Commentary
Business & Economics
Instead Of The CHIPS Act Congress Should Address Patent Troll Abuse
President Biden and Democratic Party leaders are trying to take credit for seeding the next generation of innovations in the information technology sector. Crowing about their latest industrial policy, the CHIPS and Science Act, Senator Schumer stated that “the federal government [is] taking back the reins, putting money where its mouth is ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 31, 2024
Commentary
Read the latest on CA health care policy
California rues healthcare minimum wage increase
A minimum wage hike for healthcare workers in California was supposed to take effect this Saturday. But over the past week, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and his Democratic allies have worked feverishly on legislation to postpone it. California Democrats haven’t suddenly become free-market acolytes. They’re worried that the wage increase, which may cost the state $4 billion this ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 31, 2024
Commentary
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Unravels Medicare Part D
In May, Medicare bureaucrats released new guidance that details how they’ll conduct the drug pricing “negotiations” authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. They’re mostly maintaining the policies in last year’s inaugural round of price setting—which means the quality of seniors’ Medicare Part D coverage will continue to deteriorate. When President Biden ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 31, 2024
Commentary
Don’t Import British Methods For Rationing Access To Drugs
Earlier this year, European authorities recommended approval of tofersen, a new drug that treats a rare genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. That decision came nearly a year after American regulators granted the drug accelerated approval. Patients with that rare form of ALS in England aren’t so lucky. The National Institute for ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 28, 2024
Commentary
End Rampant Fraud in Federal Health Programs
The facts are astonishing: an estimated $1 billion a year in fraudulent payments, untold thousands of ineligible beneficiaries, and a public agency that refuses to conduct an audit. Welcome to the $60 billion-a-year Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which provides insurance coverage for more than 8 million federal workers and their ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 24, 2024
Commentary
Mandating dental coverage will drive up the cost of insurance
The Biden administration finalized a rule last month allowing states to mandate that most individual and small-group health plans, including those for sale on Obamacare‘s exchanges, cover adult dental services. Mandating coverage of dental benefits may be politically appealing. But it will end up leaving a bitter taste in people’s mouths. Mandates cost money. Implementing ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 21, 2024
Commentary
Read the latest on drug pricing
Inflation Reduction Act Will Destroy Drug Access
Last month at a White House event, President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took a victory lap for supposedly having “beat Big Pharma” through drug-pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Beaming with pride, they hailed new powers for Medicare to “negotiate” drug prices as a historic achievement. But their self-congratulation rests ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 20, 2024
Commentary
Congress should take action to make telemedicine permanent
Congress faces a year-end deadline to extend its relaxed pandemic-era rules permitting greater use of telehealth by Medicare beneficiaries. If our lawmakers fail to step up, millions of seniors as well as privately insured patients could lose access to what has become an essential form of medical care. The expansion of ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 20, 2024
Business & Economics
Read the latest on carbon accounting proposals
Activists Use Shareholder Rights To Undermine Shareholders’ Interests
Led by CalPERS, the pension fund for California public workers, activist investors may oppose re-electing ExxonMobil ExxonMobil 0.0% chief executive Darren Woods to the company board. His sin: seeking greater clarification regarding proposals that shareholders have previously rejected multiple times. The issue arises because Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activist investors Arjuna Capital and Follow ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 15, 2024
Commentary
Read the latest on short-term health plans
Biden Goes “Over The Top” In Latest Offensive Of The War Over Obamacare
The Biden administration just launched a new offensive in the decade-long regulatory war over Obamacare. It finalized a rule earlier this spring that severely restricts Americans’ ability to purchase short-term health plans—effectively rolling back a Trump administration rule that had greatly expanded access to them. The White House claims the new rule ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 13, 2024
Instead Of The CHIPS Act Congress Should Address Patent Troll Abuse
President Biden and Democratic Party leaders are trying to take credit for seeding the next generation of innovations in the information technology sector. Crowing about their latest industrial policy, the CHIPS and Science Act, Senator Schumer stated that “the federal government [is] taking back the reins, putting money where its mouth is ...
Read the latest on CA health care policy
California rues healthcare minimum wage increase
A minimum wage hike for healthcare workers in California was supposed to take effect this Saturday. But over the past week, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and his Democratic allies have worked feverishly on legislation to postpone it. California Democrats haven’t suddenly become free-market acolytes. They’re worried that the wage increase, which may cost the state $4 billion this ...
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Unravels Medicare Part D
In May, Medicare bureaucrats released new guidance that details how they’ll conduct the drug pricing “negotiations” authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. They’re mostly maintaining the policies in last year’s inaugural round of price setting—which means the quality of seniors’ Medicare Part D coverage will continue to deteriorate. When President Biden ...
Don’t Import British Methods For Rationing Access To Drugs
Earlier this year, European authorities recommended approval of tofersen, a new drug that treats a rare genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. That decision came nearly a year after American regulators granted the drug accelerated approval. Patients with that rare form of ALS in England aren’t so lucky. The National Institute for ...
End Rampant Fraud in Federal Health Programs
The facts are astonishing: an estimated $1 billion a year in fraudulent payments, untold thousands of ineligible beneficiaries, and a public agency that refuses to conduct an audit. Welcome to the $60 billion-a-year Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which provides insurance coverage for more than 8 million federal workers and their ...
Mandating dental coverage will drive up the cost of insurance
The Biden administration finalized a rule last month allowing states to mandate that most individual and small-group health plans, including those for sale on Obamacare‘s exchanges, cover adult dental services. Mandating coverage of dental benefits may be politically appealing. But it will end up leaving a bitter taste in people’s mouths. Mandates cost money. Implementing ...
Read the latest on drug pricing
Inflation Reduction Act Will Destroy Drug Access
Last month at a White House event, President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took a victory lap for supposedly having “beat Big Pharma” through drug-pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Beaming with pride, they hailed new powers for Medicare to “negotiate” drug prices as a historic achievement. But their self-congratulation rests ...
Congress should take action to make telemedicine permanent
Congress faces a year-end deadline to extend its relaxed pandemic-era rules permitting greater use of telehealth by Medicare beneficiaries. If our lawmakers fail to step up, millions of seniors as well as privately insured patients could lose access to what has become an essential form of medical care. The expansion of ...
Read the latest on carbon accounting proposals
Activists Use Shareholder Rights To Undermine Shareholders’ Interests
Led by CalPERS, the pension fund for California public workers, activist investors may oppose re-electing ExxonMobil ExxonMobil 0.0% chief executive Darren Woods to the company board. His sin: seeking greater clarification regarding proposals that shareholders have previously rejected multiple times. The issue arises because Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activist investors Arjuna Capital and Follow ...
Read the latest on short-term health plans
Biden Goes “Over The Top” In Latest Offensive Of The War Over Obamacare
The Biden administration just launched a new offensive in the decade-long regulatory war over Obamacare. It finalized a rule earlier this spring that severely restricts Americans’ ability to purchase short-term health plans—effectively rolling back a Trump administration rule that had greatly expanded access to them. The White House claims the new rule ...