Here’s an amazing statistic: Texas created 37 percent of all jobs since the beginning of the economic recovery, more than any other state. Excluding New York and Pennsylvania, Texas has created nearly as many jobs as all other states combined. How did Texas do it? According to the Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, “Texas is doing so well relative to other states precisely because it has rejected the economic model that now prevails in Washington. . .all states labor under the same Fed monetary policy …
As Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) pushes the debt ceiling debate back another month, Americans remain skeptical about how such legislation can really help solve the current financial crisis. And while much ado has been made regarding the vote, it is really beside the main point of our economic distress. When considering the nation’s $14 trillion debt and bankrupting out-of-control entitlement spending, it is ridiculous to focus on how much more to spend rather than how much to save.
Despite President Obama’s assurances that his massive overhaul of the health care system would control health care costs and allow Americans to keep their current coverage, the outlook indicates otherwise. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) recently released its annual report on medical cost trends for 2012, and it is revealing. The report shows health care costs and premiums continuing to rise—and uncertainty increasing for employers who offer insurance to their workers. Health care spending increased by 7.5 percent in 2010 and will grow by 8 percent this year. In 2012, it will rise …
Successful health care reform requires bold changes, not more of the status quo. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of Medicaid, the federal-state partnership to provide health care to the poor and disabled. Unfortunately for taxpayers and program beneficiaries, this was neglected by Obamacare. The new law leaves failing policies in place while expanding the program to cover more than 20 million new individuals. This will only exacerbate existing problems. Despite the bad policies that are now law under Obamacare, some in Washington continue to recognize that Medicaid …
On Sunday, May 22, the team at Heritage Libertad hosted their monthly talk show on WEBR Fairfax public radio. The bilingual show – with the first half in Spanish and the second half in English – featured commentary on a broad range of topics. The English segment covered the economy, debt ceiling, the Heritage budget plan, and included a special interview with Rep. Peter Roskam (R – Ill.), Chief Deputy Whip in the House, who discussed energy prices. In addition to drilling, can more be done to bring down oil …
Fellow Americans: Today, I am excited to announce the release of The Heritage Foundation’s comprehensive agenda that sets a new course for the size and scope of the federal government. The new report, “Saving the American Dream: Heritage’s Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” lays out specific policy recommendations in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, the tax code and federal spending. Saving the American Dream envisions real solutions for staving off America’s potential decline while strengthening the economy for current and future generations. We are …
Spending on the two big health entitlement programs—Medicare and Medicaid—poses the threat of a fiscal meltdown if Washington does not act to contain their costs. Medicaid, the federal-state partnership to provide health care for the poor and disabled, is also a main driver of growing state budget shortfalls. According to the National Governors Association, the states collectively face $175 billion in deficits through 2013. Meanwhile, the program presents severe access barriers to care for its beneficiaries, resulting in low-quality coverage. If successful Medicaid reform is to occur, the first thing …
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new initiatives intended to provide states with increased flexibility to better manage their Medicaid programs. However, these initiatives do not seriously address states’ mounting Medicaid crises. The first HHS initiative is to improve coordination of care for individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, the so-called dual eligibles. Under Obamacare, 15 states will receive up to $1 million through a new bureaucracy focused on duals. While reform should address the problem of coordinating care for the duals, HHS’s approach …
Representative Paul Ryan’s (R- WI) budget proposal has been analyzed by Heritage experts: “It is an immensely detailed budget; I’m so impressed with it,” says Heritage economist Bill Beach, in a new Heritage in Focus. In this podcast, Mr. Beach discusses Rep. Ryan’s proposed trillions of dollars in budget cuts, lower corporate and individual tax rates, and proposed reforms to both Medicare and Medicaid, and what it all means for America and the budget fight moving forward. To subscribe or listen to our weekly podcasts, go here.
Recently in The New York Times, Robert Pear highlighted the major problems with the Medicaid program. His findings reveal that having a Medicaid card in one’s wallet is of little use if it doesn’t give beneficiaries access to the care they need. A woman with several herniated discs and pain in her neck and arms told Pear that her Medicaid card is “a useless piece of plastic. I can’t find an orthopedic surgeon or a pain management doctor who will accept Medicaid.” Pear interviewed doctors and Medicaid enrollees in Louisiana …
