Wayne H Winegarden
Blog
Pulling mRNA Research Funding Undermines Future Innovations
Pulling mRNA Research Funding Undermines Future Innovations by Wayne Winegarden | August 15, 2025 The U.S. is a global leader in the innovative pharmaceutical industry, in part, because the public and private sectors effectively fulfill their complimentary roles. The federal government funds basic research that expands our knowledge base; the ...
Health Care
New PRI Study: Reforms to Expand PACE Program Could Save Taxpayers Billions, Improve Senior Care
SACRAMENTO – A new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute calls for reforms to expand the reach of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a joint Medicare and Medicaid program that delivers comprehensive medical and social ...
Commentary
Greater Price Transparency Will Improve Affordability
Inefficiencies plague our current healthcare system. Politicians are quick to blame these problems on the market and subsequently advocate for ever greater government control. But government programs, which are already major players in the healthcare market, provide lousy insurance for patients and undermine the viability of doctors and hospitals. Expanding ...
Commentary
Private Efforts Not Public Committees Will Generate Healthcare Savings
Passed as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was allocated $10 billion in 2011 for the first decade of its existence. It has been allocated hundreds of millions more since. The purpose of the program is to create payment models that ...
Commentary
Lessening California’s Energy Regulations Will Help Consumers
Gas costs too much in the Golden State. Addressing this unaffordable energy problem should be a top priority for state legislators and the governor. California has taken a step backward toward this goal, however; but may be primed to take a step forward too. Read the op-ed here.
Commentary
Price Controls On Doctors Are Costing Patients Dearly
Just like the December 2024 continuing resolution, the current budget reconciliation bill fails to address the problem of Medicare reimbursing physicians at below market rates. Without a fix, the inevitable consequences will be worsening doctor shortages, declining healthcare quality, higher overall healthcare spending, and the accelerated loss of independent practices. ...
Commentary
A Real and Present Threat to Alzheimer’s Patients
It’s a quintessential government outcome. A program intended to increase access to promising medical innovations is actually preventing Medicare beneficiaries from receiving FDA-approved treatments. Medicare’s “coverage with evidence development” (CED) was never authorized by Congress. Instead, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services created the program in 2005 by leveraging ...
Health Care
New Study: Medicare’s Price Controls Are Fueling America’s Growing Doctor Shortage
The Pacific Research Institute’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation today released a new issue brief warning that continued federal underpayment of doctors is fueling a looming healthcare crisis by accelerating the nation’s physician shortage and undermining access to care. Written by PRI senior fellow in business and economics and ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Budget Gimmicks Will Not Solve The State’s Fiscal Crisis
Budget Gimmicks Will Not Solve The State’s Fiscal Crisis Wayne Winegarden June 2025 It’s budget crunch time for Gov. Newsom and legislative leaders. The immediate problem is closing the estimated $12 billion budget shortfall for the FY2025-26 budget. Despite this serious fiscal challenge, the Governor’s budget proposal demonstrates an unseriousness ...
Business & Economics
Tariffs Either Can’t, Won’t, Or Shouldn’t Re-shore Manufacturing Jobs
Despite the unanimous ruling from the Court of International Trade, the Supreme Court will likely decide whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act empowers President Trump to levy global tariffs. As this process will take time to play out, economic uncertainty will persist for the foreseeable future. What isn’t uncertain ...
Pulling mRNA Research Funding Undermines Future Innovations
Pulling mRNA Research Funding Undermines Future Innovations by Wayne Winegarden | August 15, 2025 The U.S. is a global leader in the innovative pharmaceutical industry, in part, because the public and private sectors effectively fulfill their complimentary roles. The federal government funds basic research that expands our knowledge base; the ...
New PRI Study: Reforms to Expand PACE Program Could Save Taxpayers Billions, Improve Senior Care
SACRAMENTO – A new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute calls for reforms to expand the reach of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a joint Medicare and Medicaid program that delivers comprehensive medical and social ...
Greater Price Transparency Will Improve Affordability
Inefficiencies plague our current healthcare system. Politicians are quick to blame these problems on the market and subsequently advocate for ever greater government control. But government programs, which are already major players in the healthcare market, provide lousy insurance for patients and undermine the viability of doctors and hospitals. Expanding ...
Private Efforts Not Public Committees Will Generate Healthcare Savings
Passed as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was allocated $10 billion in 2011 for the first decade of its existence. It has been allocated hundreds of millions more since. The purpose of the program is to create payment models that ...
Lessening California’s Energy Regulations Will Help Consumers
Gas costs too much in the Golden State. Addressing this unaffordable energy problem should be a top priority for state legislators and the governor. California has taken a step backward toward this goal, however; but may be primed to take a step forward too. Read the op-ed here.
Price Controls On Doctors Are Costing Patients Dearly
Just like the December 2024 continuing resolution, the current budget reconciliation bill fails to address the problem of Medicare reimbursing physicians at below market rates. Without a fix, the inevitable consequences will be worsening doctor shortages, declining healthcare quality, higher overall healthcare spending, and the accelerated loss of independent practices. ...
A Real and Present Threat to Alzheimer’s Patients
It’s a quintessential government outcome. A program intended to increase access to promising medical innovations is actually preventing Medicare beneficiaries from receiving FDA-approved treatments. Medicare’s “coverage with evidence development” (CED) was never authorized by Congress. Instead, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services created the program in 2005 by leveraging ...
New Study: Medicare’s Price Controls Are Fueling America’s Growing Doctor Shortage
The Pacific Research Institute’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation today released a new issue brief warning that continued federal underpayment of doctors is fueling a looming healthcare crisis by accelerating the nation’s physician shortage and undermining access to care. Written by PRI senior fellow in business and economics and ...
Spending Watch
Budget Gimmicks Will Not Solve The State’s Fiscal Crisis
Budget Gimmicks Will Not Solve The State’s Fiscal Crisis Wayne Winegarden June 2025 It’s budget crunch time for Gov. Newsom and legislative leaders. The immediate problem is closing the estimated $12 billion budget shortfall for the FY2025-26 budget. Despite this serious fiscal challenge, the Governor’s budget proposal demonstrates an unseriousness ...
Tariffs Either Can’t, Won’t, Or Shouldn’t Re-shore Manufacturing Jobs
Despite the unanimous ruling from the Court of International Trade, the Supreme Court will likely decide whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act empowers President Trump to levy global tariffs. As this process will take time to play out, economic uncertainty will persist for the foreseeable future. What isn’t uncertain ...
