Commentary
Commentary
Opioid crisis — Since when does the government write prescriptions?
Opioid-related deaths nationwide jumped four-fold in the last two decades, and the epidemic has made major inroads in the Eastern states, according to a new study by a U.S.- Canadian research team. The team found that “the life expectancy lost at age 15 years from opioids is now greater than ...
Commentary
The Canadian prescription for inefficient health care
Hours after taking office in January, California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, asked federal officials for permission to create a statewide single-payer health care system. Other states are contemplating similar moves. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington recently announced his plan for a state-sponsored public health insurance option. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ...
Business & Economics
Gutting patents will stall medicine progress
Congress could soon vote on legislation that would gut America’s intellectual property laws. The bill isn’t just bad news for big pharmaceutical companies that hold lucrative patents. It’s terrible news for patients — medical research spending would dry up without strong patent protections. Americans could lose out on cures for ...
Business & Economics
Three Blind Men And The Health Care Industry
Today’s hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee will, unfortunately, be another wasted opportunity. Surely, Senators will make grandiose speeches and be shocked at the cost of drugs. They will also continue to support the very policies that are causing the problems the hearing is supposed to address. A February 25th editorial ...
California
Work-Hating California Seeks to Stop Freelance Workers
California has a well-deserved reputation for being unfriendly to business. Depending on what happens in Sacramento this year, the environment for workers could become unpleasant, as well. An attack on workers’ freedom began nearly a year ago, when the California Supreme Court established a new legal standard for worker classification ...
Commentary
Governor’s health care proposal puts politics before patients
In California, politics is taking precedence over patients. That’s the only conclusion to draw from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently released health care plan. He’s looking to impose price controls on prescription drugs. He’d like to expand Medicaid to undocumented immigrants up to the age of 26. He’s called for re-imposing ...
Commentary
Drug price controls will stifle innovation: Pharmaceutical industry R&D is saving lives
This year, 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer. For over 600,000 of them, that diagnosis will prove fatal. But there’s hope on the horizon. More Americans are surviving cancer each year, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society. The cancer death rate declined precipitously between ...
Commentary
Democratic 2020 Hopefuls: All Roads Lead To Single-Payer
The Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls are diverse in all ways but one — their stance on healthcare reform. The front-runners want to eliminate private insurance and put everyone on a government-run plan. But that’s not something they’ve been enthusiastic about revealing to voters. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently refused to say whether she would ...
Commentary
Don’t blame drug companies for high prices
*Featured in Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing* Today, Type 1 diabetes patients pay twice as much for insulin as they did in 2012. This is outrageous — but drug companies aren’t to blame. The problem is a dysfunctional supply chain that benefits everyone except patients. In today’s system, insurers hire third-party firms, ...
Business & Economics
The Economy Has Changed for American Workers – And There’s No Going Back
It used to be that political parties would argue over which policy was more effective at helping the largest number of people achieve the American dream. Now, a growing chorus on the left have begun to argue that the American dream itself is a lie, and that our only option ...
Opioid crisis — Since when does the government write prescriptions?
Opioid-related deaths nationwide jumped four-fold in the last two decades, and the epidemic has made major inroads in the Eastern states, according to a new study by a U.S.- Canadian research team. The team found that “the life expectancy lost at age 15 years from opioids is now greater than ...
The Canadian prescription for inefficient health care
Hours after taking office in January, California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, asked federal officials for permission to create a statewide single-payer health care system. Other states are contemplating similar moves. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington recently announced his plan for a state-sponsored public health insurance option. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ...
Gutting patents will stall medicine progress
Congress could soon vote on legislation that would gut America’s intellectual property laws. The bill isn’t just bad news for big pharmaceutical companies that hold lucrative patents. It’s terrible news for patients — medical research spending would dry up without strong patent protections. Americans could lose out on cures for ...
Three Blind Men And The Health Care Industry
Today’s hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee will, unfortunately, be another wasted opportunity. Surely, Senators will make grandiose speeches and be shocked at the cost of drugs. They will also continue to support the very policies that are causing the problems the hearing is supposed to address. A February 25th editorial ...
Work-Hating California Seeks to Stop Freelance Workers
California has a well-deserved reputation for being unfriendly to business. Depending on what happens in Sacramento this year, the environment for workers could become unpleasant, as well. An attack on workers’ freedom began nearly a year ago, when the California Supreme Court established a new legal standard for worker classification ...
Governor’s health care proposal puts politics before patients
In California, politics is taking precedence over patients. That’s the only conclusion to draw from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently released health care plan. He’s looking to impose price controls on prescription drugs. He’d like to expand Medicaid to undocumented immigrants up to the age of 26. He’s called for re-imposing ...
Drug price controls will stifle innovation: Pharmaceutical industry R&D is saving lives
This year, 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer. For over 600,000 of them, that diagnosis will prove fatal. But there’s hope on the horizon. More Americans are surviving cancer each year, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society. The cancer death rate declined precipitously between ...
Democratic 2020 Hopefuls: All Roads Lead To Single-Payer
The Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls are diverse in all ways but one — their stance on healthcare reform. The front-runners want to eliminate private insurance and put everyone on a government-run plan. But that’s not something they’ve been enthusiastic about revealing to voters. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently refused to say whether she would ...
Don’t blame drug companies for high prices
*Featured in Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing* Today, Type 1 diabetes patients pay twice as much for insulin as they did in 2012. This is outrageous — but drug companies aren’t to blame. The problem is a dysfunctional supply chain that benefits everyone except patients. In today’s system, insurers hire third-party firms, ...
The Economy Has Changed for American Workers – And There’s No Going Back
It used to be that political parties would argue over which policy was more effective at helping the largest number of people achieve the American dream. Now, a growing chorus on the left have begun to argue that the American dream itself is a lie, and that our only option ...
