Medicare

Commentary

Will Republican Majority Or Courts Dismantle ObamaCare?

Republicans officially take over Congress next month, but their leaders do not appear optimistic about fulfilling their campaign promises to repeal ObamaCare. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently said that scrapping the law was basically impossible because President Obama is “still there.” In other words, Republicans may have to ...
Environment

GOP Must Plan For Obamacare’s Demise

Next week, Republicans will officially take control of Congress. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have both said that they’re “renewing our commitment to repeal ObamaCare” in 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court may beat them to it. On March 4, the nine justices ...
Commentary

Health Cost Holiday Will Soon Be Over

Federal officials recently reported that health spending inched up 3.6 percent in 2013. That’s the lowest annual rate of growth in decades — and the fourth time in the past five years that health inflation has been under 4 percent. The Obama administration was quick to take credit. “The recent ...
Commentary

How Republicans can replace Obamacare — now

Last month’s election proved that congressional Democrats don’t have much of a future in the prediction business. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claimed that Obamacare would be a “winning” issue. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, said, “This election certainly won’t turn on the Affordable Care Act.” The ...
Commentary

Hospitals Manipulate Drug Program for Poor

Health insurance costs are set to jump dramatically. A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that average premiums will rise nearly 7% in 2014 ?? and then continue to increase by at least 5% annually over the next decade. The rising cost of insurance is ...
Commentary

Obamacare is hardly pro-choice

Thousands of Americans will soon receive cancellation notices for their health insurance plans — compliments of Obamacare. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are ordering insurers to discontinue plans previously exempt from Obamacare’s onerous and expensive coverage mandates. This rash of cancelled policies is only the latest example of ...
Business & Economics

The impacts of raising San Francisco’s minimum wage to $15

On Nov. 4 San Francisco voters are being asked to approve Proposition J, a measure which increases the minimum wage in San Francisco to $15 per hour by 2018 from the current city rate of $10.74. San Franciscans should think carefully before approving this measure. When a business hires an ...
Commentary

The Bungling of Bundled Payments

Obamacare’s two chief goals were to cut the number of uninsured and reduce the cost of health care. At least one of the law’s primary ways of fulfilling the latter goal appears to be failing. The RAND Corporation recently examined a pilot effort by several California hospitals to replace their ...
Commentary

In Federal Drug Program, Hospitals and Pharmacies Use the Poor to Get Rich

Telling the truth about wasteful healthcare spending is dangerous. Too many people are invested in the status quo to admit that a program isn’t working, or worse, being exploited. Recently, defenders of the deeply problematic 340B drug discount program came out swinging. On July 29, Doctors Robert Chapman and Andres ...
Commentary

No, Really — Employer Health Insurance Is Better Than Government Care

Who knew the cost disparities between employer and government health insurance could be so exciting? Last week, Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt took issue with my July 28 column — “Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage.” In my piece, I unpacked the numbers from a new American ...
Commentary

Will Republican Majority Or Courts Dismantle ObamaCare?

Republicans officially take over Congress next month, but their leaders do not appear optimistic about fulfilling their campaign promises to repeal ObamaCare. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently said that scrapping the law was basically impossible because President Obama is “still there.” In other words, Republicans may have to ...
Environment

GOP Must Plan For Obamacare’s Demise

Next week, Republicans will officially take control of Congress. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have both said that they’re “renewing our commitment to repeal ObamaCare” in 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court may beat them to it. On March 4, the nine justices ...
Commentary

Health Cost Holiday Will Soon Be Over

Federal officials recently reported that health spending inched up 3.6 percent in 2013. That’s the lowest annual rate of growth in decades — and the fourth time in the past five years that health inflation has been under 4 percent. The Obama administration was quick to take credit. “The recent ...
Commentary

How Republicans can replace Obamacare — now

Last month’s election proved that congressional Democrats don’t have much of a future in the prediction business. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claimed that Obamacare would be a “winning” issue. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, said, “This election certainly won’t turn on the Affordable Care Act.” The ...
Commentary

Hospitals Manipulate Drug Program for Poor

Health insurance costs are set to jump dramatically. A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that average premiums will rise nearly 7% in 2014 ?? and then continue to increase by at least 5% annually over the next decade. The rising cost of insurance is ...
Commentary

Obamacare is hardly pro-choice

Thousands of Americans will soon receive cancellation notices for their health insurance plans — compliments of Obamacare. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are ordering insurers to discontinue plans previously exempt from Obamacare’s onerous and expensive coverage mandates. This rash of cancelled policies is only the latest example of ...
Business & Economics

The impacts of raising San Francisco’s minimum wage to $15

On Nov. 4 San Francisco voters are being asked to approve Proposition J, a measure which increases the minimum wage in San Francisco to $15 per hour by 2018 from the current city rate of $10.74. San Franciscans should think carefully before approving this measure. When a business hires an ...
Commentary

The Bungling of Bundled Payments

Obamacare’s two chief goals were to cut the number of uninsured and reduce the cost of health care. At least one of the law’s primary ways of fulfilling the latter goal appears to be failing. The RAND Corporation recently examined a pilot effort by several California hospitals to replace their ...
Commentary

In Federal Drug Program, Hospitals and Pharmacies Use the Poor to Get Rich

Telling the truth about wasteful healthcare spending is dangerous. Too many people are invested in the status quo to admit that a program isn’t working, or worse, being exploited. Recently, defenders of the deeply problematic 340B drug discount program came out swinging. On July 29, Doctors Robert Chapman and Andres ...
Commentary

No, Really — Employer Health Insurance Is Better Than Government Care

Who knew the cost disparities between employer and government health insurance could be so exciting? Last week, Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt took issue with my July 28 column — “Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage.” In my piece, I unpacked the numbers from a new American ...
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