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The Senate Republicans’ Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA) would partially repeal and replace Obamacare and make major changes in the Medicaid program. The bill would secure a significant federal entitlement reform by addressing a central health policy issue: the structure, function, and financing of the Medicaid program. It would achieve three major policy…

56% say Medicaid should target set spending to the disabled, elderly, children, and pregnant women in poverty based on their specific needs. 62% say it is a bad thing that Medicaid expansion spends money on childless adults, rather than the most vulnerable populations the program was designed to serve. 57% say it is a bad…

• No majority support for any single approach to reform
• 44% want to keep ACA but make significant changes
• Slight majority of Americans (53%) approve of the ACA

“The Senate Republican health care bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, is on thin ice, with about ten Republican Senators expressing reservations about the bill. Can Mitch McConnell get 50 senators to yes? What are the implications for the future of health care in America if he can—or can’t? To help answer these…

Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital in South Dakota is regularly full. Its doctors and nurses often have to work longer hours or perform elective surgeries such as hip or knee replacements on weekends. “In many cases, patients have to wait forever,” said Dr. R. Blake Curd, an orthopedic surgeon and the hospital’s CEO. “We don’t have…

A new government report explains why Republicans, after nine years of opposing Obamacare, are having such a hard time repealing it. The answer: It’s pretty much about the money. It’s not about providing Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.  Some moderate Republicans who profess concern for the needy are actually trying to shift more of the cost of providing them…

Republican senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are pushing for an amendment to the Senate GOP’s Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) that would substantially alter the current landscape of health-insurance regulation. They believe their amendment, which aims to give insurers much more freedom to offer any kind of product they want to customers, would go a long way toward…

The biggest problem with Obamacare is that it expanded health coverage through Medicaid, a program with notoriously poor access to doctors, because Medicaid pays doctors far less than private insurance. The Senate Republican health care bill aims to change that, by giving states the ability to offer an innovative new model to their poorest residents:…

For the better half of a decade, lawmakers in Washington have been experimenting with the nation’s healthcare policy in an attempt to bring coverage to all Americans, while controlling costs and sustaining quality. The Affordable Care Act was the climax of such attempts. While the ACA did bring some positive ideas to the table—such as giving more…

Senate Republicans returning from a July 4 recess are so divided over a health-overhaul bill that they are also struggling to agree on what to do if they fail to pass their legislation. Some conservative lawmakers say an implosion of the Republican legislation would give them a chance to return to their goal of fully…