Commentary
Commentary
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 5, 2025
California
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Kerry Jackson
May 1, 2025
Commentary
Medicaid can’t survive without spending cuts
Congressional Republicans are trying to figure out what to do with Medicaid. Nearly 80 million Americans get health coverage through the entitlement. In California, one in three residents has Medi-Cal, the Golden State’s version of Medicaid. Congress will have to rein in the program at some point. Spending on the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 30, 2025
California
No way to run a homeless program
Last year’s count of the homeless population in both Los Angeles County and City showed a slight decrease, which is a small measure of progress. But the findings of recent audit of city-funded homelessness assistance programs suggests changes are needed in the local response if there is to be a ...
Kerry Jackson
April 29, 2025
Commentary
Banning mRNA vaccines would stop emerging cancer treatments
Several states have effectively declared war on medical progress. Lawmakers in Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Texas and Kentucky introduced bills that would ban or restrict vaccines that use messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology — despite its immense potential for treating and even preventing some of the most vexing diseases known to ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 29, 2025
Commentary
Obamacare Is Killing Small Business. Here’s How To Fix It.
Obamacare was back on trial this month, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge about the constitutionality of the panel that determines which preventive care services health plans must cover. According to the Commonwealth Fund, “The case has consequences for the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of coverage for a ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 29, 2025
Commentary
Delaying Coverage of Weight-loss Meds Won’t Cure Obesity
In an interview this month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appeared open to the idea of Medicare covering drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for beneficiaries with obesity. “Ideally, over the long term, we’d like to see . . . those drugs available for people after ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 24, 2025
California
What Is Going On In Los Angeles?
Another question comes to mind: Could Los Angeles be the next Detroit? At times, is seems it’s in a race with San Francisco to see which will be the first to reach a Motor City-like nadir. Due to its “serious financial headwinds,” the city is going to have to make cuts, ...
Kerry Jackson
April 23, 2025
Commentary
Drug company profits don’t threaten lives; price controls do
More than 4 in 5 Americans blame the pharmaceutical industry’s profits for the high prices of prescription drugs. It’s little wonder, then, that roughly the same share supports placing price controls on prescription drugs through Medicare. The logic is straight out of Robin Hood. Our leaders should take from the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 23, 2025
Commentary
Trump is right: Housing isn’t healthcare
The Trump administration shut off federal funding through Medicaid for non-healthcare-related services such as housekeeping, groceries, and internet earlier this month. It’s about time. Medicaid exists to provide health benefits to the nation’s neediest, not to subsidize a laundry list of liberal priorities. Over the last two decades, it has ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 21, 2025
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Medicaid can’t survive without spending cuts
Congressional Republicans are trying to figure out what to do with Medicaid. Nearly 80 million Americans get health coverage through the entitlement. In California, one in three residents has Medi-Cal, the Golden State’s version of Medicaid. Congress will have to rein in the program at some point. Spending on the ...
No way to run a homeless program
Last year’s count of the homeless population in both Los Angeles County and City showed a slight decrease, which is a small measure of progress. But the findings of recent audit of city-funded homelessness assistance programs suggests changes are needed in the local response if there is to be a ...
Banning mRNA vaccines would stop emerging cancer treatments
Several states have effectively declared war on medical progress. Lawmakers in Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Texas and Kentucky introduced bills that would ban or restrict vaccines that use messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology — despite its immense potential for treating and even preventing some of the most vexing diseases known to ...
Obamacare Is Killing Small Business. Here’s How To Fix It.
Obamacare was back on trial this month, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge about the constitutionality of the panel that determines which preventive care services health plans must cover. According to the Commonwealth Fund, “The case has consequences for the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of coverage for a ...
Delaying Coverage of Weight-loss Meds Won’t Cure Obesity
In an interview this month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appeared open to the idea of Medicare covering drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for beneficiaries with obesity. “Ideally, over the long term, we’d like to see . . . those drugs available for people after ...
What Is Going On In Los Angeles?
Another question comes to mind: Could Los Angeles be the next Detroit? At times, is seems it’s in a race with San Francisco to see which will be the first to reach a Motor City-like nadir. Due to its “serious financial headwinds,” the city is going to have to make cuts, ...
Drug company profits don’t threaten lives; price controls do
More than 4 in 5 Americans blame the pharmaceutical industry’s profits for the high prices of prescription drugs. It’s little wonder, then, that roughly the same share supports placing price controls on prescription drugs through Medicare. The logic is straight out of Robin Hood. Our leaders should take from the ...
Trump is right: Housing isn’t healthcare
The Trump administration shut off federal funding through Medicaid for non-healthcare-related services such as housekeeping, groceries, and internet earlier this month. It’s about time. Medicaid exists to provide health benefits to the nation’s neediest, not to subsidize a laundry list of liberal priorities. Over the last two decades, it has ...