Wayne H Winegarden
Commentary
The Compounding Pharmacy Loophole Threatens Safety And Innovation
The new class of GLP-1 medicines exemplifies both the potential of pharmaceutical innovation and the risks to future advancements from ill-considered government policies. The incredible benefits from GLP-1’s are clear – they significantly improve our health and well-being. Risks arise because current federal policies enable activities that jeopardize patient safety ...
Wayne H Winegarden
October 17, 2025
Commentary
Lousy Medicare Insurance Is Worsening Outcomes For All Patients
Medicare’s long-term financial outlook is in dire straits. While spending is already historically high, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, without fundamental reform, things will only get worse. According to the CBO, total government spending will grow from 23.3% of GDP in 2025 to 26.6% in 2055. Almost two-thirds ...
Wayne H Winegarden
October 14, 2025
Commentary
Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies Put Americans at Risk in More Ways Than One
The effects of Kennedy’s vaccines policies are going to hurt Americans – and not just because more people are falling ill. Health experts, former CDC directors, and medical associations are gravely concerned that HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s actions are risking Americans’ health and wellbeing. Nine former directors of the CDC ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 22, 2025
Blog
Spending Watch
Legislators Did Not Relieve California’s Energy Poverty Problem
Legislators Did Not Relieve California’s Energy Poverty Problem Wayne Winegarden September 2025 The legislative year is over and there is lots to be concerned about. Paramount among these concerns, the legislature passed several bills that will worsen the state’s energy affordability problems. Perhaps most disappointing, though not unexpected, legislators passed ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 19, 2025
Business & Economics
Penalizing Mergers And Acquisitions Won’t Accelerate Economic Growth
The U.S. is mired in a growth slowdown… The growth slowdown is not preordained; it is a policy driven outcome that can be reversed by implementing the right reforms. Toward this goal, a ruling by the U.S. Tax Court this past summer made small but significant progress. Read the op-ed ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 15, 2025
Commentary
Business Policy CMS Shouldn’t Expand Its Broken Competitive Bidding Model
Durable medical equipment (DME) such as CPAP machines and hospital beds helps keep many patients out of expensive nursing home care and in their own homes. Unfortunately, creating the right payment model has long eluded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Disconcertingly, they now plan to expand a ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 12, 2025
Commentary
California’s lawsuit against energy companies will increase greenhouse gas emissions
This fall the San Francisco Superior Court is holding a hearing on California’s lawsuit against American energy companies. The lawsuit alleges that these private U.S. companies misled the public about greenhouse gases’ impact and are responsible for covering the costs associated with climate disasters. But California and the federal government ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 8, 2025
Commentary
It’s Time To Let The Electric Vehicle Industry Grow Up
The U.S. has been subsidizing electric vehicles (EVs) since 2009 and hybrid vehicles for even longer. Recent Congressional actions have substantially changed this policy. As part of the reconciliation package, Congress rolled back the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ($4,000 credit for used EVs) as well as the EV battery ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 2, 2025
Business & Economics
Using The Government To Crush Competitors Harms Fans And The Economy
Cronyism and industrial policy are thriving to the detriment of our economic vibrancy. Consider that between 1960 and 2007 – right before the Great Recession – the economy expanded by more than 3% annually. Recessions happened, of course, but the economy always recovered the lost ground. Read the op-ed here.
Wayne H Winegarden
August 29, 2025
Commentary
The Inflationary Effect of Drug Price Controls
In a bill chock full of bad policies, the drug pricing provision of the Inflation Reduction Act stands out as particularly troubling. This provision establishes a negotiation process to set a Maximum Fair Price (MFP) on selected drugs for Medicare patients. Because the legislation calls the MFP a negotiation doesn’t ...
Wayne H Winegarden
August 21, 2025
The Compounding Pharmacy Loophole Threatens Safety And Innovation
The new class of GLP-1 medicines exemplifies both the potential of pharmaceutical innovation and the risks to future advancements from ill-considered government policies. The incredible benefits from GLP-1’s are clear – they significantly improve our health and well-being. Risks arise because current federal policies enable activities that jeopardize patient safety ...
Lousy Medicare Insurance Is Worsening Outcomes For All Patients
Medicare’s long-term financial outlook is in dire straits. While spending is already historically high, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, without fundamental reform, things will only get worse. According to the CBO, total government spending will grow from 23.3% of GDP in 2025 to 26.6% in 2055. Almost two-thirds ...
Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies Put Americans at Risk in More Ways Than One
The effects of Kennedy’s vaccines policies are going to hurt Americans – and not just because more people are falling ill. Health experts, former CDC directors, and medical associations are gravely concerned that HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s actions are risking Americans’ health and wellbeing. Nine former directors of the CDC ...
Spending Watch
Legislators Did Not Relieve California’s Energy Poverty Problem
Legislators Did Not Relieve California’s Energy Poverty Problem Wayne Winegarden September 2025 The legislative year is over and there is lots to be concerned about. Paramount among these concerns, the legislature passed several bills that will worsen the state’s energy affordability problems. Perhaps most disappointing, though not unexpected, legislators passed ...
Penalizing Mergers And Acquisitions Won’t Accelerate Economic Growth
The U.S. is mired in a growth slowdown… The growth slowdown is not preordained; it is a policy driven outcome that can be reversed by implementing the right reforms. Toward this goal, a ruling by the U.S. Tax Court this past summer made small but significant progress. Read the op-ed ...
Business Policy CMS Shouldn’t Expand Its Broken Competitive Bidding Model
Durable medical equipment (DME) such as CPAP machines and hospital beds helps keep many patients out of expensive nursing home care and in their own homes. Unfortunately, creating the right payment model has long eluded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Disconcertingly, they now plan to expand a ...
California’s lawsuit against energy companies will increase greenhouse gas emissions
This fall the San Francisco Superior Court is holding a hearing on California’s lawsuit against American energy companies. The lawsuit alleges that these private U.S. companies misled the public about greenhouse gases’ impact and are responsible for covering the costs associated with climate disasters. But California and the federal government ...
It’s Time To Let The Electric Vehicle Industry Grow Up
The U.S. has been subsidizing electric vehicles (EVs) since 2009 and hybrid vehicles for even longer. Recent Congressional actions have substantially changed this policy. As part of the reconciliation package, Congress rolled back the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ($4,000 credit for used EVs) as well as the EV battery ...
Using The Government To Crush Competitors Harms Fans And The Economy
Cronyism and industrial policy are thriving to the detriment of our economic vibrancy. Consider that between 1960 and 2007 – right before the Great Recession – the economy expanded by more than 3% annually. Recessions happened, of course, but the economy always recovered the lost ground. Read the op-ed here.
The Inflationary Effect of Drug Price Controls
In a bill chock full of bad policies, the drug pricing provision of the Inflation Reduction Act stands out as particularly troubling. This provision establishes a negotiation process to set a Maximum Fair Price (MFP) on selected drugs for Medicare patients. Because the legislation calls the MFP a negotiation doesn’t ...