Tag: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Why S.C. Lawmakers Can’t Pass a Budget on Time

EVERY YEAR, LAWMAKERS TRY TO PASS POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL CHANGES THROUGH THE STATE BUDGET. BUT NOT EVERY PROBLEM IS A FUNDING PROBLEM. Legislators returned to Columbia July 6 for a third week of extended session. The purpose, in part: to vote on the governor’s budget vetoes and thereby finalize the fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget. The …

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 …

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 …

What Would the Founders Do about Medicaid Expansion?

 IT’S A QUESTION WORTH ASKING Earlier this month, the Policy Council issued our annual guide to the year’s legislative session, The Best & Worst of the General Assembly. In the introduction to this year’s booklet (which we comment to your attention), we reminded readers that, in our view, the proper goal of legislation “isn’t to …

Why Did Reform Die in 2013?

WHEN THE ISSUE IS THE PRESERVATION OF POWER, REFORM HASN’T GOT A CHANCE In 2013, despite all the rhetoric with which the legislative year began, lawmakers failed to pass a single reform. The question is: Why? Putting aside any unbecoming motivations lawmakers might have had to resist reforms in ethics law, the state’s government structure, …

“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) …