Commentary
California
A Crime Like No Other
Elderly parole is intended to further reduce California’s prison population by releasing older inmates no longer deemed to be a threat to public safety. On the face of it, elderly parole seems reasonable. Many inmates do age out of their criminality and the idea that an elderly inmate using a ...
Steve Smith
September 13, 2022
Climate Change
Defying Markets to Promote Organics
Advocates of President Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan touted the $1.9 trillion-dollar stimulus bill as a vehicle for various goals—to fund a national vaccination program, stop Covid-19, and reopen schools. Who could be against any of that? Those who questioned the price tag back then would like to direct you to the ...
Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
September 12, 2022
Commentary
Native Americans’ Plight Testament to Single-Payer Dangers
Among the most troubling trends in a report out last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a significant decline in life expectancy among Native Americans. Non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaskan Natives, as the CDC categorizes them, had life expectancy of 65.2 years in 2021. That’s 6.6 years fewer ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 8, 2022
Commentary
The Inflation Reduction Act is just another step toward government-run healthcare
Congress just passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a series of sweeping healthcare reforms. Among them are provisions that increase taxpayer-funded insurance subsidies and impose price controls on drugs. The White House framed the bill as a “historic legislative achievement” that will lower costs for families. But these reforms ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 6, 2022
Commentary
Reducing Access To Home Healthcare Services Will Raise Costs And Worsen Outcomes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recent decision on home healthcare services, if implemented, will increase overall healthcare expenditures and decrease the quality of services received by patients. CMS’ overarching goal is praiseworthy – the agency is trying to maintain budget neutrality while changing its payment system rates. ...
Wayne Winegarden
September 6, 2022
Commentary
The FDA and Death by Dietary Supplement
The wife of California Republican congressman Tom McClintock, Lori McClintock, died of dehydration due to gastroenteritis caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion,” according to a just-released coroner’s report. That herb is just one of many dubious and potentially life-threatening herbal remedies and other dietary supplements on the market ...
Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
September 5, 2022
Commentary
Biden administration plays fast and loose with health exchange enrollment numbers
The White House recently released a series of state-specific fact sheets touting, among other things, how many people will keep their exchange coverage due to the extension of subsidies by the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). There’s just one problem. The lofty coverage estimates ignore significant state-level variations in exchange enrollment ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 5, 2022
Commentary
No, Socialized Medicine Won’t Expand Life Expectancy
U.S. life expectancy has declined by nearly three years since 2019, according to data out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average person can expect to live 76 years. The COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame for this regrettable trend. But many progressives believe the U.S. healthcare ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 2, 2022
California
Newsom Dives In The Deep End
Gov. Gavin Newsom has unwrapped a long-overdue plan to quench California’s perpetual thirst. While a bit late and slightly off the mark, his $8 billion Water Supply Strategy is a welcomed development in a state that really needs one. The governor called it “an aggressive plan to rebuild the way ...
Kerry Jackson
August 31, 2022
Blog
Replacing White Bagging Mandates With Market Competition Will Improve Patient Outcome
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) deploy numerous anticompetitive actions, which have not gone unnoticed. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry to examine whether PBMs have adverse impacts “on the access and affordability of prescription drugs.” The government’s probe is welcome news. But there are many detrimental PBM practices that are ...
Wayne Winegarden
August 30, 2022
A Crime Like No Other
Elderly parole is intended to further reduce California’s prison population by releasing older inmates no longer deemed to be a threat to public safety. On the face of it, elderly parole seems reasonable. Many inmates do age out of their criminality and the idea that an elderly inmate using a ...
Defying Markets to Promote Organics
Advocates of President Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan touted the $1.9 trillion-dollar stimulus bill as a vehicle for various goals—to fund a national vaccination program, stop Covid-19, and reopen schools. Who could be against any of that? Those who questioned the price tag back then would like to direct you to the ...
Native Americans’ Plight Testament to Single-Payer Dangers
Among the most troubling trends in a report out last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a significant decline in life expectancy among Native Americans. Non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaskan Natives, as the CDC categorizes them, had life expectancy of 65.2 years in 2021. That’s 6.6 years fewer ...
The Inflation Reduction Act is just another step toward government-run healthcare
Congress just passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a series of sweeping healthcare reforms. Among them are provisions that increase taxpayer-funded insurance subsidies and impose price controls on drugs. The White House framed the bill as a “historic legislative achievement” that will lower costs for families. But these reforms ...
Reducing Access To Home Healthcare Services Will Raise Costs And Worsen Outcomes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recent decision on home healthcare services, if implemented, will increase overall healthcare expenditures and decrease the quality of services received by patients. CMS’ overarching goal is praiseworthy – the agency is trying to maintain budget neutrality while changing its payment system rates. ...
The FDA and Death by Dietary Supplement
The wife of California Republican congressman Tom McClintock, Lori McClintock, died of dehydration due to gastroenteritis caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion,” according to a just-released coroner’s report. That herb is just one of many dubious and potentially life-threatening herbal remedies and other dietary supplements on the market ...
Biden administration plays fast and loose with health exchange enrollment numbers
The White House recently released a series of state-specific fact sheets touting, among other things, how many people will keep their exchange coverage due to the extension of subsidies by the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). There’s just one problem. The lofty coverage estimates ignore significant state-level variations in exchange enrollment ...
No, Socialized Medicine Won’t Expand Life Expectancy
U.S. life expectancy has declined by nearly three years since 2019, according to data out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average person can expect to live 76 years. The COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame for this regrettable trend. But many progressives believe the U.S. healthcare ...
Newsom Dives In The Deep End
Gov. Gavin Newsom has unwrapped a long-overdue plan to quench California’s perpetual thirst. While a bit late and slightly off the mark, his $8 billion Water Supply Strategy is a welcomed development in a state that really needs one. The governor called it “an aggressive plan to rebuild the way ...
Replacing White Bagging Mandates With Market Competition Will Improve Patient Outcome
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) deploy numerous anticompetitive actions, which have not gone unnoticed. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry to examine whether PBMs have adverse impacts “on the access and affordability of prescription drugs.” The government’s probe is welcome news. But there are many detrimental PBM practices that are ...