In her media interviews and public appearances, Sally Pipes continued her mission to educate the American people about the dangers of single-payer health care.  

Pipes participated in a high-profile debate on “Medicare for All” in September hosted by Intelligence².  She argued against the replacement of private health insurance with debate partner Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason magazine. Pipes and Gillespie were voted winners of the debate by 51 percent of the live audience.  She also debated noted single-payer proponent Professor Richard Scheffler from the UC Berkeley School of Public Policy at a November forum at UC Berkeley.  

She continued to publish her regular weekly column at FoxNews.com, and bi-weekly columns in Forbes and the Washington Examiner “Beltway Confidential” blog, plus numerous op-eds run in print and online publications nationwide. Twice in 2019, President Trump shared Pipes’ columns with his more than 24 million Facebook followers.  

In May, Sally Pipes was a guest on “Life, Liberty, & Levin” on Fox News Channel for an hour-long interview on single-payer health care and market-oriented solutions for health care reform. She appeared in June as a panelist on “Deep Dive with Steve Hilton” on the Fox Nation streaming service, speaking about the dangers of single-payer health care.  Pipes also made multiple appearances on “The Evening Edit with Elizabeth MacDonald” on Fox Business Network, and appeared regularly on local and national radio shows including the “Larry Elder Show,” the “Lars Larson Show,” the “John Batchelor Show” and the “Wilkow Majority” on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Pipes was frequently sought after by reporters, television and radio programs, and podcasts to discuss the health care plans promoted by the various Democratic presidential candidates, the real life problems Americans would experience under a single-payer health care system, proposals to impose drug price controls and allow the foreign importation of drugs, and the potential for telehealth and other health care innovation to benefit patients.  

PRI also launched “Single Payer Poll Watch,” a poll aggregator which regularly updates shifting American public opinion about “Medicare for All” during the 2020 campaign.

• Sally Pipes, “Medicare for All in the 2020 Campaign,” April 29, 2019

• “Free Market Solutions to California’s Health Care Challenges,” March 18, 2019

In April, PRI launched its new Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, led by Senior Fellow Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., and featuring the work of renowned scholar Henry Miller, M.D., and PRI President Sally Pipes.  Over the next two years, the Center will focus on several areas of research covering the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries, including barriers to innovation and competition, pricing, and cost-effectiveness.

The Center’s first brief, released in June, analyzes an oft-cited study by the World Health Organization (“Pricing of Cancer Medications and its Impacts”). The CMEI analysis argues the misinformation perpetuated by the study’s flawed analysis inappropriately supports the imposition of price controls and more government regulation.

Also, in June, the Center released a national public opinion survey, which found that Americans overwhelmingly support innovative gene therapies.  Seventy-eight percent of respondents agreed that developing cures for diseases should be pursued, despite high upfront costs.

Two issue briefs focused on the potential for biosimilars, making the case that biosimilars have the potential to realize billions in savings for the health care system if reforms are enacted to incent their market share growth.

Dr. Henry Miller published an issue brief in June taking on the “dishonest propaganda” from organic agriculture advocates, noting that many organic-approved pesticides also pose significant environmental and human health risks.  In September, he co-authored a Wall Street Journal op-ed showing how low-tech innovations are significantly reducing injuries as much as high-tech medical innovation.  In October, he published a Los Angeles Times op-ed on the importance of getting a flu vaccine.

In January, Lance Izumi published his latest book Choosing Diversity, which profiles 13 different charter schools nationwide that are as different from one another as one could imagine but together exemplify the diversity at the heart of the charter school ideal, which is to meet the needs of each student.

During National School Choice Week in January,, PRI released a mini-documentary on one of the charter schools highlighted in Choosing Diversity – Life Learning Academy (LLA) on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.  The film shows how LLA is uniquely equipped to meet the special needs of their students because they have freedom that only charter schools can offer.  The film premiered at a special launch event held during National School Choice Week at another school profiled in the book, John Adams Academy in Roseville.

Izumi emerged as one of the most visible opponents of charter school restrictions enacted this session by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Newsom, giving numerous media interviews highlighting how these proposals would threaten school choice options for millions of California students, especially those living in poor and minority communities.

He was frequently called upon to give media interviews on national education policy issues.  In March, he was interviewed on “The Why” on national cable news network Newsy TV on the ongoing college admissions scandal.  He was also interview by KCBS Radio in San Francisco on Texas Tech’s decision to end affirmative action in school emissions.

• Heather Mac Donald, “Diversity Delusion,” January 21, 2019
• John Yoo and Steve Hayward, “What’s Wrong with Universities and Can They Be Fixed?”, June 17, 2019
• Ting Sun, “How Charter Schools Meet the Diverse Needs of Students and Transform Lives,” July 15, 2019

In February, PRI released the latest report in its Beyond the New Normal series, “Realizing the 15 Percent Solution.”  It outlines major reforms to entitlement programs and spending priorities that would be required to establish affordable federal budgets and reach the ideal 15 percent spending level.

In April, PRI launched Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity, a two-year research and educational outreach project to promote policy changes that would spur entrepreneurial growth and economic mobility. The first paper, “Incenting an Entrepreneurial Society” concludes that, based on every measure, regulations are thwarting people from growing a small business or getting a job at a startup.

The second paper “Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to the American Dream” makes the case that empowering lower-income entrepreneurs is key to reducing poverty in the United States and how policies like a $15 minimum wage and occupational licensing requirements amount to legislated barriers to opportunity that hinder immigrant and low-income entrepreneurs climbing the economic ladder.

In May, PRI published a study by Dr. Wayne Winegarden showing that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds that champion environmental and social causes have historically underperformed funds investing in the broader market over the long-term.

In August, PRI released “Making it Rain in California,” which found that capping the State and Local Tax deduction at $10,000 brought relief to millions, while freeing taxpayers in low-tax states like Indiana from subsidizing high-tax and spending in states like California and New York.

PRI fellow in business and economics Damon Dunn published an issue brief in September making the case for why socialism doesn’t work.  In “My Rise from Poverty and Why Socialism Doesn’t Work,” Dunn writes that his family should have ideally embraced socialism, his grandfathers instilled in him a sense of personal responsibility, while his mom taught him the importance of a good education.

• Stephen Moore, “Trumponomics,” January 28, 2019
• Damon Dunn, “My Life in Poverty and Why Socialism Doesn’t Work,” September 30, 2019
• Gary Wolfram, “The Debate Over Free Markets Versus Socialism,” October 7, 2019

In July, Dr. Wayne Winegarden published an issue brief analyzing Colorado’s proposed low emission vehicle standard, which is modeled after California’s standard.  It reviews the initial economic impact report conducted by Colorado state officials, which Winegarden found was severely lacking.

Kerry Jackson, fellow with PRI’s Center for California Reform, published a Capital Ideas brief, “California’s Blackouts:  How Did We Get Here and What Can We Do Keep the Lights On?” in November.  The brief explores how misguided government policies – including climate change policies, clean energy mandates, and current forest management practices – hinder PG&E and other privately-owned electric utilities from responding to the looming wildfires, while preventing mass power blackouts.

PRI board member and California Reform committee chair, The Hon. Daniel Kolkey published an op-ed in the Orange County Register (reprinted in Southern California News Group newspapers) showing that Gov. Newsom could act to prevent future power outages by utilizing his executive powers as Governor.

As gas prices soared past $4 per gallon, PRI scholars argued that high taxes and big government energy policies were why California drivers were paying so much more for gas than drivers in other states.  PRI communications director Tim Anaya wrote a widely-read blog on the issue for PRI’s Right by the Bay. He also gave multiple statewide TV interviews on California gas prices.

• Steven Hayward, “Earth Day Special,” April 22, 2019
• Brian Isom, “How Policy Changes Can Help Minimize the Risk of Another Destructive California Wildfire,” June 10, 2019
• Kerry Jackson – The Great Blackouts of 2019, November 11, 2019

In February, PRI held its inaugural “California Ideas in Action” conference in Sacramento.  The conference aims to annually convene PRI scholars, free-market advocates, lawmakers, opinion leaders, and real-life practitioners to explore how free-market ideas can address the state’s most pressing challenges.  Panel topics included free-market solutions to the state’s health care challenges, how charter schools help parents and students choose diversity, how Sacramento is legislating energy poverty, and how private charities and non-profits do a better job of lifting people out of poverty than government.  Legendary Sacramento political reporter and current CALmatters columnist Dan Walters was the keynote speaker.

PRI was a leading statewide voice against Assembly Bill 5, a highly-controversial new law that puts new limits on the ability of Californians to earn a living as independent contractors.  In October, Kerry Jackson published an op-ed in Calmatters (and over a dozen other publications statewide), “AB 5 will kill the gig economy and force more companies to leave.”

In May, Jackson published Living in Fear in California, a book showing how recent policy changes are undermining communities in California and must be reformed to restore public safety. Using local, state, and federal crime data, first-hand interviews and anecdotes, the book provides a snapshot of crime in California and recommends realistic reforms to fix the law’s serious flaws.

Jackson and Dr. Wayne Winegarden published a brief on San Francisco’s homeless crisis in June 2019, concluding that the city could reduce homelessness by encouraging and supporting private sector involvement, while making policy changes to invite a homebuilding boom.  It includes more than a dozen policy reform recommendations which PRI presented to Mayor London Breed’s administration.

• Kevin Yamamura, “How Politico Is Shining a New Light on What’s Going on in Sacramento,” February 25, 2019
• Mike Morrell, “Will the Legislature Finally Act to Break California’s Housing Logjam?”, March 11, 2019
• Jarrett Dieterle, “Assembly Bill 5:Who is an Independent Contractor and Who is an Employee in California?”, August 20, 2019