Commentary
Commentary
Read how overregulation is having negative effects on nursing homes
Government shouldn’t micromanage nursing homes
The Biden administration published regulations last month requiring most nursing homes to maintain specific staffing levels. As a result, roughly three in four nursing homes will have to hire additional personnel. Progressives argue the rules will lead to better care. “For residents, this will mean more staff, which means fewer ER visits potentially, more ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 5, 2024
Business & Economics
Read on the negative effects of raising minimum wage
$20 Minimum Wage for Restaurant Workers is Only the Beginning
It was bound to happen. Less than a month after the $20-an-hour fast-food restaurant minimum wage kicked in, activists are demanding that all other minimum-wage workers, who got a bump to $16 an hour on Jan. 1, which will be elevated to $18 an hour if voters approve November’s Minimum ...
Kerry Jackson
April 30, 2024
Commentary
Read the latest on single payer health care proposals
Sanders Views Canada’s Healthcare Through Rose-Colored Glasses
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s, I-Vt., assessment of U.S. healthcare during an event at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health earlier this month, was “It is a system not designed to provide health care to all people in a cost-effective way.” What Sen. Sanders failed to mention is that his preferred model for care delivery ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 30, 2024
Commentary
Oh, Canada: U.S. Patients Don’t Want Your Health Policies
There’s never been a worse time to get sick in Canada. Our northern neighbors must wait 2.5 years longer than Americans enrolled in Medicare to access new drugs, according to a report published this month by the Canadian Health Policy Institute. The Canadian government has chosen to deprive its citizens of the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 29, 2024
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 25, 2024
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 24, 2024
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 23, 2024
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 22, 2024
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 ...
Wayne Winegarden
April 22, 2024
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
April 22, 2024
Read how overregulation is having negative effects on nursing homes
Government shouldn’t micromanage nursing homes
The Biden administration published regulations last month requiring most nursing homes to maintain specific staffing levels. As a result, roughly three in four nursing homes will have to hire additional personnel. Progressives argue the rules will lead to better care. “For residents, this will mean more staff, which means fewer ER visits potentially, more ...
Read on the negative effects of raising minimum wage
$20 Minimum Wage for Restaurant Workers is Only the Beginning
It was bound to happen. Less than a month after the $20-an-hour fast-food restaurant minimum wage kicked in, activists are demanding that all other minimum-wage workers, who got a bump to $16 an hour on Jan. 1, which will be elevated to $18 an hour if voters approve November’s Minimum ...
Read the latest on single payer health care proposals
Sanders Views Canada’s Healthcare Through Rose-Colored Glasses
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s, I-Vt., assessment of U.S. healthcare during an event at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health earlier this month, was “It is a system not designed to provide health care to all people in a cost-effective way.” What Sen. Sanders failed to mention is that his preferred model for care delivery ...
Oh, Canada: U.S. Patients Don’t Want Your Health Policies
There’s never been a worse time to get sick in Canada. Our northern neighbors must wait 2.5 years longer than Americans enrolled in Medicare to access new drugs, according to a report published this month by the Canadian Health Policy Institute. The Canadian government has chosen to deprive its citizens of the ...
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 ...