Commentary
Commentary
In the rush to hold insurers to account, don’t forget about hospitals
When asked to account for the skyrocketing cost of health coverage before two House committees last Thursday, the chief executives of five of America’s largest health insurance companies pointed fingers. Don’t look at us, they said. Look at hospitals and drugmakers. Read the op-ed here.
Sally C. Pipes
February 3, 2026
California
California needs budget restraint not double-digit spending increases
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a nearly 9% increase in total state spending for the upcoming fiscal year – that’s a $350 billion budget, more than $8,800 per Californian. Yet, for unions and progressive politicians, this enormous sum is too austere. They are calling on the state to backfill federal ...
Wayne H Winegarden
February 2, 2026
Commentary
Sorry, but single-payer won’t fix American health care
Affordability is becoming the watchword for Republicans and Democrats alike this election year. Progressives in Senate races from Maine to Illinois to Minnesota are putting Medicare for All at the center of their agenda for making health care affordable. Polling shows that some two-thirds of Americans support the policy. The ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 2, 2026
Commentary
Open, Competitive Market Will Make Trump’s Health Plan Great
President Trump’s recently released Great Healthcare Plan offers several welcome reforms. It endeavors to put patients first by fostering greater price transparency and taking steps to lower health insurance premiums. Its approach to prescription drug policy is a bit more mixed. Read the op-ed here.
Sally C. Pipes
January 30, 2026
Commentary
CMS Officials Are Undermining Trump’s Push For Affordable Drugs
Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just undermined President Trump’s efforts to make prescription drugs more affordable. Earlier this week, CMS announced the next 15 medicines that will face price caps under Medicare’s Drug Price “Negotiation” Program, a core component of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 30, 2026
Commentary
The ‘Medicare-For-All’ Delusion
As Congress looks for ways to bring down the cost of insurance, a growing number of Democrats are pushing to get rid of insurance altogether and make the federal government the sole funder of health care in this country. Several progressive Senate candidates have put Medicare for All at the ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 26, 2026
Commentary
Proposed patent tax offers a dangerous ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants. Lutnick is deeply mistaken. ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 26, 2026
Business & Economics
Competition Begets Better Banking Data Than Regulation
As it works to determine how to safeguard the sharing of and access to consumer financial data, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) faces a clear choice. It can allow market-based frameworks developed by the private sector to continue evolving, stepping in only where genuine gaps or abuses emerge. Or ...
Wayne H Winegarden
January 23, 2026
Commentary
Newsom budget expands green subsidies taxpayers can’t afford
California is staring at a $3 billion budget deficit, but Gov. Gavin Newsom still wants to spend $200 million on electric vehicle rebates. It’s both a foolish gesture and a graphic example of why Sacramento can’t get spending under control. The funds would replace the $7,500 federal EV tax credits ...
Kerry Jackson
January 22, 2026
Commentary
No Accountability as Insurers Profit From Public Programs
Executives from the nation’s largest health insurers are set to testify before Congress soon in a hearing on healthcare affordability. It’s about time. From Medicare Advantage to Obamacare exchanges to prescription drug benefits, insurers have been extracting ever-greater amounts of public funds while passing costs and risk on to patients ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 22, 2026
In the rush to hold insurers to account, don’t forget about hospitals
When asked to account for the skyrocketing cost of health coverage before two House committees last Thursday, the chief executives of five of America’s largest health insurance companies pointed fingers. Don’t look at us, they said. Look at hospitals and drugmakers. Read the op-ed here.
California needs budget restraint not double-digit spending increases
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a nearly 9% increase in total state spending for the upcoming fiscal year – that’s a $350 billion budget, more than $8,800 per Californian. Yet, for unions and progressive politicians, this enormous sum is too austere. They are calling on the state to backfill federal ...
Sorry, but single-payer won’t fix American health care
Affordability is becoming the watchword for Republicans and Democrats alike this election year. Progressives in Senate races from Maine to Illinois to Minnesota are putting Medicare for All at the center of their agenda for making health care affordable. Polling shows that some two-thirds of Americans support the policy. The ...
Open, Competitive Market Will Make Trump’s Health Plan Great
President Trump’s recently released Great Healthcare Plan offers several welcome reforms. It endeavors to put patients first by fostering greater price transparency and taking steps to lower health insurance premiums. Its approach to prescription drug policy is a bit more mixed. Read the op-ed here.
CMS Officials Are Undermining Trump’s Push For Affordable Drugs
Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just undermined President Trump’s efforts to make prescription drugs more affordable. Earlier this week, CMS announced the next 15 medicines that will face price caps under Medicare’s Drug Price “Negotiation” Program, a core component of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into ...
The ‘Medicare-For-All’ Delusion
As Congress looks for ways to bring down the cost of insurance, a growing number of Democrats are pushing to get rid of insurance altogether and make the federal government the sole funder of health care in this country. Several progressive Senate candidates have put Medicare for All at the ...
Proposed patent tax offers a dangerous ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants. Lutnick is deeply mistaken. ...
Competition Begets Better Banking Data Than Regulation
As it works to determine how to safeguard the sharing of and access to consumer financial data, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) faces a clear choice. It can allow market-based frameworks developed by the private sector to continue evolving, stepping in only where genuine gaps or abuses emerge. Or ...
Newsom budget expands green subsidies taxpayers can’t afford
California is staring at a $3 billion budget deficit, but Gov. Gavin Newsom still wants to spend $200 million on electric vehicle rebates. It’s both a foolish gesture and a graphic example of why Sacramento can’t get spending under control. The funds would replace the $7,500 federal EV tax credits ...
No Accountability as Insurers Profit From Public Programs
Executives from the nation’s largest health insurers are set to testify before Congress soon in a hearing on healthcare affordability. It’s about time. From Medicare Advantage to Obamacare exchanges to prescription drug benefits, insurers have been extracting ever-greater amounts of public funds while passing costs and risk on to patients ...