Commentary
Commentary
Infrastructure bill’s ‘buy American’ provision inflates healthcare costs
The Senate is poised, on Tuesday, to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. According to the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, the new spending will increase the deficit by over $250 billion. The 2,700-page bill appropriates an avalanche of funding for everything from electric vehicle charging stations ...
Sally C. Pipes
August 10, 2021
Commentary
Let’s Not Repeat Canada’s Healthcare Mistakes
Demonstrators in 50 cities across the country took the streets last month to demand a government takeover of America’s health system. The Democrats who control Washington are trying to give those activists what they’re asking for, albeit in piecemeal fashion. In recent weeks, they’ve proposed lowering Medicare’s eligibility age and adding dental, vision and hearing benefits ...
Sally C. Pipes
August 5, 2021
Commentary
Medicare And Medicaid Turn 56 Today. That’s Not Exactly Cause For Celebration.
Today, Medicare and Medicaid mark their 56th birthday. They were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson to ensure that seniors and the poor had access to quality, affordable health coverage as part of his Great Society. They’ve grown far beyond what their creators envisioned. In 1967, the House Ways ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 30, 2021
Business & Economics
It’s The Private, Not Public, Sector That Will Overcome Our Challenges
Whether it is investing in infrastructure or addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Biden and the Democratic Congress continue to believe that the government is the main driver of growth and innovation. This errant belief threatens our fiscal solvency and our ability to solve the serious problems we face as ...
Wayne Winegarden
July 29, 2021
Commentary
Critical race math meets a critical public
Recently, the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) at the California Department of Education decided to postpone the release of the controversial and ideological 2021 Mathematics Framework to December 2021 at the earliest. This unexpected retreat came in response to mounting pressure from members of Congress and other officials, parents, educators, and even school ...
Pacific Research Institute
July 29, 2021
Commentary
Warning: COVID-19 Lockdowns May Cause Cancer
During the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most vocal proponents of aggressive lockdowns often framed the issue as a trade-off between personal freedom on the one hand and public health on the other. Stay-at-home orders may have prevented some people at the margin from congregating and spreading the virus. ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 29, 2021
California
California Government Awash in Money Now, But a Reckoning Lies Ahead
Did a member of the California Legislature inadvertently, and quite publicly, admit that “progressive” governance is unsustainable? While discussing the state’s eviction protections and financial aid for renters during a CalMatters podcast, Assemblyman David Chiu, a San Francisco Democrat, said “If we run out of money, all bets are off.” This ...
Kerry Jackson
July 27, 2021
Business & Economics
The SEC Is Considering Rules That Would Discourage Transparency And Encourage Inaccuracy
The SEC, under former Chairman Jay Clayton, issued a rule that improved the proxy advisory services market by promoting transparency and holding proxy firms more accountable for inaccuracies. Rather than implementing the necessary improvements to these reforms, Chairman Gary Gensler intends to roll-back the progress already made. Proxy advisory firms ...
Wayne Winegarden
July 26, 2021
Commentary
It’s time for hospitals to make pricing transparent
Many hospitals are refusing to comply with a Trump-era requirement that went into effect on Jan. 1 to publish the prices for more than 300 “shoppable” medical procedures. This intransigence is alarming – and expensive. The rule could save American patients and insurers up to $27 billion annually, but only ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 26, 2021
Commentary
This Medicare change should concern seniors
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced plans to cut Medicare’s payment rates to physicians by nearly 4%. The announcement comes just days before the program turns 56 on July 30. The pay cut, which has received intense pushback from several physician groups, is slated to ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 26, 2021
Infrastructure bill’s ‘buy American’ provision inflates healthcare costs
The Senate is poised, on Tuesday, to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. According to the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, the new spending will increase the deficit by over $250 billion. The 2,700-page bill appropriates an avalanche of funding for everything from electric vehicle charging stations ...
Let’s Not Repeat Canada’s Healthcare Mistakes
Demonstrators in 50 cities across the country took the streets last month to demand a government takeover of America’s health system. The Democrats who control Washington are trying to give those activists what they’re asking for, albeit in piecemeal fashion. In recent weeks, they’ve proposed lowering Medicare’s eligibility age and adding dental, vision and hearing benefits ...
Medicare And Medicaid Turn 56 Today. That’s Not Exactly Cause For Celebration.
Today, Medicare and Medicaid mark their 56th birthday. They were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson to ensure that seniors and the poor had access to quality, affordable health coverage as part of his Great Society. They’ve grown far beyond what their creators envisioned. In 1967, the House Ways ...
It’s The Private, Not Public, Sector That Will Overcome Our Challenges
Whether it is investing in infrastructure or addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Biden and the Democratic Congress continue to believe that the government is the main driver of growth and innovation. This errant belief threatens our fiscal solvency and our ability to solve the serious problems we face as ...
Critical race math meets a critical public
Recently, the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) at the California Department of Education decided to postpone the release of the controversial and ideological 2021 Mathematics Framework to December 2021 at the earliest. This unexpected retreat came in response to mounting pressure from members of Congress and other officials, parents, educators, and even school ...
Warning: COVID-19 Lockdowns May Cause Cancer
During the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most vocal proponents of aggressive lockdowns often framed the issue as a trade-off between personal freedom on the one hand and public health on the other. Stay-at-home orders may have prevented some people at the margin from congregating and spreading the virus. ...
California Government Awash in Money Now, But a Reckoning Lies Ahead
Did a member of the California Legislature inadvertently, and quite publicly, admit that “progressive” governance is unsustainable? While discussing the state’s eviction protections and financial aid for renters during a CalMatters podcast, Assemblyman David Chiu, a San Francisco Democrat, said “If we run out of money, all bets are off.” This ...
The SEC Is Considering Rules That Would Discourage Transparency And Encourage Inaccuracy
The SEC, under former Chairman Jay Clayton, issued a rule that improved the proxy advisory services market by promoting transparency and holding proxy firms more accountable for inaccuracies. Rather than implementing the necessary improvements to these reforms, Chairman Gary Gensler intends to roll-back the progress already made. Proxy advisory firms ...
It’s time for hospitals to make pricing transparent
Many hospitals are refusing to comply with a Trump-era requirement that went into effect on Jan. 1 to publish the prices for more than 300 “shoppable” medical procedures. This intransigence is alarming – and expensive. The rule could save American patients and insurers up to $27 billion annually, but only ...
This Medicare change should concern seniors
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced plans to cut Medicare’s payment rates to physicians by nearly 4%. The announcement comes just days before the program turns 56 on July 30. The pay cut, which has received intense pushback from several physician groups, is slated to ...