Health Care
Business & Economics
Well-Meaning Drug Discount Program Encourages Hospitals to Profit Rather than Effectively Serve Poor
A new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute finds that a program to give discounted prescription drugs to poor Americans is riddled with abuse, has created a perverse incentive for providers to profit instead of effectively serve the poor, and is hurting overall health care quality. Click here ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 13, 2017
Blog
Why Did the Government Swallow the 340B Fly?
Much like the old lady who swallowed a fly, the federal government has swallowed a fly over a well-meaning program designed to help the poor afford prescription drugs called 340B. Instead of ensuring the poor have low-cost drugs, 340B has created an incentive for hospitals to profit. Click here to ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 13, 2017
Commentary
Single-Payer Would Sicken, Not Cure, Massachusetts
Progressives in Massachusetts believe they’ve taken the first step toward a government-run, single-payer health care, thanks to a bill that passed the state Senate in November. The measure would, among other things, commission a study to analyze the cost of a statewide single-payer system. If the tab is less expensive ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 12, 2017
Commentary
Californians Like Single-Payer Health Care — Until They Learn Taxes Must Rise To Pay For It
Whether to establish a state-run, single-payer health-care system is shaping up to be one of the main differences among the candidates for governor in California in the run-up to the June primary election. The front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, says the only thing stopping single-payer in California is a lack ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 12, 2017
Commentary
Congress Must Reform The Broken 340B Program
The Trump administration recently announced a $1.6 billion cut to the badly abused “340B” program, which forces pharmaceutical companies to sell medicines to hospitals that treat significant numbers of poor patients at steep discounts. A bipartisan group of senators — including supposed fiscal hawks like Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 12, 2017
Commentary
Keep Big Government Out of Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations
Tomorrow, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP) will discuss a proposed alteration to Medicare. The proposal comes from a report released in late November by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. NASEM urges Congress to allow federal bureaucrats to negotiate Medicare drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. Currently, private insurance ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 11, 2017
Commentary
Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies
President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 11, 2017
Blog
There’s Plenty To Like About Trump’s HHS Pick, Alex Azar
President Trump’s nomination of Alex Azar for secretary of Health and Human Services is encouraging news for free-market health reformers. Azar possesses precisely the combination of legal acumen, bureaucratic savvy, management experience dealing with a large workforce, and private-sector experience required to eliminate those parts of Obamacare that can be accomplished through ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 7, 2017
Health Care
Azar Pick Signals Regulatory Action on Obamacare
By Erin Durkin The next potential Health and Human Services secretary appears likely to emphasize administrative actions to dismantle Obamacare after congressional Republicans failed to repeal the law this year. Former Eli Lilly and Company executive Alex Azar—who was HHS deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration— shares former ...
Pacific Research Institute
November 30, 2017
Blog
PRI-Manhattan Institute Forum Addresses California’s Drug Pricing Challenge
Earlier this week, PRI joined with the Manhattan Institute to host a well-attended Sacramento panel discussion on California’s drug pricing challenge. Many thanks to my friend and former longtime Capitol reporter Marcey Brightwell, who did an outstanding job moderating the event. Drug pricing emerged as one of the hottest issues ...
Tim Anaya
November 30, 2017
Well-Meaning Drug Discount Program Encourages Hospitals to Profit Rather than Effectively Serve Poor
A new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute finds that a program to give discounted prescription drugs to poor Americans is riddled with abuse, has created a perverse incentive for providers to profit instead of effectively serve the poor, and is hurting overall health care quality. Click here ...
Why Did the Government Swallow the 340B Fly?
Much like the old lady who swallowed a fly, the federal government has swallowed a fly over a well-meaning program designed to help the poor afford prescription drugs called 340B. Instead of ensuring the poor have low-cost drugs, 340B has created an incentive for hospitals to profit. Click here to ...
Single-Payer Would Sicken, Not Cure, Massachusetts
Progressives in Massachusetts believe they’ve taken the first step toward a government-run, single-payer health care, thanks to a bill that passed the state Senate in November. The measure would, among other things, commission a study to analyze the cost of a statewide single-payer system. If the tab is less expensive ...
Californians Like Single-Payer Health Care — Until They Learn Taxes Must Rise To Pay For It
Whether to establish a state-run, single-payer health-care system is shaping up to be one of the main differences among the candidates for governor in California in the run-up to the June primary election. The front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, says the only thing stopping single-payer in California is a lack ...
Congress Must Reform The Broken 340B Program
The Trump administration recently announced a $1.6 billion cut to the badly abused “340B” program, which forces pharmaceutical companies to sell medicines to hospitals that treat significant numbers of poor patients at steep discounts. A bipartisan group of senators — including supposed fiscal hawks like Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and ...
Keep Big Government Out of Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations
Tomorrow, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP) will discuss a proposed alteration to Medicare. The proposal comes from a report released in late November by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. NASEM urges Congress to allow federal bureaucrats to negotiate Medicare drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. Currently, private insurance ...
Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies
President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
There’s Plenty To Like About Trump’s HHS Pick, Alex Azar
President Trump’s nomination of Alex Azar for secretary of Health and Human Services is encouraging news for free-market health reformers. Azar possesses precisely the combination of legal acumen, bureaucratic savvy, management experience dealing with a large workforce, and private-sector experience required to eliminate those parts of Obamacare that can be accomplished through ...
Azar Pick Signals Regulatory Action on Obamacare
By Erin Durkin The next potential Health and Human Services secretary appears likely to emphasize administrative actions to dismantle Obamacare after congressional Republicans failed to repeal the law this year. Former Eli Lilly and Company executive Alex Azar—who was HHS deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration— shares former ...
PRI-Manhattan Institute Forum Addresses California’s Drug Pricing Challenge
Earlier this week, PRI joined with the Manhattan Institute to host a well-attended Sacramento panel discussion on California’s drug pricing challenge. Many thanks to my friend and former longtime Capitol reporter Marcey Brightwell, who did an outstanding job moderating the event. Drug pricing emerged as one of the hottest issues ...
