The Pacific Research Institute’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation today released a new issue brief warning that continued federal underpayment of doctors is fueling a looming healthcare crisis by accelerating the nation’s physician shortage and undermining access to care. Written by PRI senior fellow in business and economics and CMEI director Dr. Wayne Winegarden, the brief (titled “It’s Time for Medicare to Stop Shortchanging Physicians”) finds that Medicare reimbursement rates are well below market ...

A new issue brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute—the California-based, nonpartisan, free market think tank—finds that certain states’ efforts to tighten corporate practice of medicine laws hurt independent physicians, empower hospitals to consolidate local provider markets, and raise healthcare costs. “Competition is a prerequisite for affordable, high-quality care,” said Dr. Wayne Winegarden, the author of the issue brief and Director of the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute. ...

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been raising a stir over what he claims is rampant Medicaid fraud. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services alleges that California has spent an estimated $1.3 billion in federal funds providing coverage to undocumented immigrants through the program. That would violate federal law. Rather than address the substance of those allegations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sought to change the subject. He recently filed a civil rights ...