Sally C. Pipes
Blog
A Tribute to the Great Economics Professor Walter Williams, RIP
It is with much sadness that I learned of the recent passing of one of my favorite and most respected economists, Professor Walter Williams. Walter was a prolific writer, author, educator, and defender of freedom. He died on December 3rd at 84, having taught his final economics class at George ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 8, 2020
Commentary
A Tale Of Two Healthcare Systems
The United States just reached an all-time high of over 100,000 coronavirus hospitalizations. Over 1,000 hospitals are critically short-staffed; about three-quarters of all hospital beds are full. Some hospitals have stopped accepting new patients. In Idaho, St. Luke’s Magic Valley Hospital turned away patients seeking emergency care last month. Just a few weeks later, ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 7, 2020
Commentary
An overly cautious FDA costs lives by not hastening vaccine authorization
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel is set to meet on Thursday to consider an emergency use authorization, or EUA, for the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech. Despite newly reported deaths nationwide topping a thousand per day, the FDA doesn’t seem to have been in ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 7, 2020
Commentary
Don’t Lower the Medicare Eligibility Age
President-elect Joe Biden wants Congress to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60. That’s long been a goal of Democrats. But even 7 in 10 Republicans have expressed support for expanding Medicare in the direction Biden has suggested, according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Opening up ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 4, 2020
Commentary
Officials ignore their own stay-at-home COVID-19 restrictions — it’s infuriating
Many elected officials have told Americans for months to stay home and forego everything from religious gatherings and team sports to holiday dinners and even funerals to stem the spread of the coronavirus. And yet we keep seeing news reports about officials flouting their own rules with a nice dinner ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 4, 2020
Commentary
Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs
Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 3, 2020
Commentary
COVID-19 Is No Excuse For An Assault On Intellectual Property
Since this country’s founding, the United States USM -0.5% has maintained strong protections for intellectual property. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Unfortunately, a few members of ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 2, 2020
Commentary
Three Healthcare Achievements To Be Thankful For
Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It may seem hard to believe, but even in this year unlike any other, there’s still plenty to be thankful for—including some notable developments in healthcare policy. *** 1. Individual health insurance premiums have stabilized and declined. Open enrollment on the HealthCare.gov exchanges run by the ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 23, 2020
Commentary
AOC’s ‘path forward’ on healthcare is just a giant step back
On Wednesday, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, and Pramila Jayapal joined former insurance industry executive and now “Medicare for all” advocate Wendell Potter in an online strategy session to “chart the path forward” for health reform under a Biden administration. The trio of liberal lawmakers pressed ahead with their demand for ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 23, 2020
Commentary
Trump wrongly attacks life-saving drug companies on coronavirus vaccines and more
President Trump announced Friday that he will proceed with his plans to peg the prices of certain drugs prescribed largely at doctors’ offices under Medicare Part B to the lower prices that other developed nations pay for those drugs. That may sound good at first glance, but in reality, the move will slow ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 23, 2020
A Tribute to the Great Economics Professor Walter Williams, RIP
It is with much sadness that I learned of the recent passing of one of my favorite and most respected economists, Professor Walter Williams. Walter was a prolific writer, author, educator, and defender of freedom. He died on December 3rd at 84, having taught his final economics class at George ...
A Tale Of Two Healthcare Systems
The United States just reached an all-time high of over 100,000 coronavirus hospitalizations. Over 1,000 hospitals are critically short-staffed; about three-quarters of all hospital beds are full. Some hospitals have stopped accepting new patients. In Idaho, St. Luke’s Magic Valley Hospital turned away patients seeking emergency care last month. Just a few weeks later, ...
An overly cautious FDA costs lives by not hastening vaccine authorization
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel is set to meet on Thursday to consider an emergency use authorization, or EUA, for the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech. Despite newly reported deaths nationwide topping a thousand per day, the FDA doesn’t seem to have been in ...
Don’t Lower the Medicare Eligibility Age
President-elect Joe Biden wants Congress to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60. That’s long been a goal of Democrats. But even 7 in 10 Republicans have expressed support for expanding Medicare in the direction Biden has suggested, according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Opening up ...
Officials ignore their own stay-at-home COVID-19 restrictions — it’s infuriating
Many elected officials have told Americans for months to stay home and forego everything from religious gatherings and team sports to holiday dinners and even funerals to stem the spread of the coronavirus. And yet we keep seeing news reports about officials flouting their own rules with a nice dinner ...
Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs
Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
COVID-19 Is No Excuse For An Assault On Intellectual Property
Since this country’s founding, the United States USM -0.5% has maintained strong protections for intellectual property. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Unfortunately, a few members of ...
Three Healthcare Achievements To Be Thankful For
Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It may seem hard to believe, but even in this year unlike any other, there’s still plenty to be thankful for—including some notable developments in healthcare policy. *** 1. Individual health insurance premiums have stabilized and declined. Open enrollment on the HealthCare.gov exchanges run by the ...
AOC’s ‘path forward’ on healthcare is just a giant step back
On Wednesday, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, and Pramila Jayapal joined former insurance industry executive and now “Medicare for all” advocate Wendell Potter in an online strategy session to “chart the path forward” for health reform under a Biden administration. The trio of liberal lawmakers pressed ahead with their demand for ...
Trump wrongly attacks life-saving drug companies on coronavirus vaccines and more
President Trump announced Friday that he will proceed with his plans to peg the prices of certain drugs prescribed largely at doctors’ offices under Medicare Part B to the lower prices that other developed nations pay for those drugs. That may sound good at first glance, but in reality, the move will slow ...