Health Care
Commentary
Blagojevich’s failed drug importation plan a cautionary tale
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent media blitz took him across the television dial, from David Letterman to “The View,” but he maintained he had done nothing wrong. The Illinois Legislature begged to differ. In addition to the alleged attempted sale of Barack Obama’s Senate seat, lawmakers cited several other transgressions ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 22, 2009
Commentary
Humane Health Care
The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide By Sally C. Pipes (Pacific Research Institute, 182 pages, $24.95) President Barack Obama has promised to fundamentally change America’s health care system. But before he and his team get to work, they’d do well to read Sally Pipes’s new ...
Robert M. Goldberg
February 20, 2009
Health Care
If Eight Is Enough, Why Isn’t $60 Billion?
Nadya Suleman and her eight babies are much in the news, with good reason. There are lessons here for everyone, and they extend beyond the fertility debate. Ms. Suleman is the divorced mother who gave birth to eight babies on January 26. Kaiser Permanente clearly viewed the event as a ...
John R. Graham
February 19, 2009
Commentary
BOOKS: ‘The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide’
Rebutting case for politicized medicine Health care “reform” is in the air, but to its leading advocates, that means a government takeover of the medical system. American health care is an inefficient hybrid of public and private, costing more than it should for the care provided. The problem is too ...
Doug Bandow
February 17, 2009
Commentary
Our View: State’s cure is original cause of ills
Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA), February 17, 2009 California’s regulations on health care raise the costs for its citizens Often government tries to fix what’s wrong by imposing more of what caused the problem in the first place. Nowhere is this more apparent than health care. A new analysis by the advocacy ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 17, 2009
Business & Economics
Don’t hold drugmakers liable for competitors’ generics
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision not to review Conte vs. Wyeth leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version of its drug. This unprecedented and unfair extension of product liability spells bad news for innovators and consumers alike. Plaintiff Elizabeth Conte took a generic ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
February 15, 2009
Commentary
Taxes bite into Health Savings Accounts
In an article full of left-handed compliments, the San Francisco Business Times noted that Kaiser Permanente, the mother of all HMOs, has 12 percent of its members in “deductible plans” at the end of 2008 (“New health for HSAs,” Jan. 16-22 issue). The traditional Kaiser Permanente deductible is zero. Of ...
John R. Graham
February 13, 2009
California
How Federal Health “Reform” Will Devastate California’s Budget
Last June California politicians claimed to have “fixed” the budget but according to a November 18 report from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) California now faces a budget deficit of $20.7 billion from the present until 2010-2011. Unfortunately, something’s coming down the pike that will make today’s budget shenanigans ...
John R. Graham
February 12, 2009
Commentary
Prevention pays in big ways: Longer, healthier lives
Guest Column A Register editorial last month called attention to an important Congressional Budget Office report on health-care reform proposals. The CBO report found that preventive care will not reduce health costs significantly. The report infers that, if people live longer, they may increase costs by receiving more in Medicare ...
Tom Newton
February 8, 2009
Commentary
Stimulus no fix for health insurance
Orange County Register, February 9, 2009 The stimulus package has money for government health programs, but that’s not the way to make coverage more affordable Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the ire of many in California by calling for $1.1 billion in cuts to Medi-Cal, the state health care program for ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 8, 2009
Blagojevich’s failed drug importation plan a cautionary tale
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent media blitz took him across the television dial, from David Letterman to “The View,” but he maintained he had done nothing wrong. The Illinois Legislature begged to differ. In addition to the alleged attempted sale of Barack Obama’s Senate seat, lawmakers cited several other transgressions ...
Humane Health Care
The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide By Sally C. Pipes (Pacific Research Institute, 182 pages, $24.95) President Barack Obama has promised to fundamentally change America’s health care system. But before he and his team get to work, they’d do well to read Sally Pipes’s new ...
If Eight Is Enough, Why Isn’t $60 Billion?
Nadya Suleman and her eight babies are much in the news, with good reason. There are lessons here for everyone, and they extend beyond the fertility debate. Ms. Suleman is the divorced mother who gave birth to eight babies on January 26. Kaiser Permanente clearly viewed the event as a ...
BOOKS: ‘The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide’
Rebutting case for politicized medicine Health care “reform” is in the air, but to its leading advocates, that means a government takeover of the medical system. American health care is an inefficient hybrid of public and private, costing more than it should for the care provided. The problem is too ...
Our View: State’s cure is original cause of ills
Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA), February 17, 2009 California’s regulations on health care raise the costs for its citizens Often government tries to fix what’s wrong by imposing more of what caused the problem in the first place. Nowhere is this more apparent than health care. A new analysis by the advocacy ...
Don’t hold drugmakers liable for competitors’ generics
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision not to review Conte vs. Wyeth leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version of its drug. This unprecedented and unfair extension of product liability spells bad news for innovators and consumers alike. Plaintiff Elizabeth Conte took a generic ...
Taxes bite into Health Savings Accounts
In an article full of left-handed compliments, the San Francisco Business Times noted that Kaiser Permanente, the mother of all HMOs, has 12 percent of its members in “deductible plans” at the end of 2008 (“New health for HSAs,” Jan. 16-22 issue). The traditional Kaiser Permanente deductible is zero. Of ...
How Federal Health “Reform” Will Devastate California’s Budget
Last June California politicians claimed to have “fixed” the budget but according to a November 18 report from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) California now faces a budget deficit of $20.7 billion from the present until 2010-2011. Unfortunately, something’s coming down the pike that will make today’s budget shenanigans ...
Prevention pays in big ways: Longer, healthier lives
Guest Column A Register editorial last month called attention to an important Congressional Budget Office report on health-care reform proposals. The CBO report found that preventive care will not reduce health costs significantly. The report infers that, if people live longer, they may increase costs by receiving more in Medicare ...
Stimulus no fix for health insurance
Orange County Register, February 9, 2009 The stimulus package has money for government health programs, but that’s not the way to make coverage more affordable Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the ire of many in California by calling for $1.1 billion in cuts to Medi-Cal, the state health care program for ...