Health Care
Commentary
New Rule: Back Up Your Health-Insurance Horror Story
Health insurers are covered by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, and cannot discuss policyholders’ cases. Policyholders who allege insurers’ bad faith, on the other hand, are free to make claims that emotionally sway the public, but leave those of us acquainted with health-insurance regulations utterly baffled. Take, ...
John R. Graham
October 16, 2009
Business & Economics
Ending drugmakers’ exemption will cost jobs
During the past 10 years, Michigan has had a declining population, a shrinking job market, and the worst personal income growth of any state. Now Michigan stands to lose even more jobs in one of the state’s remaining robust sectors. The biopharmaceutical industry currently employs more than 100,000 Michiganders and ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
October 15, 2009
Commentary
AHIP/PriceWaterhouse Blowback?
All intellectual capitalists since Adam Smith have known that we cannot rely on business to carry our philosophical water for us, but even I’m amazed that AHIP has waited so long to release a report (so ably summarized by Mr. Capretta), that describes how the Baucus memorandum (it’s not a ...
John R. Graham
October 15, 2009
Commentary
Obama Hasn’t Closed the Health-Care Sale
Wait until the voters figure out how Congress is proposing to pay for reform. Now that the Senate Finance Committee has voted for the health-care bill drafted by Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, negotiations over the real bill can begin in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s cozy Capitol hideaway. It ...
Karl Rove
October 15, 2009
Commentary
New Obama healthcare plan relies on imaginary savings, costs $2 trillion, explodes budget deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version of Obama’s healthcare plan will cost only $829 billion, while not increasing the deficit, should be taken with a grain of salt. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ...
Hans Bader
October 15, 2009
Commentary
They Just Don’t Learn
First they started cutting “deals” with the Beltway thieves, arrangements that from the very beginning were obviously unenforceable and that powerful interests had every incentive to violate. (See my earlier comments about that expedition to the galaxy Stupid here, here, and here.) And the hits just keep on comin’. PR ...
Benjamin Zycher
October 14, 2009
Commentary
The Senate reform fraud
THE Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted on a fraud: Sen. Max Baucus’ “responsible” health-reform bill is actually a recipe for fiscal disaster — and the Congressional Budget Office report that supposedly bolstered the bill actually exposes it. As others have noted, Baucus used all manner of budgetary gimmicks to oblige ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
October 14, 2009
Commentary
Health-Care Reform: Where Do We Go From Here?
The Senate Finance Committee approved a health-care bill Tuesday in a 14-9 vote. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that Chairman Baucus’s plan would cost $829 billion over ten years and that it would reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion by 2019. The bill would be supported in part ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 14, 2009
Commentary
Healthcare Conference Call With Representatives Shadegg and Rodgers
Today at 4:30PM eastern a blogger conference call was held by Representatives John Shadegg (R, AZ) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA). The subject we spoke about was that of House Republican’s ideas and problems on healthcare reform issues in both the Senate and the House. The following are my ...
Warner Todd Huston
October 14, 2009
Commentary
Obama flip-flops on insurance mandate
San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2009 President Obama has promised that his health reform plan will lower costs and expand coverage. He and his Democratic allies are counting on an “individual mandate,” or a requirement that everyone purchase health insurance, to achieve these goals. But Obama hasn’t always been gung ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 13, 2009
New Rule: Back Up Your Health-Insurance Horror Story
Health insurers are covered by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, and cannot discuss policyholders’ cases. Policyholders who allege insurers’ bad faith, on the other hand, are free to make claims that emotionally sway the public, but leave those of us acquainted with health-insurance regulations utterly baffled. Take, ...
Ending drugmakers’ exemption will cost jobs
During the past 10 years, Michigan has had a declining population, a shrinking job market, and the worst personal income growth of any state. Now Michigan stands to lose even more jobs in one of the state’s remaining robust sectors. The biopharmaceutical industry currently employs more than 100,000 Michiganders and ...
AHIP/PriceWaterhouse Blowback?
All intellectual capitalists since Adam Smith have known that we cannot rely on business to carry our philosophical water for us, but even I’m amazed that AHIP has waited so long to release a report (so ably summarized by Mr. Capretta), that describes how the Baucus memorandum (it’s not a ...
Obama Hasn’t Closed the Health-Care Sale
Wait until the voters figure out how Congress is proposing to pay for reform. Now that the Senate Finance Committee has voted for the health-care bill drafted by Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, negotiations over the real bill can begin in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s cozy Capitol hideaway. It ...
New Obama healthcare plan relies on imaginary savings, costs $2 trillion, explodes budget deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version of Obama’s healthcare plan will cost only $829 billion, while not increasing the deficit, should be taken with a grain of salt. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ...
They Just Don’t Learn
First they started cutting “deals” with the Beltway thieves, arrangements that from the very beginning were obviously unenforceable and that powerful interests had every incentive to violate. (See my earlier comments about that expedition to the galaxy Stupid here, here, and here.) And the hits just keep on comin’. PR ...
The Senate reform fraud
THE Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted on a fraud: Sen. Max Baucus’ “responsible” health-reform bill is actually a recipe for fiscal disaster — and the Congressional Budget Office report that supposedly bolstered the bill actually exposes it. As others have noted, Baucus used all manner of budgetary gimmicks to oblige ...
Health-Care Reform: Where Do We Go From Here?
The Senate Finance Committee approved a health-care bill Tuesday in a 14-9 vote. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that Chairman Baucus’s plan would cost $829 billion over ten years and that it would reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion by 2019. The bill would be supported in part ...
Healthcare Conference Call With Representatives Shadegg and Rodgers
Today at 4:30PM eastern a blogger conference call was held by Representatives John Shadegg (R, AZ) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA). The subject we spoke about was that of House Republican’s ideas and problems on healthcare reform issues in both the Senate and the House. The following are my ...
Obama flip-flops on insurance mandate
San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2009 President Obama has promised that his health reform plan will lower costs and expand coverage. He and his Democratic allies are counting on an “individual mandate,” or a requirement that everyone purchase health insurance, to achieve these goals. But Obama hasn’t always been gung ...