Health Care
Commentary
Repeal Obamacare’s 1099 Reporting Provision? No Way!
The 1099 provision refers to the justly reviled clause in Obamacare (section 9006) that compels any business spending at least $600 on a supplier to issue a 1099 to that supplier. So, if my consulting business buys $600 worth of office supplies from Staples, I’m supposed to issue Staples a ...
Commentary
How Many Melanoma Patients Did the FDA Kill?
After an “expedited” analysis that lasted a year and a half, the FDA has finally approved Bristol-Myers Squibbs’ Yervoy (ipilimunab) for metastatic melanoma. The deadliest type of skin cancer, melanoma killed 8,700 Americans last year, according to the National Cancer Institute. BMS submitted its application to the FDA on August ...
Commentary
What Explains Sebelius’ Ignorance of Health Law?
As I’ve written about previously, most of the so-called consumer protections that she touts were actually legislated back in 1996. The 1996 law resulted in dramatic increase in federal regulation of health care, but no sigificant positive outcomes. But Secretary Sebelius won’t quit trafficking scare-stories about denial of coverage that ...
Commentary
Piping Up: The Ulterior Motive Behind Rising ObamaCare Premiums
Last week, proponents of ObamaCare celebrated the one-year anniversary of the passage of the landmark health care law with several hundred events across the country. They have little reason to cheer, according to a sobering new study. In the report, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin calculates that health ...
Commentary
A Mandate Is Not A Solution to Medical-Malpractice Crisis
First, Professor Avraham goes the way of many clever people who have a good idea, but become frustrated that society does not immediately adopt it: He proposes that the federal government mandate that physicians purchase (or license) appropriate guidelines from for-profit companies! If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Obamacare, ...
Commentary
Price of compassion for cancer patients
There was a time in this country when European-style health care served as a cautionary tale. Today it is beginning to look like something to envy. Future generations wishing to identify the moment the shift took place should look to Dec. 16, 2010. That was the day the U.S. Food ...
Health Care
Obamacare’s First Birthday: Radio Interviews
With respect to Mr. Krasny, I was debating Herb Schultz, an Obamacare employee who runs the west coast for Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services. Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News set up the discussion with a report on the state of Obamacare. It went ...
Commentary
Who Got Obamacare Waivers?
Some are just strange: Aetna received an exemption for plans that it offers to firms with more than 209,000 enrollees. So, what happens when a firm with 210,000 enrollees closes a plant and the headcount drops to 200,000? It loses its waiver, too? Also, note that these waivers are for ...
Commentary
Jindal: No Obamacare Exchange for Louisiana
As I discussed a few days ago, Georgia governor Deal also took some time to make a final decision on a Health Benefits Exchange. But he eventually made the right decision: No exchange. Read more here.
Commentary
Pro & Con: Is first year of health care reform law living up to promised claims?
In pressing his case for the overhaul, the president made several lofty promises and assured Americans it would expand access to health care while improving quality and reducing costs. Throughout the past year, Obamacares efforts to expand coverage have fallen flat even as it has raised the cost ...
Repeal Obamacare’s 1099 Reporting Provision? No Way!
The 1099 provision refers to the justly reviled clause in Obamacare (section 9006) that compels any business spending at least $600 on a supplier to issue a 1099 to that supplier. So, if my consulting business buys $600 worth of office supplies from Staples, I’m supposed to issue Staples a ...
How Many Melanoma Patients Did the FDA Kill?
After an “expedited” analysis that lasted a year and a half, the FDA has finally approved Bristol-Myers Squibbs’ Yervoy (ipilimunab) for metastatic melanoma. The deadliest type of skin cancer, melanoma killed 8,700 Americans last year, according to the National Cancer Institute. BMS submitted its application to the FDA on August ...
What Explains Sebelius’ Ignorance of Health Law?
As I’ve written about previously, most of the so-called consumer protections that she touts were actually legislated back in 1996. The 1996 law resulted in dramatic increase in federal regulation of health care, but no sigificant positive outcomes. But Secretary Sebelius won’t quit trafficking scare-stories about denial of coverage that ...
Piping Up: The Ulterior Motive Behind Rising ObamaCare Premiums
Last week, proponents of ObamaCare celebrated the one-year anniversary of the passage of the landmark health care law with several hundred events across the country. They have little reason to cheer, according to a sobering new study. In the report, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin calculates that health ...
A Mandate Is Not A Solution to Medical-Malpractice Crisis
First, Professor Avraham goes the way of many clever people who have a good idea, but become frustrated that society does not immediately adopt it: He proposes that the federal government mandate that physicians purchase (or license) appropriate guidelines from for-profit companies! If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Obamacare, ...
Price of compassion for cancer patients
There was a time in this country when European-style health care served as a cautionary tale. Today it is beginning to look like something to envy. Future generations wishing to identify the moment the shift took place should look to Dec. 16, 2010. That was the day the U.S. Food ...
Obamacare’s First Birthday: Radio Interviews
With respect to Mr. Krasny, I was debating Herb Schultz, an Obamacare employee who runs the west coast for Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services. Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News set up the discussion with a report on the state of Obamacare. It went ...
Who Got Obamacare Waivers?
Some are just strange: Aetna received an exemption for plans that it offers to firms with more than 209,000 enrollees. So, what happens when a firm with 210,000 enrollees closes a plant and the headcount drops to 200,000? It loses its waiver, too? Also, note that these waivers are for ...
Jindal: No Obamacare Exchange for Louisiana
As I discussed a few days ago, Georgia governor Deal also took some time to make a final decision on a Health Benefits Exchange. But he eventually made the right decision: No exchange. Read more here.
Pro & Con: Is first year of health care reform law living up to promised claims?
In pressing his case for the overhaul, the president made several lofty promises and assured Americans it would expand access to health care while improving quality and reducing costs. Throughout the past year, Obamacares efforts to expand coverage have fallen flat even as it has raised the cost ...
