Cristy Gallagher on Pennsylvania's Health Plan in The Patriot News

Communications — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:41:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Gov. Ed Rendell aims to make health insurance affordable for all Pennsylvanians. The Democratic governor's "Prescription for Pennsylvania" remains one of the largest proposals of any state, according to health policy advocates. Here is how it compares with similar proposals in California and Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts already has a law, pushed by former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, that requires every resident to obtain health insurance. Coverage is mandatory, and those without policies face a fine equal to half the cost of the average insurance policy.

Rendell's plan doesn't have that requirement...

CALIFORNIA

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan would be the largest and most ambitious by attempting to mandate health insurance and covering 61/2 times as many people without insurance as Rendell's proposal.

"All plans look piddly next to Arnold's," said Christy Gallagher, a health policy expert at the New America Foundation, which helped craft the proposal for Schwarzenegger, a Republican...

For the complete article, please visit The Patriot News website.

Michael Dannenberg on Student Loan Inefficiency in the Patriot-News

Communications — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 05:27:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The state's student financial aid agency is under federal investigation to determine if it collected too much money from the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Education's inspector general yesterday said it is investigating whether the government overpaid the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency....

Michael Dannenberg, director of education policy at the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan public policy group, criticized PHEAA, citing the agency's payment of six-figure bonuses to executives.

He said PHEAA's ability to pay those bonuses might hinge on "questionable billing."

"PHEAA's bad acts are symptomatic of an inefficient college loan system that provides too much financial aid to middlemen and banks and not enough to students and families," he said.

For the complete article, please visit the Patriot News website.