Commentary
California
California’s New Privacy Law is No Model for the Nation
The fundamental problem of defining privacy is the same as defining obscenity. What is an outrage to one person is no big deal to another. Justice Potter Stewart said it best in his concurrence in the landmark case on obscenity (Jacobellis v. Ohio): “I shall not today attempt further to ...
Bartlett Cleland
November 29, 2018
Commentary
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 26, 2018
Commentary
Junk Science Has Become a Profitable Industry. Who Will Stop It?
By S. Stanley Young and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Should we believe the headline, “Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death”? How about, “Mouthwash May Trigger Diabetes. . .”? Should we really eat more, not less, fat? And what should we make of data that suggest people with spouses live ...
Pacific Research Institute
November 26, 2018
Commentary
Medicare for All Lost Big Time in the Midterms
Democrats won big during the midterm elections earlier this month. As of this writing, they appear to have picked up 39 seats in the House of Representatives. But Medicare for All — the rallying cry for much of the far left — lost big time. Voters outside liberal enclaves rejected ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 26, 2018
Commentary
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 25, 2018
Commentary
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 23, 2018
California
Californians Aren’t Embracing Sound Rent Control Policy Quite Yet
California voters earlier this month firmly rejected a proposition that would have repealed the state’s restrictions on rent-control laws. Nearly 62 percent said no, local governments cannot regulate the price of housing. But don’t mistake the vote with a sudden embrace of free-market housing policies. After all, October polling by ...
Kerry Jackson
November 19, 2018
Business & Economics
The Bizarre World of Drug Pricing
There is no shortage of bad ideas when it comes to the pharmaceutical market. One such proposal would allow drugs to be imported directly from other countries, such as Canada. Then there is the Trump Administration’s proposal that would effectively adopt foreign price controls on Medicare Part B drugs by ...
Wayne Winegarden
November 19, 2018
Business & Economics
New Medicare Price Controls Don’t Put America First
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar just released a sweeping proposal that would drastically change how Medicare pays for advanced cancer therapies and other potent medicines. The plan relies on foreign price controls to reduce drug spending by $17 billion over five years. Although drug spending may decline, as ...
Wayne Winegarden
November 16, 2018
California
California’s predictably blue midterm elections – and what it means for you
The midterm elections were a rather tiresome affair in California. The Democratic Party maintained its dominance in the state, holding majorities in the Legislature, securing the governor’s mansion yet again, and sending another mass of winning candidates to Washington. As news goes, there’s not much to see here. Conventional wisdom ...
Kerry Jackson
November 15, 2018
California’s New Privacy Law is No Model for the Nation
The fundamental problem of defining privacy is the same as defining obscenity. What is an outrage to one person is no big deal to another. Justice Potter Stewart said it best in his concurrence in the landmark case on obscenity (Jacobellis v. Ohio): “I shall not today attempt further to ...
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Junk Science Has Become a Profitable Industry. Who Will Stop It?
By S. Stanley Young and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Should we believe the headline, “Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death”? How about, “Mouthwash May Trigger Diabetes. . .”? Should we really eat more, not less, fat? And what should we make of data that suggest people with spouses live ...
Medicare for All Lost Big Time in the Midterms
Democrats won big during the midterm elections earlier this month. As of this writing, they appear to have picked up 39 seats in the House of Representatives. But Medicare for All — the rallying cry for much of the far left — lost big time. Voters outside liberal enclaves rejected ...
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Californians Aren’t Embracing Sound Rent Control Policy Quite Yet
California voters earlier this month firmly rejected a proposition that would have repealed the state’s restrictions on rent-control laws. Nearly 62 percent said no, local governments cannot regulate the price of housing. But don’t mistake the vote with a sudden embrace of free-market housing policies. After all, October polling by ...
The Bizarre World of Drug Pricing
There is no shortage of bad ideas when it comes to the pharmaceutical market. One such proposal would allow drugs to be imported directly from other countries, such as Canada. Then there is the Trump Administration’s proposal that would effectively adopt foreign price controls on Medicare Part B drugs by ...
New Medicare Price Controls Don’t Put America First
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar just released a sweeping proposal that would drastically change how Medicare pays for advanced cancer therapies and other potent medicines. The plan relies on foreign price controls to reduce drug spending by $17 billion over five years. Although drug spending may decline, as ...
California’s predictably blue midterm elections – and what it means for you
The midterm elections were a rather tiresome affair in California. The Democratic Party maintained its dominance in the state, holding majorities in the Legislature, securing the governor’s mansion yet again, and sending another mass of winning candidates to Washington. As news goes, there’s not much to see here. Conventional wisdom ...