» ObamaCare

Should Minnesota drop out of Medicaid?

John LaPlante — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:55:37 +0000

One of the possible consequences of ObamaCare is that states might come out ahead financially by dropping out of Medicaid–and without reducing the number of people receiving taxpayer assistance. First, here’s a quick review of Medicaid. No state has to have a Medicaid program, but all of them do. That’s because if they do, they [...]

Medical device tax hurts both patients and providers–and has big impact in Minnesota

Kim Crockett — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:19:20 +0000

ObamaCare created an arbitrary 2.3% excise tax on medical device manufacturers that could have a devastating impact on the jobs of over 26,000 people in our state who work for medical device companies. The healthcare legislation will fall heavily on smaller, start-up companies as well large innovative businesses that are essential to revitalizing our economy [...]

ObamaCare Disrupts Employer-based Insurance, Spikes Federal Deficits

John LaPlante — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:52:18 +0000

More evidence this week that ObamaCare means the end of health insurance as we know it: “A report by McKinsey & Co. has found that 30% of employers are likely to stop offering workers health insurance after the bulk of the Obama administration’s health overhaul takes effect in 2014.” That’s the lead in a Wall [...]

Health Care Insurance Exchanges: What is the GOP to do?

Kim Crockett — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:12:51 +0000

Here is an excellent summary by Kaiser Health News of the dilemma that GOP lawmakers face with regard to health care exchanges. The exchanges are required by ObamaCare. If Obamacare is not defeated either by the U.S. Supreme Court or by repeal by Congress, the state of Minnesota has to have an exchange in place on Jan. 1, 2014. Rep. Steve Gottwalt, who opposes ObamaCare, think the state is better off crafting the exchange sooner rather than late

Supreme Court to Consider ObamaCare Appeal

John LaPlante — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:47:01 +0000

Today is a big day in the legal challenge to ObamaCare: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear, on an expedited basis, the challenge brought to the law by Ken Cuccinelli, the attorney general of Virginia. David Catron has more.

Round 2: Obamacare and Judge Vinson

Kim Crockett — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:43:23 +0000

Update) The Florida case (involving 26 states) against Obamacare has a new development as of March 4th . The Wall Street Journal had the best summary I've seen so far. Vinson stayed his ruling/injunction while the case is appealed

House File 468: Prohibition of State Funds to Implement Obamacare

Kim Crockett — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:03:36 +0000

Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-25A Glencoe) will introduce House File 468 next Tuesday, March 8th. The bill prohibits the use of state funds to implement Obamacare. Kim Crockett is scheduled to testify about constitutional issues faced by state legislators

Reconciliation as a Tool to Adopt Health Care Legislation: Two Points of View

Kim Crockett — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:43:35 +0000

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy offers two very different points of view on the reconciliation issue. This is worth your time if you are trying to sort out this complicated issue. Here is the link to their web page and the articles http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/pubid.1792/pub_detail.asp We have reprinted with the Federalist Society's permission the introduction below. Reconciliation and Congress

New Federal Initiatives Project

March 10, 2010 Brought to you by the Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group There is a lot of discussion right now about the use of "reconciliation," a mechanism for enacting legislation to carry out the budget resolution that cannot be filibustered in the Senate, to enable enactment of health care legislation. As part of our New Federal Initiatives Project, we asked Martin Gold, a partner at Covington & Burling and one of the country's leading experts on congressional procedures, for a paper discussing the issues that this raises. The views set out in this paper are his own, not those of the Federalist Society. For a competing take on these issues, see “Reconciliation for Health Care Should Not Be an Issue” by Stanley Collener, a contributing writer for Roll Call who for most of his career worked on budgetary issues. Related Links

--"Reconciliation and Health Care" by Martin Gold, March 10, 2010

--“Reconciliation for Health Care Should Not Be an Issue” By Stan Collender, April 21, 2009, Capital Gains and Games

“Kill the Bill” Rally at State Capitol

Kim Crockett — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:25:25 +0000

We attended the "Kill the Bill" rally in St. Paul sponsored by the Minnesota Majority. Estimates on turn out range from 2,000 (state police) to 4,000. As always, it was a cold but not too rainy day for citizens to petition their government. Here are some photos from the event.