Commentary
California
Californians Beware: “Healthy” San Francisco’s Tax Hikes May Be Coming Your Way
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger invested a lost year in health reform, allying himself with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez in support of a bill to increase taxes and spending on government-mandated health care by more than $12 billion annually. Fortunately for Californians, the bill stalled in the Senate, and the state’s ...
Commentary
Even Blue Cross/Blue Shield Likes Consumer-Driven Health Care
The latest presentation from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) continues the steady drumbeat of positive data about the take-up of consumer-driven health plans (CDHP), which has reached (fingers crossed) its tipping point. It’s an outstanding presentation, prepared by Maureen Sullivan, senior VP at BCBSA (with whom I’m not ...
Commentary
Sec. Leavitt to Greedy Governors: Medicaid Is Not A Bottomless Well
One of the “benefits” of the way we finance Medicare (and Social Security), at least, is that the law requires offically appointed actuaries to report annually on the fiscal status of the program, via the Medicare Trustees Report. Each year, the horror of Medicare’s unfunded liability grows starker and closer. ...
Business & Economics
Mayors join I-LAW in fight against lawsuit abuse
Marion Mayor Robert Butler and West Frankfort Mayor Marion Presley joined other mayors from throughout Southern Illinois in recognizing the work of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch(I-LAW). Travis Akin, Executive Director of I-LAW, cited a recent report from the Harris Company that ranked Illinois 46th out of all 50 states for ...
Commentary
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
Commentary
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
Commentary
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
Business & Economics
Cheer Up: There’s a Silver Lining for Tech
Chipmaker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) said this week that despite its record US$10.2 billion in revenue for the third quarter, the company is worried that the global economic crisis will affect future performance. Despite such a general malaise across the industry, however, there is some very good news on the tech ...
California
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Commentary
Costing Out California’s Global Warming Solutions Act
On Sept. 17, the California Air Resources Board released an economic analysis of their own implementation scheme for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The analysis said, “not only will the economy grow by a similar amount as we move toward 2020, but it will grow at ...
Californians Beware: “Healthy” San Francisco’s Tax Hikes May Be Coming Your Way
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger invested a lost year in health reform, allying himself with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez in support of a bill to increase taxes and spending on government-mandated health care by more than $12 billion annually. Fortunately for Californians, the bill stalled in the Senate, and the state’s ...
Even Blue Cross/Blue Shield Likes Consumer-Driven Health Care
The latest presentation from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) continues the steady drumbeat of positive data about the take-up of consumer-driven health plans (CDHP), which has reached (fingers crossed) its tipping point. It’s an outstanding presentation, prepared by Maureen Sullivan, senior VP at BCBSA (with whom I’m not ...
Sec. Leavitt to Greedy Governors: Medicaid Is Not A Bottomless Well
One of the “benefits” of the way we finance Medicare (and Social Security), at least, is that the law requires offically appointed actuaries to report annually on the fiscal status of the program, via the Medicare Trustees Report. Each year, the horror of Medicare’s unfunded liability grows starker and closer. ...
Mayors join I-LAW in fight against lawsuit abuse
Marion Mayor Robert Butler and West Frankfort Mayor Marion Presley joined other mayors from throughout Southern Illinois in recognizing the work of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch(I-LAW). Travis Akin, Executive Director of I-LAW, cited a recent report from the Harris Company that ranked Illinois 46th out of all 50 states for ...
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
Cheer Up: There’s a Silver Lining for Tech
Chipmaker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) said this week that despite its record US$10.2 billion in revenue for the third quarter, the company is worried that the global economic crisis will affect future performance. Despite such a general malaise across the industry, however, there is some very good news on the tech ...
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Costing Out California’s Global Warming Solutions Act
On Sept. 17, the California Air Resources Board released an economic analysis of their own implementation scheme for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The analysis said, “not only will the economy grow by a similar amount as we move toward 2020, but it will grow at ...
