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Galen Institute Testimony to House Oversight Subcommittee Hearing Examining the Use of Administrative Actions in the Implementation of the ACA

"The Galen Institute has been chronicling changes made to the Affordable Care Act since it was enacted in 2010, and we count at least 50 changes -- 31 of them made by the administration. In addition, there have been 17 changes passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, and two changes made by the Supreme Court.... [This testimony] will discuss [1] examples of actions by the administration that are clearly contrary to the statute; [2] failed and successful congressional actions to provide legal authority to changing the law; and [3] additional changes only now being uncovered."

The Challenges of Obamacare: Testimony of Galen Institute President to House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health

"While I believe that the unlimited tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance does need to be capped, the ACA does it in a way that exacerbates the distortions by taxing the insurance company providing the coverage. If employers had more flexibility in structuring their health benefits to accommodate a tax cap, they would be able to engage their employees as partners rather than adversaries in finding more affordable health insurance arrangements."

Testimony of Galen Institute to Joint Congressional Committee on the Employer Mandate: Examining the Delay and Its Effect on Workplaces (PDF)

"Certainly a decision with such significant implications should have been reviewed by those in the administration with responsibility for implementing the law to determine its legality, its implications on other provisions of the law, and its implications for businesses and their employees. Now, employers are more confused than ever about what their responsibilities and liabilities are during this period of 'transition relief' from the reporting requirements. Regulations explaining the details of this announcement are not expected until later this summer, adding further to the uncertainty in their attempts to comply with the law."

Galen Institute Comment Letter to HHS on Proposed Contraceptive Mandate Regs

"The attempt by this tortured regulation to find an accommodation to the coverage mandate shows the extraordinary difficulty -- indeed impossibility -- of attempting to go around the constitutionally-protected right to religious liberty. The only way to ensure that employers' rights are protected is to eliminate the underlying requirement that they provide contraceptive coverage. The exceptions contemplated by the [proposed regulations] are insufficient to counteract the intrusions on personal liberty created by the coverage mandate."

Comments of Galen Institute on Medical Loss Ratio Requirements

"The MLR rules as drafted discriminate against Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and similar high-deductible health plans in a number of ways. These accounts provide employers, employees, and individuals with an option to purchase coverage with a larger deductible so that the polices function more like traditional 'insurance' -- covering medical expenses above a certain threshold.... The Galen Institute respectfully requests that HHS exempt HSAs and other high-deductible health plans from the MLR requirement[.]"

Opinion or Facts: Medicare Part D and Prescription Drug Prices

Excerpt: Competitive markets always do a better job of finding the price that works best for both buyers and sellers than government experts. This fact sheet was jointly prepared by health policy experts from the American Enterprise Institute, the Galen Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation.

Text of Amici Curiae Brief on the Minimum Coverage Provision Issue in Support of Respondents

"Galen Institute, Angel Raich, Docs 4 Patient Care, the Benjamin Rush Society, and the Pacific Research Institute have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the 11th Circuit's decision that the individual mandate contained in the health overhaul law is unconstitutional."

Innovation in the Health Care Sector Continues

"The Galen Institute held a conference ... in which speakers from more than a dozen companies described the investments they are making in better health, better health care services, and more efficient care delivery. They demonstrated that the best solutions to the problems in our health sector come not from remote Washington bureaucrats trying futilely to re-engineer our health sector through costly, cumbersome, and confusing rules and regulations, but from innovators who are listening to doctors, patients, and consumers."

Consumer Choice Health Care: Reports From the Field

Excerpt: The consumer choice health care movement is reaching its stride as the new products mature and reach further into the mainstream market. Early results are very encouraging. The vendors presenting at Galen's briefing all showed improvements in cost-containing activities by their enrollees and a new level of health care activism.

The HHS Contraceptives Mandate Isn't Fixed

"While the administration has expanded the definition of institutions that could qualify for a 'religious employer exemption,' the 'accommodation' is no different than the notice issued last year. The administration still intends to force health-insurance companies to provide the coverage."