Health Care
Commentary
Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?
By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
Commentary
Enrollment in Consumer-Driven Plans Doubles in Two Years
The newly released annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (KFF/HRET) Employer Health Benefits Survey is out! I’m about to criticize KFF’s spin, so let me start by congratulating them on another outstanding achievement. The annual publication is an invaluable resource for those of us who want to understand ...
Commentary
A Healthcare Fix for the Green Mountain State
As Vermont grapples with a projected $32-million budget shortfall, Gov. James Douglas and state lawmakers have been forced to consider cuts in several government health programs. Such cuts are critical, given that Vermont spends more per capita on health care than almost any other state. But yet another round of ...
Commentary
Celebs, stop taking poisonous shots at vaccines
Earlier this month, researchers at Columbia University concluded that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine doesn’t raise a child’s risk for autism. It was the most rigorous look at the issue to date. Since 1998, more than 20 scientific studies have reached the same conclusion. With all that data, one might consider the ...
California
Despite Budget Resolution, Medi-Cal Crisis Endures
Three months late, governor Schwarzenegger has finally signed a budget. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. The budget agreement held the line pretty well on this gargantuan program for the short term appropriating 14.5 billion for 2008-2009 versus $14.2 ...
Health Care
Is The Government Responsible For Health Care?
Listen: The Edited Broadcast of the Debate download NPR.org, September 24, 2008 · It’s a debate that has raged on and off in the United States for more than a century now, with no clear resolution in sight: whether to guarantee healthcare for every American. During the past 100 years, ...
Environment
The Health Care Dilemma – High Cost & Excessive Regulation
By State Senator Roy Dyson (D-29th) How do we know it’s an election year? We know it’s an election year because once again we are being overwhelmed with dialogue, speeches and promises to bring health care to all Americans. Three of the major problems that plague America’s ability to provide ...
Commentary
Arizona’s Prop 101: Opponents of Patient Choice Sow Confusion
The Arizona Republic (via the Tucson Citizen) ran an article yesterday quoting some Arizona’s health care elites’ concern that Proposition 101 is “too ambiguous”. On the contrary, it could not be simpler. And that’s what terrifies these elites. Prop 101, the “Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act”, is a ...
Commentary
Who Lacks Health Insurance in America?
According to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans officially classified as uninsured in 2007 was 45.7 million. This figure is being used, naturally, to promote the case for radical “reform” that in practice would amount to a government takeover of the health care industry. ...
Business & Economics
Product Liability Law: Should FDA Approval Pre-empt State Tort Law?
This morning’s New York Times carried a story which addressed the question of whether medicines licensed by the FDA should be above and beyond state product liability law. In legalese, it asks whether the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act “pre-empts” state law. The NY Times tells the story of ...
Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?
By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
Enrollment in Consumer-Driven Plans Doubles in Two Years
The newly released annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (KFF/HRET) Employer Health Benefits Survey is out! I’m about to criticize KFF’s spin, so let me start by congratulating them on another outstanding achievement. The annual publication is an invaluable resource for those of us who want to understand ...
A Healthcare Fix for the Green Mountain State
As Vermont grapples with a projected $32-million budget shortfall, Gov. James Douglas and state lawmakers have been forced to consider cuts in several government health programs. Such cuts are critical, given that Vermont spends more per capita on health care than almost any other state. But yet another round of ...
Celebs, stop taking poisonous shots at vaccines
Earlier this month, researchers at Columbia University concluded that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine doesn’t raise a child’s risk for autism. It was the most rigorous look at the issue to date. Since 1998, more than 20 scientific studies have reached the same conclusion. With all that data, one might consider the ...
Despite Budget Resolution, Medi-Cal Crisis Endures
Three months late, governor Schwarzenegger has finally signed a budget. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. The budget agreement held the line pretty well on this gargantuan program for the short term appropriating 14.5 billion for 2008-2009 versus $14.2 ...
Is The Government Responsible For Health Care?
Listen: The Edited Broadcast of the Debate download NPR.org, September 24, 2008 · It’s a debate that has raged on and off in the United States for more than a century now, with no clear resolution in sight: whether to guarantee healthcare for every American. During the past 100 years, ...
The Health Care Dilemma – High Cost & Excessive Regulation
By State Senator Roy Dyson (D-29th) How do we know it’s an election year? We know it’s an election year because once again we are being overwhelmed with dialogue, speeches and promises to bring health care to all Americans. Three of the major problems that plague America’s ability to provide ...
Arizona’s Prop 101: Opponents of Patient Choice Sow Confusion
The Arizona Republic (via the Tucson Citizen) ran an article yesterday quoting some Arizona’s health care elites’ concern that Proposition 101 is “too ambiguous”. On the contrary, it could not be simpler. And that’s what terrifies these elites. Prop 101, the “Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act”, is a ...
Who Lacks Health Insurance in America?
According to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans officially classified as uninsured in 2007 was 45.7 million. This figure is being used, naturally, to promote the case for radical “reform” that in practice would amount to a government takeover of the health care industry. ...
Product Liability Law: Should FDA Approval Pre-empt State Tort Law?
This morning’s New York Times carried a story which addressed the question of whether medicines licensed by the FDA should be above and beyond state product liability law. In legalese, it asks whether the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act “pre-empts” state law. The NY Times tells the story of ...
