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The Heritage Foundation Papers: Health Care
The Heritage Foundation Papers: Health Care

• State Medicaid Reform First - Before Payment Increases
  Congress needs to get serious about Medicaid. To borrow a medical analogy: If a state is the patient, and Congress is its doctor, giving states a temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) to treat the problems associated with Medicaid is malpractice. Medicaid needs surgery, and increasing the FMAP is like giving it two aspirins instead. The temporary relief is not a cure and will actually make things worse for the program and states when it wears off.
• State Health Reform: How States Can Control Costs and Expand Coverage
  The rising cost of health care for states and their citizens is often assumed to be a problem solely in search of a federal solution. State officials should ignore those who insist that the only solution is to obtain more money from the federal government and instead focus new efforts on returning competition to their states’ health insurance markets.
• State Health Reform: Converting Medicaid Dollars into Premium Assistance
  State policymakers can improve Medicaid by using the flexibilities provided by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to redesign cov­erage of low-income working families into
  a system of premium assistance—a govern­ment contribution to health insurance—that would reconnect much of the Medicaid popu­lation with the private health insurance mar­kets that serve the majority of Americans.
• Executive Summary: State Health Reform: Converting Medicaid Dollars into Premium Assistance
  State policymakers can improve Medicaid by using the flexibilities provided by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to redesign cov­erage of low-income working families into
  a system of premium assistance—a govern­ment contribution to health insurance—that would reconnect much of the Medicaid popu­lation with the private health insurance mar­kets that serve the majority of Americans.
• Reforming Health Care to Protect Parents' Rights
  Medicaid, SCHIP, Title X, and other government health care programs deny parents the right to know which medical services their children receive, even when the services include birth control, psychiatric counseling, or substance-abuse therapy. Reform based on personal choice and competition allows parents to ensure that the medical decisions that affect their families are compatible with their moral judgments.
• SCHIP: How Congress Can Avoid Repeating Last Year's Mistakes
  Congress can return SCHIP to its original focus on uninsured low-income children by setting a firm cap on eligibility that applies to both SCHIP and Medicaid and by restoring fiscal discipline. Blindly expanding SCHIP up the income scale would eclipse the potential of more desirable alternatives, especially refundable health care tax credits, which have already attracted a bipartisan and philosophical consensus.
• Executive Summary: SCHIP: How Congress Can Avoid Repeating Last Year's Mistakes
  Congress can return SCHIP to its original focus on uninsured low-income children by setting a firm cap on eligibility that applies to both SCHIP and Medicaid and by restoring fiscal discipline. Blindly expanding SCHIP up the income scale would eclipse the potential of more desirable alternatives, especially refundable health care tax credits, which have already attracted a bipartisan and philosophical consensus.
• Medicare's Financial Woes: Bigger Than Official Estimates
  Medicare is financially unsustainable in its current form. The Medicare Trustees’ 2008 estimate of the program’s total excess costs is $85.6 trillion. The Trustees acknowledge an important, flawed assumption used in developing their estimate of excess costs. If corrected, Medicare’s excess costs would increase, underscoring the need to reform Medicare quickly and substantially.
• State Health Care Reform: Retargeting Medicaid Hospital Payments to Expand Health Insurance Coverage
  State officials must decide whether to use existing government health care funding to help individuals and families buy health insurance or continue funneling taxpayer dollars into existing health care institutions to defray the costs of emergency-room care for the uninsured. Transferring Medicaid dollars to help poorer individuals and families access solid private coverage can begin to change the broader health care system.
• Executive Summary: State Health Care Reform: Retargeting Medicaid Hospital Payments to Expand Health Insurance Coverage
  State officials must decide whether to use existing government health care funding to help individuals and families buy health insurance or continue funneling taxpayer dollars into existing health care institutions to defray the costs of emergency-room care for the uninsured. Transferring Medicaid dollars to help poorer individuals and families access solid private coverage can begin to change the broader health care system.