- On October 12, the Trump administration announced it would stop making cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, because it lacked a constitutionally valid appropriation to do so—an action that restores Congress’ “power of the purse.”
- While some have proposed that Congress should appropriate funds for the payments, such action would effectively reward insurers’ prior risky behavior—assuming cost-sharing reductions would continue to be paid, even after a federal judge struck them down as unconstitutional—thereby perpetuating moral hazard.
- A better course of action is repealing the undermining regulations surrounding Obamacare, which necessitated the unconstitutional cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers in the first place.
Consolidating Elections to Increase Turnout and Save Taxpayer Dollars
Uniform election dates produce four main benefits: 1) higher voter turnout, 2) election administration cost savings, 3) decreased likelihood of special interests dominating a low-turnout election, and 4) reduced election worker burnout. Key points: Seven states require municipal elections to be consolidated with even-year federal election dates. This increases turnout and saves $29.5-129 million for...