On Nov. 4, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) narrowly outpolled challenger Jim Martin (D), 49% to 46%, triggering a runoff election held yesterday. This time around, Chambliss crushed Martin by a margin of 57% to 43%. Why the difference? The New York Times reports: Many voters interviewed Tuesday said the balance …
When selling his vision for health care reform to the American people, President-elect Barack Obama promised: “I will establish a new national health plan, similar to the plan available to federal employees and members of Congress, that gives every American the opportunity to buy affordable health coverage.” The Heritage Foundation …
It’s widely known that while there is some variation, in most states Medicaid reimburses physicians at significantly lower rates than private insurers. As we’ve previously highlighted, research indicates that these low rates of payment affect physicians’ decisions to treat Medicaid patients. While low reimbursement is a serious problem in Medicaid …
Senate leaders are preparing yet another big bailout package, this time for states in the form of increased federal matching rate for the $350 billion Medicaid program. If enacted, this would be the second time in less than ten years that Congress provided a “temporary” increase in the federal Medicaid …
National Journal’s health care experts’ blog today asked its contributors how the health care reform debate will change after Americans cast their votes tomorrow. Heritage’s Stuart Butler, vice president for domestic and economic policy studies, weighs in with this answer: It would indeed be wise for all those committed to …
As we’ve documented before, one of the major selling points liberals deploy when arguing for socialized medicine is how much government run health care will save Americans in administrative costs. And it is true: Medicare does not spend nearly as much on oversight as private insurance does managing claims. But …
Attempting to answer whether or not “Barack Obama supports Socialized Medicine?” CATO’s Michael Cannon writes: Socialized medicine exists to the extent that government controls medical resources and socializes the costs. … What matters—what determines real as opposed to nominal ownership—is who controls the resources. The particular decisions that government makes …
The Washington Post has a lengthy front-page story today on Barack Obama’s health care plan, which the newspaper admits contains “profound — and controversial — changes.” The Post tries to compare the Obama plan to Massachusetts’ 2006 health care legislation, asserting the only difference between the two is the individual …
The news from Hawaii that the state is ending its experiment in universal health coverage for children may well be the timely warning that Washington needs to avert bankruptcy. Hawaii has learned what some have known all along–that the cost of free care is unaffordable. The AP reports: “People who …
The federal government’s decision to become both a market player and regulator in U.S. residential real estate was a major cause of the financial crisis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, using their government-given advantages (including lower capital requirements, guaranteed access to federal credit, and a federal guarantee of their debt), …
