Medicare
Commentary
Doctors Deserve More Than a Token Pay ‘Raise’ from Medicare
The Trump administration is giving doctors a modest pay raise. A proposal released this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would, among other things, implement the 2.5% hike in Medicare physician reimbursement established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law July ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 31, 2025
Commentary
America Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors. Medicare Is Making That Worse.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036. Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 29, 2025
Commentary
Medicare Turns 60 This Month: It’s Time for an Intervention
On July 30, Medicare will mark its 60th birthday. Like many 60-year-olds, it’s in the throes of a midlife crisis. But unlike a harmless convertible purchase or spontaneous trip to Paris, this one midlife crisis threatens the nation’s fiscal health — and the well-being of future retirees. Read the entire ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 29, 2025
Commentary
What’s So Scary About Medicare Reform?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Senate Republicans’ version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act concerns the fate of Medicare. Earlier this month, GOP lawmakers were reportedly considering reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the entitlement as a way to deliver savings for taxpayers. But as ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 20, 2025
Commentary
Don’t believe the CBO’s spin on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In a recent letter to top Democrats, the Congressional Budget Office claimed that the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act would kick millions of people off their health insurance. That warning is misleading. Millions of people are improperly enrolled in Medicaid and taxpayer-subsidized plans through Obamacare’s exchanges. Republicans are rightly ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 18, 2025
Health Care
New Study: Medicare’s Price Controls Are Fueling America’s Growing Doctor Shortage
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 ...
Wayne H Winegarden
June 11, 2025
Commentary
The Private Sector Is Setting The PACE For Managed Care
Rising demand for long-term care is inevitable as more and more baby boomers retire. Meeting this demand will be a challenge. Recent evidence from the PACE program demonstrates that for-profit care providers can help meet this growing demand, but only if the regulatory environment allows it. Read the op-ed here.
Wayne H Winegarden
April 7, 2025
Commentary
Big savings can be found in improper Medicare spending
Republicans are searching for ways to eliminate “fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement created to provide health coverage for low-income, pregnant, homeless, and disabled people. It’s long past time. According to a new report from the Paragon Health Institute’s Brian Blase and the Economic Policy Innovation Center’s ...
Sally C. Pipes
March 24, 2025
Commentary
Medicare fraud should be next in line for DOGE
The Department of Government Efficiency’s crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse is off to a fast start. But as an engine of government savings, DOGE still has substantial untapped potential. That’s because it hasn’t yet addressed the fraud crippling one of the federal government’s largest programs: Medicare. In fiscal year ...
Sally C. Pipes
March 14, 2025
Commentary
Time to Administer DOGE to Medicare, Medicaid
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is setting its sights on fraud and abuse within Medicare and Medicaid. It’s about time. The two government programs have been cesspools of malfeasance, incompetence, and duplicity for too long. And the cost of all this corruption and waste has grown at a ...
Sally C. Pipes
February 20, 2025
Doctors Deserve More Than a Token Pay ‘Raise’ from Medicare
The Trump administration is giving doctors a modest pay raise. A proposal released this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would, among other things, implement the 2.5% hike in Medicare physician reimbursement established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law July ...
America Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors. Medicare Is Making That Worse.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036. Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical ...
Medicare Turns 60 This Month: It’s Time for an Intervention
On July 30, Medicare will mark its 60th birthday. Like many 60-year-olds, it’s in the throes of a midlife crisis. But unlike a harmless convertible purchase or spontaneous trip to Paris, this one midlife crisis threatens the nation’s fiscal health — and the well-being of future retirees. Read the entire ...
What’s So Scary About Medicare Reform?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Senate Republicans’ version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act concerns the fate of Medicare. Earlier this month, GOP lawmakers were reportedly considering reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the entitlement as a way to deliver savings for taxpayers. But as ...
Don’t believe the CBO’s spin on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In a recent letter to top Democrats, the Congressional Budget Office claimed that the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act would kick millions of people off their health insurance. That warning is misleading. Millions of people are improperly enrolled in Medicaid and taxpayer-subsidized plans through Obamacare’s exchanges. Republicans are rightly ...
New Study: Medicare’s Price Controls Are Fueling America’s Growing Doctor Shortage
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 ...
The Private Sector Is Setting The PACE For Managed Care
Rising demand for long-term care is inevitable as more and more baby boomers retire. Meeting this demand will be a challenge. Recent evidence from the PACE program demonstrates that for-profit care providers can help meet this growing demand, but only if the regulatory environment allows it. Read the op-ed here.
Big savings can be found in improper Medicare spending
Republicans are searching for ways to eliminate “fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement created to provide health coverage for low-income, pregnant, homeless, and disabled people. It’s long past time. According to a new report from the Paragon Health Institute’s Brian Blase and the Economic Policy Innovation Center’s ...
Medicare fraud should be next in line for DOGE
The Department of Government Efficiency’s crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse is off to a fast start. But as an engine of government savings, DOGE still has substantial untapped potential. That’s because it hasn’t yet addressed the fraud crippling one of the federal government’s largest programs: Medicare. In fiscal year ...
Time to Administer DOGE to Medicare, Medicaid
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is setting its sights on fraud and abuse within Medicare and Medicaid. It’s about time. The two government programs have been cesspools of malfeasance, incompetence, and duplicity for too long. And the cost of all this corruption and waste has grown at a ...