Health & Medicaid

Over the last several years, Louisiana’s Medicaid program has grown by leaps and bounds, expanding the program to more than 400,000 able-bodied adults over the last two years and fundamentally hurting the individuals Medicaid was primarily designed to help. Reforming Medicaid should involve re-orienting the program’s focus on the vulnerable populations for which it was originally designed, while modernizing the delivery of care in ways that can lower costs and improve health outcomes for patients.

[REPORT] Reforming Medicaid in Louisiana

Protect Life and Liberty in a Pandemic

Did Louisiana’s government infringe on the rights of its citizens with its COVID-19 mandates? Today, the Pelican Institute released a report to answer that question and offer approaches for addressing the ongoing pandemic and future disasters while safeguarding both public health and individual liberty. In future legislative sessions, lawmakers should consider the lessons learned from...

TECH NEWS: Louisiana Needs Drone Delivery Now

To reduce the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, many Louisianans are foregoing shopping in stores and are instead, ordering their necessities online through services like Amazon, Postmates, and Instacart. But these delivered goods are still interacting with human handlers multiple times before they make it to consumers. What if there was a way to...

Local, National Experts to Speak at Solutions Summit 2.0

We’re one week away from the Pelican Institute for Public Policy’s Solutions Summit 2.0. Next Thursday, January 30 at the Hilton Capitol Center in Baton Rouge, join state and national policy leaders as we unveil solutions to the biggest problems facing Louisiana. Today, we’re excited to share our all-star speaker line-up for the event, which includes legislators...

Solutions Summit 2.0 Agenda Revealed

There’s still time to register for the Pelican Institute for Public Policy’s Solutions Summit 2.0 on January 30 at the Hilton Capitol Center in Baton Rouge. Sign up by clicking here today and help us spread the word so your friends, colleagues and family can reserve their spots before the event sells out. At Solutions...

Louisiana Needs to Step Up Its Game to Retain Citizens

On Monday night, nothing could stop Joe Burrow and the LSU offense from marching up and down the field in route to a 42-25 victory over Clemson in the college national championship game. Unfortunately, it looks like Louisiana’s government took a cue from Clemson’s defense, because a new report shows its policies are causing Louisianans...

A better Louisiana is on the horizon, but we must act now

Over the last year, the Pelican Institute has been traveling the state, speaking to individuals and organizations, releasing hundreds of pages of educational materials and countless informative video advertisements emphasizing the importance of making fundamental changes to our state government’s core structures. Now, the moment is upon us to start turning this vision of righting...

The Broken Promises of Louisiana’s Medicaid Expansion

Some in Louisiana want to claim that the state’s expansion of Medicaid to able-bodied adults represents a success story. The facts indicate otherwise. Medicaid expansion has resulted in large costs to taxpayers, significant amounts of waste, fraud, and abuse, and tens of thousands of able-bodied adults shifting from private coverage to government insurance—even while individuals...

The Report the Department of Health Doesn’t Want You to Read

In recent months, enrollment in Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion has declined, as the state finally removed tens of thousands of ineligible individuals from the rolls. But according to researchers at LSU, enrollment in expansion will soon climb higher, with an estimated 41,575 individuals joining Medicaid expansion in 2019 alone. Those estimates came in a report the...

New LSU “Jobs” Study about Benefits of Medicaid Expansion Raises More Questions Than It Answers

by Chris Jacobs The release by the Louisiana Department of Health late Friday afternoon of an updated study showing the jobs benefit of Medicaid expansion concedes an important point pointed out by the Pelican Institute over 16 months ago. This year’s study admits that the 2018 paper over-counted the federal dollars and jobs associated with...

Pelican Senior Fellow Chris Jacobs Featured in Wall Street Journal: Medicaid Expansion has Louisianans Dropping Their Private Plans

The Pelican Institute’s Senior Fellow Chris Jacobs authored a column featured in the Wall Street Journal highlighting the misconceptions behind the “success” of Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion program. While some leaders tout the expansion as a win for Louisiana, the facts show that it continues to cost Louisiana’s hard-working taxpayers jobs and opportunity. Jacobs says: “If...

While Louisiana is Sinking, Many Are Concerned with Re-arranging the Deck Chairs

It’s no secret to the people of Louisiana that things aren’t going well. The state has a shrinking labor force, an antiquated budget system, a struggling education system and a backlog of infrastructure projects that are in need of addressing. Given these issues, it’s no surprise that there is a sizable population that is leaving...

State data reveals major issue with Louisiana Medicaid expansion

Please click to view the full detailed solutions paper from the Pelican Institute for Public Policy (Pelican Institute). Today, in its newest deep dive paper, the Pelican Institute revealed that since implementing Medicaid expansion, tens of thousands of Louisianans have dropped private health insurance coverage to enroll in Medicaid, costing the program more than $145 million...

“HIGH RISK” DESIGNATION REINFORCES PROBLEMS IN LOUISIANA’S MEDICAID EXPANSION

That the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently designated Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion to the able-bodied as “high risk,” following the release of a “deeply troubling” report by the state’s Legislative Auditor late last year, should surprise no one. As the Pelican Institute first reported last year, enrollment in Medicaid expansion has exploded,...