Commentary
Commentary
Association Health Plans Could Give Small Businesses A Break On Health Costs
Small businesses have struggled with the rising cost of health insurance for years. The Trump administration may soon give them a meaningful way to fight back. The Labor Department has submitted a proposed rule to the White House that would establish new pathways for groups of employers to band together ...
Affordability
Apparently, California regulators think tires don’t cost enough
California drivers already pay some of the nation’s highest prices for gasoline, electricity and car ownership. Now, Sacramento is giving us something else to worry about: How much we’ll pay for our next set of tires. Regulators at the state Energy Commission just approved the nation’s first “efficiency standard” for ...
California
Gavin Newsom still doesn’t understand the limits of his power
After 7 1/2 years as governor, Gavin Newsom still does not understand the scope and limits of his gubernatorial powers. On July 13, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to block Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. On August 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that Governor Newsom had ...
Commentary
How government policy is killing independent medicine
Independent physicians are disappearing from American healthcare. Increasingly, the doctors patients see are employees of hospital systems or insurance conglomerates. Government policy is the reason for this wave of consolidation. Medicare’s reimbursement rules, payment advantages for hospitals, and distortions embedded in the federal 340B drug discount program have systematically weakened ...
Commentary
El-Sayed Promises Medicare for All, His Wife Opted Out
Abdul El-Sayed is riding high after his victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier this month. If victorious on Nov. 3, the Medicare for All champion could soon take his far-left health agenda to Washington. Before he does, he’ll need to reckon with an awkward contradiction in his pitch for ...
Commentary
Socialism polls better than it performs
Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats view socialism positively while less than a third say the same of capitalism, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll. That’s an ominous sign for this fall’s midterm elections, as socialist ideas increasingly vie for mainstream prominence. Socialist health policies may promise universal access, but ...
California
Becerra’s free power plan won’t be free
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has proposed giving away a couple of hours of electricity on the days that California has generated too much. It’s not a crazy idea. But it is an inadvertent admission that the current power system doesn’t make sense. Solar power is booming in sunny California. ...
Commentary
Obamacare counts insurance cards, not access to care
The latest federal report on Obamacare’s insurance exchanges has prompted an outcry from Democrats and Republicans alike. Released this summer by the Department of Health and Human Services, the study found that marketplace enrollment fell by roughly 3 million this year. It attributed as much as half of that decline ...
Commentary
The sneaky, unregulated dangers of copycat GLP-1 drugs
Federal regulators are turning up the heat on sellers of copycat weight-loss drugs. Earlier this summer, the Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to dozens of companies marketing compounded GLP-1s over misleading advertising. That action is more than welcome. The growing trade in compounded GLP-1s continues to expose patients ...
Commentary
Why Hospital Prices Keep Rising—And How Competition Can Help
Prescription drug prices fell 3.1% over the past year, the sharpest annual decline in more than six decades, according to new data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospital prices, meanwhile, rose 5.2%. Yet the vast majority of Washington policymakers focus their time and attention on reducing drug prices, ...
Association Health Plans Could Give Small Businesses A Break On Health Costs
Small businesses have struggled with the rising cost of health insurance for years. The Trump administration may soon give them a meaningful way to fight back. The Labor Department has submitted a proposed rule to the White House that would establish new pathways for groups of employers to band together ...
Apparently, California regulators think tires don’t cost enough
California drivers already pay some of the nation’s highest prices for gasoline, electricity and car ownership. Now, Sacramento is giving us something else to worry about: How much we’ll pay for our next set of tires. Regulators at the state Energy Commission just approved the nation’s first “efficiency standard” for ...
Gavin Newsom still doesn’t understand the limits of his power
After 7 1/2 years as governor, Gavin Newsom still does not understand the scope and limits of his gubernatorial powers. On July 13, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to block Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. On August 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that Governor Newsom had ...
How government policy is killing independent medicine
Independent physicians are disappearing from American healthcare. Increasingly, the doctors patients see are employees of hospital systems or insurance conglomerates. Government policy is the reason for this wave of consolidation. Medicare’s reimbursement rules, payment advantages for hospitals, and distortions embedded in the federal 340B drug discount program have systematically weakened ...
El-Sayed Promises Medicare for All, His Wife Opted Out
Abdul El-Sayed is riding high after his victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier this month. If victorious on Nov. 3, the Medicare for All champion could soon take his far-left health agenda to Washington. Before he does, he’ll need to reckon with an awkward contradiction in his pitch for ...
Socialism polls better than it performs
Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats view socialism positively while less than a third say the same of capitalism, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll. That’s an ominous sign for this fall’s midterm elections, as socialist ideas increasingly vie for mainstream prominence. Socialist health policies may promise universal access, but ...
Becerra’s free power plan won’t be free
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has proposed giving away a couple of hours of electricity on the days that California has generated too much. It’s not a crazy idea. But it is an inadvertent admission that the current power system doesn’t make sense. Solar power is booming in sunny California. ...
Obamacare counts insurance cards, not access to care
The latest federal report on Obamacare’s insurance exchanges has prompted an outcry from Democrats and Republicans alike. Released this summer by the Department of Health and Human Services, the study found that marketplace enrollment fell by roughly 3 million this year. It attributed as much as half of that decline ...
The sneaky, unregulated dangers of copycat GLP-1 drugs
Federal regulators are turning up the heat on sellers of copycat weight-loss drugs. Earlier this summer, the Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to dozens of companies marketing compounded GLP-1s over misleading advertising. That action is more than welcome. The growing trade in compounded GLP-1s continues to expose patients ...
Why Hospital Prices Keep Rising—And How Competition Can Help
Prescription drug prices fell 3.1% over the past year, the sharpest annual decline in more than six decades, according to new data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospital prices, meanwhile, rose 5.2%. Yet the vast majority of Washington policymakers focus their time and attention on reducing drug prices, ...