Health Care

Commentary

Stanford’s Student Family Health Plan: A Case Study in Fragmentation

For those of us who advocate eliminating the tax-prejudice that gives our employers, instead of ourselves, a subsidy for buying our health care, the collapse of family health coverage for students at Stanford and other California universities presents quite a challenging case study. Stanford demands that its students have health ...
Commentary

The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care

If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
Business & Economics

If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency

Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Commentary

Obama health plan would worsen flaws

Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
Commentary

New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care

New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Commentary

Winning diagnosis

There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Commentary

Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full

The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
Commentary

School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency

California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
Commentary

Our Healthcare System Is Hemorrhaging

Patients concerns about access to physicians showed a significant increase according to polls1. Access difficulty is directly related to the overall shortage of doctors in the specialty of Primary Care (Internal Medicine, Family Practice and Pediatrics). As older doctors are retiring, there are few young Primary Physicians coming out of ...
Commentary

Pacific Research Institute Releases Voters’ Guide on the Health Care Proposals of the Presidential Candidates

Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) today released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes ...
Commentary

Stanford’s Student Family Health Plan: A Case Study in Fragmentation

For those of us who advocate eliminating the tax-prejudice that gives our employers, instead of ourselves, a subsidy for buying our health care, the collapse of family health coverage for students at Stanford and other California universities presents quite a challenging case study. Stanford demands that its students have health ...
Commentary

The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care

If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
Business & Economics

If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency

Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Commentary

Obama health plan would worsen flaws

Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
Commentary

New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care

New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Commentary

Winning diagnosis

There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Commentary

Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full

The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
Commentary

School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency

California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
Commentary

Our Healthcare System Is Hemorrhaging

Patients concerns about access to physicians showed a significant increase according to polls1. Access difficulty is directly related to the overall shortage of doctors in the specialty of Primary Care (Internal Medicine, Family Practice and Pediatrics). As older doctors are retiring, there are few young Primary Physicians coming out of ...
Commentary

Pacific Research Institute Releases Voters’ Guide on the Health Care Proposals of the Presidential Candidates

Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) today released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes ...
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