Commentary
Commentary
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
Commentary
At the VA, bureaucrats — not doctors — hold the scalpel
Staff at nine Veterans Affairs hospitals recently canceled more than 250,000 orders for diagnostic tests. They thought the orders were duplicative or unnecessary. In many cases, they were mistaken. As a result, veterans went without needed CT scans, ultrasounds, and other potentially lifesaving tests, according to a USA Today investigation. ...
Commentary
Homeless Kids – Federal Problems Block Local Solutions
Homelessness among children is more widespread than imagined, and the many problems faced by these children, from instability to personal safety, seriously impact their education. Yet federal housing policies undercut the ability of local organizations to implement proven solutions. A recent study by Schoolhouse Washington, an education research initiative in ...
Commentary
The future of healthcare is on the 2018 ballot
Tuesday’s midterm elections will shape the future of healthcare. A majority of Democrats running for House seats, a whopping 225 candidates, support “Medicare for all,” a single-payer system that would effectively outlaw private insurance and force virtually everyone into a government-run health plan. Sixteen Senate Democrats, including half a dozen senators considering ...
Commentary
This Flu Season Should Serve as a Wake-up Call
Seasonal outbreaks of the flu cause thousands of deaths even in a good year, and the last flu season, 2017-2018, was a terrible one. It killed 80,000 Americans and sent 900,000 to the hospital, making it the worst influenza season in decades. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and ...
Commentary
Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy
Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...
Commentary
Misleading voters on Medicare for All
By Hal Scherz and Sally C. Pipes Health care is the number one issue on voters’ minds as the midterm elections approach. Half of all Democratic campaign ads have focused on it. Democratic candidates are not merely defending Obamacare. Many are proudly running on a platform of Medicare for All, ...
California
During Net Neutrality “Pause,” Lawmakers Should Think Twice and Repeal Misguided Law
On Friday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to temporarily delay implementation of California’s so-called “net neutrality” law while a federal lawsuit moves forward in the courts. California lawmakers would be wise to seize the opportunity from this time out to repeal this ...
Commentary
Medicare Advantage’s Popularity Shows Americans Won’t Like Single-Payer
Democrats hope their advocacy of single-payer health care will help them in the upcoming midterm elections. More than half the Democrats running for seats in the House back Medicare for All. It remains to be seen if their embrace of government-run health care, where private coverage is banned for anything ...
Commentary
Follow the FDA’s Self-Interest
Bringing a new drug to market now takes, on average, $2.6 billion and more than 10 years. Those numbers could shrink, and countless patients could benefit, if Food and Drug Administration regulators were less risk-averse. I know that from firsthand experience. Oct. 30 marks the 36th anniversary of the FDA’s ...
Putting Drug Prices on TV Will Cause Unnecessary Patient Panic
Last month, the Trump administration proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this ...
At the VA, bureaucrats — not doctors — hold the scalpel
Staff at nine Veterans Affairs hospitals recently canceled more than 250,000 orders for diagnostic tests. They thought the orders were duplicative or unnecessary. In many cases, they were mistaken. As a result, veterans went without needed CT scans, ultrasounds, and other potentially lifesaving tests, according to a USA Today investigation. ...
Homeless Kids – Federal Problems Block Local Solutions
Homelessness among children is more widespread than imagined, and the many problems faced by these children, from instability to personal safety, seriously impact their education. Yet federal housing policies undercut the ability of local organizations to implement proven solutions. A recent study by Schoolhouse Washington, an education research initiative in ...
The future of healthcare is on the 2018 ballot
Tuesday’s midterm elections will shape the future of healthcare. A majority of Democrats running for House seats, a whopping 225 candidates, support “Medicare for all,” a single-payer system that would effectively outlaw private insurance and force virtually everyone into a government-run health plan. Sixteen Senate Democrats, including half a dozen senators considering ...
This Flu Season Should Serve as a Wake-up Call
Seasonal outbreaks of the flu cause thousands of deaths even in a good year, and the last flu season, 2017-2018, was a terrible one. It killed 80,000 Americans and sent 900,000 to the hospital, making it the worst influenza season in decades. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and ...
Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy
Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...
Misleading voters on Medicare for All
By Hal Scherz and Sally C. Pipes Health care is the number one issue on voters’ minds as the midterm elections approach. Half of all Democratic campaign ads have focused on it. Democratic candidates are not merely defending Obamacare. Many are proudly running on a platform of Medicare for All, ...
During Net Neutrality “Pause,” Lawmakers Should Think Twice and Repeal Misguided Law
On Friday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to temporarily delay implementation of California’s so-called “net neutrality” law while a federal lawsuit moves forward in the courts. California lawmakers would be wise to seize the opportunity from this time out to repeal this ...
Medicare Advantage’s Popularity Shows Americans Won’t Like Single-Payer
Democrats hope their advocacy of single-payer health care will help them in the upcoming midterm elections. More than half the Democrats running for seats in the House back Medicare for All. It remains to be seen if their embrace of government-run health care, where private coverage is banned for anything ...
Follow the FDA’s Self-Interest
Bringing a new drug to market now takes, on average, $2.6 billion and more than 10 years. Those numbers could shrink, and countless patients could benefit, if Food and Drug Administration regulators were less risk-averse. I know that from firsthand experience. Oct. 30 marks the 36th anniversary of the FDA’s ...
