MANCHESTER, N.H. – “Keep your hands off the American people’s paychecks,” former Vice President Mike Pence warned President Joe Biden. “We want our freedom.”

Pence made the remark to supporters Wednesday afternoon at Heritage Action for America’s “Save Our Paychecks” event in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The former vice president heavily criticized the Biden administration’s sweeping $1.9 trillion spending bill—the “Build Back Better” plan—promising that it will be “an unmitigated disaster for American families and American workers.”

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that over the next 10 years, the plan would increase the deficit by $367 billion, “not counting any additional revenue that may be generated by additional funding for tax enforcement.”

“President Biden’s policies are threatening to send our nation back to the anemic economic growth that we were experiencing at the height of the pandemic,” said Pence.

“And I came to say: We’re not going to let it happen,” he told supporters amid applause.

Thank you @Heritage_Action! We must continue to stand up for the American worker, the American family, and the American small business owners who are the backbone of our economy! #SaveOurPaychecks pic.twitter.com/ewwmVyrucI

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) December 8, 2021

Pence said that “nobody is rooting harder” for the Build Back Better legislation than China.

“President Biden’s plan literally puts China first and America last,” he said, quipping that “I think you could actually call it the ‘Build Beijing Back Better’ bill.”

“China stands to gain thousands of jobs as employers flee the crushing tax burden by this plan,” Pence said.

“Don’t just take my word for it,” he continued. “The National Association of Manufacturers estimated that Biden’s tax hike could destroy as many as 1 million American jobs. So, it’s about jobs. It’s about our families. It’s about taxes and spending, really about our future.

The former vice president joined Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson on the last stop of the Save Our Paychecks tour after a slew of New Hampshire activities, including posing for pictures and buying a slice of cake at a local bakery.

“Vice President Pence made it clear that he understands the struggles that families in New Hampshire and in states across the country are facing right now under Biden’s ‘Build Back Broke’ agenda,” Anderson told The Daily Signal. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

“Like he said, there is no force more powerful than the voice of grassroots Americans, and we are ready to stand up to the big-government socialists in Washington,” she continued. “Heritage Action and our 2 million conservative activists are proud to have such a fighter in our corner.” (Heritage Action for America is the grassroots partner organization of The Heritage Foundation.)

Pence became a grandfather this year, he told those in attendance. The former vice president said he has always been a fiscal conservative and worried about the debt piling up for future generations, but now, looking his baby grandchild in the eye, he worries even more about what the future holds.

“I know we’re really choosing, as we stand here today, between two futures in this country,” he said. “One future built on freedom, prosperity, limited government, less taxes and competitive American economy. And the other built on big-government socialism, less freedom, more taxes, more dependency, and American decline.”

“This far and no farther,” he warned the Biden administration, calling on the people of New Hampshire and anyone looking on to “shut down the big-government socialist agenda right now before it shuts down the American economy.”

“You know, we’ve all been through a lot over the last two years,” Pence said. “A global pandemic, social unrest, a divisive election and tragic day in our nation’s capital. And over the last nine months, a new administration intent on transforming our nation into a European-style welfare state, more government and less freedom.”

“But today I want you to be encouraged, because I am,” he added. “As I travel around the country, I’ve never seen the level of enthusiasm that I’ve seen in the American people, I truly do believe are freedom-loving people.”

The former vice president stressed that he has faith in the American people that they will do what they can to stop the Biden administration’s plans before it’s too late.

Read the original on the Daily Signal.

Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, conservatives in state capitals and in Congress supported a balanced approach of increasing health insurance coverage while granting states flexibility to design sustainable Medicaid programs for low-income residents that include personal responsibility.

States enjoyed broad flexibility to recreate Medicaid programs that reflected what was practicable and achievable.

The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, went in the opposite direction and Congress passed it on a strictly partisan basis. Obamacare took away states’ authority to regulate insurance markets.

Health care should not be a partisan issue, but current efforts by the Biden administration are pushing common sense aside. Make no mistake, the actions of President Joe Biden’s team are about further consolidation of power over Americans’ health care.

In 2020, Biden ran for president promising to improve access to health care for every American. Yet 10 months into his administration, Biden’s actions are unraveling the health care safety net for generations to come.

In recent months, the Biden-Harris administration has quietly moved to strip states’ ability to manage their Medicaid programs and is transferring that power into the hands of unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucrats.

Under the Trump-Pence administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services worked hand in hand with states that granted waivers from federal regulations so they could tailor innovative health care programs to meet the particular needs of their population.

These waivers are instrumental in providing states with the flexibility to develop pioneering new strategies for delivering higher quality health care to beneficiaries at a lower cost to taxpayers. Virtually every state has a waiver that allows it to become a “laboratory of democracy,” experimenting with inventive new approaches.

But as soon as Biden took office, federal bureaucrats unilaterally began rescinding Medicaid waivers already granted to states such as Texas, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Indiana, and Nebraska, to name a few.

In the case of Texas, the move jeopardizes millions of dollars that hospitals were counting on to care for their patients, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

These strong-arm tactics represent an unprecedented move in the 40 years in which Medicaid waivers have been widely used. No other administration has canceled a standing waiver.

Moreover, the action ignored the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ own legal agreements with the states and provided no due process for states that had made significant investments in obtaining and implementing waiver programs. Most importantly, the revocations were timed to deny states their day before the U.S. Supreme Court.

At the same time, Biden erased major reforms authorized by the Trump-Pence administration that allowed states to require able-bodied, childless, adult Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer, or attend school in order to receive benefits valued at a median of almost $7,000 a year. Under our administration, nearly half of all states applied to add these commonsense community engagement requirements to their Medicaid programs.

These reforms brought Medicaid in line with other federal programs such as food stamps, which have had work requirements since the 1990s to prepare recipients to reenter the workforce, provide them the dignity of work, and offer a road to self-sufficiency.

Today, when employers are desperate for workers and too many jobs go unfilled, such a community engagement requirement could be a critical tool for governors to help employers fill job vacancies, address supply chain issues, and restore their state economies.

Medicaid already comprises the largest or second-largest line item in every state budget in America. Nearly 85 million Americans rely on the program for health coverage—an all-time high—and as baby boomers age, Medicaid’s costs are expected to double.

Health care in Alaska is not health care in New York. Without the flexibility to tailor state-specific programs and rein in ever-increasing costs, Medicaid’s growth threatens to undermine other critical programs such as education and public safety.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s message to every governor and beneficiary is clear: No state should embark on the difficult and complex process of submitting, negotiating, and implementing an innovative waiver program that could improve the quality of care for their most vulnerable citizens. Innovation and freedom are gone, one-size-fits-all federal mandates are here to stay.

The Biden administration has made clear that waivers may be rescinded at the whim of a federal bureaucrat with a stroke of the pen. In fact, administration officials have admitted that the real purpose of their actions has been to push reluctant state officials toward expanding Medicaid under Obamacare.

The magnitude of Medicaid is simply too massive and important to defer the judgment of governors and state legislatures to out-of-touch federal bureaucrats, no matter how well-meaning they may be. According to their constitutions, every state but one must have a balanced budget. Thankfully, states cannot print money or run budget deficits, unlike the federal government.

Fortunately, members of Congress are stepping up and reclaiming their constitutional responsibilities. Legislation filed this week by Republican lawmakers would allow states to restore Medicaid community engagement requirements for adults who aren’t disabled and don’t have dependent children.

Now Congress must clarify the bureaucracy’s authority to grant and rescind Medicaid waivers and fully restore the flexibility that states need to innovate with their Medicaid programs to increase value to beneficiaries and taxpayers alike.

By liberating the states from the heavy hand of the far off, disconnected bureaucracy in Washington, states will put Medicaid on a sustainable path and preserve it for the most vulnerable of this generation and those to come.

Read the original on the Daily Signal.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is threatening to withhold payments to healthcare facilities unless they require the Covid-19 vaccine for their workers. This action is misguided. I am vaccinated and support the goal of increasing vaccination rates. But the CMS policy has the potential to backfire and jeopardize patient access, safety and the quality of care for millions of Americans.

Medicare and Medicaid serve more than 140 million Americans and pump over $1 trillion into the U.S. economy. No healthcare entity can ignore CMS requirements without devastating financial implications. The CMS mandate will undoubtedly create patient safety and quality concerns, violating the purpose of the agency’s regulatory authority. It already is giving rise to legal challenges: On Monday a federal judge blocked enforcement of the mandate in 10 states that had sued over the requirement.

Many healthcare facilities have spent months encouraging and creating incentives for staff to get vaccinated, because they recognize that patients and staff risk contracting Covid without the shot. The healthcare system served patients last year without vaccines. That wasn’t ideal, but it was better than turning away people who need care. Scores of healthcare workers are resigning, retiring and cutting back their hours. The September jobs report showed 18,000 fewer Americans working in healthcare, with the nation’s hospitals losing 8,000 employees.

Many facilities are limiting the number of patients they see because they lack staff. Rick Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association, said the new CMS policy may end up “exacerbating the severe workforce shortage problems that currently exist.” Forcing the resignation of unvaccinated healthcare workers could lead to the closing of hospitals and nursing homes, especially in rural areas where even losing a few staff could be catastrophic to operations.

The consequences could lead to life-or-death issues for patients across the country. A hospital in Long Beach, N.Y., shut down its emergency room due to a lack of vaccinated nurses. A hospital in Lewiston, Maine, closed its neo-natal intensive-care unit—one of only five in the state—in advance of the governor’s Oct. 31 deadline for all healthcare workers to be vaccinated.

The CMS mandate could generate a downward spiral: Already-exhausted healthcare workers would have to work longer hours to compensate for the termination of unvaccinated colleagues, leading to more burnout and retirements. This could lead to delays in care, or the postponement of needed healthcare services. If patients put off needed surgeries or preventive services like mammograms that can lead to more diagnoses of advanced diseases, which are more complicated and expensive to treat. Amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases in some states and warnings of a potential fourth wave, we need healthcare workers on the frontlines, not the unemployment lines.

The CMS should maintain the goal of universal vaccinations for healthcare workers, but the rule should allow for more ramp-up time before enforcing draconian consequences, while carving out exemptions for rural providers and other healthcare facilities facing staff shortages. These facilities could be required to put together a plan to increase vaccines and reduce transmission. Such a plan could include further incentives for staff to be vaccinated, requirements for public transparency around overall facility immunization rates, regular testing of unvaccinated workers, and removal of unvaccinated staff from patient-facing activities, without terminating their employment.

I don’t fault the CMS for trying to get more healthcare workers vaccinated. But we are talking about individuals who have already endured the stress of losing patients to Covid-19 and working grueling hours. Local healthcare providers need the flexibility to implement those approaches, not a Washington-knows-best, one-size-fits-all nationwide rule.

Ms. Verma is a health policy consultant based in Indiana. She served as CMS administrator, 2017-21.

Read the original article on the Wall Street Journal.