King v. Burwell: Reality Check for States
● U.S. Supreme Court defines federal agency as “state” ● Millions will continue to be subject to individual, employer mandates ● Only one way remains to circumvent ObamaCare Last week the Supreme Court issued its second major ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which once again sided with the Obama administration. The new ACA […]
Burwell: What Does It Mean?
THE BOTTOM LINE: WASHINGTON DOESN’T FORCE; IT BRIBES. Halbig v. Burwell, the legal case that’s now threatening to unravel ObamaCare, reaffirms this basic principle: that the federal government rarely usurps state authority by mere legal fiat; it does so, rather, by offering millions of federal dollars. Only then, after state policymakers have taken the money, does […]
Medicaid Expansion by Any Other Name
WHY THE ‘PRIVATE OPTION’ ISN’T PRIVATE AND SHOULDN’T BE AN OPTION ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion destroys states’ budgets, inflicts serious economic harm, and does little or nothing to help the uninsured. Many officials in “red” states apparently share that view, but the offer of “free” money from the federal government has proven to be extremely tantalizing. Some of these states […]
The “Nullification” Bill, Then and Now
WHAT THE BILL DOES, AND COULD, ACCOMPLISH Originally known as the “nullification” bill, H.3101 has gone through many changes since it was originally pre-filed for the 2013 legislative session. Here we compare the bill passed by the House in May 2013 to the latest strike-and-insert amendment filed in the Senate. The Original Bill The […]
How Do We Stop ObamaCare? Transparency.
WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING? HOW MUCH? WHAT FOR? The federal health care law known as “ObamaCare” gets more unpopular every week, but the question for citizens and policymakers is the same: What can be done about it? Many of the law’s critics contend that it can be nullified. What many advocates of this approach […]
The History and Lessons of Mutual Aid
WHAT COMES AFTER THE WELFARE STATE? Today the welfare state is omnipresent in every part of the United States. The federal budget is dominated by entitlement spending, with 45 percent of federal spending in 2012 going to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare (among other health care entitlements). Simultaneously, the states are struggling under the fiscal […]
S.C.’s Young, Healthy Adults: ObamaCare’s Impact
YOUNG AND HEALTHY? BE READY TO PAY UP. Now that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is actually being implemented, many Americans are not pleased with the law. One population of Americans that has begun to grasp the real import of ObamaCare on their lives is young adults. These people are the ones hardest hit by […]
Contract, Clarity, and a Return to Sovereignty
HOW TO STOP FEDERAL COERCION – INCLUDING OBAMACARE – AND ENACT FREE MARKET REFORM [PDF of full report here; a briefer version of the report here.] For three years, policy experts, citizen groups, and politicians have argued for multiple approaches to either blunting the effects of ObamaCare or abolishing it altogether. The Affordable Care Act […]
Best & Worst of the General Assembly is Here
WONDER WHAT YOUR LAWMAKERS WERE UP TO IN 2013? IT’S ALL HERE. Our annual guide to the year’s legislative session, The Best & Worst of the General Assembly, has been published. To download your electronic copy, click here. As in years past, we covered a large number of bills. Although it’s not feasible to analyze […]
“Certificate of Need” Program: Not Needed
A PERNICIOUS BARRIER TO HEALTH CARE FREEDOM HAS COME DOWN. IT SHOULD STAY THAT WAY. Last Wednesday, South Carolina House lawmakers – possibly accidentally – enacted the most pro-liberty reform of the entire 2013 session by sustaining the governor’s veto of funding for the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s (DHEC) Certificate of Need (CON) […]
