Many Pennsylvanians face chronic unemployment, welfare dependency, and the cycle of poverty. This happens because labor incentives have been overridden by bad policies that keep millions out of the workforce and enact excessive red tape. We can reverse this trend by ending the practice of waiving work requirements on able-bodied Pennsylvanians with no dependents, removing barriers to employment for those seeking a fresh start, and creating a healthcare system without burdensome regulations.

Health Care

Many Pennsylvanians to See Insurance Premiums Skyrocket

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 3, 2013

Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges are off to a rough start this week. Millions were welcomed with error screens as they attempted to figure out if their health care costs would rise. Fox…

Media

Read More: Many Pennsylvanians to See Insurance Premiums Skyrocket

Health Care

Obamacare Victims Mount

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 30, 2013

By now we’ve all heard the stories of businesses laying off employees or cutting benefits to avoid the huge penalties and fines that will be levied under Obamacare in 2014…

Media

Read More: Obamacare Victims Mount

Health Care

Young and Old Will Face Premium Spikes Next Year

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 25, 2013

With only six days to go before the Obamacare health exchanges are scheduled to open, the federal government finally released some price data for the federal exchanges. Even though…

Media

Read More: Young and Old Will Face Premium Spikes Next Year

Health Care

Pennsylvania’s Poor and Taxpayers Deserve Better

  • September 16, 2013

September 16, 2013, HARRISBURG – Matthew J. Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, released the following statement in response to Gov. Tom Corbett’s “Healthy PA” initiative: We commend…

Press Release

Read More: Pennsylvania’s Poor and Taxpayers Deserve Better

Health Care

Healthy PA Can’t Cure Obamacare Disease

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • September 16, 2013

Gov. Corbett today unveiled a “Healthy PA” plan, calling for reforms to Medicaid while also accepting federal “Medicaid expansion” funds to buy insurance for 500,000 or more individuals on the…

Media

Read More: Healthy PA Can’t Cure Obamacare Disease

Health Care

Losing the War on Poverty

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 5, 2013

Bad welfare policy is robbing Pennsylvanians of a better life. Last month, the Cato Institute’s Welfare vs. Work Tradeoff study revealed Pennsylvanians can make more money collecting welfare than…

Media

Read More: Losing the War on Poverty

Health Care

Mailbag: Burdens of Obamacare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 3, 2013

Below are few of the most common questions I’ve received in response to my Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed on the failure of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to help low-income…

Media

Read More: Mailbag: Burdens of Obamacare

Health Care

Burdens of Obamacare – Commentary

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 30, 2013

Say you’re working your way through college, supplementing student loans with a part-time job managing inventory at Wegmans. You make a decent hourly wage, but your health insurance benefits are…

Commentary

Read More: Burdens of Obamacare – Commentary

Health Care

Want to Help the Poor? Don’t Expand Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • August 29, 2013

Yesterday, we talked about why Michigan’s plan to expand Medicaid was a bad deal for taxpayers. But expansion is a bad deal for patients too. Advocates of expansion make…

Media

Read More: Want to Help the Poor? Don’t Expand Medicaid

Health Care

Michigan’s Medicaid Mistake

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • August 28, 2013

Michigan’s decision to expand Medicaid leaves Pennsylvania and four other states to decide if putting more individuals into a government program is the best way to offer “affordable health…

Media

Read More: Michigan’s Medicaid Mistake

Health Care

Obamcare’s Premium Shock

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 19, 2013

Young adults who purchase their health insurance are in for rude awakening under the Affordable Care Act. The ironically-named law will force premiums to spike in order to pad insurance companies’ pockets. Is this what…

Media

Read More: Obamcare’s Premium Shock

Criminal Justice Reform

Obama Learns from Pa. on Corrections Reform

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 13, 2013

Criminal justice policy that offers less spending, lower crime and improved outcomes for offenders—too good to be true? Actually, that is the result of recent corrections reforms in…

Media

Read More: Obama Learns from Pa. on Corrections Reform

Health Care

Medicaid Abuse Shows Downside of Expansion

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 12, 2013

New polling shows 70 percent of Pennsylvania voters think we need to address waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid before expanding the program.  A perusal of the news explains…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Abuse Shows Downside of Expansion

Health Care

The Immorality of Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 9, 2013

Recently, I noted there is nothing moral about throwing more people into a broken Medicaid program without reform. Proponents of the expansion have twisted that statement to claim expansion opponents think no…

Media

Read More: The Immorality of Medicaid Expansion

Health Care

Podcast: Medicaid Expansion with AFP

  • August 9, 2013

Does Medicaid really help the poor? What are the consequences of expanding the program? What are the costs involved for taxpayers? How can you make your voice heard on this…

Media

Read More: Podcast: Medicaid Expansion with AFP

Health Care

States Use Federalism to Protect Poor

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • July 18, 2013

The debate in the Keystone State on the question of whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act looks to be ending. Governor Tom Corbett has successfully pointed out…

Commentary

Read More: States Use Federalism to Protect Poor

Health Care

Obamacare Failure: No More Affordable Care

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 15, 2013

Dan Lopez is a healthy 24 year old who rarely gets sick, and doesn’t see any reason to spend thousands of dollars each year on something he doesn’t use.

Media

Read More: Obamacare Failure: No More Affordable Care

Health Care

Obamacare Failure: Goodbye Jobs

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 12, 2013

Last week, the Obama administration tried to sneak through an Affordable Care Act (ACA) bombshell—the delay of the employer mandate. What does this mean? Basically, it acknowledges that as…

Media

Read More: Obamacare Failure: Goodbye Jobs

Health Care

Lawmakers Stand up for Taxpayers, Reject Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 2, 2013

Yesterday, 108 House Representatives voted to protect taxpayers from an expansion of the broken and unaffordable Medicaid program. You can thank them here. Medicaid expansion is an optional part of…

Media

Read More: Lawmakers Stand up for Taxpayers, Reject Medicaid Expansion

Health Care

Medicaid Expansion is Risky Business

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 29, 2013

Both Republicans and Democrats have recently engaged in some risky business by pushing for the Medicaid expansion. They’ve been quick to assure state taxpayers they won’t be left with an enormous…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Expansion is Risky Business