Sally C. Pipes
commentar
Hospitals Turn a Safety-Net Program Into an ATM
Washington, D.C. is finally taking a hard look at one of the most abuse-ridden federal health programs — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Last week, the Trump administration released a request for information exploring ways to bring more transparency and accountability to the program. It’s about time.
Commentary
How Trump’s ‘Prior Authorization’ Deal Puts Patients Ahead of Paperwork
Americans increasingly need a permission slip from their insurance company before they can get medical care. And it’s driving them crazy. According to one recent survey, nearly three-quarters of patients find delays and denials of treatment by insurers to be a major problem with our health-care system. Fortunately, a new ...
Commentary
Stop Catastrophizing Catastrophic Plans
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a rule to expand access to catastrophic health insurance plans on the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. The move may appear modest. In reality, it addresses one of the central design features that has made exchange coverage ...
Commentary
Medicare’s ‘efficiency’ cut will reduce access, not costs
Many physicians received another pay cut this year, courtesy of Medicare. Under the program’s new physician fee schedule, Medicare reimbursement for the vast majority of physician-provided services will effectively decline by 2.5%. Medicare officials justify the change as an “efficiency adjustment.” The theory is that doctors have gotten more productive ...
Commentary
Drop ‘Bigger Subsidies’ Narrative for Better Insurance Options
The federal government is covering a smaller share of Obamacare enrollees’ premiums this year. That has Democrats warning of a surge in the number of uninsured, as people struggle to shoulder more of the cost themselves. But recent reporting on some of those losing their enhanced premium subsidies reveals that ...
Commentary
States should think twice before embracing single-payer
Progressives are dreaming once again of a government takeover of the healthcare system. Locked out of power in Washington, they’re taking their fight for single-payer to blue states. This week, four New Yorkers took to the pages of the journal Health Affairs to make their case for how the Empire ...
Commentary
Proposed Patent Tax Threatens the Research That Powers Growth
Is federally funded science really a raw deal for taxpayers? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to think so. “If we fund it and they invent a patent,” he recently said, “the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit.” Lutnick is proposing a 50% excise tax on the ...
Commentary
Facing Medicaid Fraud Allegations, California Changes The Subject
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been raising a stir over what he claims is rampant Medicaid fraud. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services alleges that California has spent an estimated $1.3 billion in federal funds providing coverage to undocumented immigrants through the program. That would violate federal ...
Commentary
Cancer Breakthroughs Threatened by D.C.’s Price Controls
Cancer survival rates are on the rise, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest annual report. Seven in 10 patients now live five years or more after a cancer diagnosis. Since 1991, reductions in smoking and improvements in disease management and earlier diagnosis have resulted in a 34% drop in ...
Commentary
House GOP must promote commonsense health care reform
Nearly half of Americans struggle to pay for health care, according to recent polling from independent health policy research organization KFF. If congressional Republicans hope to maintain their majority in the midterm elections this fall, then they need to address those concerns with credible, patient-centered reforms. They have already begun ...
Hospitals Turn a Safety-Net Program Into an ATM
Washington, D.C. is finally taking a hard look at one of the most abuse-ridden federal health programs — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Last week, the Trump administration released a request for information exploring ways to bring more transparency and accountability to the program. It’s about time.
How Trump’s ‘Prior Authorization’ Deal Puts Patients Ahead of Paperwork
Americans increasingly need a permission slip from their insurance company before they can get medical care. And it’s driving them crazy. According to one recent survey, nearly three-quarters of patients find delays and denials of treatment by insurers to be a major problem with our health-care system. Fortunately, a new ...
Stop Catastrophizing Catastrophic Plans
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a rule to expand access to catastrophic health insurance plans on the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. The move may appear modest. In reality, it addresses one of the central design features that has made exchange coverage ...
Medicare’s ‘efficiency’ cut will reduce access, not costs
Many physicians received another pay cut this year, courtesy of Medicare. Under the program’s new physician fee schedule, Medicare reimbursement for the vast majority of physician-provided services will effectively decline by 2.5%. Medicare officials justify the change as an “efficiency adjustment.” The theory is that doctors have gotten more productive ...
Drop ‘Bigger Subsidies’ Narrative for Better Insurance Options
The federal government is covering a smaller share of Obamacare enrollees’ premiums this year. That has Democrats warning of a surge in the number of uninsured, as people struggle to shoulder more of the cost themselves. But recent reporting on some of those losing their enhanced premium subsidies reveals that ...
States should think twice before embracing single-payer
Progressives are dreaming once again of a government takeover of the healthcare system. Locked out of power in Washington, they’re taking their fight for single-payer to blue states. This week, four New Yorkers took to the pages of the journal Health Affairs to make their case for how the Empire ...
Proposed Patent Tax Threatens the Research That Powers Growth
Is federally funded science really a raw deal for taxpayers? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to think so. “If we fund it and they invent a patent,” he recently said, “the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit.” Lutnick is proposing a 50% excise tax on the ...
Facing Medicaid Fraud Allegations, California Changes The Subject
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been raising a stir over what he claims is rampant Medicaid fraud. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services alleges that California has spent an estimated $1.3 billion in federal funds providing coverage to undocumented immigrants through the program. That would violate federal ...
Cancer Breakthroughs Threatened by D.C.’s Price Controls
Cancer survival rates are on the rise, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest annual report. Seven in 10 patients now live five years or more after a cancer diagnosis. Since 1991, reductions in smoking and improvements in disease management and earlier diagnosis have resulted in a 34% drop in ...
House GOP must promote commonsense health care reform
Nearly half of Americans struggle to pay for health care, according to recent polling from independent health policy research organization KFF. If congressional Republicans hope to maintain their majority in the midterm elections this fall, then they need to address those concerns with credible, patient-centered reforms. They have already begun ...
