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Gov. Gregoire proposes new taxes in final budget release

Gov. Chris Gregoire offered her final biennial budget proposal this morning. In addition to required “current revenues” proposal – one that doesn’t rely on new taxes – she presents a plan to make the billion-dollar downpayment on the increased public school funding required by the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. From the governor’s press release: […]

A Few More Items on Health Care

Here is a map showing what states have decided to do about setting up health care exchanges, as of today. Nineteen states will set up their own exchanges, seven will partner with the federal government to set up exchanges, and 25 will leave it to the federal government entirely. On Monday, the Department of Health […]

The Costs of Medicaid Expansion for Washington

The Kaiser Family Foundation released “The Cost and Coverage Implications of the ACA Medicaid Expansion: National and State-by-State Analysis” in November. (Dick mentioned it in a post earlier this week.) Thanks to the June Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, states may choose not to implement the law’s Medicaid expansion. (There had been […]

Coming to grips with the costs of the Affordable Care Act

Costly Calorie Counting. In his column today, AWB president Don Brunell lays out some of the lesser-known but not inconsequential costs associated with the ACA. For example, tucked away in the 2,000-plus pages of the legislation is a requirement that restaurants and “similar” food retailers display calorie counts on their menus. Sounds reasonable in this health-conscious […]

From fiscal cliff to affordable care act, plenty of post-election unfinished business

Remember when elections settled things? OK, I don’t either. But there’s more than the usual clutter of unresolved issues on the agenda this year. The Los Angeles Times has a nice roundup of the states of health care, as more Republican governors opt not to set up the state exchanges prescribed by the Affordable Care […]

Medicaid expansion will add to state budget stress

In my column this morning I look at the costs of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Earlier, Emily and I have reported on the findings of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (here and here). Medicaid costs are one of the six major budget threats identified by the group and the one most […]

More from the State Budget Crisis Task Force Report

On Tuesday, Dick linked to the State Budget Crisis Task Force report. As he noted, the report shows how states face structural budget problems that were only exacerbated by the recession. The report’s “major threats to fiscal sustainability” include Medicaid, underfunded pension promises, and state budget practices — topics that we’ve written about often. Although […]

State budget sustainability and Medicaid … hard times (still) ahead

A new report from the State Budget Crisis Task Force, headed by Richard Ravitch and Paul Volcker, points to deep sustainability problems for state governments long after the economy recovers (may that day come swiftly). From the Wall Street Journal: Rising pension and health-care costs are hampering states’ efforts to improve infrastructure and provide college […]

Governors, economists tally the costs of Medicaid expansion under ACA

The New York Times reports today that the nation’s governors, meeting in Williamsburg, VA, are taking a cautious approach to the Medicaid expansion baked into the Affordable Care Act, but rendered voluntary by the U.S. Supreme Court. The initial reaction to the court’s ruling split along party lines. More than half a dozen Republican governors […]

Some Thoughts on the Health Care Reform Ruling

As everyone is well aware of by now, the Supreme Court ruled this morning on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Court upheld the law, including the individual mandate–but under the taxing power, not the Commerce Clause. Additionally, the Court decided that states are not required to take part in […]