Senate Finance Committee Republicans have found $5.7 billion in wasted spending on the ACA since its passage five years ago. The $5.7 billion is a tally of five separate programs within the law that, according to Senator Orrin Hatch, have “added no value,” including HealthCare.gov and the national sign-up navigator program. As The Hill reports, “Hatch also pointed to a $2.4 billion co-op program, which included 24 plans but saw little success with sign-ups.” Next week marks the law's 5th birthday. 

The president was in Cleveland this week touting a recovering economy, but many are still waiting for the recovery to come to their homes. According to a new report by the Zillow Group, the number of people who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth has increased in 21 out of 50 of the largest cities. The report further goes on to show that nearly 17% of all mortgages are currently underwater; Zillow says the “normal share of underwater borrowers is generally thought to be around 5%.”

Eakinomics: Introducing Reg Rodeo Guest Authored by Sam Batkins, AAF Director of Regulatory Policy

Today, AAF launches the culmination of five years worth of research: Reg Rodeo (www.regrodeo.com). This online database contains information on every federal rule with a quantifiable cost or paperwork burden since 2008. Users can search federal rules by the affected industry, agency, or by law (Affordable Care Act or Dodd-Frank). If users really know their stuff, there is a function to type in the name of the regulation to return a result.

Beyond topline figures, users can scroll through a spreadsheet of results. Each rulemaking contains data on costs and paperwork burden hours. To investigate further, there are a series of links that lead directly to the Federal Register or to regulatory impact analyses.

There’s also a graphing function giving users the power to display trends in the number of rules, costs, and paperwork hours. The “share” function permits social network outreach on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

The goal of Reg Rodeo is to serve as a one-stop shop for everything regulation related. Our audience is everyone interested in regulation: academics, media, policymakers, and non-profits. Links to major federal rules should be easy to find and users shouldn’t have to struggle on federal websites to find regulatory impact analyses. The website will be updated regularly as regulations are issued throughout the year. We hope Reg Rodeo becomes your resource for public policy research. 

From the Forum

Video: “Big Ideas on a Little Stool” featuring Gov. Bobby Jindal

Declining Exchange Growth Could Lead to Higher Premiums by Jonathan Keisling, AAF Health Care Data Analyst

Defense Spending in the Congressional Budgets by Rachel Hoff, AAF Director of Defense Analysis

Crude Oil Exports: Where’s the Debate? By Catrina Rorke, AAF Director of Energy Policy

Testimony: The Affordable Care Act after Five Years: Wasted Money and Broken Promises by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, AAF President