Wayne Winegarden
Commentary
Reforming Rebate Contracting will Improve Drug Affordability
By Wayne Winegarden and Robert Popovian The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a regulation on November 20, 2020 that removed the safe harbor protections for rebates on prescription drugs paid to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and Part D plans. This analysis evaluates the expected impact from this ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 21, 2020
Drug Pricing
NEW BRIEF: Tearing Down Drug ‘Rebate Walls’ Would Save Patients, Improve Health Care Outcomes
Tearing down drug “rebate walls” that increase patient costs and block access to cheaper and often more effective medications would increase competition, lower out-of-pocket costs, and improve health outcomes, finds a new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 9, 2020
Business & Economics
If ESG Enhances Profits, Then Why All The Fuss?
The Department of Labor finalized a rule last month that, as the Wall Street Journal editorial page noted, should not be controversial. The rule states that private pensions cannot let ancillary issues distract them from their primary mission of securing their beneficiaries’ retirement. Failure to achieve this mission jeopardizes the financial ...
Wayne Winegarden
November 18, 2020
Blackouts
Powering California With Wind – A utility’s perspective
Milton Friedman famously declared that “one of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” While California desperately needs to apply this wisdom across the policy spectrum, arguably, the gap between policy leaders’ intentions and the empirical results are the widest when ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 19, 2020
Environment
PRI Comments on Pending Department of Labor Regulations on Proxy Measures, ESG
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden has submitted comments to the Department of Labor commenting on proposed amendments to federal regulations that would confirm the fiduciary responsibility of plan sponsors regarding “proxy voting and other exercises of shareholder rights.” Click here to read the letter In ...
Wayne Winegarden
September 29, 2020
Drug Pricing
NEW BRIEF: Mandating that Drug Rebates Benefit Consumers Will Help Patients with High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs
A new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute found that reforms mandating drug rebates benefit patients rather than payers would lower overall health care costs and help patients with expensive out-of-pocket drug costs. Click here to download the brief “Ironically, ...
Wayne Winegarden
September 29, 2020
Commentary
Price Controls Are Disastrous For Rents And Will Be For Drugs
President Trump and senior advisor Jared Kushner claim that the most favored nation executive order signed by the President over the weekend is necessary for drug pricing because “the U.S. shouldn’t pay more than other European countries for the same treatments.” This policy will make things worse, not better. If the president ...
Wayne Winegarden
September 15, 2020
Blackouts
The Roth Effect Interviews Wayne Winegarden on Free Market Energy Solutions
Pacific Research Institute senior fellow and economist Dr. Wayne Winegarden talks free market energy, California rolling power blackouts, and optimistic solutions to energy policy on The Roth Effect with Carol Roth. Winegarden also discusses his recent studies that challenge green energy, fracking, electric vehicles, and more. https://mp3.ricochet.com/2020/09/Roth_Effect_66.mp3
Wayne Winegarden
September 15, 2020
Blackouts
Wildfires, Global Climate Change, And The Policy Environment
California is suffering from raging wildfires that, as of September 10th, have burned over 3.1 million acres, caused 12 fatalities, and destroyed over 3,900 structures. Residents are also enduring rolling electricity blackouts and unaffordable energy, yet California’s greenhouse gas emissions are now rising while the long-term national decline in emissions continues unabated. Connecting ...
Wayne Winegarden
September 11, 2020
Business & Economics
States Should Think Long-Term When Addressing Their Short-Term Fiscal Crises
Just prior to the pandemic, many states were finally recovering from the fiscal crises created by the 2007-09 recession. But, as with so many things, the pandemic has derailed these gains. If history is a guide, no matter how long the current recession lasts, the fiscal crises facing the states ...
Wayne Winegarden
August 25, 2020
Reforming Rebate Contracting will Improve Drug Affordability
By Wayne Winegarden and Robert Popovian The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a regulation on November 20, 2020 that removed the safe harbor protections for rebates on prescription drugs paid to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and Part D plans. This analysis evaluates the expected impact from this ...
NEW BRIEF: Tearing Down Drug ‘Rebate Walls’ Would Save Patients, Improve Health Care Outcomes
Tearing down drug “rebate walls” that increase patient costs and block access to cheaper and often more effective medications would increase competition, lower out-of-pocket costs, and improve health outcomes, finds a new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
If ESG Enhances Profits, Then Why All The Fuss?
The Department of Labor finalized a rule last month that, as the Wall Street Journal editorial page noted, should not be controversial. The rule states that private pensions cannot let ancillary issues distract them from their primary mission of securing their beneficiaries’ retirement. Failure to achieve this mission jeopardizes the financial ...
Powering California With Wind – A utility’s perspective
Milton Friedman famously declared that “one of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” While California desperately needs to apply this wisdom across the policy spectrum, arguably, the gap between policy leaders’ intentions and the empirical results are the widest when ...
PRI Comments on Pending Department of Labor Regulations on Proxy Measures, ESG
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden has submitted comments to the Department of Labor commenting on proposed amendments to federal regulations that would confirm the fiduciary responsibility of plan sponsors regarding “proxy voting and other exercises of shareholder rights.” Click here to read the letter In ...
NEW BRIEF: Mandating that Drug Rebates Benefit Consumers Will Help Patients with High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs
A new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute found that reforms mandating drug rebates benefit patients rather than payers would lower overall health care costs and help patients with expensive out-of-pocket drug costs. Click here to download the brief “Ironically, ...
Price Controls Are Disastrous For Rents And Will Be For Drugs
President Trump and senior advisor Jared Kushner claim that the most favored nation executive order signed by the President over the weekend is necessary for drug pricing because “the U.S. shouldn’t pay more than other European countries for the same treatments.” This policy will make things worse, not better. If the president ...
The Roth Effect Interviews Wayne Winegarden on Free Market Energy Solutions
Pacific Research Institute senior fellow and economist Dr. Wayne Winegarden talks free market energy, California rolling power blackouts, and optimistic solutions to energy policy on The Roth Effect with Carol Roth. Winegarden also discusses his recent studies that challenge green energy, fracking, electric vehicles, and more. https://mp3.ricochet.com/2020/09/Roth_Effect_66.mp3
Wildfires, Global Climate Change, And The Policy Environment
California is suffering from raging wildfires that, as of September 10th, have burned over 3.1 million acres, caused 12 fatalities, and destroyed over 3,900 structures. Residents are also enduring rolling electricity blackouts and unaffordable energy, yet California’s greenhouse gas emissions are now rising while the long-term national decline in emissions continues unabated. Connecting ...
States Should Think Long-Term When Addressing Their Short-Term Fiscal Crises
Just prior to the pandemic, many states were finally recovering from the fiscal crises created by the 2007-09 recession. But, as with so many things, the pandemic has derailed these gains. If history is a guide, no matter how long the current recession lasts, the fiscal crises facing the states ...