This article was originally published as a "Delaware Voice" article in the News Journal on October 13, 2014. Delaware and the Christiana Care Health Systems feted Dr. Donald Berwick, former head of Medicare and Medicaid Services and a major author of the Affordable Care Act, last year and his "Triple Aim" of increased access to health care, increased quality of outcomes, and lower cost. Delaware is facing a "Triple Threat" of poor access to care, mediocre outcomes and excessi

When a state taxes something there will be less of it and when it rewards something there will be more of it. Delaware’s tax structure heavily taxes those who are most likely to create sustainable economic growth and new jobs, but rewards businesses like Fisker Automotive who receive generous state aid without creating any jobs. High tax rates are a factor in a drop in the tax base when those paying the most decide states like Florida or Texas are more appealing.The princ

As the "train wreck" of ACA unfolds, at every level we are facing disappointment. We were promised that 700,000 Americans with pre-existing conditions would become insurable five years ago. Approximately 1/10 of those actually became insured. The predictable cost to the healthcare system averaged $1.4 million per year per person, close to $400 billion. The insurance industry must factor in those losses to remain viable so the net effect has been to accelerate the hyperinf

Despite absorbing some blows, manufacturing in Delaware has survived and it appears that better days are ahead. Over the past two decades Delaware manufacturing employment has plummeted from 48,000 to 26,000, an astounding decline of over 40%. Scanning the landscape, Delaware no longer has an automobile manufacturing industry, the chemical industry is down to one-fourth its former size, pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca is eliminating 550 research positions, and the major ref

A press release by State Reps. John Kowalko and Earl Jacques (“State Should Move to Single-Payer”, News Journal, 12/11/12) supporting a single-payer healthcare system for Delaware is intriguing, but it incorrectly assumes the economic world is stagnant. They think the insurance industry exists to extract profit from customers and does not add value to the healthcare delivery system. They think Delaware can simply appropriate this profit for which no service is delivered and s

10/2/2012 When the Caesar Rodney Institute launched its Transparent Delaware website in March of this year, the intent was to include with the individual state payroll and vendor data, the most recent state pension data. The request for the pension data was denied on the basis of statute 29 Del c 8308 (d). That statute requires that all records relating to pensions and other post-employment benefits “shall be confidential.” Although this statute is unlikely to withstand a

Over time increases in Delawares state and local government tax burden reduces the growth of total employment in the First State.

Is a $2.4 million grant to CIGNA an appropriate use of state funds?

The significant drop in Delaware manufacturing jobs over recent decades is a result of competitive market forces in the face of which goverrnment subsidies would have had no lasting effect.

9/28/2012 As a public service and to boost government transparency, the Caesar Rodney website includes payroll data for every state government employee and all vendor transactions. While recently updating this information through June of 2011, CRI ran into a roadblock with regard to adding pension data for retired state workers. The general assembly has written a statute into the state code that requires all pension data on individuals to be kept confidential (29 Del C &8