Our Comment on Obamacare's State Innovation Waivers

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently asked for public comment on a proposed regulation to implement the state innovations waivers provisions of Obamacare.

The Administration markets the waivers as providing states with “flexibility” to set up their own health care systems by allowing them to opt out of some of Obamacare’s requirements. The catch is that states must offer a solution that is as comprehensive, affordable, and that covers as many people as Obamacare’s provisions would without adding a dime to the federal deficit.

We weighed in on this proposed rule, commenting that it is far from flexible. The federal government requires significantly more from a state that wishes to vary from Obamacare’s requirements than from a state that doesn’t seek to innovate.

For this and more, check out our comment posted on May 13, 2011.