Commentary
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 ...
California
California Housing Crisis Prolonged By Policymakers’ Inability To Shed Old Impulses
With every idea offered as a serious “solution,” it becomes clearer why California has a housing crisis. The thinking is stuck on policies that aggravate rather than improve. The latest ill-considered proposal picking up support would enact price-gouging laws to keep rental costs in check. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, ...
Business & Economics
Public Pension Funds’ Sole Responsibility Is To Secure The Retirement Of Public Sector Workers
State and local public pension funds are trillions of dollars in debt. Without fully accounting for the risks, state public pension funds have $1.4 trillion in unfunded liabilities (e.g. debt) according to the Pew Center’s latest estimates. Even more troubling, this debt is still growing. The sole priority of a public pension ...
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 ...
California Housing Crisis Prolonged By Policymakers’ Inability To Shed Old Impulses
With every idea offered as a serious “solution,” it becomes clearer why California has a housing crisis. The thinking is stuck on policies that aggravate rather than improve. The latest ill-considered proposal picking up support would enact price-gouging laws to keep rental costs in check. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, ...
Public Pension Funds’ Sole Responsibility Is To Secure The Retirement Of Public Sector Workers
State and local public pension funds are trillions of dollars in debt. Without fully accounting for the risks, state public pension funds have $1.4 trillion in unfunded liabilities (e.g. debt) according to the Pew Center’s latest estimates. Even more troubling, this debt is still growing. The sole priority of a public pension ...
