Health Care
Commentary
The $100,000 Obamacare Policy
However, all is not lost. The Democrats’ version of “reform” might at least reduce the number of uninsured. But to what degree, and at what cost? According to the Census, there are 28 million uninsured Americans (46 million, minus 9 million non-citizens, minus 9 million Medicaid beneficiaries whom the Census ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
December 2, 2009
Commentary
Public Option May Get Cut from Health Care Bill
As congressional Democrats work on the final version of sweeping health care legislation, it remains unclear which provisions will survive the complex bill-making process. Top aides to President Barack Obama say he may not require creation of a government-run health care system, known as the public option, as part of ...
Ben Domenech
December 1, 2009
Education
Another Victim of Medicaid (And Employer Benefits)
Mr. Kristof also recounts a horrible story: A man who suffers an abnormal growth of blood vessels in his brain, which has rendered him unable to work. Of course, he lost his employment-based benefits, and was unable to acquire individual insurance because of his severe condition. As usual, the story ...
John R. Graham
November 29, 2009
Commentary
New Yorker Would Have Done Better With Individual Insurance To Start
Laurie Rippon notes that (s)he lost his job after being hit by a car while crossing the street, which resulted in traumatic brain injury. After timing out of COBRA coverage, he would not have been able to buy an individual policy because he would not have passed underwriting. Mr. Rippon ...
John R. Graham
November 28, 2009
Business & Economics
Giving Thanks for Leading Health Technology Advances
While Congress debates an US$850 billion healthcare bill with questionable benefits, leaders in the technology industry are quietly creating products and services that will truly reform healthcare. This Thanksgiving, for example, Americans can be appreciative of the incredible price decline in genome sequencing, one of the most important health advances. ...
Sonia Arrison
November 25, 2009
Commentary
Cutting Medicare Benefits Will Not Protect Taxpayers
While much of the “savings” promoted by the deficit chicken-hawks are delusional (waste, fraud, abuse, and no longer “fixing” doctors’ Medicare Part B reimbursement), one is very real: Cutting actual Medicare benefits by reducing seniors’ choices of Medicare Advantage plans. Traditional Medicare Part A (hospital) and Part B (outpatient) benefits ...
John R. Graham
November 25, 2009
Commentary
Hiding Health Reform’s Real Costs
Washington: Senate Democrats say their reform bill will cost $848 billion over 10 years. They’re misleading the public by starting the count in 2010. The true cost would be $1.8 trillion over a decade. The $848 billion figure is based on a 10-year run beginning in 2010 when there will ...
Pacific Research Institute
November 25, 2009
Commentary
What the Health-Care Debate Is Really All About
Rather, it’s about liberty versus equality, personal control versus governmental control, dispersed power versus centralized power, freedom versus statism, American Founding principles of limited government and natural rights versus Progressive principles of activist government and conventional (man-made) “rights.” There is nothing particularly noble, compassionate, or decent about helping to hold ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
November 24, 2009
Commentary
A Cool $3.5 Trillion
And as the trajectory of the chart strongly suggests, it would get even worse from there. In the next five years (forget ten) after those depicted on the chart, the bill’s costs would be $1.7 trillion (double what Senator Reid is claiming for “ten years”). Thus, the true first-15-year costs ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
November 24, 2009
Health Care
The Advantage of Medicare Advantage: Why Reducing Seniors’ Choices Won’t Protect Taxpayers
Medicare Advantage, in which about one-quarter of Medicare beneficiaries are currently enrolled, is a program that subsidizes beneficiaries’ access to private health insurance. The Pacific Research Institute will shortly publish Medicare Advantage or Medicare Monopoly? a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits of this program for Medicare beneficiaries and ...
John R. Graham
November 24, 2009
The $100,000 Obamacare Policy
However, all is not lost. The Democrats’ version of “reform” might at least reduce the number of uninsured. But to what degree, and at what cost? According to the Census, there are 28 million uninsured Americans (46 million, minus 9 million non-citizens, minus 9 million Medicaid beneficiaries whom the Census ...
Public Option May Get Cut from Health Care Bill
As congressional Democrats work on the final version of sweeping health care legislation, it remains unclear which provisions will survive the complex bill-making process. Top aides to President Barack Obama say he may not require creation of a government-run health care system, known as the public option, as part of ...
Another Victim of Medicaid (And Employer Benefits)
Mr. Kristof also recounts a horrible story: A man who suffers an abnormal growth of blood vessels in his brain, which has rendered him unable to work. Of course, he lost his employment-based benefits, and was unable to acquire individual insurance because of his severe condition. As usual, the story ...
New Yorker Would Have Done Better With Individual Insurance To Start
Laurie Rippon notes that (s)he lost his job after being hit by a car while crossing the street, which resulted in traumatic brain injury. After timing out of COBRA coverage, he would not have been able to buy an individual policy because he would not have passed underwriting. Mr. Rippon ...
Giving Thanks for Leading Health Technology Advances
While Congress debates an US$850 billion healthcare bill with questionable benefits, leaders in the technology industry are quietly creating products and services that will truly reform healthcare. This Thanksgiving, for example, Americans can be appreciative of the incredible price decline in genome sequencing, one of the most important health advances. ...
Cutting Medicare Benefits Will Not Protect Taxpayers
While much of the “savings” promoted by the deficit chicken-hawks are delusional (waste, fraud, abuse, and no longer “fixing” doctors’ Medicare Part B reimbursement), one is very real: Cutting actual Medicare benefits by reducing seniors’ choices of Medicare Advantage plans. Traditional Medicare Part A (hospital) and Part B (outpatient) benefits ...
Hiding Health Reform’s Real Costs
Washington: Senate Democrats say their reform bill will cost $848 billion over 10 years. They’re misleading the public by starting the count in 2010. The true cost would be $1.8 trillion over a decade. The $848 billion figure is based on a 10-year run beginning in 2010 when there will ...
What the Health-Care Debate Is Really All About
Rather, it’s about liberty versus equality, personal control versus governmental control, dispersed power versus centralized power, freedom versus statism, American Founding principles of limited government and natural rights versus Progressive principles of activist government and conventional (man-made) “rights.” There is nothing particularly noble, compassionate, or decent about helping to hold ...
A Cool $3.5 Trillion
And as the trajectory of the chart strongly suggests, it would get even worse from there. In the next five years (forget ten) after those depicted on the chart, the bill’s costs would be $1.7 trillion (double what Senator Reid is claiming for “ten years”). Thus, the true first-15-year costs ...
The Advantage of Medicare Advantage: Why Reducing Seniors’ Choices Won’t Protect Taxpayers
Medicare Advantage, in which about one-quarter of Medicare beneficiaries are currently enrolled, is a program that subsidizes beneficiaries’ access to private health insurance. The Pacific Research Institute will shortly publish Medicare Advantage or Medicare Monopoly? a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits of this program for Medicare beneficiaries and ...