Medicaid has made major headlines over the last year and for good reason. The welfare program originally intended to provide medical assistance to poor children, seniors and individuals with disabilities has expanded to include more and more able-bodied adults.
A program initially intended for the truly needy now covers 28 million able-bodied adults and costs taxpayers more than $500 billion a year.
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Americans should be able to reap the rewards of living in the country that has brought the world more new drugs than any other. President Trump has made fixing high drug prices a top priority. He will give a speech on the topic today. HHS is taking on this challenge focused on 1) increasing competition in drug markets, 2) giving Medicare Part D plans better tools to negotiate prices, 3) creating new incentives for drug manufacturers to lower list prices, and 4) new options to lower patients’ out-of-pocket spending.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are considering policies that would not only retain ObamaCare for the indefinite future, but also expand this health-care disaster beyond even President Obama’s ambitions. These proposals would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by shoveling billions of additional dollars in deficit spending into the pockets of insurance companies, which have been losing money on ObamaCare’s exchanges because of the law’s misguided one-size-fits-all approach. The real solution is obvious: we need to do away with this massive, expensive and unfair government program, instead of throwing money at a handful of corporations to tolerate it. But few have accused Washington of ever recognizing the obvious.
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As ObamaCare continues to collapse, options for quality, affordable health care move further out of reach for many Americans. This week, Senator Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and other Senate Democrats plan to offer their solution: a complete Washington takeover of America’s health care system.
A majority of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of their own “single-payer” legislation. This idea is good for whipping up the far-left base – and bad for everyone else. It will deliver worse care, inevitably leading to rationing. It also will be outrageously expensive for everyone.
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You won’t hear this from the establishment media but the Senate’s ObamaCare repeal bill contains massive tax relief for middle class families.
When it was signed into law seven years ago, ObamaCare implemented a health care system with top-down, bureaucratic command and control. The government told you what insurance you must have. And what you cannot have.
ObamaCare suppressed individual choice, competition, and state flexibility, and imposed a long list of taxes on businesses and families.
Republican Senators now have the chance to repair this damage by passing the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA).
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On Wednesday, Tucker Carlson debated Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Jonathan Gruber, often considered one of the “architects” of ObamaCare, on the merits of the law and why Republicans want it repealed.
Carlson said that 20 percent of those on the insurance exchanges only have one coverage option, and listed a few criticisms that Americans have of the law.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation,” Gruber said, adding that some costs increases have been slower than before the law was passed.
“Americans just dont understand what this law has done for them,” he said.
Gruber said that the richest Americans and the youngest and healthiest may have indeed been hurt by the law, but the fact they often must pay more for healthcare has helped others who are less fortunate.
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As the 115th Congress begins, I am honored to assume a new role as Interim Chair of the House Budget Committee.
It is an exciting opportunity, particularly as the first woman to fill the position, but more than any title before my name, I’m still most proud of the two letters that follow: “R.N.”
I graduated from nursing school in 1971 and still keep my license today. Those years on the front lines of patient care, primarily in emergency room settings, inform much of the work I do in Congress – especially when it comes to ObamaCare.
It’s no secret that Congressional Republicans aren’t keen on former President Obama’s health care law (of course, recent polling shows that a majority of Americans still aren’t either) but, for me, the debate has never been about politics. It’s personal.
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By nearly any measure, ObamaCare has failed: It didn’t lower costs, it didn’t increase choice, middle-class families continue to lose health plans they were promised they could keep, and Americans continue to call for ObamaCare’s repeal.
They spoke loudly again this November, and about 8 out of 10 favor changing ObamaCare significantly or replacing it altogether.
We in Congress hear you, and we have already begun to act.
The Senate is currently working to pass the legislative tools to bring relief to the middle class by repealing this partisan law.
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Grace-Marie Turner joined Ashley Webster on Fox Business to talk about replacing the failed Affordable Care Act. Turner pushed back that Republicans have no replacement plans of their own, emphasizing that HHS designate Tom Price has been introducing replace legislation since the ObamaCare debate began, many other legislators have comprehensive bills, and Speaker Ryan led a major effort last year to develop a “Better Way” plan. The leadership’s mission is to provide a transition—a life boat—for people currently receiving ObamaCare coverage while building a bridge to better coverage.
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Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner on the GOP’s plan to repeal Obamacare.