Category: My Work

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Health Care Again

  By Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

Originally published at Third and State April 21, 2017.  News reports indicate that, as many of us had feared, the Republicans in Congress and President Trump have not given up on their effort on health care, not only to repeal and replace the ACA but to institute a per capita cap on Medicaid spending. The new plan, as we will explain in a moment, is even worse than the last one. But before we get to the details, we need to stop and ask, “why are we here again?” Knowing the answer to that question is critical to understanding what the Republicans propose. Why Health Care: Avoiding the Loser Label There are basically two reasons the Republicans are seeking a mulligan on health care. The first is that Trump and the Republicans promised to repeal the ACA and don’t want to look like losers to their hard-core, right-wing voters and… Continue reading

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Facts, Not Hysteria, About the Soda Tax

  By Budget analysis, PA Budget and Policy Center, Philadelphia, Sugary Drink Tax

Originally published by the Philadelphia Business Journal on April 20, 2017. Also at Third and State.  Co-authored by Diana Polson. The reaction of the beverage industry to the Philadelphia soda tax continues to be self-centered, hysterical, and dubious. Before looking at their claims, let’s keep in mind something very important: every tax has some negative consequences for some businesses. And, yes, it is a shame if some business absorbs some costs and a few people lose jobs as a result. But public policy has to be driven by the consequences for all of us. So, the question is not whether an individual business is hurt by the Philadelphia soda tax, but whether the city and its citizens benefit on the whole. We think the answer is clearly yes, not just because of the investment in Pre-K education and community recreation centers made possible by this tax, but because of the… Continue reading

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The (Wholly Inadequate) GOP Budget Proposal (HB 218)

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

The House Republican Budget proposal for 2017-18 is deeply problematic in six respects. First, the proposal does not close the state’s budget deficit, but leaves a gap of close to $800 million. Most of the revenue ideas presented by the House Republican Caucus to fill that gap are similar to the one-time revenues and fund transfers that have failed to fix our structural deficit in the past. The Republicans do not seem to be considering any proposal to increase recurring revenues by fixing our upside-down tax system. Second, the House Republican budget widens, rather than closes, the state’s investment deficit, especially in education, environmental protection, human services, and community and economic development: Education: It proposes $50 million less for Pre-K education and Head Start than the Governor’s budget, as well as eliminates the $8.5 million safe school initiative. Environmental Protection: It proposes $9 million less than the Governor’s budget for… Continue reading

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A Teachable Moment in the PLCB Debate

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, PLCB

Those of us who have been parents or teachers often talk about “teachable moments.” Teachable moments occur when something problematic happens from which we can learn some important lesson. The bills being considered today to privatize the operations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) give us teachable moments — moments that might help people understand why we cannot simply privatize the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board without the state losing $300-400 million per year in General Fund Revenues. HB 991 would create new franchise liquor stores for every 6,000 residents in a county with a minimum of 15 per county. That would create as many as 2,000 new liquor stores — far more than the 601 state stores already in place. The bill has a provision that is quite peculiar, but ultimately very revealing: it requires the PLCB to sell wine and spirit products to franchise stores for the same price… Continue reading

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Essential Benefits Are… Essential

  By Health Care, PBPC Blog posts

The ACA repeal effort failed in the House on Thursday. But it will be voted on today. And the bill keeps getting worse and worse — and that one particular way in which it got worse today may ultimately kill it, even if it passes the House today. A recent report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, points to some of the ways the bill that emerged on Thursday morning deepens cuts to health care: “The updated version makes additional changes to Medicaid that are even more damaging overall, including giving states the options to: convert their Medicaid programs into block grants; impose onerous work requirements on adult beneficiaries who are not elderly, disabled, or pregnant; and freeze enrollment in the ACA’s Medicaid expansion starting in 2020. These provisions would likely add to the millions of people who would have Medicaid coverage under the ACA but would become uninsured under… Continue reading

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Viruses, Health Care, and Communal Provision

  By COVID-19, Health Care, PBPC Blog posts

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. A few years ago, I wrote a piece that explained why health care has to be provided communally. I showed that without extensive communal provision through both direct investment and the subsidy of insurance that pays for medical care, we would have far fewer well-trained doctors, far fewer major medical centers, far less knowledge about and treatment for all but the most common illnesses, and most people with pre-existing conditions—that is pretty much all of us sixty years or older and many of us far younger—would not have affordable insurance for those conditions. We are now seeing one more reason why health care must be provided communally and why everyone must have not only health insurance but protection against the economic ravages of unemployment and underemployment. When we are fighting an infectious disease like COVID-19, one that spreads rapidly and is acutely dangerous, it is absolutely critical… Continue reading

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New Report Confirms Assumptions About PA Coverage Losses Under GOP Health Care Plan

  By ACA, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

A new study from the Center for America Progress estimates that 970,000 fewer Pennsylvanians will have health insurance if the GOP health care plan is adopted by Congress. The study also provides detailed estimates for how many fewer people will be covered by Congressional district for each kind of health insurance (traditional Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, marketplace, and employer-based insurance.) The CAP estimates are broadly similar to those we at PBPC have put forward. However, we believe that the CAP study underestimates the number of Pennsylvanians who will lose insurance under the Medicaid expansion by 2026. The CBO estimates that only 5% of Americans will still have insurance under the Medicaid Expansion by 2026. That estimate, applied to Pennsylvania, would mean that only 35,000 people will remain on the Medicaid Expansion by 2026 in our state, while the new CAP study assumes that 450,000 will still have insurance under the program.… Continue reading

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PBPC on CBO Score for GOP Health Care Plan

  By Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements

Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement following the release of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring for the “American Health Care Act,” the GOP House healthcare proposal: The Congressional Budget Office released its evaluation of the Republican replacement for the Affordable Act (ACA), the American Health Care Act (AHCA) today and, not surprisingly, the news is grim for the nation, and by extrapolation, for Pennsylvania. The most disturbing information in the new report is the prediction that 24 million Americans will lose health insurance by 2026. That high number reinforces our tentative estimate that at least 1.1 million Pennsylvanians, and probably more, will lose health care coverage when the AHCA goes fully into effect. It also lends support to our view that 4,000 Pennsylvanians will die prematurely because a lack of insurance will make it impossible for them to get the health… Continue reading

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Governor’s 2017-18 Budget Overview

  By Budget, Budget analysis, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget

In this research paper, Marc Stier, Stephen Herzenberg, and Diana Polson take a closer look at Governor Wolf’s proposed 2017-18 budget. Although we understand the political circumstances surrounding the Governor’s choices, we believe that his budget invests too little in public goods and asks the wealthiest citizens and corporations to contribute too little to our commonwealth. Click here to print or read full screen.  Continue reading