John R. Graham

Commentary

U.S. competitive without medical monopoly

The November election made a bull’s-eye out of Obamacare, which some Republicans want to repeal. Obamacare is a worthy target because it is a significant lurch toward so-called “universal” health care. The lack of such a government monopoly system, some charge, harms American competitiveness. But that argument fails to hold ...
Commentary

Obamacare Unintended Consequence of the Day: Higher Drug Prices for Kids’ Hospitals

One anonymous politician who voted to impose Obamacare on the nation told the reporter that this results from “an honest mistake in drafting.” Sick kids will lose access to medicines because of politicians’ incompetence, but they don’t even bother to defend their not reading or understanding the legislation anymore. Indeed, ...
Commentary

Are Your State Politicians Serious About Defeating Obamacare? A “Litmus Test”

Last month’s elections demonstrated convincingly that the American people are already fed up with Obamacare, the March legislation that gives the federal government control over our access to medical services. Anti-Obamacare Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives and increased their numbers in the U.S. Senate. Most people ...
Commentary

Medicare Limits Access to Care, As Will Obamacare

It is becoming increasingly clear to laymen that Medicare beneficiaries do not have the same access to care as the privately insured (or those in Medicare Advantage plans). The political challenge is obvious: It’s not possible that America’s seniors will tolerate politicians who allow this to happen. So, the political ...
Commentary

Airport Scanners and Health Information Technology

Am I hyperventilating if I draw the obvious comparison between health IT and the gropey scanney stuff going on at the airports? The manufacturers of scanners have doubled their lobbying investments in the last five years and cultivated members of the political class, like former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, as ...
Commentary

Why Can’t Doctors Tell Patients How Much Meds Cost?

Although the health plans don’t pay doctors to help patients “shop for medicines,” I have learned that they do pay doctors to switch their prescriptions from branded to generic. Of course, this entire struggle between health plan and brand-name drugmaker is entirely invisible to the patient, and, therefore, likely results ...
Commentary

U.S. Health Care and U.S. Productivity

Furthermore, we don’t hear Mark Zuckerberg complaining that Facebook’s health-care costs are preventing him from competing against foreign social-media businesses. Indeed, while all Americans complain about health costs, the argument that our health “system” reduces our competitiveness versus other countries with “universal” health care is actually quite weak. Indeed, the ...
Commentary

O-Day is January 1, 2014

What are the best tactics to prepare for repeal before that potentially catastrophic date? I contribute to a discussion over at National Review Online .
Commentary

American Health Care and American Productivity: An International Comparison

Key Points Domestic critics claim that U.S. health care is a drag on productivity, but the United States is the world’s most productive nation. American productivity leads to much higher national income than in other countries, suggesting that our high health spending as a share of GDP is not out ...
Commentary

Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?

Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
Commentary

U.S. competitive without medical monopoly

The November election made a bull’s-eye out of Obamacare, which some Republicans want to repeal. Obamacare is a worthy target because it is a significant lurch toward so-called “universal” health care. The lack of such a government monopoly system, some charge, harms American competitiveness. But that argument fails to hold ...
Commentary

Obamacare Unintended Consequence of the Day: Higher Drug Prices for Kids’ Hospitals

One anonymous politician who voted to impose Obamacare on the nation told the reporter that this results from “an honest mistake in drafting.” Sick kids will lose access to medicines because of politicians’ incompetence, but they don’t even bother to defend their not reading or understanding the legislation anymore. Indeed, ...
Commentary

Are Your State Politicians Serious About Defeating Obamacare? A “Litmus Test”

Last month’s elections demonstrated convincingly that the American people are already fed up with Obamacare, the March legislation that gives the federal government control over our access to medical services. Anti-Obamacare Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives and increased their numbers in the U.S. Senate. Most people ...
Commentary

Medicare Limits Access to Care, As Will Obamacare

It is becoming increasingly clear to laymen that Medicare beneficiaries do not have the same access to care as the privately insured (or those in Medicare Advantage plans). The political challenge is obvious: It’s not possible that America’s seniors will tolerate politicians who allow this to happen. So, the political ...
Commentary

Airport Scanners and Health Information Technology

Am I hyperventilating if I draw the obvious comparison between health IT and the gropey scanney stuff going on at the airports? The manufacturers of scanners have doubled their lobbying investments in the last five years and cultivated members of the political class, like former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, as ...
Commentary

Why Can’t Doctors Tell Patients How Much Meds Cost?

Although the health plans don’t pay doctors to help patients “shop for medicines,” I have learned that they do pay doctors to switch their prescriptions from branded to generic. Of course, this entire struggle between health plan and brand-name drugmaker is entirely invisible to the patient, and, therefore, likely results ...
Commentary

U.S. Health Care and U.S. Productivity

Furthermore, we don’t hear Mark Zuckerberg complaining that Facebook’s health-care costs are preventing him from competing against foreign social-media businesses. Indeed, while all Americans complain about health costs, the argument that our health “system” reduces our competitiveness versus other countries with “universal” health care is actually quite weak. Indeed, the ...
Commentary

O-Day is January 1, 2014

What are the best tactics to prepare for repeal before that potentially catastrophic date? I contribute to a discussion over at National Review Online .
Commentary

American Health Care and American Productivity: An International Comparison

Key Points Domestic critics claim that U.S. health care is a drag on productivity, but the United States is the world’s most productive nation. American productivity leads to much higher national income than in other countries, suggesting that our high health spending as a share of GDP is not out ...
Commentary

Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?

Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
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