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

Audio: Healthcare Solutions Week—What Comes After Obamacare?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 16, 2014

Four years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, few think healthcare is more affordable. Premiums and out-of-pocket costs are rising, a new wave of Pennsylvanians are losing their…

Media

Read More: Audio: Healthcare Solutions Week—What Comes After Obamacare?

Health Care

Obamacare’s Broken Promises Leave Pennsylvanians Looking for Solutions

  • October 14, 2014

Commonwealth Foundation Contact: 717-671-1901 Obamacare’s Broken Promises Leave Pennsylvanians Looking for Solutions Healthcare Solutions Week Highlights Genuine Fixes Last year’s disastrous Obamacare rollout had serious consequences. Here…

Press Release

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Health Care

Access to Care Still a Burden to Bear

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 8, 2014

Need to see a dermatologist in Philadelphia? If you are on Medicaid you’ll have to wait a staggering 49 days, according to recent Merritt Hawkins survey. This is no…

Media

Read More: Access to Care Still a Burden to Bear

Health Care

When the Poorest Fall Through

  • Priya Brannick
  • October 6, 2014

On a Friday near noon, on the top floor of Christ Lutheran Church, John Kiessling has patients occupying both chairs at his charity dental clinic.  He buzzes from one to…

Media

Read More: When the Poorest Fall Through

Health Care

Solving Health Care Without Obamacare Headaches

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 23, 2014

Montana’s Rib and Chop House in the Pittsburgh area is taking an innovative approach to providing health care coverage to employees, in spite of Obamacare. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports…

Media

Read More: Solving Health Care Without Obamacare Headaches

Health Care

Healthy PA Approved, but Still Room to Improve

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 29, 2014

On Thursday, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced approval of the Healthy PA waiver, including a new private coverage option. But the approved waiver severely limited…

Media

Read More: Healthy PA Approved, but Still Room to Improve

Health Care

Falling Through the Cracks in Obamacare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 26, 2014

Mark Ferkler is a Delaware County resident in his mid-thirties. He’s healthy, gainfully employed and now, thanks to Obamacare, is newly uninsured. Yes, you read that right — uninsured. Despite…

Commentary

Read More: Falling Through the Cracks in Obamacare

Health Care

Audio: The Beginning of the End for Obamacare?

  • July 24, 2014

This week, a federal court ruling shook the foundations of Obamacare by prohibiting tax credits and subsidies for health insurance policies purchased on the federal exchange. As Elizabeth Stelle…

Media

Read More: Audio: The Beginning of the End for Obamacare?

Health Care

Court Ruling Guts Obamacare Subsidies in PA

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 22, 2014

Back in 2012, many laughed at the idea of challenging Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates by arguing that the law as written allows subsidies for insurance in state exchanges only.

Media

Read More: Court Ruling Guts Obamacare Subsidies in PA

Health Care

Court Ruling Guts Obamacare Subsidies in PA

  • July 22, 2014

Contact: John Bouder, 717-671-1901 Individual & Employer Mandates Called into Question in 36 States Pennsylvanians May No Longer Qualify for Subsidies on Obamacare Exchange Good afternoon, Today, the…

Press Release

Read More: Court Ruling Guts Obamacare Subsidies in PA

Health Care

There’s No Such Thing as a Temporary Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 17, 2014

Last week, the House Health and Human Services Committee advanced HB 1492 to accept the Obamacare Medicaid Expansion. This move would shift the purpose of Medicaid from caring for vulnerable…

Media

Read More: There’s No Such Thing as a Temporary Expansion

Health Care

My Obamacare Agony

  • Priya Brannick
  • June 10, 2014

I thought I was lucky. The last day to sign up for Obamacare had arrived, and I’d managed to purchase a plan on the national Obamacare exchange. I was just…

Commentary

Read More: My Obamacare Agony

Health Care

Will Modified Medicaid Expansion Bring Needed Reforms?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 30, 2014

While Pennsylvania waits to learn the fate of the Healthy PA waiver, Indiana is making headlines as the latest state to propose a modified expansion. The Healthy Indiana Plan…

Media

Read More: Will Modified Medicaid Expansion Bring Needed Reforms?

Health Care

A Blueprint for a Prosperous Pennsylvania: Welfare Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 9, 2014

Pennsylvania is facing an estimated $1.2 billion deficit next fiscal year. To bring the budget into balance without tax increases or borrowing, spending reforms must be implemented. In our…

Media

Read More: A Blueprint for a Prosperous Pennsylvania: Welfare Reform

Health Care

Five Reasons the Exchanges are Failing

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 2, 2014

Over 8 million Americans and 300,000 Pennsylvanians signed up for health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges according to data released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)…

Media

Read More: Five Reasons the Exchanges are Failing

Health Care

Poverty Isn’t a Partisan Problem

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 29, 2014

Here’s a sobering fact: 13.1 percent of Pennsylvanians live in poverty despite billions spent every year on the social safety net. Simply throwing more money at the problem won’t make…

Media

Read More: Poverty Isn’t a Partisan Problem

Health Care

My Obamacare Plan is Failing Me

  • Priya Brannick
  • April 15, 2014

Tuesday is the last day to sign up for health insurance on the Obamacare exchange. Luckily I’ve already purchased an exchange plan. But barely one month into my new health…

Commentary

Read More: My Obamacare Plan is Failing Me

Health Care

Washington isn’t Interested in Fixing Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 4, 2014

“We have been legitimately working very hard with them and frankly, I’m very disappointed with the turn in discussions in the last week,” said Governor Corbett (paywall) on the federal…

Media

Read More: Washington isn’t Interested in Fixing Medicaid

Health Care

Obamacare Fails to Deliver on Key Promises

  • March 31, 2014

For Immediate Release Commonwealth Foundation Contact: 717-671-1901 Obamacare Fails to Deliver on Key Promises More Pennsylvanians have lost coverage than gained because of Obamacare March 31, 2014,…

Press Release

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Health Care

Protected from Obamacare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 31, 2014

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act promised to provide more affordable and better health care for all. Unfortunately, the law has delivered just the opposite—so much so that President…

Media

Read More: Protected from Obamacare

Health Care

Liberal Group Screams “Murder” over Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 14, 2014

This week, John Micek called out Keystone Progress on his Pennlive.com blog for what he termed a “disgusting” email that “has no place in our discourse.” What provoked this…

Media

Read More: Liberal Group Screams “Murder” over Medicaid Expansion