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

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

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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

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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

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Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Fails Poor, Taxpayers

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 21, 2013

Medicaid is a failed program that shouldn’t be expanded without reform. That was the message of yesterday’s House Health Committee hearing on Medicaid expansion. In contrast to House Human Services…

Media

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Health Care

Budget Could Transform Pa., For Good or Ill

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 21, 2013

About one week remains for lawmakers to finalize a state budget. But along with a spending plan, a number of major policy reforms remain in the mix. The outcomes of…

Media

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Health Care

More Reasons to Pass on Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 5, 2013

Elected officials are standing strong in their opposition to the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, despite a number of “independent studies” touting the benefits of “…

Media

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Health Care

Four Reasons to Avoid Medicaid Expansion

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 6, 2013

Medicaid expansion is bad news for all Pennsylvanians. Here are four reasons why: 1. Expansion undermines the quality of health care. Medicaid patients suffer from limited access to care. A…

Media

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Health Care

Reality Check: We’re Overspending

  • Nathan Benefield
  • May 2, 2013

Bad revenue collections and updated projections highlight a big problem in the state budget: We are spending more than we are collecting. The problem is much worse than a recent…

Media

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Health Care

Corbett’s Wise Medicaid Stance

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 30, 2013

While advocates of expanding the welfare state are using new studies to push Gov. Tom Corbett to expand Medicaid, his position of resisting the “free money” argument is wise given…

Media

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Health Care

States Fix Medicaid

  • April 26, 2013

That's why leaders in statehouses across the country should do the right thing and follow Pennsylvania's lead. Instead of waiting for dollars and dictates from D.C. to expand a broken…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Name Change Won’t Fix Welfare

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 23, 2013

Pennsylvania’s welfare system is broken, and significant reforms are needed to help lift individuals out of poverty. Changing the name of the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of…

Media

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Welfare

Reforms Bringing Sanity to Welfare

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 16, 2013

Last year the Pa. Department of Public Welfare implemented—and Commonwealth Foundation touted—a new asset test on food stamps to ensure those with means were not benefiting from programs intended…

Media

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Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Myths and Facts

  • April 2, 2013

For our fiscal health, and the health of families, we desperately need the flexibility to allow state officials to design a solution that fits the needs of Pennsylvanians-not an…

Fact Sheet

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Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Deals Don’t Deliver

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 1, 2013

Time is ticking for President Obama to get more buy-in on a pivotal part of Obamacare—Medicaid expansion. States are under immense pressure to accept an influx of federal funds in…

Media

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Health Care

Will Medicaid Expansion Boost Pennsylvania’s Economy?

  • Priya Brannick
  • March 29, 2013

A new study commissioned by the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania predicts that if the state expands Medicaid, the program will produce $3.2 billion in annual growth over…

Media

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Health Care

Note to Lawmakers: The Power Is Yours!

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 22, 2013

One of my favorite cartoon’s growing up was Captain Planet. The cartoon’s catchy theme song ended with an emphatic, “The power is yours!” It’s a message all of our state lawmakers…

Media

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Health Care

Expanding Medicaid: Eat Now, Starve Later

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 20, 2013

When the governor released his budget last month, the loudest opposition hinged on Medicaid - government insurance for the poor and disabled. Advocates of expanding the program via the Affordable…

Commentary

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Health Care

Sequester-Sized Savings

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 15, 2013

We’ve already busted the myth that federal money for the expansion of Medicaid is somehow “free.” As Nathan Benefield explains, government only distributes what if first taxes out of…

Media

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Health Care

Facts, Not Hate, In Medicaid Debate

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 6, 2013

“A few dying residents won’t matter to these people…”  So say supporters of implementing Obamacare in Pennsylvania about our friends at Americans for Prosperity.  AFP launched a new action…

Media

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Health Care

Medicaid “Free Lunch” Nauseates Lawmakers

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 4, 2013

Following news that Gov. Corbett was going to meet with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and rumors he might reverse his opposition to expanding…

Media

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Health Care

No “Free Lunch” with Medicaid Expansion

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2013

If I offered you a "free lunch" every day for the rest of your life, you'd take it, right? Oh, but there are a few strings attached. The lunch may…

Commentary

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