http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/rss/blog.xmlBlogWed, 29 Jun 2011 17:02:00 ESTwww.eResources.com (Generator)support@eresources.com (eResources)support@eresources.com60http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.826/blog_detail.aspWhat with the underwhelming market response to my previous article discussing the effect of the 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on health insurers, I was pretty astonished (and relieved) to see Citigroup equity strategist Tobias Levkovich state many of the concerns which have occupied me.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.826/blog_detail.asp#7-13-2011Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.825/blog_detail.aspFormer U.S. Secretary of Health & amp; Human Services Mike Leavitt has announced that most states will not have Health Benefits Exchanges up and running by January 2014, when PPACA requires that they be covering patients who will have lost their employer-based benefits.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.825/blog_detail.asp#6-29-2011Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.824/blog_detail.aspI first learned about path dependency when studying physics & mdash; but it surely applies to public policy, too. Despite the scholarly disputations about health reform, what drives most voters are not questions about the solvency of Medicare or beneficiaries& rsquo; access to care, but fear of change.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.824/blog_detail.asp#6-17-2011Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.822/blog_detail.aspAs one of the first conservatives to criticize Paul Ryan& rsquo;s Medicare reform, I was pretty excited to read Andrew McCarthy& rsquo;s spirited attack against the very existence of Medicare. According to McCarthy, it& rsquo;s a wholesale scam, and he doesn& rsquo;t mind telling everyone because he& rsquo;s neither running for office nor responsible for getting anyone else elected.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.822/blog_detail.asp#6-15-2011Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.823/blog_detail.aspLast week, an overwhelming majority of Connecticut legislators passed a bill, SB-11, that would give the executive branch the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving politicians the power to approve premiums causes other problems & ndash; and doesn& rsquo;t even hold down rate increases.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.823/blog_detail.asp#6-15-2011Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.821/blog_detail.aspDespite advice from most free-market analysis, some Republican governors are executing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) by establishing Health Benefits Exchanges. These governors dislike PPACA, but they believe that exchanges can be vehicles for more choice than the federal law anticipates.But I think that the real news is how much difficulty states that want to implement PPACA as fast as possible are having. Read the entire article here.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.821/blog_detail.asp#6-2-2011Thu, 2 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.820/blog_detail.aspIn my second Forbes.com The Apothecary blog, I look again at the argument (supported by almost everyone on Wall Street) that Pfizer should be broken up. Certainly, there& #39;s a credible contrary view.Read it here.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.820/blog_detail.asp#6-1-2011Wed, 1 Jun 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.819/blog_detail.aspThe surprise victory of the Democratic candidate in NY-26& rsquo;s special election yesterday teaches a curious lesson: Seniors who rose up against Obamacare& rsquo;s Medicare cuts at town-hall meetings in the summer of 2009 appear to have risen up against Paul Ryan& rsquo;s Medicare plan in the spring of 2011.Or maybe they didn& #39;t. Read more at National Review Online.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.819/blog_detail.asp#5-25-2011Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.818/blog_detail.aspI write a lot over at John Goodman& #39;s Health Policy Blog. For every original post, I also write about half a dozen comments on others& #39; posts. I don& #39;t usually share the latter here.However, I was interested to see Dr. Goodman& #39;s take on a new paper published by the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, an outfit which is often tagged as simply a mouthpiece for Big Pharma. Here& #39;s what I wrote:http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.818/blog_detail.asp#5-19-2011Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.816/blog_detail.aspI have been afforded the great privilege of writing at Forbes Online. Avik Roy, an equity research analyst at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & amp; Co. in New York City, has invited me to collaborate with him on his blog, The Apothecary, which has been hosted by Forbes for a few months.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.816/blog_detail.asp#5-17-2011Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.817/blog_detail.aspThe Wall Street Journal and most NRO writers have pretty much written off both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as acceptable Republican presidential candidates because of perceived weaknesses on health care. Health care has become the third rail of American politics & mdash; just not the way we used to understand it.Until recently, a Republican could churn out crowd-pleasing sound bites about fixing health care but never put the pedal to the metal by investing political capital in a serious proposal for reform. Republicans understood that when the talk turned to health care, Democrats won the debate and Republicans lost. It was just a fact of life. Not anymore.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.817/blog_detail.asp#5-17-2011Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.815/blog_detail.aspYou probably didn& rsquo;t notice, but Canada will have a federal election today. It& rsquo;s a big deal up there & mdash; and the number one issue is & mdash; you& rsquo;ll never guess & mdash; health care! It& rsquo;s eleven percentage points more critical than jobs and the economy, according to this poll.Canada, of course, is the model for so-called single-payer, government monopoly health care. But the polls tell us that all is not well. The monopoly has been effectively closed since 1984, when the federal government prevented doctors who operated in the system from balance billing or operating outside the system. If any country should have gotten its act together on ensuring access to adequate care, surely it would be Canada.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.815/blog_detail.asp#5-2-2011Mon, 2 May 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.814/blog_detail.aspIf you had the chance to listen to Lance Izumi on the Ron Williams Show (WCIT-940am), here are more details on his recent book, Short-Circuited, mentioned on the program.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.814/blog_detail.asp#4-20-2011Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.813/blog_detail.aspColorado& rsquo;s Health Benefits Exchange legislation, which would implement Obamacare in the state, was & ldquo;mortally wounded,& rdquo; but is being brought back to life by none other than the Republican majority leader in the state house of representatives, Amy Stephens, according to the Denver Post& rsquo;s Tim Hoover.Exchanges are the vehicles through which the gusher of cash from Obamacare& rsquo;s tax hikes will be laundered into subsidies to favored health plans, payments to vendors and consultants, and salaried jobs for political appointees.To be sure, this is not what the conservative Stephens thought she was doing.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.813/blog_detail.asp#4-14-2011Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.812/blog_detail.aspThe single dumbest reason for a state legislating its own state-based Obamacare exchange is the excuse that & quot;if we don& #39;t do it the federal government will do it for us.& quot; There is no evidence that this will happen. The Obamacrats can& #39;t even get an exchange up and running in a friendly state.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.812/blog_detail.asp#4-8-2011_7:30:00_PMFri, 8 Apr 2011 19:30:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.811/blog_detail.aspGrace-Marie Turner speaks for many in expressing frustration with Mitt Romney& rsquo;s inability to let go of his failed Massachusetts health-care & ldquo;reform.& rdquo; President Obama himself has frequently asserted that Obamacare is partly based on the so-called conservative ideas encompassed in Romneycare. New polling results from the Bay State might make the president rethink this approach, and give Romney more confidence to admit his error.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.811/blog_detail.asp#4-7-2011_6:58:00_PMThu, 7 Apr 2011 18:58:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.810/blog_detail.aspAs yesterday& rsquo;s uncritical cheerleading of Paul Ryan& rsquo;s budget proposal dies down, one of his loudest fans has taken a closer look. Yesterday& rsquo;s Wall Street Journal editorial asserted (incorrectly) that Ryan& rsquo;s proposal & ldquo;means that at age 65 you would be able to keep your same insurer, with the feds paying for that insurance instead of your employer.& rdquo;As I& rsquo;ve already noted, that was a feature of last year& rsquo;s Roadmap, not this week& rsquo;s proposed budget. The Wall Street Journal corrected the record in today& rsquo;s editorial, which clarifies that & ldquo;the subsidies will flow through Medicare, only to regulated insurers and government-approved plans. It does not go as far as Mr. Ryan& rsquo;s previous & lsquo;roadmap& rsquo; which offered direct cash vouchers for individuals who preferred to buy insurance themselves.& rdquo;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.810/blog_detail.asp#4-7-2011_4:40:00_PMThu, 7 Apr 2011 16:40:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.809/blog_detail.aspPath to Prosperity, Paul Ryan& rsquo;s budget proposal, beats a significant retreat from last year& rsquo;s Roadmap for America& rsquo;s Future. The Roadmap contained a very precise & ldquo;payment& rdquo; (in Ryan& rsquo;s words) of $11,000 & mdash; to be adjusted for future inflation by a factor combining changes in the Consumer Price Index and changes in medical prices & mdash; for future Medicare beneficiaries who are now under 55 years of age. Furthermore, you could have taken the & ldquo;payment& rdquo; and used it to & ldquo;to pay for one of the Medicare certified plans, or any other plan, such as those offered by former employers or available from the private market& rdquo; (p. 51).http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.809/blog_detail.asp#4-6-2011Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.808/blog_detail.aspI probably should have weighed in on this issue a few weeks back, but the looming bipartisan repeal of Obamacare& rsquo;s 1099 reporting requirement is nothing for Obamacare& rsquo;s opponents to cheer.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.808/blog_detail.asp#3-31-2011_2:10:00_PMThu, 31 Mar 2011 14:10:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.807/blog_detail.aspGovernor Rick Perry has reportedly prevented State Representative John Zerwas and other legislators from making a potentially fatal blunder in the fight against Obamacare. According to local media, the governor& rsquo;s office has discouraged Rep. Zerwas from championing legislation establishing a state-based Obamacare Health Benefits Exchange in Texas.This is very good news.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.807/blog_detail.asp#3-31-2011_10:00:00_AMThu, 31 Mar 2011 10:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.806/blog_detail.aspBy my estimate, more than 1,000 people have died prematurely because of foot-dragging by the FDA. Here& rsquo;s why:http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.806/blog_detail.asp#3-30-2011Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.805/blog_detail.aspToday& rsquo;s New York Times has a compelling op-ed by Ronen Avraham, a law professor at the University of Texas. It proposes a way to fix the out-of-control medical-malpractice laws that hold sway over much of the country. Pointing out that both Republicans and Democrats in D.C. regret that Obamacare didn& rsquo;t do enough on med-mal, Professor Avraham proposes a reform based on the sound principle that physicians who follow accepted medical guidelines should suffer reduced liability. I can& rsquo;t imagine that any reasonable person would disagree with this principle. However, there are two problems with his proposal.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.805/blog_detail.asp#3-29-2011_12:05:00_PMTue, 29 Mar 2011 12:05:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.804/blog_detail.aspI& #39;ve often wondered at how little Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health & amp; Human Services, knows about state and federal health legislation pre-Obamacare. Career politicians do not get rewarded for telling the truth, but her ignorance is shocking.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.804/blog_detail.asp#3-29-2011_12:00:00_PMTue, 29 Mar 2011 12:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.803/blog_detail.aspKQED, Northern California& #39;s largest NPR affiliate, has podcast my interview with Michael Krasny on the one-year anniversary of Obamacare here.KCRW, Southern California& #39;s largest NPR affiliate, has podcast my interview with Warren Olney here.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.803/blog_detail.asp#3-24-2011Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.802/blog_detail.aspFrom the department of & quot;I was going to do this myself but these folks did it better,& quot; I& #39;d like to share an analysis of who received Obamacare waivers, published by the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group. It looks like a pretty mixed bag of outfits. I can& #39;t really see much rhyme nor reason to who gets one and who doesn& #39;t.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.802/blog_detail.asp#3-23-2011Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.801/blog_detail.aspLouisiana governor Jindal has told POLITICO Pulse that he will not establish an Obamacare Health Benefits Exchange in his state. According to POLITICO, this is the governor& #39;s first definitive statement on the question.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.801/blog_detail.asp#3-22-2011Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.800/blog_detail.aspVery good news from Atlanta, where governor Nathan Deal has reconsidered his previous decision to collaborate with Obamacare by establishing a Health Benefits Exchange in Georgia. Although a bill was moving through the legislature, governor Deal reconsidered and decided to stall an exchange, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This follows my column opposing exchanges in that same newspaper a few days ago.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.800/blog_detail.asp#3-17-2011Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.799/blog_detail.aspMichael Cannon and Grace-Marie Turner (aided and abetted by Robert Goldberg) have started a real dispute on the effectiveness of Indiana governor Mitch Daniels& rsquo;s Medicaid reform. I think that this is really a proxy war over Obamacare. Like me, Cannon encourages absolute non-collaboration with Obamacare, so that its roots cannot grow into the soil before it can credibly be overturned.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.799/blog_detail.asp#3-15-2011Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.798/blog_detail.aspThe range of current libertarian-conservative expert opinion on ObamaCare& rsquo;s Health Benefits Exchanges has well-defined boundaries. On the one hand, there are those who believe that states are obliged to establish some sort of barebones exchange along the lines of the Utah Health Exchange in order to prevent the federal government from coming into a state and imposing a bloated contraption like Massachusetts& rsquo; Commonwealth Connector.Others (especially myself) believe that the Utah Health Exchange is unimpressive, that no & ldquo;exchange& rdquo; can overcome certain bureaucratic necessities, and that states should therefore refuse to collaborate with ObamaCare, while waiting for it to be overturned by the Supreme Court or a future Congress and President. None of us has anything positive to say about Massachusetts& rsquo; Commonwealth Connector & mdash; until now! In one respect, the Commonwealth Connector is an extremely well-run government program, while the Utah Health Exchange is not. The issue is transparency.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.798/blog_detail.asp#3-11-2011Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.797/blog_detail.aspRalph Nader& rsquo;s disciples are upset that pharmaceutical companies are using new media to reach out to potentional consumers of their medicines. In a recent submission to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Naderites encourage the FTC to add its weight to the Food and Drug Administration& rsquo;s intrusive control over drugmakers& rsquo; free-speech rights.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.797/blog_detail.asp#3-7-2011Mon, 7 Mar 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.796/blog_detail.aspI woke this morning to learn the terrible news that Jack Calfee of the American Enterprise Institute had unexpectedly passed away yesterday. AEI made the announcement this morning here, and linked to his substantial and influential body of work.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.796/blog_detail.asp#2-17-2011Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.795/blog_detail.aspBack in a November 2009, Utah governor Gary Herbert complained in remarks at the Heritage Foundation that the federal government was & ldquo;freezing out the states& rdquo; on health-care reform.How have things gone since then? According to the governor& rsquo;s remarks (as reported by Jane Norman of CQ HealthBeat) when he returned to the Heritage Foundation last week, & ldquo;Utah officials waited for eight months to find out if the state would be allowed to use e-mail rather than paper to communicate with Medicaid recipients and save $6 million a year.& rdquo; Herbert concluded & mdash; with bemusement & ndash; that & ldquo;they sent us a denial by e-mail.& rdquo;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.795/blog_detail.asp#2-16-2011Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.794/blog_detail.aspIn an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels offers up a dilemma to U.S. Secretary of Health & amp; Human Services Kathleen Sebelius: If she wants his co-operation (and that of 20 other governors), she& rsquo;ll need to twist and turn Obamacare inside out to get it.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.794/blog_detail.asp#2-8-2011Tue, 8 Feb 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.793/blog_detail.aspFrom the perspective of the average patient, going about his life unconcerned about health policy or economics, what is the most frustrating characteristic of U.S. health insurance? Surely, it is the madness of the billing cycle: Never knowing how much a medical service costs until long after you& rsquo;ve received it, and sometimes only after a flurry of phone calls and paperwork that can take months to clear up.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.793/blog_detail.asp#1-28-2011Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.792/blog_detail.aspNot that I& rsquo;m trying to be a party-pooper, but there are two things that would have improved yesterday& rsquo;s repeal bill (and, by implication, will improve it if and when the Senate deals with it), neither of which adds complexity to the elegant and brief bill passed by the people& rsquo;s chamber.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.792/blog_detail.asp#1-20-2011Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.791/blog_detail.aspEven conservative talk-radio hosts and, this morning, the Wall Street Journal seem to have fallen for the line that the vote to repeal Obamacare, expected tomorrow in the House of Representatives, is & ldquo;symbolic.& rdquo; Apparently, because Sen. Harry Reid is unlikely to allow a vote in the Senate, and the president would veto repeal if it managed to beat the odds and get to his desk, the whole exercise is a waste of time.How the tables have turned!http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.791/blog_detail.asp#1-18-2011Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.790/blog_detail.aspA recent story in Politico confirmed what was already known in health-policy circles: In order to meet Obamacare& rsquo;s arbitrary Medical Loss Ratios (MLRs), health insurers are cutting commissions to brokers. (The MLR is the ratio of premiums to claims paid out to health providers.)http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.790/blog_detail.asp#1-12-2011Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.789/blog_detail.aspOver at The Atlantic, Nicole Russell has given us & ldquo;A First Look at Pawlentycare.& rdquo; There& rsquo;s little doubt that Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota, is eager to trumpet his state& rsquo;s achievements on health-care reform, and he definitely talks the talk of consumer-driven health care. I was very impressed by an op-ed he wrote in the San Diego Union-Tribune last November, wherein he called for & ldquo;repealing Obamacare state by state& rdquo;.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.789/blog_detail.asp#1-4-2011Tue, 4 Jan 2011 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.788/blog_detail.aspOne of the great myths about American society is that our lack of a & quot;universal& quot; health plan harms our competitiveness. The masters of this refrain, of course, are the American automakers. Years before driving themselves into bankruptcy and the unwelcoming arms of their new owners, the American taxpayers, they used to claim that they spent up to $1,600 per car on health care. This was more than they spent on steel, and a multiple of what they claimed their foreign competitors spent. In her well received book, Who Killed Health Care? America& #39;s $2 Trillion Medical Problem & ndash; And the Consumer-Driven Cure (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2007), Professor Regina Herzlinger of Harvard Business School claims that these complaints are inflated (pp. 104-105). http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.788/blog_detail.asp#12-23-2010Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.786/blog_detail.aspI& #39;ve written more than once about the so-called & quot;Happy Meals ban.& quot; Well, it& #39;s got legs. This nonsense bagan last spring in San Mateo County. The notion is that if the government forbids fast-food restaurants from using toys and similar items to induce kids to order meals there, childhood obesity will fall. As I anticipated at the time, this will likely become a windfall for trial lawyers.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.786/blog_detail.asp#12-21-2010Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.787/blog_detail.aspThe New York Times reports that incoming House majority leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) and legislative leaders in 12 states are backing a repeal amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The proposed amendment, launched by Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett, would empower two-thirds of the states, acting through their legislatures, to repeal any federal law or regulation.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.787/blog_detail.asp#12-21-2010Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.785/blog_detail.aspRemember the Massachusetts health reform, signed by Gov. Mitt Romney in April 2006? Some Obamacare cheerleaders (including the President) insist that it was the forerunner of Obamacare (and Gov. Romney is having a heck of a time distancing himself from it).There is a media myth that the individual mandate (that you must pay a fine if you don& #39;t buy government-approved health insurance) is critical to the law& #39;s so-called & quot;success& quot;. Well, it& #39;s not true.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.785/blog_detail.asp#12-17-2010Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.784/blog_detail.aspA federal judge in Virginia has ruled that the individual mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional. The & ldquo;Minimum Essential Coverage Provision& rdquo; has no basis in the powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution, according to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and Judge Henry E. Hudson has agreed.So how can Medicare and Medicaid be constitutional?http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.784/blog_detail.asp#12-15-2010Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.781/blog_detail.aspToday& #39;s Washington Post ran an op-ed by Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health & amp; Human Services, and Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney-General. In it, they trot out the same old arguments that we& #39;ve heard many times before, and debunked.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.781/blog_detail.asp#12-14-2010Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.782/blog_detail.aspYesterday& #39;s ruling by a federal district judge, declaring that Obamacare& #39;s individual mandate is unconstitutional, is a noteworthy blow to the highly unpopular overhaul and its ultimate prospects for survival. The New York Times writes:http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.782/blog_detail.asp#12-14-2010Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.779/blog_detail.aspI can& rsquo;t move on from the previous post without noting a fascinating article in the weekend Wall Street Journal: & ldquo;Assembling the Global Baby,& rdquo; by Tamara Audi & amp; Arlene Chang (December 11-12, 2010), which is about the international market of surrogate mothers.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.779/blog_detail.asp#12-13-2010Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.778/blog_detail.aspOver at the John Goodman Health Policy Blog, Dr. Goodman and Prof. Reinhardt (amongst others) are debating how Medicare pays people. Here& #39;s my take: It is insane.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.778/blog_detail.asp#12-10-2010Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.780/blog_detail.asp California Governor-elect Jerry Brown and incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson want to improve education in the Golden State. They should begin by asking why Florida, though demographically similar to California, continues to trounce the state in student achievement. According to a new study from the Pacific Research Institute, low-income and minority students continue to propel Florida& #39;s gains while California student performance lags near the bottom.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.780/blog_detail.asp#12-9-2010Thu, 9 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.783/blog_detail.asp California Governor-elect Jerry Brown and incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson want to improve education in the Golden State. They should begin by asking why Florida, though demographically similar to California, continues to trounce the state in student achievement. According to a new study from the Pacific Research Institute, low-income and minority students continue to propel Florida& #39;s gains while California student performance lags near the bottom.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.783/blog_detail.asp#12-9-2010Thu, 9 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.777/blog_detail.aspThe New York Times reports on another unintended consequence of Obamacare: Higher drug prices for childrens& #39; hospitals. The structure of the article itself is fascinating.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.777/blog_detail.asp#12-8-2010Wed, 8 Dec 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.774/blog_detail.asp Repeal! Reform! Let the market offer heterogeneous solutions for heterogeneous consumers! We are the new Republicans and we know that we& rsquo;re on probation! http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.774/blog_detail.asp#11-30-2010Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.775/blog_detail.aspThe Hill now reports that its earlier story on Congressman Eric Cantor& rsquo;s backpedaling on repeal of Obamacare was incorrect. He does not seek to preserve the proscription on exclusion of patients with preexisting conditions or the provision allowing 26-year-olds to remain on their parents& rsquo; policies. No indeed: Cantor continues to favor a full repeal of Obamacare. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.775/blog_detail.asp#11-30-2010Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.773/blog_detail.aspThe Washington Post reports on physicians& #39; reducing the number of appointments they& #39;ll give to seniors enrolled in the traditional Medicare monopoly.What is needed is rigorous measurement of this phenomenon & ndash; like the Canadian Fraser Institute& rsquo;s measurement of waiting times for specialist and hospital care under the government monopoly up there. Obviously, the U.S. government would never fund such research.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.773/blog_detail.asp#11-29-2010Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.776/blog_detail.aspto US legislators- vote for the patient empowerment acthttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.776/blog_detail.asp#11-24-2010Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.771/blog_detail.aspGreg Scandlen has sounded a warning about government-dictated health IT. He points to a scholarly article which demonstrates that health IT can make delivering medical care more dangerous than otherwise. Mr. Scandlen points out that vendors of health IT are hungry for government hand-outs, which will be significant under Obamacare.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.771/blog_detail.asp#11-23-2010Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.772/blog_detail.aspThere& #39;s nothing like the yellow, dying grass on the other side of the fence to make you appreciate what you already have. In that spirit, and with the prospect of Obamacare looming, a new Gallup poll shows that fully 40 percent of Americans now rate their health care as & quot;excellent,& quot; the highest tally registered by Gallup in the past decade. And by a margin of greater than 5 to 1 (82 to 16 percent) Americans now rate their health care as & quot;excellent& quot; or & quot;good& quot; rather than & quot;fair& quot; or & quot;poor& quot; (with only 4 percent describing their care as & quot;poor& quot;).http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.772/blog_detail.asp#11-23-2010Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.767/blog_detail.aspOne of the great myths about American society is that our lack of a & quot;universal& quot; health plan harms our competitiveness. The masters of this refrain, of course, are the American automakers. Years before driving themselves into bankruptcy and the unwelcoming arms of their new owners, the American taxpayers, they used to claim that they spent up to $1,600 per car on health care. This was more than they spent on steel, and a multiple of what they claimed their foreign competitors spent. Yet we don& #39;t hear Mark Zuckerberg complaining that Facebook& #39;s health care costs are preventing him from competing against foreign social-media businesses.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.767/blog_detail.asp#11-17-2010Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.768/blog_detail.aspProviding a strong indication of how personal, accessible, understandable, user-friendly, customer-service-oriented, and not at all posthuman your health care would be under Obamacare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has just released a 347-page, 118,072-word & quot;rule& quot; to implement parts of Obamacare affecting Medicare Advantage and the Medicare prescription drug benefit program. In comparison, the entire United States Constitution, including all 27 amendments, contains 7,640 words. So the & quot;rule& quot; is more than 15 times as long as the Constitution.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.768/blog_detail.asp#11-17-2010Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.769/blog_detail.aspThe newest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that Americans favor repeal of Obamacare by a margin of 21 points (58 to 37 percent), while independents -- who swept Republicans into office two weeks ago -- favor repeal by almost 2 to 1 (62 to 33 percent).http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.769/blog_detail.asp#11-17-2010Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.770/blog_detail.asp One of the great myths about American society is that our lack of a & ldquo;universal& rdquo; health plan harms our competitiveness. The masters of this refrain, of course, are the American automakers. Years before driving themselves into bankruptcy and the unwelcoming arms of their new owners, the American taxpayers, they used to claim that they spent up to $1,600 per car on health care. This was more than they spent on steel, and several times what they claimed their foreign competitors spent. In her well-received book Who Killed Health Care?, Prof. Regina Herzlinger of Harvard Business School claims that these complaints are inflated (pp. 104-105).http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.770/blog_detail.asp#11-17-2010Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.765/blog_detail.aspIn the summer of 2009, Bill Kristol urged Republicans not to try to improve Obamacare but to & quot;kill it.& quot; That advice is equally trenchant today.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.765/blog_detail.asp#11-15-2010Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.766/blog_detail.aspThe recently released draft proposal from the federal debt commission offers some useful ideas for reducing runaway federal spending on health care. Even a committee comprising two-thirds Democrats is suggesting tort reform to curb wasteful malpractice lawsuits (Obamacare would do nothing about these), which the CBO says would save $64 billion in federal spending by the end of 2020 & ndash; in addition to what it would save Americans as a whole in lowered health costs, as doctors wouldn& #39;t feel so compelled to practice wasteful defensive medicine. And the committee& #39;s suggestion to increase nominal Medicaid co-pays would save an estimated $15 billion & ndash; and probably more so, as beneficiaries would then have at least some additional skin in the game.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.766/blog_detail.asp#11-15-2010Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.763/blog_detail.aspBecause they don& #39;t know themselves how much drugs cost. And health plans don& #39;t pay them to help patients decide value for money.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.763/blog_detail.asp#11-12-2010Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.764/blog_detail.aspReagan-era advisor and creator of the & ldquo;Laffer curve& rdquo; in economic theory Art Laffer gave the keynote address at the Pacific Research Institute& rsquo;s annual dinner gala tonight in San Francisco. During a substanative tutorial on economic theory, taxation and government monetary policy Laffer, during the portion of the program that involved audience questions, called governor-elect Jerry Brown & ldquo;this best governor California ever had& rdquo; because of his economic policies.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.764/blog_detail.asp#11-11-2010Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.762/blog_detail.aspThat& #39;s the date Obamacare really sinks it& #39;s teeth into U.S. health care.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.762/blog_detail.asp#11-10-2010Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.760/blog_detail.aspDoes anyone think that homes, cars, groceries, clothing, etc., would be more affordable if the government instituted a & ldquo;single-payer& rdquo; system and exercised it& rsquo;s monopsony power, hiding the actual prices from consumers?http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.760/blog_detail.asp#11-9-2010Tue, 9 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.761/blog_detail.aspThe November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll shows that President Obama& #39;s health care overhaul has now hit a lower level of popularity than at any previous time in his presidency. Kaiser writes, & quot;Just a quarter of the public (25 percent) now says they expect their own families to be better off under the health reform law, which is the lowest share since KFF [Kaiser Family Foundation] began tracking this question.& quot; Kaiser notes that it began tracking the question in February of 2009, just weeks after President Obama& #39;s inauguration. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.761/blog_detail.asp#11-9-2010Tue, 9 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.759/blog_detail.aspWith the glow of victory still fresh, it& #39;s a little unseemly to criticize the Republicans already on their alternatives to Obamacare. But we would not be in the fix we are today if a previous Republican regime had reformed (or eliminated) the employer-based exclusion of benefits from taxable income.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.759/blog_detail.asp#11-5-2010Fri, 5 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.758/blog_detail.aspSan Francisco& #39;s Board of Supervisors has voted to ban toys and similar marketing inducements for kids& #39; menus.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.758/blog_detail.asp#11-4-2010Thu, 4 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.756/blog_detail.aspThe Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act was on the ballot in three states. This is the model legislation that asserts the unconstitutionality of Obamacare& #39;s individual mandate. Before last night, it had already passed as a statute or constitutional amendment in six states.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.756/blog_detail.asp#11-3-2010Wed, 3 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.755/blog_detail.aspAccording to T.J. Rodgers, the founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor. & quot;I know firsthand about green jobs. SunPower Corp., a company I chair and the second-largest U.S. producer of solar cells, has produced about 800 green jobs in California. But that& #39;s just a fraction of the 4,700 jobs lost when Toyota pulled the plug on its local Nummi automotive plant due to the high cost of doing business in California.& quot;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.755/blog_detail.asp#11-2-2010Tue, 2 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.757/blog_detail.aspAs we begin Election Day, the Democrats not only appear poised to lose between 60 and 75 House seats (I& #39;ll defer to Jay Cost for the exact number), but they appear to have a roughly 50-50 chance of losing control of the Senate as well. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.757/blog_detail.asp#11-2-2010Tue, 2 Nov 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.754/blog_detail.aspI don& rsquo;t think that too many people are taking President Obama& rsquo;s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Tax Reform very seriously. Most free-marketers believe that it is a mechanism to put lipstick on a significant tax hike, or add a national Value-Added Tax (VAT) to the taxman& rsquo;s toolbox. Nevertheless, it was a little startling to learn that the Commission might propose eliminating & ldquo;the ability of employees to pay a portion of their health-insurance tab with pretax dollars& rdquo;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.754/blog_detail.asp#10-28-2010Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.753/blog_detail.aspAll the hoopla over the Wall Street Journal& #39;s so-called Facebook & quot;privacy breach& quot; article, it& rsquo;s subsequent and curiously-timed MySpace followup, and also the New York Times& rsquo; take on the ability of Facebook advertisers to target ads for nursing schools to gay men is unwittingly creating cover for a social networking privacy issue that& #39;s much bigger.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.753/blog_detail.asp#10-23-2010Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.751/blog_detail.aspToday& #39;s news of the overreaching federal state brings reports of antitrust action by the US Department of Justice against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. The purported violation? As Michigan& #39;s largest health plan, BCBS was able to persuade hospitals not to charge lower fees to any other carrier. According to the story, other health plans paid hospitals 25 percent more than BCBS.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.751/blog_detail.asp#10-19-2010Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.752/blog_detail.aspIn order to satisfy the admonition that & ldquo;California has to be a leader& rdquo; & mdash; a rationale shallow even by the standards of political sloganeering & mdash; the Golden State enacted in 2006 the Global Warming Solutions Act (& ldquo;AB32& rdquo;), mandating a reduction in purported greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.752/blog_detail.asp#10-19-2010Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.749/blog_detail.aspA spate of regulatory rollbacks from the folks empowered to impose ObamaCare upon us has mitigated - at least for a short term - ObamaCare& #39;s harmful consequences. Why are the ObamaCrats walking back the most popular so-called & quot;consumer protections& quot;?http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.749/blog_detail.asp#10-18-2010Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.747/blog_detail.aspIn Florida, a federal judge has ruled that a high-profile challenge to ObamaCare& rsquo;s constitutionality & mdash; filed by the state of Florida, 20 others states, and the National Federation of Independent Business & mdash; will be allowed to proceed. The Obama administration had attempted to block the challenge, but District Court Judge Roger Vinson has ruled that the plaintiffs have standing, their claims have merit, and the case can advance.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.747/blog_detail.asp#10-15-2010Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.748/blog_detail.aspStrongly indicating just how well ObamaCare is resonating with the public as we approach the midterm elections, Politico reports that, so far in October, advertising in opposition to ObamaCare and/or in support of repeal has outpaced advertising in support of ObamaCare by a margin of & quot;20-to-1.& quot;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.748/blog_detail.asp#10-15-2010Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.750/blog_detail.aspCongratulations to the FBI for busting the biggest Medicare fraud operation yet discovered. An Armenian gang defrauded Medicare of a reported $163 million. A key enabler of the fraud was the theft of 2,900 Social Security numbers, which the fraudsters used to bill Medicare for fake medical services. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.750/blog_detail.asp#10-15-2010Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.744/blog_detail.aspCongratulations to the FBI for busting the biggest Medicare fraud operation yet discovered. An Armenian gang defrauded Medicare of a reported $163 million. A key enabler of the fraud was the theft of 2,900 Social Security numbers, which the fraudsters used to bill Medicare for fake medical services.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.744/blog_detail.asp#10-14-2010Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.741/blog_detail.aspOn October 7, I was back in Washington, DC as a guest of the Galen Institute and the Institute for Policy Innovation, discussing the ObamaCare& #39;s harmful effect on states& #39; Medicaid budgets. I addressed California& #39;s Medi-Cal program.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.741/blog_detail.asp#10-13-2010Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.746/blog_detail.aspOn October 7, I was back in Washington, DC as a guest of the Galen Institute and the Institute for Policy Innovation, discussing the ObamaCare& #39;s harmful effect on states& #39; Medicaid budgets. I addressed California& #39;s Medi-Cal program.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.746/blog_detail.asp#10-13-2010Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.740/blog_detail.aspThis morning& rsquo;s editorial in the New York Times notes that & ldquo;some of the private health plans that participate in Medicare will be dropping out next year, but don& rsquo;t blame health reform.& rdquo; Indeed, according to the Times, & ldquo;the Medicare Advantage market remains strong.& rdquo; Well, maybe & mdash; but that& rsquo;s only for 2011.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.740/blog_detail.asp#10-11-2010Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.745/blog_detail.asp This morning& rsquo;s editorial in the New York Times notes that & ldquo;some of the private health plans that participate in Medicare will be dropping out next year, but don& rsquo;t blame health reform.& rdquo; Indeed, according to the Times, & ldquo;the Medicare Advantage market remains strong.& rdquo; Well, maybe & mdash; but that& rsquo;s only for 2011.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.745/blog_detail.asp#10-11-2010Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.738/blog_detail.aspRespected economist Ben Zycher recently completed this study for the Pacific Research Institute. It shows the massive numbers of jobs we stand to gain if Proposition 23 passes in November, or how many we stand to lose if it doesn& #39;t.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.738/blog_detail.asp#10-8-2010Fri, 8 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.742/blog_detail.aspSomewhere between the election of President Obama and the raging battle to repeal ObamaCare, the health care industry has woken up & mdash; sort of.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.742/blog_detail.asp#10-8-2010Fri, 8 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.743/blog_detail.aspWhen Missouri voters passed an anti-Obamacare referendum two months ago by a tally of 71 to 29 percent, Sen. Harry Reid responded, & ldquo;It& rsquo;s very obvious that people have a lack of understanding of our health care reform bill.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.743/blog_detail.asp#10-8-2010Fri, 8 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.735/blog_detail.aspThe California electorate next month will vote on Proposition 23, which would suspend the implementation of the state& rsquo;s global warming (i.e., energy taxation) law (& ldquo;AB32& Prime;) until the unemployment rate reaches 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.735/blog_detail.asp#10-5-2010Tue, 5 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.734/blog_detail.aspApparently, The Wall Street Journal enjoys sacrificing valuable real estate on its editorial page to serve as bait for politicians who traffic in misinformation about ObamaCare.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.734/blog_detail.asp#10-1-2010Fri, 1 Oct 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.737/blog_detail.aspMcDonald& #39;s Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.737/blog_detail.asp#9-30-2010Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.733/blog_detail.asp& quot;ObamaCare will levy a tax of 3.8% on the sale of homes.& quot; This is a myth floating around the Internet that I& #39;ve heard repeated amongst conservative grassroots activists.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.733/blog_detail.asp#9-29-2010Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.732/blog_detail.asp22,000 seniors in the Bay State will lose their Harvard Pilgrim Medicare Advantage plans, thanks to ObamaCare.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.732/blog_detail.asp#9-28-2010Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.730/blog_detail.aspThe miners who survived the collapse of the mine in Chile, and are now living deep within the earth, pose some unique challenges. How would an economist solve them? How is their situation like ObamaCare?http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.730/blog_detail.asp#9-24-2010_3:35:00_PMFri, 24 Sep 2010 15:35:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.729/blog_detail.aspLet& #39;s start with the good news: The GOP House leadership has pledged to repeal ObamaCare & quot;immediately,& quot; which means it will be the first legislative order of business on January 3, 2011 (if the GOP takes the majority). When it comes to & quot;replace,& quot; however, the GOP alternative is still significantly malformed. Indeed, there& #39;s more than a whiff of Big Government Republican in it.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.729/blog_detail.asp#9-24-2010_10:00:00_AMFri, 24 Sep 2010 10:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.731/blog_detail.aspLos Angeles Times has a devastating feature on the union protecting criminals whom the state sends in to take care of disabled people dependent on Medi-Cal.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.731/blog_detail.asp#9-24-2010Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.727/blog_detail.aspPeter Orszag, President Obama& #39;s former budget director, has an column in the New York Times arguing that fast growing Medicaid spending has starved funding for public universities. Unfortunately, he errs significantly in describing the economics of Medicaidhttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.727/blog_detail.asp#9-22-2010Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.725/blog_detail.asp& quot;This is one of those videos that can be called & ldquo;epic.& rdquo; It shows a North Carolina mother confronting Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan about ObamaCare, telling her bluntly, & ldquo;My children will suffer& rdquo; because of ObamaCare.& quot;http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.725/blog_detail.asp#8-23-2010Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.724/blog_detail.aspJohn O& #39;Brien of Legal NewsLine noted New Jersey& #39;s ranking in the U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2010 Report to promote pending legislation in the Garden State.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.724/blog_detail.asp#6-22-2010Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 ESThttp://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.723/blog_detail.aspJoseph Overton, former senior vice president at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, developed the Overton Window as a model to explain public policy change.http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/blog/id.723/blog_detail.asp#6-21-2010Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EST