Health Care Innovation
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Hospitals Turn a Safety-Net Program Into an ATM
Washington, D.C. is finally taking a hard look at one of the most abuse-ridden federal health programs — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Last week, the Trump administration released a request for information exploring ways to bring more transparency and accountability to the program. It’s about time.
Commentary
How Trump’s ‘Prior Authorization’ Deal Puts Patients Ahead of Paperwork
Americans increasingly need a permission slip from their insurance company before they can get medical care. And it’s driving them crazy. According to one recent survey, nearly three-quarters of patients find delays and denials of treatment by insurers to be a major problem with our health-care system. Fortunately, a new ...
Commentary
An anti-science FDA is a threat to our health and prosperity
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration supposedly “implements gold standard science.” Yet the agency appears to relish obstructing scientific progress. Earlier this month, Vinay Prasad, the director of FDA’s vaccine division, rejected Moderna’s application for a new mRNA flu vaccine for adults 50 and older on dubious grounds. The FDA ...
Commentary
Medicare’s ‘efficiency’ cut will reduce access, not costs
Many physicians received another pay cut this year, courtesy of Medicare. Under the program’s new physician fee schedule, Medicare reimbursement for the vast majority of physician-provided services will effectively decline by 2.5%. Medicare officials justify the change as an “efficiency adjustment.” The theory is that doctors have gotten more productive ...
Commentary
Drop ‘Bigger Subsidies’ Narrative for Better Insurance Options
The federal government is covering a smaller share of Obamacare enrollees’ premiums this year. That has Democrats warning of a surge in the number of uninsured, as people struggle to shoulder more of the cost themselves. But recent reporting on some of those losing their enhanced premium subsidies reveals that ...
Commentary
Arizona Republicans should stop trying to ban mRNA vaccines
Despite Democratic Governor Hobbs’ past efforts to expand Arizonans’ access to cutting-edge medicines, the state Legislature continues to propose harmful anti-mRNA bills. The latest example is House Bill 2332, which, if enacted, would deny Arizonans access to promising technologies that could cure cancer and minimize the health consequences from deadly ...
Commentary
Proposed Patent Tax Threatens the Research That Powers Growth
Is federally funded science really a raw deal for taxpayers? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to think so. “If we fund it and they invent a patent,” he recently said, “the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit.” Lutnick is proposing a 50% excise tax on the ...
Commentary
Cancer Breakthroughs Threatened by D.C.’s Price Controls
Cancer survival rates are on the rise, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest annual report. Seven in 10 patients now live five years or more after a cancer diagnosis. Since 1991, reductions in smoking and improvements in disease management and earlier diagnosis have resulted in a 34% drop in ...
Commentary
Proposed patent tax offers a dangerous ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants. Lutnick is deeply mistaken. ...
Commentary
No Accountability as Insurers Profit From Public Programs
Executives from the nation’s largest health insurers are set to testify before Congress soon in a hearing on healthcare affordability. It’s about time. From Medicare Advantage to Obamacare exchanges to prescription drug benefits, insurers have been extracting ever-greater amounts of public funds while passing costs and risk on to patients ...
Hospitals Turn a Safety-Net Program Into an ATM
Washington, D.C. is finally taking a hard look at one of the most abuse-ridden federal health programs — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Last week, the Trump administration released a request for information exploring ways to bring more transparency and accountability to the program. It’s about time.
How Trump’s ‘Prior Authorization’ Deal Puts Patients Ahead of Paperwork
Americans increasingly need a permission slip from their insurance company before they can get medical care. And it’s driving them crazy. According to one recent survey, nearly three-quarters of patients find delays and denials of treatment by insurers to be a major problem with our health-care system. Fortunately, a new ...
An anti-science FDA is a threat to our health and prosperity
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration supposedly “implements gold standard science.” Yet the agency appears to relish obstructing scientific progress. Earlier this month, Vinay Prasad, the director of FDA’s vaccine division, rejected Moderna’s application for a new mRNA flu vaccine for adults 50 and older on dubious grounds. The FDA ...
Medicare’s ‘efficiency’ cut will reduce access, not costs
Many physicians received another pay cut this year, courtesy of Medicare. Under the program’s new physician fee schedule, Medicare reimbursement for the vast majority of physician-provided services will effectively decline by 2.5%. Medicare officials justify the change as an “efficiency adjustment.” The theory is that doctors have gotten more productive ...
Drop ‘Bigger Subsidies’ Narrative for Better Insurance Options
The federal government is covering a smaller share of Obamacare enrollees’ premiums this year. That has Democrats warning of a surge in the number of uninsured, as people struggle to shoulder more of the cost themselves. But recent reporting on some of those losing their enhanced premium subsidies reveals that ...
Arizona Republicans should stop trying to ban mRNA vaccines
Despite Democratic Governor Hobbs’ past efforts to expand Arizonans’ access to cutting-edge medicines, the state Legislature continues to propose harmful anti-mRNA bills. The latest example is House Bill 2332, which, if enacted, would deny Arizonans access to promising technologies that could cure cancer and minimize the health consequences from deadly ...
Proposed Patent Tax Threatens the Research That Powers Growth
Is federally funded science really a raw deal for taxpayers? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to think so. “If we fund it and they invent a patent,” he recently said, “the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit.” Lutnick is proposing a 50% excise tax on the ...
Cancer Breakthroughs Threatened by D.C.’s Price Controls
Cancer survival rates are on the rise, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest annual report. Seven in 10 patients now live five years or more after a cancer diagnosis. Since 1991, reductions in smoking and improvements in disease management and earlier diagnosis have resulted in a 34% drop in ...
Proposed patent tax offers a dangerous ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants. Lutnick is deeply mistaken. ...
No Accountability as Insurers Profit From Public Programs
Executives from the nation’s largest health insurers are set to testify before Congress soon in a hearing on healthcare affordability. It’s about time. From Medicare Advantage to Obamacare exchanges to prescription drug benefits, insurers have been extracting ever-greater amounts of public funds while passing costs and risk on to patients ...
