Commentary
Commentary
Read the latest on CA single-payer health care proposals
California’s Single-Payer Health Insurance Dream Remains a Fantasy
The state Assembly’s Health Committee advanced Assembly Bill 2200 this week. The bill would ban private health insurance and force all state residents into “CalCare,” a government-run health plan. Nine Democrats voted aye, four Republicans voted no, and three Democrats abstained. The measure now heads to the Appropriations Committee. But AB 2200’s odds ...
Commentary
Read on the benefits of telehealth
Time Medicare Joined 21st Century on Telehealth
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing this month to discuss extending pandemic-era policies that expanded access to telehealth under Medicare. Without urgent action by lawmakers, these telehealth flexibilities will expire at the end of the year. That’s an outcome few should welcome. Telehealth has proved enormously valuable to ...
Commentary
Read the latest on pharmaceutical benefit managers
Biosimilars could save the healthcare system billions
Cost Plus Drug Company CEO Mark Cuban recently pointed out that self-insured businesses could save over $70,000 per employee annually by getting their workers to switch from AbbVie’s blockbuster anti-inflammatory treatment Humira to a lower-cost biosimilar called Yusimry. Humira has a list price of roughly $7,000 per month. Since it lost market exclusivity last year, nine nearly identical copycats have hit ...
Commentary
Congress Has A Big Chance To Investigate A Financial Threat To Patients
Following an enormous cyberattack on a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the Senate Finance Committee has called the company’s CEO, Andrew Witty, to testify on April 30th. The hackers stole millions of medical records, which reflects badly on the company’s ability to protect patients. But while members of Congress are grilling Witty about the ...
Business & Economics
Read on the FTC's harmful regulatory overreach
Proposed Oil Mergers Will Improve Competition
Under Chairperson Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has consistently used speculative consumer harms to justify regulatory actions. Unfortunately, these actions often stop mergers that would have improved consumer wellbeing and promoted greater innovation. Making these regulatory actions worse, the agency has too often used dubious justifications and novel theories, even overruling their ...
Commentary
Why turn off lights for Earth Day when California is already growing dark?
Earth Day 2024 is today and Californians are being encouraged to turn off their lights. For now, it would be a voluntary exercise in futility. In a few years, though, maybe even this summer, the lights will go out on their own, as the grid becomes shakier while the state ...
Commentary
Medicare Is in Serious Need of Reform. Biden’s Budget Plan Won’t Cut It.
President Joe Biden recently unveiled his $7.3 trillion budget proposal for next fiscal year. He has pitched his plan as one that would “preserve Medicare benefits and the Medicare trust fund.” It’s a nice soundbite. But it’s not the whole story. The president’s budget would raise taxes without solving Medicare’s ...
Commentary
Eliminate regs that drive doctor shortage
Doctor’s appointments will be hard to come by over the next decade, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. By 2036, the organization estimates that the United States will be short as many as 86,000 physicians. This is a shortage of not just doctors but medical ...
Commentary
Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness
Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless
Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy. The ...
Commentary
Read the latest on prescription drug pricing
Biden, Sanders Took on ‘Big Pharma’ and Patients Lost
Speaking at a White House event with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., very recently, President Biden crowed about his rapidly progressing scheme to impose price controls on prescription drugs. “Finally — finally we beat Big Pharma,” he said to Sanders. Unfortunately for Americans — and indeed, patients everywhere — the Democrats’ assault on the drug industry ...
Read the latest on CA single-payer health care proposals
California’s Single-Payer Health Insurance Dream Remains a Fantasy
The state Assembly’s Health Committee advanced Assembly Bill 2200 this week. The bill would ban private health insurance and force all state residents into “CalCare,” a government-run health plan. Nine Democrats voted aye, four Republicans voted no, and three Democrats abstained. The measure now heads to the Appropriations Committee. But AB 2200’s odds ...
Read on the benefits of telehealth
Time Medicare Joined 21st Century on Telehealth
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing this month to discuss extending pandemic-era policies that expanded access to telehealth under Medicare. Without urgent action by lawmakers, these telehealth flexibilities will expire at the end of the year. That’s an outcome few should welcome. Telehealth has proved enormously valuable to ...
Read the latest on pharmaceutical benefit managers
Biosimilars could save the healthcare system billions
Cost Plus Drug Company CEO Mark Cuban recently pointed out that self-insured businesses could save over $70,000 per employee annually by getting their workers to switch from AbbVie’s blockbuster anti-inflammatory treatment Humira to a lower-cost biosimilar called Yusimry. Humira has a list price of roughly $7,000 per month. Since it lost market exclusivity last year, nine nearly identical copycats have hit ...
Congress Has A Big Chance To Investigate A Financial Threat To Patients
Following an enormous cyberattack on a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the Senate Finance Committee has called the company’s CEO, Andrew Witty, to testify on April 30th. The hackers stole millions of medical records, which reflects badly on the company’s ability to protect patients. But while members of Congress are grilling Witty about the ...
Read on the FTC's harmful regulatory overreach
Proposed Oil Mergers Will Improve Competition
Under Chairperson Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has consistently used speculative consumer harms to justify regulatory actions. Unfortunately, these actions often stop mergers that would have improved consumer wellbeing and promoted greater innovation. Making these regulatory actions worse, the agency has too often used dubious justifications and novel theories, even overruling their ...
Why turn off lights for Earth Day when California is already growing dark?
Earth Day 2024 is today and Californians are being encouraged to turn off their lights. For now, it would be a voluntary exercise in futility. In a few years, though, maybe even this summer, the lights will go out on their own, as the grid becomes shakier while the state ...
Medicare Is in Serious Need of Reform. Biden’s Budget Plan Won’t Cut It.
President Joe Biden recently unveiled his $7.3 trillion budget proposal for next fiscal year. He has pitched his plan as one that would “preserve Medicare benefits and the Medicare trust fund.” It’s a nice soundbite. But it’s not the whole story. The president’s budget would raise taxes without solving Medicare’s ...
Eliminate regs that drive doctor shortage
Doctor’s appointments will be hard to come by over the next decade, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. By 2036, the organization estimates that the United States will be short as many as 86,000 physicians. This is a shortage of not just doctors but medical ...
Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness
Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless
Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy. The ...
Read the latest on prescription drug pricing
Biden, Sanders Took on ‘Big Pharma’ and Patients Lost
Speaking at a White House event with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., very recently, President Biden crowed about his rapidly progressing scheme to impose price controls on prescription drugs. “Finally — finally we beat Big Pharma,” he said to Sanders. Unfortunately for Americans — and indeed, patients everywhere — the Democrats’ assault on the drug industry ...
