Health Care Innovation
Commentary
Drug price controls hurt patients
Costly Imported Medicines Leave Patients Vulnerable
Texas just became the latest state to look north for lower drug prices. As of the beginning of this month, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission gained authority to contract with Canadian wholesalers and suppliers to import prescription drugs from our northern neighbor. The prices of brand-name prescription drugs
Sally C. Pipes
September 19, 2023
Commentary
Government Regulation Threatens Life-Saving Innovation
Drug Companies Are Delivering a “Golden Age of Medicine.” Let’s Protect It.
New vaccines for scourges like malaria and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. New cancer drugs that can cut death rates by half or even cause complete remission. The discovery of a biomarker that could identify people who would benefit from investigational drugs for Parkinson’s Disease. Breakthrough treatments that curb obesity
Sally C. Pipes
September 6, 2023
Commentary
Cancer Patients Need Private Innovation, Not Gov’t Meddling
President Joe Biden just announced a new effort that he hopes will spur the development of better, more precise cancer surgery technologies. The program is part of his administration’s “Cancer Moonshot,” which aims to halve cancer death rates in the United States by 2047. Ironically, one of the biggest obstacles to achieving
Sally C. Pipes
August 16, 2023
Commentary
Read the latest on the nation's doctor shortage
Fixing the doctor shortage requires less government, not more
Congress is looking to narrow our nation’s doctor shortage. After introducing legislation that would reform our primary care system, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said last month , “Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be
Sally C. Pipes
August 14, 2023
Commentary
Greater Immigration Can Alleviate Troubling Skilled Nurse Shortage
Immigration, always a strength for the U.S. economy, has the potential to fill a dangerous and growing labor shortage of skilled nurses. According to nurse.org’s 2023 State of Nursing report, “91% of nurses believe the nursing shortage is getting worse, and 79% report that their units are inadequately staffed.” And it’s not just
Wayne Winegarden
August 14, 2023
Commentary
A bipartisan way to improve health coverage, help small businesses
The House of Representatives recently passed a healthcare reform bill along party lines. All 220 Republicans who were present voted “aye,” while all 209 Democrats sounded a unanimous “nay.” Judging by that roll call, you’d think the bill — the CHOICE Arrangement Act — was full of partisan measures. But
Sally C. Pipes
August 13, 2023
Commentary
Republican presidential candidates have been silent on healthcare
GOP’s Winning Healthcare Argument Must Be Made Now
The race for the Republican nomination for president is obviously well underway. The first debate is in less than three weeks – in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The candidates have largely been silent on healthcare. That’s a strategic error. Nine in ten people are concerned about increases in the cost of health
Sally C. Pipes
August 10, 2023
Commentary
States must remove government-imposed barriers to affordable and timely health care
The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency last month marked the end of several government waivers that helped expand access to care during the pandemic. Many of those waivers deserve to be made permanent. Paramount among them is the suspension of “certificate-of-need” laws that require health care providers to
Sally C. Pipes
August 6, 2023
Commentary
Bipartisan Price Transparency Reforms Will Improve Outcomes
Beneficial healthcare change is occurring – in a bipartisan manner too. The reform, referred to as the Transparency in Coverage (Tic) rule, improves the functioning of the healthcare market; and unlike the calls for price controls or increased government distortions, improving the efficiency of the healthcare market can achieve the
Wayne Winegarden
August 2, 2023
Commentary
Hospitals are still neglecting transparency rules
The nonprofit group Patient Rights Advocate just published its fifth report exploring how hospitals are complying with federal price transparency requirements. About two-thirds are still flouting the rules. That’s unacceptable. Noncompliant hospitals are preventing patients and payers from shopping around for high-value care — and inflating healthcare costs in the process. The price transparency regulations went
Sally C. Pipes
July 30, 2023
Drug price controls hurt patients
Costly Imported Medicines Leave Patients Vulnerable
Texas just became the latest state to look north for lower drug prices. As of the beginning of this month, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission gained authority to contract with Canadian wholesalers and suppliers to import prescription drugs from our northern neighbor. The prices of brand-name prescription drugs
Government Regulation Threatens Life-Saving Innovation
Drug Companies Are Delivering a “Golden Age of Medicine.” Let’s Protect It.
New vaccines for scourges like malaria and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. New cancer drugs that can cut death rates by half or even cause complete remission. The discovery of a biomarker that could identify people who would benefit from investigational drugs for Parkinson’s Disease. Breakthrough treatments that curb obesity
Cancer Patients Need Private Innovation, Not Gov’t Meddling
President Joe Biden just announced a new effort that he hopes will spur the development of better, more precise cancer surgery technologies. The program is part of his administration’s “Cancer Moonshot,” which aims to halve cancer death rates in the United States by 2047. Ironically, one of the biggest obstacles to achieving
Read the latest on the nation's doctor shortage
Fixing the doctor shortage requires less government, not more
Congress is looking to narrow our nation’s doctor shortage. After introducing legislation that would reform our primary care system, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said last month , “Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be
Greater Immigration Can Alleviate Troubling Skilled Nurse Shortage
Immigration, always a strength for the U.S. economy, has the potential to fill a dangerous and growing labor shortage of skilled nurses. According to nurse.org’s 2023 State of Nursing report, “91% of nurses believe the nursing shortage is getting worse, and 79% report that their units are inadequately staffed.” And it’s not just
A bipartisan way to improve health coverage, help small businesses
The House of Representatives recently passed a healthcare reform bill along party lines. All 220 Republicans who were present voted “aye,” while all 209 Democrats sounded a unanimous “nay.” Judging by that roll call, you’d think the bill — the CHOICE Arrangement Act — was full of partisan measures. But
Republican presidential candidates have been silent on healthcare
GOP’s Winning Healthcare Argument Must Be Made Now
The race for the Republican nomination for president is obviously well underway. The first debate is in less than three weeks – in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The candidates have largely been silent on healthcare. That’s a strategic error. Nine in ten people are concerned about increases in the cost of health
States must remove government-imposed barriers to affordable and timely health care
The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency last month marked the end of several government waivers that helped expand access to care during the pandemic. Many of those waivers deserve to be made permanent. Paramount among them is the suspension of “certificate-of-need” laws that require health care providers to
Bipartisan Price Transparency Reforms Will Improve Outcomes
Beneficial healthcare change is occurring – in a bipartisan manner too. The reform, referred to as the Transparency in Coverage (Tic) rule, improves the functioning of the healthcare market; and unlike the calls for price controls or increased government distortions, improving the efficiency of the healthcare market can achieve the
Hospitals are still neglecting transparency rules
The nonprofit group Patient Rights Advocate just published its fifth report exploring how hospitals are complying with federal price transparency requirements. About two-thirds are still flouting the rules. That’s unacceptable. Noncompliant hospitals are preventing patients and payers from shopping around for high-value care — and inflating healthcare costs in the process. The price transparency regulations went