizations from the right side of the political spectrum, along with several hundred state lawmakers from points far and wide, have filed a friend of the court brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down this unholy law. Strike it down, they declaim! Included on the list are 58 Arkansas legislators, all Republicans, whose names I'll not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Republicans, Health Care Reform Tagged With: , ,

That Pesky Medical Device Tax: A Medical Manufacturing Insider Speaks Out!

January 24, 2012
Medical device tax

We wrote here previously about the medical device tax tucked deep inside 2010 health care bill (Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, pick your poison). That’s a 2.3 percent levy on sales of all kinds of medical devices used in diagnosis and treatment (excluding items sold directly to consumers over the counter, like Band-Aids and such), expected to generate $20 billion over 10 years. After my earlier post, I heard from some folks at Cook Medical, a medical device manufacturer located in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Health Care Reform, Tax Reform Tagged With: , ,

GOP House Members, Senators Blast Obamacare in Amicus Brief!

January 10, 2012
SOTU seal

Here's a notable development from late last week that escaped my notice: A sizable contingent of members of Congress (36 senators and 117 representatives, all Republicans, it appears) filed "friend of the court" briefs on Friday, Jan. 6, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Obamacare unconstitutional, reports the Capitol Hill rag Roll Call. The crux of the  matter is that lawmakers question the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and argue that the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health Care Reform Tagged With: , ,

Medical Device Tax Is Yet Another Looming Obamacare Nightmare!

January 3, 2012
Ancient surgical instruments

Hey, guess who's back after a holiday break? (Answer: Me). I hope your New Year's resolutions include reading up on the continuing terribleness of Obamacare. Because if not, we're gonna have a tough year together. We've been chronicling the unspeakable havoc wreaked by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, most recently with our post a few weeks ago on how a new 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services had hurt a number of small businesses in Arkansas and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health Care Reform Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts