Commentary
Business & Economics
Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...
Steven Greenhut
June 19, 2011
Commentary
Path Dependency in Medicare Reform
Arguments will not change this fact: People change when the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of changing, but not before. This can be the only explanation for the majority of respondents to polls (described here) which ask the foolish question whether “Medicare should remain as it ...
John R. Graham
June 17, 2011
Commentary
Politicizing Premiums Does Not Control Health Costs
Health plans are largely pass-throughs, paying medical claims from providers whose charges have been rocketing skyward. In California, a recent analysis of daily inpatient charges for hospitals revealed that payments from private health plans increased from $1,954 in 2000 to $5,061 in 2009 – 159 percent – during a time ...
John R. Graham
June 15, 2011
Commentary
Grim Reality of Medicare Reform
Sure, I’ll admit I had the urge to jump up and down and pump my fists in the air. But then I read Henry Olsen’s warning about alienating blue-collar voters, and I decided that while McCarthy’s scorched-earth approach may be the right one for the conservative patriot to adopt when ...
John R. Graham
June 15, 2011
Commentary
Policizing Premiums Does Not Control Health Costs
Last week, an overwhelming majority of Connecticut legislators passed a bill, SB-11, that would give the executive branch the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving ...
John R. Graham
June 15, 2011
Commentary
Even Obamacare’s Supporters Don’t Support the Rationing Board
The House Energy and Commerce Committee just scheduled hearings for next month on one of the most controversial components of ObamaCare the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). This 15-member, unelected Board will be charged with making recommendations for reducing Medicare spending if costs exceed a specified cap. Those recommendations ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 12, 2011
Business & Economics
Higher taxes will not make California a better state
Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used to greatly diminished public services. Without at least the tax extensions, he said, ...
Steven Greenhut
June 12, 2011
Commentary
The education victimizers in chief
When masses of unionized school teachers recently stormed into the state Capitol to protest in favor of higher taxes, they painted themselves as victims of Sacramento politics. Behind this scripted and bombastic street theater, the reality is that powerful and wealthy teachers unions are the victimizers in chief in the ...
Lance T. izumi
June 9, 2011
Commentary
Governor’s Hit List Needs More Diversity
Governor Jerry Brown wants to eliminate dozens of state panels and commissions, a good idea and long overdue. But the governor needs to be more inclusive, and stalk bigger game. His list includes the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, a typical soft landing spot for ex-legislators. They meet about once a ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
June 8, 2011
Commentary
Single Payer Health Care Systems, Multiple Health Care Disasters
Democrats have recently seized on a novel way of reducing health care costs threats. The Obama Administrations Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that any insurance company that wants to increase premiums more than 10% will have to get approval from the government. Congress didnt pass ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 6, 2011
Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...
Path Dependency in Medicare Reform
Arguments will not change this fact: People change when the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of changing, but not before. This can be the only explanation for the majority of respondents to polls (described here) which ask the foolish question whether “Medicare should remain as it ...
Politicizing Premiums Does Not Control Health Costs
Health plans are largely pass-throughs, paying medical claims from providers whose charges have been rocketing skyward. In California, a recent analysis of daily inpatient charges for hospitals revealed that payments from private health plans increased from $1,954 in 2000 to $5,061 in 2009 – 159 percent – during a time ...
Grim Reality of Medicare Reform
Sure, I’ll admit I had the urge to jump up and down and pump my fists in the air. But then I read Henry Olsen’s warning about alienating blue-collar voters, and I decided that while McCarthy’s scorched-earth approach may be the right one for the conservative patriot to adopt when ...
Policizing Premiums Does Not Control Health Costs
Last week, an overwhelming majority of Connecticut legislators passed a bill, SB-11, that would give the executive branch the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving ...
Even Obamacare’s Supporters Don’t Support the Rationing Board
The House Energy and Commerce Committee just scheduled hearings for next month on one of the most controversial components of ObamaCare the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). This 15-member, unelected Board will be charged with making recommendations for reducing Medicare spending if costs exceed a specified cap. Those recommendations ...
Higher taxes will not make California a better state
Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used to greatly diminished public services. Without at least the tax extensions, he said, ...
The education victimizers in chief
When masses of unionized school teachers recently stormed into the state Capitol to protest in favor of higher taxes, they painted themselves as victims of Sacramento politics. Behind this scripted and bombastic street theater, the reality is that powerful and wealthy teachers unions are the victimizers in chief in the ...
Governor’s Hit List Needs More Diversity
Governor Jerry Brown wants to eliminate dozens of state panels and commissions, a good idea and long overdue. But the governor needs to be more inclusive, and stalk bigger game. His list includes the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, a typical soft landing spot for ex-legislators. They meet about once a ...
Single Payer Health Care Systems, Multiple Health Care Disasters
Democrats have recently seized on a novel way of reducing health care costs threats. The Obama Administrations Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that any insurance company that wants to increase premiums more than 10% will have to get approval from the government. Congress didnt pass ...