Commentary
Commentary
Today’s “Public Options” Are Already Bankrupt
Mr. Wulsin reports the Congressional Budget Office’s conclusion that private insurers pay providers 20 percent to 30 percent above their costs; Medicare’s payments lay somewhere above or below the line; and Medicaid pays about 20 percent below costs. We call this the cost-shift, which increases private health insurance premiums by ...
Business & Economics
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Commentary
Film: Capistrano district poster child for ‘broken’ school system
New documentary showcases the problems of one O.C. school district. The Capistrano Unified School District is portrayed in a new, 49-minute documentary film as a case study in what is wrong with the American public school system and how politics, misplaced priorities and lack of oversight can derail what should ...
Business & Economics
Health Care Hold Up: Why Obama Won’t Give California Its Medi-Cal Bailout
Senator Barbara Boxer promised that California would get $11 billion in federal “stimulus” cash, which the embattled Golden State could use for a Medi-Cal bailout. But now President Obama is holding back almost $7 billion at the urging of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union was upset at ...
Commentary
Washington D.C. Premiere of “Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School”
The Washington DC Premiere of “Not as Good as You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School” at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Auditorium. PRI’s Lance T. Izumi, Executive Producer and Author, and Director Nick Tucker answer questions in a panel discussion. Our national conversation about education reform often focuses ...
Business & Economics
A Closer Look at Personal Genomic Testing
PRI senior policy fellow in Technology Studies, Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., participated in a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The discussion examined genomic testing’s technology, its ramifications, government regulation of the industry, and whether individuals should have their genome analyzed. (Video length ...
Business & Economics
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
Commentary
Taming Runaway Health Care Costs
The New York Times, May 16, 2009 To the Editor: David Leonhardt claims that research into the effectiveness of different treatment options would “tell us how to reduce spending without damaging people’s health.” Nonsense. Medical-effectiveness research will simply provide the government with cover to ration treatment. That’s exactly what happens ...
Business & Economics
Revive state’s start-up culture
Californians perceive the Golden State as a bastion of entrepreneurship and innovation, and in some ways they’re correct. Silicon Valley, after all, is a hub of researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and innovators. But a look at the entire state tells a different story. California’s vaunted start-up culture is under siege. ...
Business & Economics
Great Right North
Reports last week that the recession is draining Social Security and Medicare funds were just one more reminder that the United States needs to fix its finances. For inspiration, why not look to Canada? Long derided by American conservatives as “socialist” and praised by the left for its generous government ...
Today’s “Public Options” Are Already Bankrupt
Mr. Wulsin reports the Congressional Budget Office’s conclusion that private insurers pay providers 20 percent to 30 percent above their costs; Medicare’s payments lay somewhere above or below the line; and Medicaid pays about 20 percent below costs. We call this the cost-shift, which increases private health insurance premiums by ...
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Film: Capistrano district poster child for ‘broken’ school system
New documentary showcases the problems of one O.C. school district. The Capistrano Unified School District is portrayed in a new, 49-minute documentary film as a case study in what is wrong with the American public school system and how politics, misplaced priorities and lack of oversight can derail what should ...
Health Care Hold Up: Why Obama Won’t Give California Its Medi-Cal Bailout
Senator Barbara Boxer promised that California would get $11 billion in federal “stimulus” cash, which the embattled Golden State could use for a Medi-Cal bailout. But now President Obama is holding back almost $7 billion at the urging of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union was upset at ...
Washington D.C. Premiere of “Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School”
The Washington DC Premiere of “Not as Good as You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School” at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Auditorium. PRI’s Lance T. Izumi, Executive Producer and Author, and Director Nick Tucker answer questions in a panel discussion. Our national conversation about education reform often focuses ...
A Closer Look at Personal Genomic Testing
PRI senior policy fellow in Technology Studies, Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., participated in a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The discussion examined genomic testing’s technology, its ramifications, government regulation of the industry, and whether individuals should have their genome analyzed. (Video length ...
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
Taming Runaway Health Care Costs
The New York Times, May 16, 2009 To the Editor: David Leonhardt claims that research into the effectiveness of different treatment options would “tell us how to reduce spending without damaging people’s health.” Nonsense. Medical-effectiveness research will simply provide the government with cover to ration treatment. That’s exactly what happens ...
Revive state’s start-up culture
Californians perceive the Golden State as a bastion of entrepreneurship and innovation, and in some ways they’re correct. Silicon Valley, after all, is a hub of researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and innovators. But a look at the entire state tells a different story. California’s vaunted start-up culture is under siege. ...
Great Right North
Reports last week that the recession is draining Social Security and Medicare funds were just one more reminder that the United States needs to fix its finances. For inspiration, why not look to Canada? Long derided by American conservatives as “socialist” and praised by the left for its generous government ...
