Commentary
Commentary
Read the latest on the Inflation Reduction Act's drug pricing reforms
Merck Fighting for Rights, Market-based Health Care
Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced last week that it is taking the federal government to court over the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug pricing reforms. The lawsuit alleges that the law’s Medicare price negotiation program violates some of the most fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. “This is not ‘negotiation,'” the company says ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 19, 2023
Commentary
Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future
The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
June 19, 2023
Commentary
Americans' life expectancy is at a 20-year low
The US health system is not to blame for the decline in our life expectancy
Americans’ life expectancy is at a 20-year low. As a result, the gap in life expectancy between the United States and our global peers is progressively growing wider, according to a new report in the American Journal of Public Health. For years, progressives have blamed the lack of universal health coverage in the United States ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 18, 2023
Commentary
Nation Past COVID Emergency, Medicaid Needs to Do the Same
With the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency, states are finally able to remove people from Medicaid who are not eligible for the program under the law. Some are taking full advantage. A recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that at least 565,000 patients in 12 states have been ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 14, 2023
Commentary
Read the latest on the Veterans Health Administration
Veterans have waited long enough for health reform
Republicans in Congress are moving forward with a new bill that would enable veterans to seek medical care outside the Veterans Health Administration. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., introduced the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act earlier this month. The measure has already attracted the support of more than a dozen GOP ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 13, 2023
Business & Economics
Read the latest on ESG
There The SEC Goes Again
President Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is increasingly becoming an advocate for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activists to the detriment of its core mission. In its latest iteration, the SEC is using its enforcement discretion to roll back recent reforms to rule 14a-8. These changes make it more ...
Wayne Winegarden
June 13, 2023
Commentary
READ THE LATEST ON SB 525
$25 Hospital Minimum Wage Bill Would Boost Some Workers at Expense of Patients
When lawmakers feel they have no boundaries, as is the case in California, ideas that would have little to no chance elsewhere not only get a hearing, but become law. This explains how the mere thought of hiking the minimum wage for health care workers and support staff to $25 ...
Kerry Jackson
June 13, 2023
Commentary
Read Why Single Payer Health Care Is Bad For CA Patients
California’s ‘public option’ revival ends badly for patients
Once a rallying cry for pragmatic Democrats, the “public option” has fallen on hard times. Several recent attempts to create such a government-run insurance plan at the state level have proven unworkable, unpopular, or both. And despite the support of President Joe Biden, the prospects for a federal public option ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 13, 2023
Commentary
Read how shoplifting effects pharmacy shortages
Pharmacies Keep Closing: Blame Shoplifting and Intentional Pharmacist Shortages
While local and national media outlets frequently report on food deserts, particularly in cities that lack sufficient grocery stores, there is one major shortage that goes largely unnoticed by the press: pharmacies. “Pharmacy deserts” pose a real threat, particularly for vulnerable populations. This is something I’ve seen firsthand. Last year, ...
McKenzie Richards
June 12, 2023
Commentary
Take An X To The Public Health Insurance Option
There’s an old proverb—everything old is new again. That is certainly true for healthcare policy. Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2023, the single-payer health plan the Vermont socialist has been pushing for years. President Biden will surely dust off his old proposal for a ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 12, 2023
Read the latest on the Inflation Reduction Act's drug pricing reforms
Merck Fighting for Rights, Market-based Health Care
Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced last week that it is taking the federal government to court over the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug pricing reforms. The lawsuit alleges that the law’s Medicare price negotiation program violates some of the most fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. “This is not ‘negotiation,'” the company says ...
Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future
The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
Americans' life expectancy is at a 20-year low
The US health system is not to blame for the decline in our life expectancy
Americans’ life expectancy is at a 20-year low. As a result, the gap in life expectancy between the United States and our global peers is progressively growing wider, according to a new report in the American Journal of Public Health. For years, progressives have blamed the lack of universal health coverage in the United States ...
Nation Past COVID Emergency, Medicaid Needs to Do the Same
With the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency, states are finally able to remove people from Medicaid who are not eligible for the program under the law. Some are taking full advantage. A recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that at least 565,000 patients in 12 states have been ...
Read the latest on the Veterans Health Administration
Veterans have waited long enough for health reform
Republicans in Congress are moving forward with a new bill that would enable veterans to seek medical care outside the Veterans Health Administration. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., introduced the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act earlier this month. The measure has already attracted the support of more than a dozen GOP ...
Read the latest on ESG
There The SEC Goes Again
President Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is increasingly becoming an advocate for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activists to the detriment of its core mission. In its latest iteration, the SEC is using its enforcement discretion to roll back recent reforms to rule 14a-8. These changes make it more ...
READ THE LATEST ON SB 525
$25 Hospital Minimum Wage Bill Would Boost Some Workers at Expense of Patients
When lawmakers feel they have no boundaries, as is the case in California, ideas that would have little to no chance elsewhere not only get a hearing, but become law. This explains how the mere thought of hiking the minimum wage for health care workers and support staff to $25 ...
Read Why Single Payer Health Care Is Bad For CA Patients
California’s ‘public option’ revival ends badly for patients
Once a rallying cry for pragmatic Democrats, the “public option” has fallen on hard times. Several recent attempts to create such a government-run insurance plan at the state level have proven unworkable, unpopular, or both. And despite the support of President Joe Biden, the prospects for a federal public option ...
Read how shoplifting effects pharmacy shortages
Pharmacies Keep Closing: Blame Shoplifting and Intentional Pharmacist Shortages
While local and national media outlets frequently report on food deserts, particularly in cities that lack sufficient grocery stores, there is one major shortage that goes largely unnoticed by the press: pharmacies. “Pharmacy deserts” pose a real threat, particularly for vulnerable populations. This is something I’ve seen firsthand. Last year, ...
Take An X To The Public Health Insurance Option
There’s an old proverb—everything old is new again. That is certainly true for healthcare policy. Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2023, the single-payer health plan the Vermont socialist has been pushing for years. President Biden will surely dust off his old proposal for a ...