Clik here to view.
The Farm Bill Isn’t About Farming, It’s About Food Stamps
Today in East Lansing, Michigan, President Obama will sign the Farm Bill into law. The newest Farm Bill, typically signed into law every four or five years, picks up where the 2008 Farm Bill left off...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fixing Medicare's Unsustainable Growth Rate
In a move that should amaze and astound all health policy wonks, a bipartisan repeal of Medicare’s dreaded sustainable growth rate (SGR) mechanism is in sight. It is not perfect, and will likely face...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Record-High Deficits Are Not “Austerity”
This morning’s Washington Post contained a front-page article that included the following sentence:“With the 2015 budget request, Obama will call for an end to the era of austerity that has dogged much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Unfolding Fiscal Disaster Behind ACA Enrollment Figures
Earlier this month there was tremendous press attention to new data indicating that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s health insurance exchanges had surpassed 7 million. The White House...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Response to Michael Hiltzik on Reforming SSI
This article originally appeared in the National Review. I recently participated in a vitally important project that produced the YG Network’s new reformocon policy book, Room to Grow. I contributed a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rubio’s Retirement Security Vision
Last month, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) presented a program for modernizing our national retirement security policies to meet 21st century needs. Below I will describe the major features of his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Millennials Hurt Most by Growth of Social Security
Increasing Social Security benefits, as proposed by moveon.org, Paul Krugman, and U.S. Senators, may offer political benefits to legislators, but it will be expensive—especially for young people.Unless...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Better Health Insurance doesn’t Equal Better Healthcare
New data from the Oregon Medicaid expansion study—examining a 2008 lottery where 30,000 random winners, all low-income uninsured people, got the opportunity to apply for Medicaid—gives fodder for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Was Right About the ACA
Teaser: Four years into the ACA, it is remarkable how well our predictions have been borne out. Below I will resurrect but five of my own specific predictions about the ACA, contrast them with what...
View ArticleClik here to view.
US Laws Keep Immigrants Off Welfare
Teaser: Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously quipped, “You can't have free immigration and a welfare state.” Despite the children pouring across the southern border, America’s welfare...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A One-Sided White House Report on Medicaid Expansion
Teaser: The new White House report on Medicaid expansion argues that states that decline to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act are sacrificing important benefits. The report is essentially...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hepatitis Sufferers Can’t Access Lifesaving Sovaldi
Teaser: A miracle drug can cure Hepatitis C without side effects. But complex rules and restrictions may keep it from those who need it.A patient suffering from severe pain and cirrhosis resulting from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paul Ryan's New Upward Mobility Plan
Teaser: Scott Winship's take on Paul Ryan's new plan to expand upward mobility. The War on Poverty aspired not simply to move people above an arbitrary threshold by putting cash in their pockets...This...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Would Paul Ryan's Opportunity Grants Affect Poverty?
Teaser: In 1996, when President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (better known as “welfare reform”), I was a twenty-three-year-old liberal. After...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Delayed Social Security Reform Costs Us
Teaser: Contrary to the popular argument that we live in an age of austerity, we live in an age of extraordinary opportunity. Yet we block progress by refighting yesterday’s battles. In 2009 every...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Medicare Spending Will Rise Higher than Forecast
Teaser: And if the history with the SGR is a predictor of the ACA’s productivity adjustment’s ability to constrain payments to providers, Medicare spending will likely be significantly higher in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Would a Block-Granted Safety Net Mean Less Aid to Families?
Teaser: The crucial point to remember is that if the critics of welfare reform—myself included—had succeeded in thwarting it, low-income families would have been worse off, not better off.My last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Guide to the 2014 Social Security Trustees Report
Teaser: On Monday, July 28, the Social Security trustees released our annual analysis of the program’s financial condition. Below I attempt to highlight the most significant news in the Social Security...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Guide to the 2014 Medicare Trustees Report
Teaser: Should we be worried about the long-term fiscal picture of Medicare?My last piece summarized the trustees' 2014 Social Security report, which can be found here. This piece presents highlights...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Closer Look at Medicare
Teaser: A close reading of the Medicare Trustees' report indicates that we shouldn't expect too much moderation in health care spending.The Medicare Trustees issued their annual report on the program's...
View Article