Commentary
Commentary
Requiring That Drug Advertisements Include List Prices Promotes Misinformation
The largest problems in the health care industry are often created by reformers envisioning themselves as free market saviors, when in reality they are merely advocates for more intrusive government regulations. The Trump administration’s proposal to require that drug advertisements include the medicine’s list price is such an example. On its face, ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 17, 2018
California
Unwilling to Wait for Voters, Los Angeles County Jumps Gun on Temporary Rent Control
Los Angeles County couldn’t wait for voters to decide this fall if local governments can enact rent-control laws. The Board of Supervisors recently enacted a “temporary” restriction on rent increases. If they think that will relieve the housing crisis, they are mistaken. The Los Angeles County ordinance sets rents at ...
Kerry Jackson
October 15, 2018
Commentary
Government Policies Are Driving Doctors To Quit Health Care
Doctors nationwide are burnt out and unsatisfied. Many want to quit the profession entirely, according to a new survey from the Physicians Foundation. The government deserves much of the blame for doctors’ low morale. For years, the feds have cut their pay, meddled in their decisions, and subjected them to ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 15, 2018
California
California’s Leaders Ban Affordable Health Coverage
California just outlawed a form of health insurance that could save thousands of its residents millions of dollars. Late last month, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 910, which bans the sale of short-term health plans — those that last less than a year and don’t have to comply with Obamacare’s ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 15, 2018
Commentary
Bureaucrats Turn ‘Dark Regulatory Matter’ Into Law, But Is It Constitutional?
The Dark State is real and ubiquitous, but it is neither new nor necessarily sinister. In some respects, it is inherent in our system of government. Although our government was conceived as three interdependent, coequal branches, it has evolved into an administrative state run mainly by a gargantuan Executive Branch ...
Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
October 11, 2018
Commentary
Trump is right: There’s no possible way we can afford ‘Medicare for all’
On Wednesday, President Trump authored an op-ed slamming “Medicare for all.” According to him, if Democrats succeed in implementing their single-payer proposal, “costs will spiral out of control. Taxes will skyrocket. And Democrats will seek to slash budgets for seniors’ Medicare, Social Security and Defense.” He’s absolutely right. Voters would do ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 10, 2018
Commentary
Good news about Obamacare premiums can’t hide long-term pain Donald Trump is trying to fix
Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently announced that premiums for a benchmark Affordable Care Act 2019 plan on the federal exchange will drop 2 percent nationally compared with 2018 premiums — the first reduction since the law’s implementation. While this is encouraging news, it is no cause for a major celebration. When Obamacare’s ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 8, 2018
Agriculture
Eco-Bullying Crosses the Pond
Some bad ideas have originated in America. Reality television, spray-on cheese, pineapple pizza, and deep-fried Hostess Twinkies come to mind. But the most obnoxious of all may be eco-activist campaigners armed with Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIAs, who pervert the intention of the law in order to undermine ...
Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
October 8, 2018
Commentary
Trump must let Obamacare implode under its own weight
The Trump administration has a $10 billion decision to make. It’s debating whether to continue Obamacare’s “risk-adjustment” program, which redistributes revenue from insurers with healthier-than-average customers to those with disproportionately sick enrollees. In early July, the administration halted the program after a court ruled it legally dubious. Later that month, it reversed course and ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 5, 2018
Commentary
Baffling: Medicare for All PAC launches in US while Canadians flee their country for healthcare
In September, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., established a Medicare for All PAC that will provide financial support to candidates championing a single-payer system. Jayapal is one of three co-chairs leading the House’s recently-established Medicare for All Caucus, which has 70 members. The group’s website argues that by expanding Medicare and ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 3, 2018
Requiring That Drug Advertisements Include List Prices Promotes Misinformation
The largest problems in the health care industry are often created by reformers envisioning themselves as free market saviors, when in reality they are merely advocates for more intrusive government regulations. The Trump administration’s proposal to require that drug advertisements include the medicine’s list price is such an example. On its face, ...
Unwilling to Wait for Voters, Los Angeles County Jumps Gun on Temporary Rent Control
Los Angeles County couldn’t wait for voters to decide this fall if local governments can enact rent-control laws. The Board of Supervisors recently enacted a “temporary” restriction on rent increases. If they think that will relieve the housing crisis, they are mistaken. The Los Angeles County ordinance sets rents at ...
Government Policies Are Driving Doctors To Quit Health Care
Doctors nationwide are burnt out and unsatisfied. Many want to quit the profession entirely, according to a new survey from the Physicians Foundation. The government deserves much of the blame for doctors’ low morale. For years, the feds have cut their pay, meddled in their decisions, and subjected them to ...
California’s Leaders Ban Affordable Health Coverage
California just outlawed a form of health insurance that could save thousands of its residents millions of dollars. Late last month, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 910, which bans the sale of short-term health plans — those that last less than a year and don’t have to comply with Obamacare’s ...
Bureaucrats Turn ‘Dark Regulatory Matter’ Into Law, But Is It Constitutional?
The Dark State is real and ubiquitous, but it is neither new nor necessarily sinister. In some respects, it is inherent in our system of government. Although our government was conceived as three interdependent, coequal branches, it has evolved into an administrative state run mainly by a gargantuan Executive Branch ...
Trump is right: There’s no possible way we can afford ‘Medicare for all’
On Wednesday, President Trump authored an op-ed slamming “Medicare for all.” According to him, if Democrats succeed in implementing their single-payer proposal, “costs will spiral out of control. Taxes will skyrocket. And Democrats will seek to slash budgets for seniors’ Medicare, Social Security and Defense.” He’s absolutely right. Voters would do ...
Good news about Obamacare premiums can’t hide long-term pain Donald Trump is trying to fix
Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently announced that premiums for a benchmark Affordable Care Act 2019 plan on the federal exchange will drop 2 percent nationally compared with 2018 premiums — the first reduction since the law’s implementation. While this is encouraging news, it is no cause for a major celebration. When Obamacare’s ...
Eco-Bullying Crosses the Pond
Some bad ideas have originated in America. Reality television, spray-on cheese, pineapple pizza, and deep-fried Hostess Twinkies come to mind. But the most obnoxious of all may be eco-activist campaigners armed with Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIAs, who pervert the intention of the law in order to undermine ...
Trump must let Obamacare implode under its own weight
The Trump administration has a $10 billion decision to make. It’s debating whether to continue Obamacare’s “risk-adjustment” program, which redistributes revenue from insurers with healthier-than-average customers to those with disproportionately sick enrollees. In early July, the administration halted the program after a court ruled it legally dubious. Later that month, it reversed course and ...
Baffling: Medicare for All PAC launches in US while Canadians flee their country for healthcare
In September, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., established a Medicare for All PAC that will provide financial support to candidates championing a single-payer system. Jayapal is one of three co-chairs leading the House’s recently-established Medicare for All Caucus, which has 70 members. The group’s website argues that by expanding Medicare and ...