Health Care
Commentary
The Real Cost of Mandated Infertility Treatment is Increasing
One of the most expensive benefits mandated by some states is infertility treatment. I was pleased to be interviewed by Sue Shellenbarger of the Wall Street Journal for her article on the issue. Ms. Shellenbarger quotes me as noting that 13 states mandate treatment for in vitro fertilization. Not reported ...
Commentary
Massachusetts Businesses Joining Health Care Coalition to Deal With Costs of Connector
Olympia Business Watch, August 13, 2008 Washington lawmakers need to take a real close look at what is happening in Massachusetts on health care. With the cost over runs for the “Connector”, Massachusetts businesses are joining a national coalition to slow premium growth and ease the financial burden on employers. ...
Business & Economics
Neo-Prohibitionism, Alcohol Taxes, and Central Planning in California
The last time I had a critical look at the neo-prohibitionists, it was via a pamphlet opposing a tobacco tax hike in California. Now, the Marin Institute has completed a “landmark” study suggesting that we need to hike alcohol taxes in the Golden State. And landmark it certainly is: the ...
Government Spending
Ranking Health Care in the States: The Most Important Input is the Patient
State-Based Health Reforms Demand State-Based Performance Measurements This month, PRI publishes the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership (IHOP), the only project that ranks states’ health care according to principles of individual choice. This is very different from other rankings of health care in the states, because ...
California
Unbalanced Billing in California Hospitals: the Sacramento Bee Weighs In
The Sacramento Bee, our, our fair capital’s daily newspaper, has editorialized on the issue of “balance billing”, whereby ER doctors and hospitals which are not in a patient’s health plan’s network, send high-priced (and unexpected) bills to patients. Interestingly, although the editorial leans against the health plans, it approves of ...
Commentary
Nursing Home Evictions: Another Problem of Government Dependency
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal ran a feature article about nursing homes evicting frail residents. Spokespeople for the nursing homes claimed that these evictions were in accord with federal law, which allows evictions for only a few reasons, such as non-payment of bills, danger to others, or the nursing homes’ inability ...
California
A Grotesque Twist to the Los Angeles Homeless-Hospital Saga
Only three days ago, I wondered what Los Angeles hoped to achieve by passing an ordnance forbidding hospitals from discharging ER patients without their written consent. As I noted, many homeless people would be happy to stay in the hospital for quite a while under such circumstances. I also blamed ...
Commentary
Biotech at risk for broadside hit
Ethics bill would be malpractice On the last day of July, the Massachusetts Legislature passed the Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care. It’s both a mouthful and a mess. If Gov. Deval Patrick doesn’t veto the bill by Aug. 13, the ...
Commentary
Crisis in the ER? The Solution is At Hand! (It’s Not More Taxpayer Dollars)
Three stories about the uninsured and emergency rooms came across the transom today. As I’ve written about in my analysis of the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1 1, the notion that the legions of uninsured crowding America’s ERs is the cause of the health care “crisis” is myth. Nevertheless, ...
California
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s War on Choice in Health Insurance Heats Up
Ever since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Health Care Deforminator ABX1 1 stumbled just short of the finish line last January, he and his Democratic allies in the legislature have been looking to move bits and pieces of the failed health reform plan forward. According to the Los Angeles Times’ Jordan ...
The Real Cost of Mandated Infertility Treatment is Increasing
One of the most expensive benefits mandated by some states is infertility treatment. I was pleased to be interviewed by Sue Shellenbarger of the Wall Street Journal for her article on the issue. Ms. Shellenbarger quotes me as noting that 13 states mandate treatment for in vitro fertilization. Not reported ...
Massachusetts Businesses Joining Health Care Coalition to Deal With Costs of Connector
Olympia Business Watch, August 13, 2008 Washington lawmakers need to take a real close look at what is happening in Massachusetts on health care. With the cost over runs for the “Connector”, Massachusetts businesses are joining a national coalition to slow premium growth and ease the financial burden on employers. ...
Neo-Prohibitionism, Alcohol Taxes, and Central Planning in California
The last time I had a critical look at the neo-prohibitionists, it was via a pamphlet opposing a tobacco tax hike in California. Now, the Marin Institute has completed a “landmark” study suggesting that we need to hike alcohol taxes in the Golden State. And landmark it certainly is: the ...
Ranking Health Care in the States: The Most Important Input is the Patient
State-Based Health Reforms Demand State-Based Performance Measurements This month, PRI publishes the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership (IHOP), the only project that ranks states’ health care according to principles of individual choice. This is very different from other rankings of health care in the states, because ...
Unbalanced Billing in California Hospitals: the Sacramento Bee Weighs In
The Sacramento Bee, our, our fair capital’s daily newspaper, has editorialized on the issue of “balance billing”, whereby ER doctors and hospitals which are not in a patient’s health plan’s network, send high-priced (and unexpected) bills to patients. Interestingly, although the editorial leans against the health plans, it approves of ...
Nursing Home Evictions: Another Problem of Government Dependency
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal ran a feature article about nursing homes evicting frail residents. Spokespeople for the nursing homes claimed that these evictions were in accord with federal law, which allows evictions for only a few reasons, such as non-payment of bills, danger to others, or the nursing homes’ inability ...
A Grotesque Twist to the Los Angeles Homeless-Hospital Saga
Only three days ago, I wondered what Los Angeles hoped to achieve by passing an ordnance forbidding hospitals from discharging ER patients without their written consent. As I noted, many homeless people would be happy to stay in the hospital for quite a while under such circumstances. I also blamed ...
Biotech at risk for broadside hit
Ethics bill would be malpractice On the last day of July, the Massachusetts Legislature passed the Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care. It’s both a mouthful and a mess. If Gov. Deval Patrick doesn’t veto the bill by Aug. 13, the ...
Crisis in the ER? The Solution is At Hand! (It’s Not More Taxpayer Dollars)
Three stories about the uninsured and emergency rooms came across the transom today. As I’ve written about in my analysis of the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1 1, the notion that the legions of uninsured crowding America’s ERs is the cause of the health care “crisis” is myth. Nevertheless, ...
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s War on Choice in Health Insurance Heats Up
Ever since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Health Care Deforminator ABX1 1 stumbled just short of the finish line last January, he and his Democratic allies in the legislature have been looking to move bits and pieces of the failed health reform plan forward. According to the Los Angeles Times’ Jordan ...
