Sally C. Pipes
Commentary
Private companies are the best stewards of public funds for healthcare
Iowa saved $126 million in fiscal year 2018 by privatizing its management of Medicaid, according to a November report from the state auditor. These savings shouldn’t be a surprise. Private companies are better at managing public funds than the government because they have an incentive to cut costs: It affects their bottom ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 5, 2018
Commentary
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 26, 2018
Commentary
Medicare for All Lost Big Time in the Midterms
Democrats won big during the midterm elections earlier this month. As of this writing, they appear to have picked up 39 seats in the House of Representatives. But Medicare for All — the rallying cry for much of the far left — lost big time. Voters outside liberal enclaves rejected ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 26, 2018
Commentary
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 25, 2018
Commentary
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 23, 2018
Commentary
Short-Term Insurance Plans Offer A Much-Needed Escape From Obamacare
Several patient advocacy groups recently sued the Trump administration to overturn an August 2018 rule that expands access to short-term health insurance plans. They argue that short-term plans, which they deride as “junk insurance,” violate the Affordable Care Act. The courts ought to toss this meritless lawsuit. The new rule is legal ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 13, 2018
Commentary
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 9, 2018
Commentary
At the VA, bureaucrats — not doctors — hold the scalpel
Staff at nine Veterans Affairs hospitals recently canceled more than 250,000 orders for diagnostic tests. They thought the orders were duplicative or unnecessary. In many cases, they were mistaken. As a result, veterans went without needed CT scans, ultrasounds, and other potentially lifesaving tests, according to a USA Today investigation. ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 8, 2018
Commentary
The future of healthcare is on the 2018 ballot
Tuesday’s midterm elections will shape the future of healthcare. A majority of Democrats running for House seats, a whopping 225 candidates, support “Medicare for all,” a single-payer system that would effectively outlaw private insurance and force virtually everyone into a government-run health plan. Sixteen Senate Democrats, including half a dozen senators considering ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 5, 2018
Commentary
Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy
Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 2, 2018
Private companies are the best stewards of public funds for healthcare
Iowa saved $126 million in fiscal year 2018 by privatizing its management of Medicaid, according to a November report from the state auditor. These savings shouldn’t be a surprise. Private companies are better at managing public funds than the government because they have an incentive to cut costs: It affects their bottom ...
Medicaid work requirements are helping, and this state shows it
A group of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries is suing the federal government. They claim the Trump administration’s decision to allow Arkansas to impose work requirements on all able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients restricts their access to healthcare. That’s nonsense. The requirement that able-bodied adult recipients spend 80 hours a month working, training for a job, ...
Medicare for All Lost Big Time in the Midterms
Democrats won big during the midterm elections earlier this month. As of this writing, they appear to have picked up 39 seats in the House of Representatives. But Medicare for All — the rallying cry for much of the far left — lost big time. Voters outside liberal enclaves rejected ...
Florida voters rejected Medicare for All in the midterms. Thank goodness.
This month, Democrats took the House of Representatives. But many of the party’s most progressive candidates outside deep-blue coastal enclaves fell short at the polls. Voters in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Maryland all rejected Democratic candidates who campaigned on Medicare for All. And thank goodness. The idea polled ...
Voters Swallowed The Medicaid Snake Oil
Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah just approved ballot referendums to expand Medicaid. The three solidly red states will soon add 300,000 beneficiaries to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income Americans. These voters doubtless had good intentions. They wanted to help vulnerable residents in their states gain access to health ...
Short-Term Insurance Plans Offer A Much-Needed Escape From Obamacare
Several patient advocacy groups recently sued the Trump administration to overturn an August 2018 rule that expands access to short-term health insurance plans. They argue that short-term plans, which they deride as “junk insurance,” violate the Affordable Care Act. The courts ought to toss this meritless lawsuit. The new rule is legal ...
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
At the VA, bureaucrats — not doctors — hold the scalpel
Staff at nine Veterans Affairs hospitals recently canceled more than 250,000 orders for diagnostic tests. They thought the orders were duplicative or unnecessary. In many cases, they were mistaken. As a result, veterans went without needed CT scans, ultrasounds, and other potentially lifesaving tests, according to a USA Today investigation. ...
The future of healthcare is on the 2018 ballot
Tuesday’s midterm elections will shape the future of healthcare. A majority of Democrats running for House seats, a whopping 225 candidates, support “Medicare for all,” a single-payer system that would effectively outlaw private insurance and force virtually everyone into a government-run health plan. Sixteen Senate Democrats, including half a dozen senators considering ...
Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy
Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...