Health Care
California
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Commentary
Port-Wine Stains: A Particularly Idiotic Statement on State Benefit Mandates
Me, that’s who. Alabama came in first place in the second edition of the Index of Health Ownership. I was so pleased that I asked Michael Ciamarra of the Alabama Policy Institute to collaborate with me on an op-ed for placement in local newspapers. As a result, I managed to ...
Commentary
Importation is a national security issue
John McCain and Barack Obama have long been proponents of lifting the ban on foreign drug importation. Both claim the move would reduce the nation’s healthcare costs by giving Americans access to cheap pills from abroad. Now, according to recent announcements from their advisors, they are both reconsidering their support ...
Commentary
Stanford’s Student Family Health Plan: A Case Study in Fragmentation
For those of us who advocate eliminating the tax-prejudice that gives our employers, instead of ourselves, a subsidy for buying our health care, the collapse of family health coverage for students at Stanford and other California universities presents quite a challenging case study. Stanford demands that its students have health ...
Commentary
The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care
If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
Business & Economics
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Commentary
Obama health plan would worsen flaws
Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
Commentary
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Commentary
Winning diagnosis
There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Commentary
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Port-Wine Stains: A Particularly Idiotic Statement on State Benefit Mandates
Me, that’s who. Alabama came in first place in the second edition of the Index of Health Ownership. I was so pleased that I asked Michael Ciamarra of the Alabama Policy Institute to collaborate with me on an op-ed for placement in local newspapers. As a result, I managed to ...
Importation is a national security issue
John McCain and Barack Obama have long been proponents of lifting the ban on foreign drug importation. Both claim the move would reduce the nation’s healthcare costs by giving Americans access to cheap pills from abroad. Now, according to recent announcements from their advisors, they are both reconsidering their support ...
Stanford’s Student Family Health Plan: A Case Study in Fragmentation
For those of us who advocate eliminating the tax-prejudice that gives our employers, instead of ourselves, a subsidy for buying our health care, the collapse of family health coverage for students at Stanford and other California universities presents quite a challenging case study. Stanford demands that its students have health ...
The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care
If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Obama health plan would worsen flaws
Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Winning diagnosis
There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
