Second-Year Report Card: Lack of Bold Action = Lack of Improvement

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Second-Year Report Card: Lack of Bold Action = Lack of Improvement

Related Links: 2012 Report Card

It isn’t surprising that a year of no bold legislative or executive action to free the Rhode Island economy or education system from its shackles, or to lighten the heavy hand of government, was a year of no significant improvement in the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s annual Report Card on RI Competitiveness.

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Center Estimates Waste & Fraud in Rhode Island be as High as $185 Million

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The release by the Chafee Administration of a redacted report on waste and fraud in Rhode Island’s human services programs failed to provide the total taxpayer dollars discovered by Ken Block’s Simpatico software firm that were spent on illegal or other inappropriate activity; instead the report was limited to examples of impropriety and generalities of findings within the state’s Medicaid and food-stamp program.

Based on a brief analysis of related national findings and anticipated state budgets, the RI Center for Freedom ...

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Projo Omits the Real Story of Health Benefit Exchanges

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The Providence Journal’s article checking in on the progress of Rhode Island’s ObamaCare health benefits exchange ignores the major policy questions and potential objections that have made the exchanges a subject of controversy across the country.  With the exchange’s executive director, Christine Ferguson, as its only source, the article is little more than a preview press release for an expensive government service that is of dubious origin, questionable promise, and dangerous potential.

Here is a mere ...

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R.I. Creating an Expressway to Dependency

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R.I. Creating an Expressway to Dependency

The Issue. Rhode Island is leading the nation in the advancement of a larger entitlement culture via its planned expansion of social services through a health benefits exchange, a component of the controversial federal healthcare law. When collecting detailed personal financial and household information from individuals seeking health insurance support, the state intends to proactively enroll participants in other state programs for which they are eligible. Will this create and expanded culture of dependency?

Statement from CEO, Mike Stenhouse. “This is ...

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Why RI Should Opt Out of Exchanges and Medicaid Expansion

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Why RI Should Opt Out of Exchanges and Medicaid Expansion

Quick Links: download a printable PDF of this brief here;   go to our Healthcare home page here ; read our policy brief about a Healthcare Freedom Act here;   

News Coverage: GoLocalProv article - good discussion in the comments section; Pawtucket Times -  Think tank says RI should scrap health care exchange;

High Cost of State Implementation

The federal government’s healthcare law — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) — if fully implemented in ...

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RI Exchange Director does not Understand Free-Markets

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Click this link to hear the clip: press conference-wpromentions-clip

At the State’s press conference following the Supreme Court’s decision, WPRO’s Steve Klamkin brings up our Healthcare Freedom Act proposal to Healthcare Exchange Director, Christine Ferguson, who responded by claiming that the current state exchange is already market based.

Ms. Ferguson does not apparently understand what a free-market is. While she and the Governor may believe they are setting up some kind of market-based “exchange”, it is a far cry ...

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Healthcare Exchanges in RI Should be Replaced with a Healthcare Freedom Act

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Healthcare Exchanges in RI Should be Replaced with a Healthcare Freedom Act

Download a PDF of the complete policy brief here … CEO Stenhouse discuss state options after Supreme Court ruling, on the Helen Glover show; go to Healthcare home page here

In 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) amid great controversy. Passage of the bill did not resolve the dispute, and the law has ...

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