In 2006, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney signed Chapter 58 of the Massachusetts Acts of 2006 into law. Chapter 58 was designed to ensure that all Massachusetts residents would have access to some form of health insurance, and it accomplished this through reforms to the individual insurance market; subsidies to purchase health insurance; and an expansion of the Massachusetts Medicaid program, known as “MassHealth.” Many observers have suggested that the enactment of Chapter 58 in Massachusetts paved the way for enactment of the Affordable Care Act at the federal level four years later (although Governor Romney strenuously denied this during his campaign for President in 2012).… More
Category Archives: Medicare
Immigrant Access to Healthcare
Some things in the world would be much simpler if they stayed separate, but we all can’t have what we want. As health care lawyers, Tom Barker and I are used to navigating complex and intersecting fields of law such as tax, contracts, fraud and abuse, insurance, and federal health care program coverage and reimbursement. But we also know a bit about immigration law from our pro bono work representing individuals seeking lawful status in the U.S.… More
Implications of Trump Administration Executive Order for Health Reform in 2017
Summary
On January 20, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) entitled “Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal” to signal a clear message that “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a priority for the new administration. On the same day, the White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, issued a memorandum to executive agencies ordering an immediate “regulatory freeze” and directing the Departments to send no regulation to the Federal Register “until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President .… More
Video: Medicare and U.S. Healthcare Spending
Here is a video from my recent guest lecture at George Mason University about Medicare and U.S. Healthcare Spending.
Medicare and Medicaid Celebrate 50 Years
On July 30, the country marks the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Fifty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the two programs into law.
I am very proud to say that I have been involved in health care law and policy for more than one-half of the lifetime of these important social programs. My first job out of college – right after the 15th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid –… More