Fix Health Care Policy

April 4, 2013

Health Care News

Administration Rules Out “Deals” on Medicaid Expansion

Newscom

Last Friday afternoon, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a short frequently asked questions (FAQ) document that should remove any remaining belief that the federal government will give state lawmakers flexibility on the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. The message is clear: The only thing a state that agrees to the Medicaid expansion will get is a bigger Medicaid program.

The CMS reiterated the position it took in an earlier FAQ that the Obama Administration considers the expansion to be an “all or nothing” proposition for states.

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: burdensome, CMS, flexibility, HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, Medicaid Expansion, ObamaCare, States

August 5, 2009

Health Care News

Details Matter: A Response to Secretary Sebelius

Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s Washington Post op-ed shows that she’s studied the focus groups and tracking polls on health care: Just beat up on health insurance companies enough, and you can get Americans to accept a thousand plus pages of legislation that would do just about anything. And then, make sure to tell Americans not to focus on what the legislation actually says. She flat-out writes: “we can’t let the details distract us…” Just trust us. We are from Washington. We are going to rearrange the entire health system.

If it were a national economy, our health system would be the sixth largest economy in the world – larger than Britain’s entire economy. And remember, the guys who are rewriting our health care are the same people who not only grossly miscalculated the cost of Cash for Clunkers but are now hard-pressed to explain the legislation for that program. And it merely gives away money rather than affecting potentially life-or-death decisions. Ah, but let’s not be bothered with such details when we could be bashing health insurers. (more…)

Tags: Kathleen Sebelius

July 31, 2009