Commentary
Commentary
Baucuscare’s Three Biggest Political Vulnerabilities
1. Seniors have nothing to gain and everything to lose. The Baucus bill pays for itself largely by shifting hundreds of billions of dollars out of Medicare. The last thing seniors want is to have their representatives steal from Medicare to pay for Baucuscare. Seniors were surprisingly loud at the ...
Commentary
New numbers don’t help look of health care bill
Senate Democrats got the numbers they needed from the Congressional Budget Office on health care reform legislation: $829 billion over 10 years and $81 billion shaved off the federal deficit. The favorable-looking analysis should let their bill reach the full Senate in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the Mark Twain ...
Commentary
The Death of Employer-Based Benefits Is Nigher Than I Thought
$1,900 came from the September 28 Wall Street Journal. However, the version of the Chairman’s mark dated September 22 (but posted on October 2) at the Senate Finance Committee’s website, reports a fine of $750 per adult as of 2017 (p. 35) – and confirms no jail-time for non-compliance with ...
Commentary
Taxing Baucus
Those numbers are phony for any number of reasons, but notice that the “deficit reduction” is the net result of $518 billion in increased spending from expanded insurance coverage, $404 billion in reduced spending from “other provisions affecting direct spending,” and $196 billion in increased revenues. The $404 billion “does ...
Commentary
Employer-Based Health Benefits: The Death Spiral Is Nigh
Let’s presume that the government isn’t actually going to jail anyone for not buying health insurance. Considering the health-insurance “reforms” that will require insurers to cover anyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, the rational course of action for anyone is to drop coverage, pay the fine, and then re-enrol in a ...
Commentary
Democrats’ Strategy: Fake Center, Go Left
During his recent media blitz to tout the Democratic health care plan, President Obama tried to frame the debate by asking: “What’s the right role of government? How do we balance freedom with our need to look after one another?” Good questions. A quick look at Sen. Max Baucus’ reform ...
Commentary
The Facts about Medical Malpractice Liability Costs
There is a lot of talk in Washington about cutting wasteful health care spending and, more specifically, cutting costs associated with medical malpractice liability. The dollar figures used by various groups and lawmakers often diverge widely. This paper presents what we know, and don’t know, about medical malpractice liability costs.
Commentary
Nurses Beware! Don’t Let Your Union Win the Health Care Fight
The California Nurses Association (CNA) is quarterbacking the drive for single-payer, government-monopoly health care. Such a system, experience shows, creates problems for nurses and patients alike. The CNA is so powerful that a recent Wall Street Journal article described it as “co-equal” with management in governing operations at many facilities ...
Commentary
Duncan Wrong Again on School Choice
Freedom Politics, October 6, 2009 As grassroots momentum builds to save the Washington, DC school-choice voucher program from the congressional chopping block, U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan continues to dig in his heels in opposition. His comments betray a fundamental misunderstanding of how the education market works and what parents ...
Business & Economics
Maryland and Virginia Real Estate Markets Show Promise
Last week, I started looking into the Washington, DC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which consists of the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland. Given the growth in the federal budget over the last few years, I wasn’t surprised to see that the DC MSA was “the most ...
Baucuscare’s Three Biggest Political Vulnerabilities
1. Seniors have nothing to gain and everything to lose. The Baucus bill pays for itself largely by shifting hundreds of billions of dollars out of Medicare. The last thing seniors want is to have their representatives steal from Medicare to pay for Baucuscare. Seniors were surprisingly loud at the ...
New numbers don’t help look of health care bill
Senate Democrats got the numbers they needed from the Congressional Budget Office on health care reform legislation: $829 billion over 10 years and $81 billion shaved off the federal deficit. The favorable-looking analysis should let their bill reach the full Senate in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the Mark Twain ...
The Death of Employer-Based Benefits Is Nigher Than I Thought
$1,900 came from the September 28 Wall Street Journal. However, the version of the Chairman’s mark dated September 22 (but posted on October 2) at the Senate Finance Committee’s website, reports a fine of $750 per adult as of 2017 (p. 35) – and confirms no jail-time for non-compliance with ...
Taxing Baucus
Those numbers are phony for any number of reasons, but notice that the “deficit reduction” is the net result of $518 billion in increased spending from expanded insurance coverage, $404 billion in reduced spending from “other provisions affecting direct spending,” and $196 billion in increased revenues. The $404 billion “does ...
Employer-Based Health Benefits: The Death Spiral Is Nigh
Let’s presume that the government isn’t actually going to jail anyone for not buying health insurance. Considering the health-insurance “reforms” that will require insurers to cover anyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, the rational course of action for anyone is to drop coverage, pay the fine, and then re-enrol in a ...
Democrats’ Strategy: Fake Center, Go Left
During his recent media blitz to tout the Democratic health care plan, President Obama tried to frame the debate by asking: “What’s the right role of government? How do we balance freedom with our need to look after one another?” Good questions. A quick look at Sen. Max Baucus’ reform ...
The Facts about Medical Malpractice Liability Costs
There is a lot of talk in Washington about cutting wasteful health care spending and, more specifically, cutting costs associated with medical malpractice liability. The dollar figures used by various groups and lawmakers often diverge widely. This paper presents what we know, and don’t know, about medical malpractice liability costs.
Nurses Beware! Don’t Let Your Union Win the Health Care Fight
The California Nurses Association (CNA) is quarterbacking the drive for single-payer, government-monopoly health care. Such a system, experience shows, creates problems for nurses and patients alike. The CNA is so powerful that a recent Wall Street Journal article described it as “co-equal” with management in governing operations at many facilities ...
Duncan Wrong Again on School Choice
Freedom Politics, October 6, 2009 As grassroots momentum builds to save the Washington, DC school-choice voucher program from the congressional chopping block, U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan continues to dig in his heels in opposition. His comments betray a fundamental misunderstanding of how the education market works and what parents ...
Maryland and Virginia Real Estate Markets Show Promise
Last week, I started looking into the Washington, DC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which consists of the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland. Given the growth in the federal budget over the last few years, I wasn’t surprised to see that the DC MSA was “the most ...
