The continued growth in public welfare spending is unsustainable. The federal government is responsible for much of the welfare system, but states can adopt reforms that preserve welfare resources for the most vulnerable. By enacting reforms that promote work and independence, Pennsylvania can right-size state welfare spending and help more Pennsylvanians get back on their feet. Taxpayers deserve a welfare system that compliments a strong economy.

Health Care

States Get Green Light to Propose Medicaid Work Requirements

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 11, 2018

It's official: The Trump administration has formally endorsed the policy of work requirements for healthy Medicaid recipients. For years states have sought this flexibility to help beneficiaries of Medicaid—government-run health insurance…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Lawmakers Seek to Restore Dignity of Work

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 3, 2018

In the first press conference of 2018, House Republicans introduced a package of bills aimed at breaking generational poverty. Rep. Tobash urged reform given the desperate state of…

Media

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Health Care

Obamacare Exchanges Continue To Dissapoint

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 14, 2017

Open enrollment for Obamacare exchange plans ends on December 15. It is convenient to blame the new administration and efforts to repeal the law for dwindling choices, disappointing enrollment, and…

Media

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Health Care

Restoring the Dignity of Work

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 17, 2017

The benefits of work are widely known. Yet major welfare programs treat work as a burden instead of the pathway to prosperity. Restoring work in food stamps alone could improve…

Report

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Health Care

Wolf’s Wrongheaded Veto Threat

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 9, 2017

Governor Wolf intends to veto Pennsylvania’s welfare code (HB 59) due to a reform contained within the bill—even though the reform can reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. The modest reform instructs the…

Media

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Health Care

Five Medicaid Work Requirement Truths

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 24, 2017

Work leaves families better off. To ignore this fact and urge people to trust a failing Medicaid system is nothing short of a moral scandal.

Fact Sheet

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Taxes & Economy

SNAP Reform Shows Promising Results

  • Jessica Barnett
  • August 3, 2017

Innovative work requirements have the potential to transform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from a program perpetuating poverty, to one fostering prosperity. Now, data released by the…

Media

Read More: SNAP Reform Shows Promising Results

Health Care

Four Game Changing Welfare Reforms

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 11, 2017

The 2017-18 spending plan is now law, but officials still must find a way to pay for it. The latest version of the human services code bill includes a host…

Media

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Health Care

Meaningful Welfare Reform Included in State Budget

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 6, 2017

State lawmakers are scrambling to create a revenue plan that can balance the $32 billion dollar spending plan passed by the legislature last week. While talks of tax hikes, borrowing…

Media

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Regulation

Policy Memo: Ideas to Balance the 2017-18 Budget

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 5, 2017

With a spending plan in place, lawmakers should focus their efforts on reinventing state government to balance the budget, including ending horse racing subsidies.

Memo

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Health Care

Welfare Reform Efforts Gain Traction

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 27, 2017

Tax hikes or spending reforms? That's the question before lawmakers as the annual scramble to the June 30th budget deadline proceeds. So it's no surprise lawmakers are turning their attention…

Media

Read More: Welfare Reform Efforts Gain Traction

Health Care

What the Senate ACA Repeal Plan Means for PA

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 23, 2017

A draft of the U.S. Senate GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is out in the open. Overall, the bill is a step in right direction. The plan fundamentally…

Media

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Health Care

One Step Towards Redesigning Human Services

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 15, 2017

Governor Wolf’s proposal to merge four state agencies into the Department of Health and Human Services has the potential to benefit taxpayers and beneficiaries by eliminating bureaucratic redundancies and providing…

Media

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Criminal Justice Reform

Policy Memo: Principles for State Budget

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 14, 2017

With the 2017 budget, lawmakers have an opportunity to double down on the idea of reinventing government and adopt meaningful reforms that will save taxpayers money, stimulate economic growth, and improve services…

Memo

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Health Care

Saving Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 9, 2017

Obamacare proponents insist the American Health Care Act (AHCA) will cut $800 billion from Medicaid and jeopardize care for the disabled and children. This claim is oft-repeated, but it is patently false.

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Moving From Welfare to Work

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 24, 2017

Last week state house lawmakers gathered to gain a better understanding of the challenges people face when moving from the welfare system to work. Chief among those challenges is a…

Media

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Health Care

Obamacare Repeal Could Strengthen Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 10, 2017

There is no shortage of dire warnings from the press, medical industry lobbyists, and other left-leaning organizations about the American Health Care Act's (AHCA) landmark Medicaid reforms. At the…

Media

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Health Care

Latest Obamacare Repeal Effort Full of Opportunity

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 5, 2017

As the past seven years have shown, no one in Congress is qualified to make healthcare decisions for Pennsylvanians. The latest version of the American Health Care Act will give…

Media

Read More: Latest Obamacare Repeal Effort Full of Opportunity

Health Care

A New Wave of Welfare Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 26, 2017

Governors across the country are proposing game-changing welfare reforms and Pennsylvania should follow their example. Yesterday, Maine submitted a waiver to the federal government asking for permission…

Media

Read More: A New Wave of Welfare Reform

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