Health Care
Health Care
Obamacare faces Supreme test
The Supreme Court on Monday begins hearing what could be one of the most important cases in our country’s history. The nine justices are set to determine the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” included in the president’s health care bill, passed two years ago this month. The mandate requires that ...
Health Care
ObamaCare Individual Mandate Shifts Costs To Others
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next week on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health reform law. One of the issues the high court will consider is whether Congress can require virtually every American to buy health insurance. The law’s defenders claim that forcing the uninsured to buy ...
Commentary
Obamacare drives up health care costs for everyone
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released their annual report on health care spending in America. And surprise, surprise – spending continues to grow. It amounted to 17.9 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2010, or $2.6 trillion. But the annual rate of growth was lower ...
Commentary
Health spending slows but premiums still rising
A funny thing happened as a result of Obamacare, signed in March 2010: Although the cost of health care has increased at a slower rate than in previous years, premiums for health insurance and the share of premiums used for purposes other than paying claims has been increasing faster than ...
Commentary
Romney-fication of health care reform
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick just exhorted legislators to overhaul the way the state pays for health care. Hes pushing for an end to the traditional arrangement of compensating doctors and hospitals for each service they provide. Its not yet clear what will replace this fee-for-service payment system. But theres growing ...
Commentary
Kill the CLASS Act Before It Kills Taxpayers
The House of Representatives just voted to wipe a major part of President Obamas healthcare law from the books the Community Living Assistance Service and Supports Act. This CLASS Act wouldve established a federally run long-term-care insurance program. The Senate should continue the Houses work and repeal CLASS right ...
Commentary
President Obama’s Medical Board: A Backdoor Path to Health Rationing
Last week, a House of Representatives subpanel overwhelmingly approved a measure to repeal a key component of President Obamas 2010 health reform bill. By a bipartisan 17-5 margin, the Energy and Commerce Committees Health Subcommittee agreed to get rid of Sections 3403 and 10320 of the Patient Protection and Affordable ...
Health Care
Feed the Beast: Renewing the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
Key Points: There is a crisis in biopharmaceutical R&D in all segments of the industry – large, mid-market, and new ventures. Much of the responsibility for this can be laid at the door of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is slow to approve new drugs. The law that ...
Commentary
What I Learned At Haas Business School’s Health Care Conference
Theres a lot of entrepreneurial energy in the Bay Area, but Im always surprised at how much of it is directed towards health care. As Apothecary readers surely recognize, if we were to rank sectors where the government lies ready to crush the entrepreneurial spirit, health care and education must ...
Commentary
Is CDC immune to pneumonia science?
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met last week to discuss the latest developments in the fight against pneumonia. They had the chance to prevent tens of thousands of deaths from the disease each year simply by recommending a new vaccine for routine delivery to adults. Unfortunately, ...
Obamacare faces Supreme test
The Supreme Court on Monday begins hearing what could be one of the most important cases in our country’s history. The nine justices are set to determine the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” included in the president’s health care bill, passed two years ago this month. The mandate requires that ...
ObamaCare Individual Mandate Shifts Costs To Others
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next week on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health reform law. One of the issues the high court will consider is whether Congress can require virtually every American to buy health insurance. The law’s defenders claim that forcing the uninsured to buy ...
Obamacare drives up health care costs for everyone
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released their annual report on health care spending in America. And surprise, surprise – spending continues to grow. It amounted to 17.9 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2010, or $2.6 trillion. But the annual rate of growth was lower ...
Health spending slows but premiums still rising
A funny thing happened as a result of Obamacare, signed in March 2010: Although the cost of health care has increased at a slower rate than in previous years, premiums for health insurance and the share of premiums used for purposes other than paying claims has been increasing faster than ...
Romney-fication of health care reform
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick just exhorted legislators to overhaul the way the state pays for health care. Hes pushing for an end to the traditional arrangement of compensating doctors and hospitals for each service they provide. Its not yet clear what will replace this fee-for-service payment system. But theres growing ...
Kill the CLASS Act Before It Kills Taxpayers
The House of Representatives just voted to wipe a major part of President Obamas healthcare law from the books the Community Living Assistance Service and Supports Act. This CLASS Act wouldve established a federally run long-term-care insurance program. The Senate should continue the Houses work and repeal CLASS right ...
President Obama’s Medical Board: A Backdoor Path to Health Rationing
Last week, a House of Representatives subpanel overwhelmingly approved a measure to repeal a key component of President Obamas 2010 health reform bill. By a bipartisan 17-5 margin, the Energy and Commerce Committees Health Subcommittee agreed to get rid of Sections 3403 and 10320 of the Patient Protection and Affordable ...
Feed the Beast: Renewing the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
Key Points: There is a crisis in biopharmaceutical R&D in all segments of the industry – large, mid-market, and new ventures. Much of the responsibility for this can be laid at the door of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is slow to approve new drugs. The law that ...
What I Learned At Haas Business School’s Health Care Conference
Theres a lot of entrepreneurial energy in the Bay Area, but Im always surprised at how much of it is directed towards health care. As Apothecary readers surely recognize, if we were to rank sectors where the government lies ready to crush the entrepreneurial spirit, health care and education must ...
Is CDC immune to pneumonia science?
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met last week to discuss the latest developments in the fight against pneumonia. They had the chance to prevent tens of thousands of deaths from the disease each year simply by recommending a new vaccine for routine delivery to adults. Unfortunately, ...
