Health Care
Conservatives are talking about the implementation of Obamacare in the same thoughtful way they talked about its enactment—that is, as an impending apocalypse. READ MORE >>
What Oregon Really Told Us About Medicaid
A reason to rethink health care, not rethink Obamacare
More than a week after some very smart health economists released findings from a study of Medicaid in Oregon, policy experts, politicians, and pundits are still arguing over exactly what the study showed—and how, if at all, it should change what we think about making health insurance more available to the poor. READ MORE >>
The Supreme Court is About to Get Another Chance to Gut Obamacare
A new case in federal courts, if successful, would maim health-care reform
After the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act last June, Senator Jim DeMint and Representative Michele Bachmann wrote Republican governors, urging them to refuse to establish ACA-prescribed “exchanges”—statewide health insurance markets—for small businesses and individuals not covered by employer-sponsored health plans. At the time, it seemed unlikely that many governors would follow this cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face advic READ MORE >>
Democrats are Freaking Out about Obamacare. Good.
Questions about implementation are no sign of distress: They mean Congress is doing its job.
Democrats are worried about the implementation of Obamacare. And their angst is making news. Today Jackie Calmes of the New York Times reports that Democrats have been peppering the White House with questions—and demanding the administration start putting out more information, so that the law’s critics don’t soak up all of the oxygen on the airwaves. READ MORE >>
The New Study that Republicans Who Reject Medicaid Must Read
A report indicates just how important it can be in improving poor people's lives
A major new study on Medicaid just became public. I know—nothing excites readers more than the phrase “major new study on Medicaid.” Bear with me. This study is already getting a lot of attention: Conservatives and libertarians are citing it as evidence that expanding Medicaid is wrong. That has me wondering: Did they read read the same study that I did? READ MORE >>
Obamacare's New Paperwork Is Simpler than Private Insurers'
A reason to hope that implementation won't go as badly as people fear
The "chaos" of Obamacare just got a little less chaotic. On Tuesday morning, the Obama Administration released its new insurance application, for use on the new health insurance marketplaces. The marketplaces are for people without employer-sponsored coverage, and the idea has always been to make the application process as simple as possible. READ MORE >>
Why Obamacare Is Not a 'Train Wreck' (Again)
Max Baucus thinks it might be a “train wreck.” David Brooks is predicting chaos. And Democratic senators are telling the White House they are panicked. READ MORE >>
The Nicest Thing You Can Say About Max Baucus
The Montana senator is everything wrong with politics—but he made ObamaCare possible
Senator Max Baucus is retiring. And that means you are about to read a lot of stories about how awful his tenure was, particularly for progressives. READ MORE >>
The most important piece of journalism so far in 2013 was commissioned by The New Republic. Unfortunately, due to a dispute, it appeared in Time, an obscure publication where no one will read it. READ MORE >>
The Hell of American Day Care
An investigation into the barely regulated, unsafe business of looking after our children
It was 5:30 in the morning when Kenya Mire looked down READ MORE >>
