Health Care

Commentary

Bernie Sanders seeks new role to push Medicare for all

Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his intention to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next Congress. He’s promised to “focus on universal healthcare.” In other words, the senator’s long-standing quest for “Medicare for All” has new life. We can expect hearings featuring an array of ...
Commentary

Divided Congress Doesn’t Have to Mean Gridlock Over Healthcare

As a result of the recent midterm elections, and as of this writing, it looks like the 118th Congress, which will be seated Jan. 3, 2023 will be split, with Democrats set to retain a slim majority in the Senate and Republicans taking control of the House by just a ...
Commentary

A New Plan Brings Clarity To Healthcare Price Transparency–Finally

In health policy, there’s nothing quite as opaque as price transparency. Insurance companies and hospitals tend to say there’s no place for it in the healthcare sector, since medicine is more complicated than cars or groceries. Other skeptics say that implementing transparency rules is too hard. Hospitals have largely flouted a two-year-old ...
Drug Prices

NEW STUDY: 340B Providers Reap Big Profits, Should Be Reformed to Ensure At-Risk Patients Receive Affordable Care

SACRAMENTO – The broken 340B program, designed to provide affordable care for at-risk patients, creates massive profits for providers without necessarily improving patient health outcomes and should be reformed, finds a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. ...
Commentary

Are Americans too complacent about a winter surge of COVID infections — and deaths?

To the old saying about the inevitability of death and taxes, we should add another: another health crisis linked to COVID-19. As of the end of October, the CDC’s official tally of U.S. COVID infections was just under 100 million, but with many positive home test results unreported, the real ...
Blog

Three Market-Based Reforms That Could Win Bipartisan Support in a Divided Washington

While the dust continues to settle from last week’s midterm elections, divided government will continue to reign supreme in Washington when the new Congress convenes in January. As of this writing, Republicans will win an extremely narrow majority in the House of Representatives, while Democrats will claim at least 50 ...
Commentary

Declaring a “Right’ to Healthcare Feel-Good Symbolism Only

Will Oregon’s voters declare a “right” to healthcare? Voters nationwide took to the polls this week not just to select a new Congress but to settle a number of healthcare policy questions, from curbs on medical debt in Arizona to regulations on dialysis providers in California. Oregonians were asked to amend the ...
Commentary

What Is the Value of the Interchangeability Designation for a Biosimilar?

By Wayne Winegarden, Robert Popovian & Peter Pitts Biosimilars, to date, have achieved the promise of reducing prices and drug spending in the United States. The unquestioned safety and efficacy of biosimilars have given providers, patients, and employers, amongst many others, the confidence that savings will be even more robust as we ...
Commentary

What might the new Congress do on healthcare?

The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
Commentary

Dems Pose Biggest Threat to Medicare — GOP Will Save It

In a last-minute bid for undecided voters in the run-up to the midterm elections, Democrats are loudly claiming that a Republican Congress will be bad for seniors. As President Joe Biden put it at a campaign rally this week, “They’re coming after your Social Security and Medicare, and they’re saying it ...
Commentary

Bernie Sanders seeks new role to push Medicare for all

Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his intention to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next Congress. He’s promised to “focus on universal healthcare.” In other words, the senator’s long-standing quest for “Medicare for All” has new life. We can expect hearings featuring an array of ...
Commentary

Divided Congress Doesn’t Have to Mean Gridlock Over Healthcare

As a result of the recent midterm elections, and as of this writing, it looks like the 118th Congress, which will be seated Jan. 3, 2023 will be split, with Democrats set to retain a slim majority in the Senate and Republicans taking control of the House by just a ...
Commentary

A New Plan Brings Clarity To Healthcare Price Transparency–Finally

In health policy, there’s nothing quite as opaque as price transparency. Insurance companies and hospitals tend to say there’s no place for it in the healthcare sector, since medicine is more complicated than cars or groceries. Other skeptics say that implementing transparency rules is too hard. Hospitals have largely flouted a two-year-old ...
Drug Prices

NEW STUDY: 340B Providers Reap Big Profits, Should Be Reformed to Ensure At-Risk Patients Receive Affordable Care

SACRAMENTO – The broken 340B program, designed to provide affordable care for at-risk patients, creates massive profits for providers without necessarily improving patient health outcomes and should be reformed, finds a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. ...
Commentary

Are Americans too complacent about a winter surge of COVID infections — and deaths?

To the old saying about the inevitability of death and taxes, we should add another: another health crisis linked to COVID-19. As of the end of October, the CDC’s official tally of U.S. COVID infections was just under 100 million, but with many positive home test results unreported, the real ...
Blog

Three Market-Based Reforms That Could Win Bipartisan Support in a Divided Washington

While the dust continues to settle from last week’s midterm elections, divided government will continue to reign supreme in Washington when the new Congress convenes in January. As of this writing, Republicans will win an extremely narrow majority in the House of Representatives, while Democrats will claim at least 50 ...
Commentary

Declaring a “Right’ to Healthcare Feel-Good Symbolism Only

Will Oregon’s voters declare a “right” to healthcare? Voters nationwide took to the polls this week not just to select a new Congress but to settle a number of healthcare policy questions, from curbs on medical debt in Arizona to regulations on dialysis providers in California. Oregonians were asked to amend the ...
Commentary

What Is the Value of the Interchangeability Designation for a Biosimilar?

By Wayne Winegarden, Robert Popovian & Peter Pitts Biosimilars, to date, have achieved the promise of reducing prices and drug spending in the United States. The unquestioned safety and efficacy of biosimilars have given providers, patients, and employers, amongst many others, the confidence that savings will be even more robust as we ...
Commentary

What might the new Congress do on healthcare?

The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
Commentary

Dems Pose Biggest Threat to Medicare — GOP Will Save It

In a last-minute bid for undecided voters in the run-up to the midterm elections, Democrats are loudly claiming that a Republican Congress will be bad for seniors. As President Joe Biden put it at a campaign rally this week, “They’re coming after your Social Security and Medicare, and they’re saying it ...
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