Heritage health care team goes the extra mile
December 18, 2009 | By Amanda Reinecker
While many in Washington shopped for last-minute gifts or celebrated at their office Christmas parties, Heritage Foundation experts were hard at work to expose the costs of the Senate's health care program.
Heritage health policy analysts Ed Haislmaier and Dennis Smith skipped the parties to prepare an important analysis of how the Senate proposal would impact the state finances. Working late into the night, Haislmaier and Smith crunched the data from several dozen states and discovered that the Senate plan would impose new burdens on state governments, which would have to pick up the tab for the new Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, Bob Moffit, the director of Heritage's Center for Health Policy Studies, worked to connect this analysis with our broader health care reform message.
This late night at the office paid off. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour spoke Thursday on behalf of Republican governors, and his remarks included Heritage's analysis of the Medicaid expansion proposal.
Gov. Barbour came to Heritage because our health policy team has been providing close technical assistance to the states on how to analyze the fiscal impact of the Left's health care bill. By turning to Heritage experts, state lawmakers are able to keep up with proposals on the federal level that impact their states.
Other Heritage work of note
- The Copenhagen climate change conference wraps up today. Heritage expert Ben Lieberman urges the delegates, and particularly the American team, to consider the real costs of the program. These facts, he argues in the Washington Times, should "stop the U.S. government from embracing an expensive, ineffective solution to an overstated problem"
- Washington has demonstrated time and time again that the "spend-money-to-save-money-approach" simply doesn't work. Many of the Obama administration's initiatives have been billed as cost-savers. But these spending packages have only paved the way for a $13 trillion spending increase over the next decade, which is hardly a spending reduction. Instead, the only way to cut spending is to cut spending, insists Heritage President Ed Feulner. "Instead of spending even more, our country should pursue more affordable -- and effective -- ways to encourage growth," he argues. "We simply can't spend our way to prosperity."
- "Studies confirm what common sense tells us: Being married tends to produce positive results — from higher household income to better education (and more enduring marriages) for the couple's children," writes Heritage expert Jennifer Marshall. Sadly, however, recent reports indicate that the state of marriage in America is quickly deteriorating.
- Congress is considering a law that would make the Federal Emergency Management Agency a cabinet-level department. But this change would only expand the size of the federal government without improving disaster recovery efforts. "America needs to support a strong, united" Department of Homeland Security, write Heritage's Jenna Baker McNeil and Jessica Zuckerman. "Keeping one of its biggest components within its ranks will help accomplish this task."
- Heritage's efforts to speak directly to the American people are drawing liberals' attention. Writing on the far-left Democratic Underground site, one blogger bemoans "The Heritage Foundation and their overwhelming presence on TV news."
In other news
- Defying pressure from the West to end its weapons program, Iran on Wednesday test-fired an advanced missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe.
- In an effort to restart stalled negotiations between North Korea and the West regarding nuclear disarmament, President Barack Obama has sent a personal letter to Pyongyang. Past presidents have written the North Korean leadership, though none have managed to effectively halt the rogue nation's nuclear program.
- California voters may vote on the legalization of marijuana as early as next November. The measure's supporters claim legalization would help balance the state's deficit.
- Senators voted early today to proceed with a military spending bill larded up with liberal pet projects and new social welfare spending.
- The Senate Banking Committee approved Ben Bernanke for a new term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. His nomination now proceeds to the full Senate for a vote after the New Year.
- President Obama spoke to delegates at the Copenhagen climate summit today and urged an agreement on new government controls on the economy. The administration is reportedly lowering expectations about the meeting's results.
Amanda Reinecker is a writer for MyHeritage.org-- a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Nathaniel Ward, the Editor of MyHeritage.org, contributed to this report.