Health Care
Commentary
After Midterms, Democrats Inch Toward Government-Run Health Care
The midterm elections were good to Democrats. They took the majority in the U.S. House and captured several state legislatures. Public frustration with health care was a big reason why. Just before the election, seven in 10 voters said that the issue was “very important” when deciding whom to vote ...
Commentary
‘Direct primary care’ empowers doctors, patients
Scores of doctors are taking a page from Netflix’s playbook and getting into the subscription business. They’ve adopted a business model called “direct primary care,” whereby patients pay a periodic fee for access to primary care physicians. Since 2014, the number of direct primary care practices in America has grown ...
Commentary
Protecting consumers from Obamacare’s costs
Open enrollment in most of Obamacare’s exchanges ends on Saturday, Dec. 15. Consumers in seven states that run their own exchanges, including California and New York, have a little bit longer to purchase coverage. Sign-ups thus far have been less than stellar. Through the first three weeks, only 1.9 million ...
Commentary
The Secret To Reducing Health Costs May Be At The Shopping Mall
Americans spend a lot on health care. Last year, the average household’s tab was $5,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure has gone up more than 13% since 2015 — and is about $600 more than the average person’s expenditures on groceries. Fortunately, it’s possible for the average ...
Commentary
We Don’t Need A (New) Ban Of Human Gene Therapy
Animal products used in or on humans have been an invaluable part of medical practice for almost a century. Examples include animal insulins to treat diabetes and pig heart valves transplanted into humans. A related medical breakthrough was just published on Dec. 5 in the journal “Nature”: Genetically modified pig ...
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 ...
Commentary
Assisted Suicide for Alzheimer’s Patients Raises Incredibly Difficult Issues
By Josh Bloom and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Medical ethics can be thorny even with relatively benign topics. But physician-assisted suicide to achieve “death with dignity’ is especially fraught. It raises issues of personal beliefs, religion, human rights, end-of-life-care, informed consent, the law and euthanasia. This subject was brought ...
Business & Economics
Redefining Presidential Failure As Success
While success still has many fathers, failure is no longer an orphan. President Obama’s recent speeches and rallies demonstrate that, now, failure is simply redefined as success. The costs from this revisionism is high. Creating false narratives encourage policies that will harm economic prosperity and impose large economic hardships on ...
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, ...
Commentary
Junk Science Has Become a Profitable Industry. Who Will Stop It?
By S. Stanley Young and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Should we believe the headline, “Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death”? How about, “Mouthwash May Trigger Diabetes. . .”? Should we really eat more, not less, fat? And what should we make of data that suggest people with spouses live ...
After Midterms, Democrats Inch Toward Government-Run Health Care
The midterm elections were good to Democrats. They took the majority in the U.S. House and captured several state legislatures. Public frustration with health care was a big reason why. Just before the election, seven in 10 voters said that the issue was “very important” when deciding whom to vote ...
‘Direct primary care’ empowers doctors, patients
Scores of doctors are taking a page from Netflix’s playbook and getting into the subscription business. They’ve adopted a business model called “direct primary care,” whereby patients pay a periodic fee for access to primary care physicians. Since 2014, the number of direct primary care practices in America has grown ...
Protecting consumers from Obamacare’s costs
Open enrollment in most of Obamacare’s exchanges ends on Saturday, Dec. 15. Consumers in seven states that run their own exchanges, including California and New York, have a little bit longer to purchase coverage. Sign-ups thus far have been less than stellar. Through the first three weeks, only 1.9 million ...
The Secret To Reducing Health Costs May Be At The Shopping Mall
Americans spend a lot on health care. Last year, the average household’s tab was $5,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure has gone up more than 13% since 2015 — and is about $600 more than the average person’s expenditures on groceries. Fortunately, it’s possible for the average ...
We Don’t Need A (New) Ban Of Human Gene Therapy
Animal products used in or on humans have been an invaluable part of medical practice for almost a century. Examples include animal insulins to treat diabetes and pig heart valves transplanted into humans. A related medical breakthrough was just published on Dec. 5 in the journal “Nature”: Genetically modified pig ...
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 ...
Assisted Suicide for Alzheimer’s Patients Raises Incredibly Difficult Issues
By Josh Bloom and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Medical ethics can be thorny even with relatively benign topics. But physician-assisted suicide to achieve “death with dignity’ is especially fraught. It raises issues of personal beliefs, religion, human rights, end-of-life-care, informed consent, the law and euthanasia. This subject was brought ...
Redefining Presidential Failure As Success
While success still has many fathers, failure is no longer an orphan. President Obama’s recent speeches and rallies demonstrate that, now, failure is simply redefined as success. The costs from this revisionism is high. Creating false narratives encourage policies that will harm economic prosperity and impose large economic hardships on ...
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, ...
Junk Science Has Become a Profitable Industry. Who Will Stop It?
By S. Stanley Young and Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. Should we believe the headline, “Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death”? How about, “Mouthwash May Trigger Diabetes. . .”? Should we really eat more, not less, fat? And what should we make of data that suggest people with spouses live ...
