Commentary
Commentary
Read Why We Can't Afford Single-Payer
No ‘California Dreamin’ for Single Payer Healthcare
California is dreaming about a government takeover of health insurance once again. Earlier this month, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced SB 770. The bill would seek a federal waiver to allow the state to use federal funds earmarked for Medicare and Medicaid to create a state-run health insurance system that ...
Commentary
Read about the middlemen in healthcare
Pharmacy benefit managers are picking patients’ pockets
Pharmacy benefit managers are in the congressional hot seat. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing examining the middlemen’s impact on patients. Earlier in March, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into PBM tactics that are “harming patient care and increasing costs for consumers.” ...
California
A Delinquent Tenant’s Paradise
Los Angeles recently changed its municipal code to give tenants “permanent protections against eviction and burdensome rent increases.” L.A. County has extended its eviction moratorium, originally scheduled to be lifted on January 31, through the end of March. And a few hundred miles north, California state lawmakers are considering a bill ...
Commentary
Don’t Fall for the Fear, GOP Seeks Sustainable Medicaid
The Biden administration is fear-mongering about what the “extreme MAGA Republican House Freedom Caucus” has in store for the country. Last week, the White House put out a statement declaring the Freedom Caucus’s proposal to impose work requirements in Medicaid a “Five-Alarm Fire!” But the real emergency is Medicaid’s finances. Spending on the ...
Commentary
The Future Of Health Care Is Here, If You Know Where To Look
Nearly half of Americans say the healthcare system is failing them. Six in ten report having had a bad healthcare experience. About half of patients say they have trouble affording health care—even those who are insured. All told, Americans’ satisfaction with their healthcare system hit a new low in 2022. The default response to statistics like these ...
Commentary
A Bipartisan Regulatory Reform Opportunity: 340B
Despite the rancor, there are many bipartisan opportunities for the divided 118th Congress. Near the top of the to-do list should be reforming the well-intentioned, but poorly designed, 340B drug discount program. 340B enables qualifying institutions to purchase medicines from manufacturers at steep discounts, generally between 25% and 50% off list ...
Commentary
Sanders’ Haughty Stance Against Medical Innovators Harms Lives
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has summoned Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel to Capitol Hill for a public chastising next week. The hearing will probe why the biotech firm would consider raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine. Since the federal government played some role in the vaccine’s development, Sen. Sanders argues, it ...
Commentary
Blame the Affordable Care Act for rising health care costs
More than half of Americans today rate the quality of U.S. health care as subpar, according to a new Gallup poll. More than 1 in 5 call it “poor.” That represents a remarkable reversal in public opinion. Just 10 years ago, nearly two-thirds of Americans praised the quality of care. Perhaps ...
Commentary
Hospitals aren’t being honest about costs, and we’re paying the price
Imagine receiving a bill for $10,000. It’s from your local hospital, where you had a minor procedure. But you have no idea why it’s so high, or how you’re going to pay. If you’ve ever had an experience like this, you’re not alone. In 2020, a California couple was billed ...
Commentary
Don’t fund Medicare with higher taxes
President Joe Biden recently released his budget proposal for 2024. His plan pledges to extend Medicare’s solvency by at least 25 years “without cutting any benefits or raising costs for beneficiaries.” The president’s math doesn’t add up. His plan would burden taxpayers while leaving Medicare on the fast track to insolvency. Medicare’s Part A ...
Read Why We Can't Afford Single-Payer
No ‘California Dreamin’ for Single Payer Healthcare
California is dreaming about a government takeover of health insurance once again. Earlier this month, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced SB 770. The bill would seek a federal waiver to allow the state to use federal funds earmarked for Medicare and Medicaid to create a state-run health insurance system that ...
Read about the middlemen in healthcare
Pharmacy benefit managers are picking patients’ pockets
Pharmacy benefit managers are in the congressional hot seat. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing examining the middlemen’s impact on patients. Earlier in March, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into PBM tactics that are “harming patient care and increasing costs for consumers.” ...
A Delinquent Tenant’s Paradise
Los Angeles recently changed its municipal code to give tenants “permanent protections against eviction and burdensome rent increases.” L.A. County has extended its eviction moratorium, originally scheduled to be lifted on January 31, through the end of March. And a few hundred miles north, California state lawmakers are considering a bill ...
Don’t Fall for the Fear, GOP Seeks Sustainable Medicaid
The Biden administration is fear-mongering about what the “extreme MAGA Republican House Freedom Caucus” has in store for the country. Last week, the White House put out a statement declaring the Freedom Caucus’s proposal to impose work requirements in Medicaid a “Five-Alarm Fire!” But the real emergency is Medicaid’s finances. Spending on the ...
The Future Of Health Care Is Here, If You Know Where To Look
Nearly half of Americans say the healthcare system is failing them. Six in ten report having had a bad healthcare experience. About half of patients say they have trouble affording health care—even those who are insured. All told, Americans’ satisfaction with their healthcare system hit a new low in 2022. The default response to statistics like these ...
A Bipartisan Regulatory Reform Opportunity: 340B
Despite the rancor, there are many bipartisan opportunities for the divided 118th Congress. Near the top of the to-do list should be reforming the well-intentioned, but poorly designed, 340B drug discount program. 340B enables qualifying institutions to purchase medicines from manufacturers at steep discounts, generally between 25% and 50% off list ...
Sanders’ Haughty Stance Against Medical Innovators Harms Lives
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has summoned Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel to Capitol Hill for a public chastising next week. The hearing will probe why the biotech firm would consider raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine. Since the federal government played some role in the vaccine’s development, Sen. Sanders argues, it ...
Blame the Affordable Care Act for rising health care costs
More than half of Americans today rate the quality of U.S. health care as subpar, according to a new Gallup poll. More than 1 in 5 call it “poor.” That represents a remarkable reversal in public opinion. Just 10 years ago, nearly two-thirds of Americans praised the quality of care. Perhaps ...
Hospitals aren’t being honest about costs, and we’re paying the price
Imagine receiving a bill for $10,000. It’s from your local hospital, where you had a minor procedure. But you have no idea why it’s so high, or how you’re going to pay. If you’ve ever had an experience like this, you’re not alone. In 2020, a California couple was billed ...
Don’t fund Medicare with higher taxes
President Joe Biden recently released his budget proposal for 2024. His plan pledges to extend Medicare’s solvency by at least 25 years “without cutting any benefits or raising costs for beneficiaries.” The president’s math doesn’t add up. His plan would burden taxpayers while leaving Medicare on the fast track to insolvency. Medicare’s Part A ...
