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

Principles for Health Care Reform

  • October 11, 2012

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands Medicaid, subsidizes health insurance for middle class families, and creates new federal health insurance regulations. To pay for this additional spending, the ACA makes…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Principles for Health Care Reform

State Budget

Lowe’s Shows Dignity of Work, Helps Disabled

  • Charles Mitchell
  • October 11, 2012

The Union Party never minces words:  They believe the best way to help people is to grow government.  That’s the message they’ve brought to bear throughout the Corbett Administration,…

Media

Read More: Lowe’s Shows Dignity of Work, Helps Disabled

Criminal Justice Reform

Corrections Home Run for Gov. Corbett?

  • October 10, 2012

Under Gov. Tom Corbett’s leadership, Pennsylvania unanimously passed (Senate Bill 100) part of a landmark corrections reform package last session. SB 100, now Act 122 of 2012, aims to…

Media

Read More: Corrections Home Run for Gov. Corbett?

Health Care

Medicaid Expansion Bad Deal for Patients

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 3, 2012

Health care interest groups took to the press in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg to argue for expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania, but these advocates overlook the program’s flaws and its long-term…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Expansion Bad Deal for Patients

Health Care

Saylor Broaches Biggest Budget Buster

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 26, 2012

Pensions and transportation top the list of crises the General Assembly won’t address in their short fall session, but little has been said about the biggest budget buster facing the…

Media

Read More: Saylor Broaches Biggest Budget Buster

Health Care

How Much Will Obama’s Health Care Cost You?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 18, 2012

How much will the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) cost you? Our new policy points look at the cost Pennsylvanians will shoulder under the sweeping health care reform law.

Media

Read More: How Much Will Obama’s Health Care Cost You?

Health Care

Pennsylvania Medicaid Spending and the Affordable Care Act

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 17, 2012

Current Medicaid spending trends are unsustainable.  Medicaid spending (Medical Assistance and Long Term Care) consumes about 30 percent of Pennsylvania's total state operating budget.  In the past decade, Medicaid spending…

Memo

Read More: Pennsylvania Medicaid Spending and the Affordable Care Act

Health Care

The Affordable Care Act: Pennsylvania’s Costs

  • September 17, 2012

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—often dubbed "Obamacare"—will cost Americans $1.2 trillion from 2012 to 2022 according to the Congressional Budget Office. These projections do not account for the…

Fact Sheet

Read More: The Affordable Care Act: Pennsylvania’s Costs

Health Care

Medicaid Reform Saves Families

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 14, 2012

Laureny Sanchez is a widowed mother of four, including 14-year-old twin Alan, who suffers from a tumor on his pituitary gland, heart problems and other medical issues. Under regular Medicaid,…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Reform Saves Families

Regulation

Mailbag: What Bills Would Fireproof Economy?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 11, 2012

One of our PolicyBlog readers asks: What bills would help address the Four Alarm Fire you keep speaking about? Here are a few bills we have been tracking: Taxpayer…

Media

Read More: Mailbag: What Bills Would Fireproof Economy?

Welfare

Corbett Rejects Ruinous Welfare Reverse-Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 11, 2012

Gov. Tom Corbett has rejected the Obama administration’s waiver to water down welfare work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In a letter to the…

Media

Read More: Corbett Rejects Ruinous Welfare Reverse-Reform

Health Care

Reps to Guv: Reject Medicaid Expansion

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 5, 2012

In July, 45 members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives sent a letter to Gov. Corbett calling for him to opt out of the Medicaid expansion and the insurance…

Media

Read More: Reps to Guv: Reject Medicaid Expansion

Health Care

Medicaid Myth #3: Ryan Plan Kicks Folks Off Of Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • August 31, 2012

This concludes our blog series on the myths of the Ryan Medicaid plan. Wednesday‘s blog showed why Ryan’s plan would preserve rather than gut Medicaid and yesterday‘s post…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Myth #3: Ryan Plan Kicks Folks Off Of Medicaid

Health Care

Medicaid Myth #2: Medicaid Expansion Helps Poor

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Priya Brannick
  • August 30, 2012

Yesterday, we began a series on the many myths surrounding Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s plan to reform Medicaid. We started with the myth that Ryan would gut Medicaid,…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Myth #2: Medicaid Expansion Helps Poor

Health Care

Will Paul Ryan Raid Medicaid?

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • August 29, 2012

The 2012 campaign continues to center on candidates and their allies calling the other guys “extremists,” and few bear the title as often as Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan.  For…

Media

Read More: Will Paul Ryan Raid Medicaid?

Health Care

Fact Check: Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity and Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • August 29, 2012

Far from hurting the poor, Ryan's Medicaid plan will preserve their access to health care by making the government health care program affordable and sustainable. The plan has three main…

Memo

Read More: Fact Check: Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity and Medicaid

Regulation

Counties Clamor to Qualify for Flexible Funding

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 24, 2012

Thirty counties have applied for slots in the Department of Public Welfare’s Human Services County Block Grant pilot program.  Unfortunately, the pilot program was limited to 20 counties. The…

Media

Read More: Counties Clamor to Qualify for Flexible Funding

Taxes & Economy

Fix Welfare to Protect Poor, Save Taxpayers

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 21, 2012

Despite prevalent evidence showing the current welfare system does irreparable harm by trapping families and children in a cycle of poverty, presumptive Republican vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to…

Commentary

Read More: Fix Welfare to Protect Poor, Save Taxpayers

Welfare

Welfare Without Work Fails

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 15, 2012

The Obama administration recently relaxed welfare to work requirements, arguing it will help the truly needy. In contrast, Pennsylvania lawmakers took an opposite step by including new welfare work requirements…

Media

Read More: Welfare Without Work Fails

Health Care

ACA a Boon to Special Interests

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 13, 2012

Tim Carney continues to highlight the role special interests— including the largest players in the health care industry—played in crafting the socalled Affordable Care Act, dispelling the myth that…

Media

Read More: ACA a Boon to Special Interests

Health Care

Pizza, Burgers and Health Care Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 10, 2012

The devastating side effects of the Affordable Care Act are multiplying every day. It’s not uncommon to hear that premiums are rising, about 7 percent next year, according to the…

Media

Read More: Pizza, Burgers and Health Care Reform