Commentary

California Single-Payer Has Gone Up In Flames – For Now. Will Progressives Escape The Firestorm?

February 14, 2022

Healthcare

On January 31, the campaign for single-payer health care in California suffered its latest defeat. Progressive Democrats in the Assembly were unable to line up enough support for AB 1400, which would've launched a state takeover of private health insurance, Medicare, and Medi-Cal. So Assemblyman Ash...

The FDA Needs Reform – Biden’s Nominee Is Not the Person to Do It

February 14, 2022

Healthcare

When President Joe Biden nominated former Obama-era Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf to return to his old post, he made what was widely seen as a safe, if uninspired, choice. He easily sailed through a Dec. 14 Senate committee hearing to vet him. “[Califf] gushed...

Government is Fighting Covid-19 on Tape Delay

February 10, 2022

Healthcare

To great fanfare, the Biden administration just launched a website where Americans can request at-home COVID-19 tests, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service free of charge. It's a sad commentary on the competence of the federal government that the successful launch of a website counts as...

Gavin Newsom’s License to Misinform on Covid

February 10, 2022

California

Last summer, while trying to survive a recall effort, California governor Gavin Newsom claimed that Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California” and challenged doubters to “look that up.” A few months later, he swore that “violent crime and property crime”...

The Empty Case for Stakeholder Capitalism and ESG Investing

February 10, 2022

Business Economics

Instead of promoting responsible behavior, these practices undermine the principles of good corporate governance. Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, is selling the idea that the world economy must embrace stakeholder capitalism and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. Don’t worry, though, he wants you...

At the ‘Pharmer’s’ Market, Patients Suffer While Middlemen Profit

February 09, 2022

Healthcare

Imagine a visit to the local farmer’s market. When you’re about to pay the farmer for some fruit, a man in a suit and sunglasses interrupts the exchange and offers to negotiate a discount with the farmer. Cool, right? Not so fast. The man in the suit...

Will the independent medical practice become extinct in America?

February 07, 2022

Healthcare

Upon facing declining revenue prospects, physicians are shuttering their private, independent practices to partner up with larger hospitals that have near-monopolies on care in the regions they serve. This trend is depressing news for most Americans. Further concentration of market power in these health systems ultimately results...

When Will COVID-19 Become ‘Endemic’?

February 07, 2022

Healthcare

With pandemic fatigue becoming ever more intense, there is increasing speculation about when the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, might become "endemic" – a time when outbreaks will be more modest and manageable and we can "coexist" with the virus. That juncture has been described as when...

It’s time for hospitals to be transparent about their prices

February 05, 2022

Healthcare

More than a year after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services enacted a rule requiring hospitals to disclose prices for routine procedures, most still aren't complying. That's according to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As of last month, CMS...

Don’t Fall for the ‘Certificate of Need’ Laws Con Game

February 04, 2022

Healthcare

Last week, the South Carolina state Senate voted overwhelmingly to end the state's certificate of need program, which requires healthcare providers to seek government approval before building or expanding a hospital or purchasing pricey medical equipment. Such policies have long been justified as tools for avoiding duplicative or wasteful healthcare...