Health Care
Business & Economics
Medical Lawsuits Put Health At Risk
On Nov. 3, a day before the election, the U.S. Supreme Court hears Wyeth v. Levine, a case with profound implications for the health of all Americans. In 2000, plaintiff Diane Levine was given Wyeth’s anti-nausea drug Phenergan, then on the market for 45 years. In rare instances, as the ...
California
Los Angeles Times’ Campaign for Government Health Care
Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times have relieved themselves of a feature-focus of three stories about how awful private health plans are. They managed to interview key leaders of the campaign for government-mandated health insurance, such as Bruce Bodaken of Blue Shield of California and ...
Health Care
KQED – Health Dialogues: Health Care for All?
Health Dialogues: Health Care for All? With the 2008 presidential election just around the corner, it’s time to review the progress of universal health care. What do competing Democratic and Republican plans really mean? And what’s happening with Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan for universal health care coverage at the state level? ...
California
California Health Reform: The Myths Abide
The (usually more reliable) Riverside Press-Enterprise reported the proceedings of a conference, held over the last two days, which issued a dreary post-mortem on the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1-1. ABX1-1 was Governor Schwarzenegger’s and former Assembly Speaker Nuñez’s attempt to ram so-called “universal” health care down our throats ...
Drug Pricing
The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide-1
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pacific Research Institute has just released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care scholar, and PRI President and CEO Sally C. Pipes. The book’s foreword is by Steve Forbes: “For anyone interested in getting ...
California
Californians Beware: “Healthy” San Francisco’s Tax Hikes May Be Coming Your Way
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger invested a lost year in health reform, allying himself with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez in support of a bill to increase taxes and spending on government-mandated health care by more than $12 billion annually. Fortunately for Californians, the bill stalled in the Senate, and the state’s ...
Commentary
Even Blue Cross/Blue Shield Likes Consumer-Driven Health Care
The latest presentation from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) continues the steady drumbeat of positive data about the take-up of consumer-driven health plans (CDHP), which has reached (fingers crossed) its tipping point. It’s an outstanding presentation, prepared by Maureen Sullivan, senior VP at BCBSA (with whom I’m not ...
Commentary
Sec. Leavitt to Greedy Governors: Medicaid Is Not A Bottomless Well
One of the “benefits” of the way we finance Medicare (and Social Security), at least, is that the law requires offically appointed actuaries to report annually on the fiscal status of the program, via the Medicare Trustees Report. Each year, the horror of Medicare’s unfunded liability grows starker and closer. ...
Commentary
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
Commentary
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
Medical Lawsuits Put Health At Risk
On Nov. 3, a day before the election, the U.S. Supreme Court hears Wyeth v. Levine, a case with profound implications for the health of all Americans. In 2000, plaintiff Diane Levine was given Wyeth’s anti-nausea drug Phenergan, then on the market for 45 years. In rare instances, as the ...
Los Angeles Times’ Campaign for Government Health Care
Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times have relieved themselves of a feature-focus of three stories about how awful private health plans are. They managed to interview key leaders of the campaign for government-mandated health insurance, such as Bruce Bodaken of Blue Shield of California and ...
KQED – Health Dialogues: Health Care for All?
Health Dialogues: Health Care for All? With the 2008 presidential election just around the corner, it’s time to review the progress of universal health care. What do competing Democratic and Republican plans really mean? And what’s happening with Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan for universal health care coverage at the state level? ...
California Health Reform: The Myths Abide
The (usually more reliable) Riverside Press-Enterprise reported the proceedings of a conference, held over the last two days, which issued a dreary post-mortem on the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1-1. ABX1-1 was Governor Schwarzenegger’s and former Assembly Speaker Nuñez’s attempt to ram so-called “universal” health care down our throats ...
The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide-1
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pacific Research Institute has just released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care scholar, and PRI President and CEO Sally C. Pipes. The book’s foreword is by Steve Forbes: “For anyone interested in getting ...
Californians Beware: “Healthy” San Francisco’s Tax Hikes May Be Coming Your Way
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger invested a lost year in health reform, allying himself with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez in support of a bill to increase taxes and spending on government-mandated health care by more than $12 billion annually. Fortunately for Californians, the bill stalled in the Senate, and the state’s ...
Even Blue Cross/Blue Shield Likes Consumer-Driven Health Care
The latest presentation from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) continues the steady drumbeat of positive data about the take-up of consumer-driven health plans (CDHP), which has reached (fingers crossed) its tipping point. It’s an outstanding presentation, prepared by Maureen Sullivan, senior VP at BCBSA (with whom I’m not ...
Sec. Leavitt to Greedy Governors: Medicaid Is Not A Bottomless Well
One of the “benefits” of the way we finance Medicare (and Social Security), at least, is that the law requires offically appointed actuaries to report annually on the fiscal status of the program, via the Medicare Trustees Report. Each year, the horror of Medicare’s unfunded liability grows starker and closer. ...
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
