Forty states will have to spend more money on Medicaid if they accept Obamacare’s expansion of that program, according to a new analysis from The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis.

Some states, including New York and Massachusetts, could realize cost savings—in part by shifting costs to federal taxpayers. But these are the exception, not the rule. Most states can expect new costs to dwarf any spending reductions.

Moreover, Heritage expert Ed Haislmaier says even these spending reductions may not be realistic politically: “governors and state legislators should expect their state’s hospitals and clinics to lobby them for more—not less—state funding to replace cuts in federal DSH payments.”

Find out how your state will be affected in the list below:

You can also download all the charts in a single PDF file.

What do you think your state’s leaders should do to stave off this crisis?

Many state governments continue to resist setting up the health insurance “exchanges”—now rebranded as “marketplaces”—that form a core part of Obamacare.

“Right now, it’s more practical for states to hold off on the exchange mania,” Heritage Foundation health care scholar Ed Haislmaier writes in the Hill. For one thing, these exchanges impose huge new costs on states, and the alternative, letting the federal government run the exchanges, is far less costly.

He continues: Continue Reading »

Last Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced narrow exceptions to its mandate that employer-provided insurance cover contraceptives, abortofacient drugs and sterilization for all employees.

These new “accommodations” exempt houses of worship from the anti-conscience mandate. Unfortunately, as The Heritage Foundation’s Sarah Torre explains, other employers remain affected, regardless of the religious conviction of their owners:

Continue Reading »

Photo: Flickr/Wendy

The Heritage Foundation’s Alyene Senger reports some good news on Obamacare:

Though the government’s entitlement spending is still spiraling out of control, taxpayers have finally caught a break: The recently passed “fiscal cliff” deal included the repeal of one of Obamacare’s worst provisions, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act.

The CLASS Act was a new entitlement program included in Obamacare. CLASS was created as a voluntary, government-run long-term care (LTC) program. It was supposed to be fully funded from the premiums paid by its beneficiaries and require no federal taxpayer dollars.

But the program was so poorly designed—much like the rest of Obamacare—that even the Obama Administration had to admit it wouldn’t work.

Today’s Morning Bell points out other elements of the law that are under attack from liberals and conservatives alike.

Do you think Obamacare can be repealed piecemeal?

Heritage Foundation investigative reporter Lachlan Markay wrote a story last week that got people howling. The IRS recently ruled that some of the common devices used in veterinary offices will be hit be hit by Obamacare’s 2.3 percent device tax.  In response, many of the manufacturers are expected to raise their prices, which will raise pet care costs for concerned owners.

A survey in January 2012 showed that more than half  of 181 manufactures of medical devices said they would pass some or all of the tax on to their customers.  Among manufacturers here in North America, that number was even higher–58 percent. According to the American Pet Products Association, Americans spent over $13.5 billion on veterinary care in 2012.  This could rise under Obamacare. Continue Reading »

Be sure to read all the latest Heritage Foundation research on repealing Obamacare.

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Rep. Wally Herger (R–CA) has introduced an important Medicare reform proposal, one that’s very similar to The Heritage Foundation’s Medicare reform outlined in our Saving the American Dream plan.

Medicare reform is long overdue. It has been a decade since any major Medicare reform proposal was introduced to Congress, and Obamacare did little to fix it. And while Heritage continues to push for Obamacare repeal, we also continue to advocate for fixes to strengthen Medicare and other programs.

Heritage expert Rea Herderman explains how Herger’s proposal would work: Continue Reading »

American Medical News, a web site run by the American Medical Association,  recently cited a Heritage Foundation report about how Obamacare will worsen the health care provided by Medicaid.

From the AMA’s article: Continue Reading »

Photo: Flickr/wenzday01

Does President Obama’s reelection mean Obamacare is a settled issue? Far from it, Heritage Foundation scholar Stuart Butler argues on the Journal of the American Medical Association website.

In fact, the challenges facing Obamacare (formally the Affordable Care Act) are actually just getting started, Butler says:

The primary reasons for this are the continuing problems with the federal budget deficit and the national debt and the worrying long-term weakness of the economy. Add to that the increasing skepticism that the ACA’s blunt tools will slow costs.

Heritage’s Bob Moffit outlined a plan to repeal Obamacare earlier this year in National Affairs.

Do you think Obamacare will ultimately be implemented as-is?

“Job one for a new Congress and a new administration must be repeal” of Obamacare, Heritage Foundation health care expert Nina Owcharenko said today at Heritage’s President’s Club meeting in Washington.

In addition, Congress must fix entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. For example, Congress can replace Medicare’s “empty IOU” with a free-market premium support program that includes a true safety net for the neediest, she said.

To advance a conservative, patient-based health reform, Owcharenko said lawmakers must fix the tax treatment of health insurance to allow individuals to purchase their own coverage, independently of their employers. And we need regulations to complement a patient-based, market-oriented health care model. Continue Reading »