Under Obamacare, Pennsylvania families have been forced to pay more for health care, and more than 800,000 Pennsylvania adults have received taxpayer-funded health coverage through a broken Medicaid system. Without Congressional action, states are unable to carry the full burden of Obamacare on their own. However, state policymakers can focus their own reform efforts on giving patients more control over health care and restoring Medicaid as a safety-net program. Access to health care should be measured, not by the number of those with insurance, but by the ability of individuals to independently secure the affordable, reliable care they deserve.

Health Care

Reforming Medicaid Is a Moral Imperative

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 17, 2017

Note: This op-ed was originally published in the Lancaster LNP. Do you know someone who desperately needs medical care but can’t access it? Few things are more heartbreaking. Helping people…

Media

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Health Care

7 Ways to Fix Health Care on the 7th Anniversary of Obamacare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 23, 2017

Seven years ago, Obamacare became the law of the land. Later today, the US House is scheduled to vote on a controversial repeal and replace bill. While the outcome in Washington…

Media

Read More: 7 Ways to Fix Health Care on the 7th Anniversary of Obamacare

Health Care

Policy Points: After ObamaCare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 13, 2017

Obamacare increased the number of people holding insurance cards but failed to increase access to quality and affordable health services. It’s time to put patients, not government bureaucrats, in charge…

Fact Sheet

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Health Care

Obamacare: Say No to Status Quo

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 7, 2017

A recent WSJ/NBC poll shows almost everyone supports reforming Obamacare. Only 4% think Obamacare is working well as is. A majority (52%) think it needs a major overhaul or…

Media

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Health Care

Double-Down on Reinventing Government

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 23, 2017

Imagine if Stephen King had written Green Eggs and Ham. What if Dr. Seuss had penned The Shining? Gov. Wolf’s third budget address was an equally disorienting shift in tone…

Media

Read More: Double-Down on Reinventing Government

Health Care

The Case for Block Granting Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 31, 2017

Governor Wolf is decrying efforts in Washington to give states more control over Medicaid through a block grant. This will have a devastating impact for many Pennsylvanians, and…

Media

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Health Care

4 Obamacare Failures & How to Fix Them

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 19, 2017

For almost seven years the benefits of Obamacare have been exaggerated and the costs severely underestimated. As repeal efforts gain momentum, many are understandably uncomfortable about another dramatic shift in…

Media

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Criminal Justice Reform

Embracing Innovation in State Government

  • December 21, 2016

Conventional governing is hampering Pennsylvania’s progress. Growing state budgets combined with one-time revenue transfers and targeted tax hikes are delaying the structural reforms essential to improving the quality…

Fact Sheet

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Education

Hits and Misses from the 2015-16 Legislative Session

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 5, 2016

That's a wrap. The 2015-16 legislative session is officially in the history books. Despite a $650 million tax hike, Pennsylvanians have a lot to celebrate from the past two years.

Media

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Health Care

Painful Year for Pennsylvanians on the Obamacare Exchange

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • November 1, 2016

Today marks the fifth open enrollment season for Obamacare's insurance exchange. As predicted, premiums continue to skyrocket. In fact, Pennsylvania's premium increases are among the highest in the…

Media

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Health Care

Record Premium Hikes Hit Pa. Exchange

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 18, 2016

Pennsylvanians shopping on the health care exchange are in for a rude awakening. Yesterday the Insurance Department announced premiums for individual plans will increase by an average of 32…

Media

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Health Care

Obamacare is Failing, But States can Bring Hope

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 29, 2016

Obamacare is struggling for survival. Despite victories in the courts, state exchanges are in trouble, and Medicaid expansion has been more costly than expected—with no evidence of improved health outcomes.

Media

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Health Care

Free Market Solution Expands Access to Care

  • James Paul
  • May 5, 2016

Harmful regulations prevent Pennsylvania’s nurse practitioners—highly-trained medical professionals who interpret diagnostic tests, treat chronic conditions, and prescribe medication—from doing what they do best: providing quality health care for patients in…

Media

Read More: Free Market Solution Expands Access to Care

Health Care

Improving Health Care Access While Cutting Costs

  • James Paul
  • March 23, 2016

Is it possible to improve health care access while also cutting a costs? Yes—according to a recent study by Edward Timmons of the Mercatus Center. Writing in U.S.

Media

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Health Care

6 Reasons Obamacare is a Failure

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 23, 2016

Lower costs? Improved access? Six years later, the Affordable Care Act still falls painfully short of these noble goals. Years after most of the ACA's “goodies” have been implemented,…

Media

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Health Care

6 Reasons Not to Celebrate Obamacare’s 6th Anniversary

  • March 21, 2016

6 Reasons Not to Celebrate Obamacare’s 6th Anniversary Problems Persist as Health Care System Flounders March 21, 2016, HARRISBURG, Pa.—Lower costs? Improved access? Promises made—and broken—in the…

Press Release

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Education

Redesigning Government to Balance State and Local Budgets

  • February 8, 2016

Pennsylvania taxpayers shoulder the 15th highest state and local tax burden in the country. Consequently, the Keystone State has seen an exodus of working people. Unsustainable growth in…

Memo

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Health Care

The Trouble with Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle, James Paul
  • February 1, 2016

As yesterday's deadline to enroll in an Obamacare marketplace insurance plan quietly passed, Gov. Wolf is boasting about Medicaid expansion—a major component of the federal government's health care overhaul.

Media

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Health Care

Celebrating Crummy Care

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 15, 2015

Midnight is the enrollment deadline for the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who want to remained insured through healthcare.gov. To no one's surprise, the rush to enroll has led to another…

Media

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Education

Philly Union Priorities: Politics over Teachers

  • James Paul
  • November 17, 2015

How would you feel if your employer took funds meant for your health insurance and spent them on partisan politics? Sadly, this is a reality for thousands of teachers in…

Media

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Health Care

Obamacare Premiums Rise, Again

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 28, 2015

Mark your calendars (for disappointment)! On November 1 healthcare.gov will launch its third open enrollment season. Here in Pennsylvania, premiums for the second highest silver plan will climb, on average, by 11…

Media

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