Block Granting Obamacare to the States: Sense or Nonsense?
June 30, 2015
News Article
It’s been more than five years since the passage of Obamacare and the Republicans in Congress still don’t have an alternative that they can all agree on. It’s probably fair to say they aren’t even close.
So what’s to be done? As I pointed out last week, some Republicans want to shift the issue from their plate to someone else’s plate. Specifically, they want to shift the burden from the federal government to the states.
But what problems will that solve? Obamacare is funded by almost $2 trillion in revenues over the next ten years, including taxes on pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tanning salons, health insurance, and even the sale of new houses. Will the states be able to rescind any of those taxes? If they run short of money will they be able to raise them?
