Commentary
Commentary
The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care
If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
Business & Economics
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Commentary
Obama health plan would worsen flaws
Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
Commentary
The Fiscal Reality of School Spending
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss what the candidates are saying about their education priorities. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public ...
Agriculture
Wireless soil sensors to help farming, improve understanding of carbon, nitrogen cycles
Biopact.com, October 13, 2008 Researchers from Iowa State University are developing wireless soil sensors that will improve farming and may help grow our understanding of the increasingly important carbon and nitrogen cycles. The sensors could also help determine the effects of biochar added to soils. Interestingly, the sensors can be ...
Business & Economics
Blatant Contradictions From Larry Kudlow
I have always liked Larry Kudlow. When I was growing up as a budding free marketeer, there was a natural disaster (I don’t remember which one) and everyone was calling for the president (must have been Reagan) to disburse disaster assistance for rebuilding. I didn’t like that answer, but I ...
Commentary
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Commentary
Winning diagnosis
There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Business & Economics
Sacramento sellout
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Commentary
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
The Stealth Mental Health Parity Act: An Attack on Innovation and Choice in Health Care
If anyone wonders why the government should not decide which benefits health plans must provide, let him observe the troubled birth of the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.” Wellstone-Domenici had languished in Congress for a full 16 years and got passed ...
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Obama health plan would worsen flaws
Obama’s plan would put an even larger slice of health services under price controls – which inevitably lead to shortages Barack Obama recently announced a two-pronged plan to help small businesses cope with the rising cost of health insurance. First, his proposal would institute a refundable tax credit to offset ...
The Fiscal Reality of School Spending
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss what the candidates are saying about their education priorities. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public ...
Wireless soil sensors to help farming, improve understanding of carbon, nitrogen cycles
Biopact.com, October 13, 2008 Researchers from Iowa State University are developing wireless soil sensors that will improve farming and may help grow our understanding of the increasingly important carbon and nitrogen cycles. The sensors could also help determine the effects of biochar added to soils. Interestingly, the sensors can be ...
Blatant Contradictions From Larry Kudlow
I have always liked Larry Kudlow. When I was growing up as a budding free marketeer, there was a natural disaster (I don’t remember which one) and everyone was calling for the president (must have been Reagan) to disburse disaster assistance for rebuilding. I didn’t like that answer, but I ...
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care
New Book Debunks Common Myths about American Health Care Reveals Why Government Isn’t the Answer on Health Care Reform SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 22, 2008) — Today, the Pacific Research Institute released The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide. This is the latest book from health care ...
Winning diagnosis
There is good and bad with Alabama’s health, health care and health delivery systems. We do have a number of health disparities and challenges. Alabama has the nation’s highest rate of stroke, second-highest rate of obesity and the third-highest rate of infant mortality. However, a recent study concludes that Alabama ...
Sacramento sellout
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
