Commentary
Commentary
Young people saying ‘no’ to Obamacare’s high premiums
Just 10.4 percent of Americans went without health insurance last year, according to the latest research from the Census Bureau. That’s nearly 3 percentage points lower than the year before. The Obama administration was quick to take credit for the drop. Just a few days after the Census Bureau’s announcement, ...
Commentary
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Commentary
Overhauling the VA is the only chance to save it
More than 200,000 U.S. veterans have died waiting for health care through the Veterans Administration (VA), according to new government documents. Naturally, the federal government has decided to reward the people responsible. This month, a House committee revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs handed out $142 million in bonuses ...
Commentary
Remember When Obamacare Was Supposed To Help Small Businesses?
Obamacare promised to help small businesses. But it’s now clear that small businesses don’t want the law’s brand of help. Specifically, they want nothing to do with Obamacare’s “Small Business Health Options Program,” or SHOP. This online marketplace was supposed to allow employees at small firms to choose from among ...
Commentary
The Dirty Dozen: ObamaCare’s 12 Co-Op Failures
President Obama’s health care overhaul created 23 state-based insurance companies. So far, 12 of them have collapsed. Nine closed up shop this fall alone. The reason? Well, these government-backed insurers — known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans — took their “nonprofit” status a bit too seriously and went bankrupt. ...
Commentary
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
Commentary
Tough times for health care insurers — and patients
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care boogeymen: insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed too many ...
Business & Economics
Lessons from the San Francisco Airbnb Fight
In 1979, the Pacific Research Institute opened its doors in San Francisco. Jimmy Carter was President; Diane Feinstein was mayor; and Brian Chesky, the founder of home-sharing platform Airbnb, was still two years away from being born. San Francisco voters this month gave Chesky and Airbnb a win, defeating Proposition ...
Business & Economics
California’s Regulations are Harming Small Businesses
The regulatory burden in California continues to grow. Minimum wage increases—which simultaneously raise costs on businesses and harms many low-wage workers and consumers—have passed in Los Angeles and San Francisco. California is also pursuing regulations that would reduce the viability of Uber and Lyft, the popular ride-for-hire services revolutionizing how ...
Commentary
Middle-class Colorado students underperform on federal testing
Are the Colorado public schools that serve mostly middle-class students performing well? Lots of parents seem to think so. They may believe that student performance problems are limited to places like poor areas in Denver. But the public schools serving many middle-class Colorado students are not performing as well as ...
Young people saying ‘no’ to Obamacare’s high premiums
Just 10.4 percent of Americans went without health insurance last year, according to the latest research from the Census Bureau. That’s nearly 3 percentage points lower than the year before. The Obama administration was quick to take credit for the drop. Just a few days after the Census Bureau’s announcement, ...
Uncle Sam Can’t haggle better than private insurers
The White House is declaring war on prescription drug prices. “The administration is deeply concerned with the rapidly growing prices of specialty and brand name drugs,” notes President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal. To keep prices down, the president wants the government to negotiate prices for drugs dispensed through Medicare. But ...
Overhauling the VA is the only chance to save it
More than 200,000 U.S. veterans have died waiting for health care through the Veterans Administration (VA), according to new government documents. Naturally, the federal government has decided to reward the people responsible. This month, a House committee revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs handed out $142 million in bonuses ...
Remember When Obamacare Was Supposed To Help Small Businesses?
Obamacare promised to help small businesses. But it’s now clear that small businesses don’t want the law’s brand of help. Specifically, they want nothing to do with Obamacare’s “Small Business Health Options Program,” or SHOP. This online marketplace was supposed to allow employees at small firms to choose from among ...
The Dirty Dozen: ObamaCare’s 12 Co-Op Failures
President Obama’s health care overhaul created 23 state-based insurance companies. So far, 12 of them have collapsed. Nine closed up shop this fall alone. The reason? Well, these government-backed insurers — known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans — took their “nonprofit” status a bit too seriously and went bankrupt. ...
Brace Yourself
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care bogeymen — insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed tears ...
Tough times for health care insurers — and patients
It’s been a tough year for some of America’s favorite health care boogeymen: insurers. U.S. insurers had to absorb nearly $2.9 billion in unexpected medical expenses from their customers in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2014, according to new data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But don’t shed too many ...
Lessons from the San Francisco Airbnb Fight
In 1979, the Pacific Research Institute opened its doors in San Francisco. Jimmy Carter was President; Diane Feinstein was mayor; and Brian Chesky, the founder of home-sharing platform Airbnb, was still two years away from being born. San Francisco voters this month gave Chesky and Airbnb a win, defeating Proposition ...
California’s Regulations are Harming Small Businesses
The regulatory burden in California continues to grow. Minimum wage increases—which simultaneously raise costs on businesses and harms many low-wage workers and consumers—have passed in Los Angeles and San Francisco. California is also pursuing regulations that would reduce the viability of Uber and Lyft, the popular ride-for-hire services revolutionizing how ...
Middle-class Colorado students underperform on federal testing
Are the Colorado public schools that serve mostly middle-class students performing well? Lots of parents seem to think so. They may believe that student performance problems are limited to places like poor areas in Denver. But the public schools serving many middle-class Colorado students are not performing as well as ...
