Health Care
Commentary
Medicaid’s Cracked Halo
President Trump’s recent 2018 budget proposal, which includes roughly $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade, has led to howls of outrage from Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that the cuts would “carry a staggering human cost.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. has ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 30, 2017
Health Care
CBO: GOP Health Bill Could Cost 23 Million Coverage; 400,000 In Arizona
WASHINGTON – The Republican plan to replace Obamacare will force as many as 23 million Americans off health insurance over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office reported, with local experts predicting more than 400,000 of those will be in Arizona. The long-awaited CBO “score” said the GOP’s American Health ...
Brianna Stearns
May 25, 2017
Health Care
HHS: Arizona Health Insurance Premiums Almost Tripled Since 2013
WASHINGTON – Health insurance premiums nearly tripled in Arizona between 2013 and 2017, the fourth-biggest increase among the 39 states that participated in healthcare.gov, according to new data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Arizona’s 190 percent increase meant a monthly premium increase of about $400 to a ...
Joe Gilmore
May 25, 2017
Commentary
Nothing To CBO Here
Today, the Congressional Budget Office released its report on the American Health Care Act, which passed the House earlier this month. The agency projected that the bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 23 million in 2026, relative to Obamacare. But the CBO’s projections are just that — ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 25, 2017
Business & Economics
Free Speech Can Improve Health Care Outcomes
In a unanimous and bipartisan vote, Arizona’s legislature passed the Free Speech in Medicine Act, which was signed into law about two months ago. Passing anything with bipartisan support is noteworthy in today’s hyper-partisan environment. Passing a bill with such important and positive implications for patients, even if the law ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 17, 2017
Business & Economics
New Study Finds High Prescription Drug Costs Are Not Driving Up U.S. Healthcare Costs
It’s easy for politicians and consumers to rage about the high price of prescription drugs, but Wayne Winegarden, Pacific Research Institute’s senior fellow in business and economics, said those prices are not to blame for the high cost of healthcare in the United States. Recently, U.S. Bernie Sanders has been ...
Wayne H Winegarden
May 16, 2017
Business & Economics
Pharmacy Benefit Managers Add Cost To Healthcare, Impose Consumer And Market Burdens, Study Says
Due to inefficiencies in the current regulatory framework, pharmacy benefit managers can add cost to the healthcare system and impose burdens on both consumers and market competition, according to a new study released by the Pacific Research Institute. PBMs — essentially middlemen who process prescription transactions, negotiate drug discounts and ...
Jeff Lagasse
May 16, 2017
Commentary
We Can’t Keep Accepting Failures And The VA
Rewarding failure appears to be something of a tradition at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A few weeks ago, President Trump kept up that tradition by signing the Veterans Choice Improvement Act, which extends the beleaguered Veterans Choice program. That initiative, originally due to expire in August, gives select veterans ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 15, 2017
Commentary
Time To Face Facts On Pre-Existing Conditions
Democrats have assailed the American Health Care Act, which narrowly passed the House by four votes on May 4, for supposedly ripping away Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the bill’s approach to covering such conditions a “sad, deadly joke.” Rep. Frank ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 15, 2017
Commentary
The Trump Administration Is Making Life Harder For Obamacare’s Freeloaders
While Congressional Republicans continue to hash out their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the executive branch has already taken action to undo some of the law’s most destructive features. Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cut the enrollment period for 2018 Obamacare exchange plans from ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 11, 2017
Medicaid’s Cracked Halo
President Trump’s recent 2018 budget proposal, which includes roughly $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade, has led to howls of outrage from Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that the cuts would “carry a staggering human cost.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. has ...
CBO: GOP Health Bill Could Cost 23 Million Coverage; 400,000 In Arizona
WASHINGTON – The Republican plan to replace Obamacare will force as many as 23 million Americans off health insurance over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office reported, with local experts predicting more than 400,000 of those will be in Arizona. The long-awaited CBO “score” said the GOP’s American Health ...
HHS: Arizona Health Insurance Premiums Almost Tripled Since 2013
WASHINGTON – Health insurance premiums nearly tripled in Arizona between 2013 and 2017, the fourth-biggest increase among the 39 states that participated in healthcare.gov, according to new data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Arizona’s 190 percent increase meant a monthly premium increase of about $400 to a ...
Nothing To CBO Here
Today, the Congressional Budget Office released its report on the American Health Care Act, which passed the House earlier this month. The agency projected that the bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 23 million in 2026, relative to Obamacare. But the CBO’s projections are just that — ...
Free Speech Can Improve Health Care Outcomes
In a unanimous and bipartisan vote, Arizona’s legislature passed the Free Speech in Medicine Act, which was signed into law about two months ago. Passing anything with bipartisan support is noteworthy in today’s hyper-partisan environment. Passing a bill with such important and positive implications for patients, even if the law ...
New Study Finds High Prescription Drug Costs Are Not Driving Up U.S. Healthcare Costs
It’s easy for politicians and consumers to rage about the high price of prescription drugs, but Wayne Winegarden, Pacific Research Institute’s senior fellow in business and economics, said those prices are not to blame for the high cost of healthcare in the United States. Recently, U.S. Bernie Sanders has been ...
Pharmacy Benefit Managers Add Cost To Healthcare, Impose Consumer And Market Burdens, Study Says
Due to inefficiencies in the current regulatory framework, pharmacy benefit managers can add cost to the healthcare system and impose burdens on both consumers and market competition, according to a new study released by the Pacific Research Institute. PBMs — essentially middlemen who process prescription transactions, negotiate drug discounts and ...
We Can’t Keep Accepting Failures And The VA
Rewarding failure appears to be something of a tradition at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A few weeks ago, President Trump kept up that tradition by signing the Veterans Choice Improvement Act, which extends the beleaguered Veterans Choice program. That initiative, originally due to expire in August, gives select veterans ...
Time To Face Facts On Pre-Existing Conditions
Democrats have assailed the American Health Care Act, which narrowly passed the House by four votes on May 4, for supposedly ripping away Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the bill’s approach to covering such conditions a “sad, deadly joke.” Rep. Frank ...
The Trump Administration Is Making Life Harder For Obamacare’s Freeloaders
While Congressional Republicans continue to hash out their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the executive branch has already taken action to undo some of the law’s most destructive features. Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cut the enrollment period for 2018 Obamacare exchange plans from ...