Health Care

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Heroes Act Gave Millions to California’s Poshest Cities

Coronavirus relief funds are back on the negotiation table, but the three sides have a huge chasm to close.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally proposed a $3.4 trillion package, then $2.2 trillion, and has now settled on $900 billion. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin bargained down further to $1.9 trillion, followed by ...
Commentary

For HHS post Biden taps ObamaCare’s lead defender – don’t expect him to be a moderate

President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday that he plans to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. It’s a conventional, if unexpected, pick. The Washington rumor mill had New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo as the front-runners to lead HHS until ...
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, ...
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 ...
Blog

Will Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ‘Do Something’ About Lockdown Rules Made Absent Evidence?

Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and others using the pandemic to restrict Californians’ movements should not be surprised that there’s been a pushback. While it’s due in part to the habit of officials failing to follow the rules they set, much of the frustration and defiance we’re ...
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 ...
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 ...
Commentary

Shocking Disparities In COVID-19 Attitudes And Behaviors

It should be obvious by now that the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has become politicized. Consider the presidential campaigns: President Donald Trump held large indoor rallies with mostly mask-less supporters, while President-elect Joe Biden seemed to have a mask sutured to ...
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 ...
Blackouts

Lockdowns, Power Shutdowns, And Feeling Rundown – Life In California Is Hard

The image of California living is that of a never-ending vacation. Sun. Surf. Endless entertainment. Plenty of good jobs. The leaves are never brown, nor the sky gray. Always safe and warm. But the reality is different. The coming winter looks to be one that will keep the entire state ...
Blog

Heroes Act Gave Millions to California’s Poshest Cities

Coronavirus relief funds are back on the negotiation table, but the three sides have a huge chasm to close.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally proposed a $3.4 trillion package, then $2.2 trillion, and has now settled on $900 billion. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin bargained down further to $1.9 trillion, followed by ...
Commentary

For HHS post Biden taps ObamaCare’s lead defender – don’t expect him to be a moderate

President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday that he plans to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. It’s a conventional, if unexpected, pick. The Washington rumor mill had New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo as the front-runners to lead HHS until ...
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, ...
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 ...
Blog

Will Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ‘Do Something’ About Lockdown Rules Made Absent Evidence?

Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and others using the pandemic to restrict Californians’ movements should not be surprised that there’s been a pushback. While it’s due in part to the habit of officials failing to follow the rules they set, much of the frustration and defiance we’re ...
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 ...
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 ...
Commentary

Shocking Disparities In COVID-19 Attitudes And Behaviors

It should be obvious by now that the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has become politicized. Consider the presidential campaigns: President Donald Trump held large indoor rallies with mostly mask-less supporters, while President-elect Joe Biden seemed to have a mask sutured to ...
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 ...
Blackouts

Lockdowns, Power Shutdowns, And Feeling Rundown – Life In California Is Hard

The image of California living is that of a never-ending vacation. Sun. Surf. Endless entertainment. Plenty of good jobs. The leaves are never brown, nor the sky gray. Always safe and warm. But the reality is different. The coming winter looks to be one that will keep the entire state ...
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