February 14, 2025

Brian Blase and Ryan Long Quoted in Axios – February 14, 2025

Brian Blase

President at Paragon Health Institute

Brian Blase, Ph.D., is the President of Paragon Health Institute. Brian was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017-2019, where he coordinated the development and execution of numerous health policies and advised the President, NEC director, and senior officials. After leaving the White House, Brian founded Blase Policy Strategies and served as its CEO.

Ryan Long

Ryan Long is the Director of Congressional Relations and a Senior Research Fellow at Paragon Health Institute. In this role he is the leading voice communicating Paragon’s research and proposals to Congress by connecting with and educating policymakers and their staffs and leading the Congressional Health Policy Education Program. As a researcher, Long produces original papers and policy briefs promoting consumer choice, market competition, and innovation in healthcare markets. These publications focus on regulatory and policy reforms to ensure a sustainable and innovative health care system.

On February 14, 2025, Paragon’s Brian Blase and Ryan Long were quoted in Axios on the issue of state-directed payments and money laundering in Medicaid.

From the article:

“We’ve seen sort of the initial explosion of these [state-directed payments], so the growth trend is going to be astronomical as more and more states figure out how to game the system,” said the Paragon Health Institute’s Ryan Long, who until recently was a top GOP health aide on the Hill.

The intrigue: Some reform advocates argue that this is indeed an easier political lift, namely because it’s had bipartisan support in the past and most members simply don’t know how much providers are being paid to see Medicaid patients these days.

“We’ve now constructed a welfare program to be a financial windfall for nonprofit hospitals, and Congress should address that,” said Paragon President Brian Blase, who has been on the Hill discussing the think tank’s policy views with members.

…

But critics say the federal government is getting ripped off. Paragon is referring to such measures as “money laundering.”

The full article can be found in Axios.

Medicaid

Money Laundering