Commentary
California
Green Jobs Demonstrate The Perils Of Government-Directed Economic Growth
Part of President Biden’s Build Back Better initiative promises to “create good-paying union jobs and train Americans for jobs of the future.” The unspoken theory behind this initiative is that green jobs will offer a pay premium to workers compared to jobs in the fossil fuel industry. It also reflects the Administration’s ...
Commentary
President Biden’s Weak Vaccination Incentives Hurt Americans
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently expressed a sense of “impending doom” regarding the pandemic. Her fear is that, unless Americans keep abiding by strict Covid-19 protocols like mask-wearing, social distancing, and forgoing travel, a new surge in cases and deaths could be on ...
Commentary
Hospitals shouldn’t be the gatekeepers of healthcare prices
It’s been more than three months since the federal government ordered hospitals to make like the rest of the economy and start publishing their prices. But nearly two-thirds of the country’s largest hospitals are refusing to do so, according to Health Affairs analysis. That’s absurd. Price transparency is fundamental to the efficient ...
Commentary
What the Public Gets Wrong About the Public Option
Nearly seven in 10 voters, including more than half of Republicans, support a public health insurance option, according to new polling from Morning Consult. Medicare for All is less popular. Some 55 percent of voters embrace the idea. Americans might see the public option as a moderate alternative to the explicit government takeover of ...
Commentary
Conservatives Have Healthcare Ideas, Too
Democrats are pushing ahead with their healthcare agenda. In the last few weeks, progressive lawmakers have introduced a new Medicare for All bill, proposed legislation that would implement a public option, and poured billions of dollars into expanding Obamacare subsidies. The press is wondering how Republicans will respond. Last month, ...
Commentary
Let health care workers treat patients in any state
Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., recently introduced legislation that would allow licensed medical professionals to provide treatment in any state through the remainder of the pandemic. That’s a good idea. But its existence sheds light on a bigger problem within our health care system. Even under normal ...
Commentary
Medicare-X deserves a third strike
Some ideas never die. Such is the case with the Medicare-X Choice Act, a bill just reintroduced by Sens. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, and Michael Bennet, Colorado Democrat. The measure would create a public health insurance plan that would eventually be open to all Americans. It’s the third time the ...
Commentary
Obamacare’s 11th Anniversary Is Nothing to Celebrate
Yesterday, President Biden commemorated the 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. But Americans who want affordable health insurance have little to celebrate. In Obamacare’s first decade, premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed while provider networks have shrunk. Exchange policies routinely do not cover best-in-class doctors or hospitals. And the law’s costs have ...
Commentary
No time for Medicare for All
Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2021. The bill already has 112 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. This isn’t Jayapal’s first bid for Medicare for All. She introduced a similar bill in 2019. This time around, her argument is that the ...
Agriculture
Legislative Staff Right To Unionize: What Could Go Wrong?
After handing unions a brightly wrapped gift in 2019 with Assembly Bill 5, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez is putting the bow on another present, Assembly Bill 314, which would allow legislative staffers to organize. Had she first asked a legendary labor leader what he thought about it, she would have likely ...
Green Jobs Demonstrate The Perils Of Government-Directed Economic Growth
Part of President Biden’s Build Back Better initiative promises to “create good-paying union jobs and train Americans for jobs of the future.” The unspoken theory behind this initiative is that green jobs will offer a pay premium to workers compared to jobs in the fossil fuel industry. It also reflects the Administration’s ...
President Biden’s Weak Vaccination Incentives Hurt Americans
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently expressed a sense of “impending doom” regarding the pandemic. Her fear is that, unless Americans keep abiding by strict Covid-19 protocols like mask-wearing, social distancing, and forgoing travel, a new surge in cases and deaths could be on ...
Hospitals shouldn’t be the gatekeepers of healthcare prices
It’s been more than three months since the federal government ordered hospitals to make like the rest of the economy and start publishing their prices. But nearly two-thirds of the country’s largest hospitals are refusing to do so, according to Health Affairs analysis. That’s absurd. Price transparency is fundamental to the efficient ...
What the Public Gets Wrong About the Public Option
Nearly seven in 10 voters, including more than half of Republicans, support a public health insurance option, according to new polling from Morning Consult. Medicare for All is less popular. Some 55 percent of voters embrace the idea. Americans might see the public option as a moderate alternative to the explicit government takeover of ...
Conservatives Have Healthcare Ideas, Too
Democrats are pushing ahead with their healthcare agenda. In the last few weeks, progressive lawmakers have introduced a new Medicare for All bill, proposed legislation that would implement a public option, and poured billions of dollars into expanding Obamacare subsidies. The press is wondering how Republicans will respond. Last month, ...
Let health care workers treat patients in any state
Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., recently introduced legislation that would allow licensed medical professionals to provide treatment in any state through the remainder of the pandemic. That’s a good idea. But its existence sheds light on a bigger problem within our health care system. Even under normal ...
Medicare-X deserves a third strike
Some ideas never die. Such is the case with the Medicare-X Choice Act, a bill just reintroduced by Sens. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, and Michael Bennet, Colorado Democrat. The measure would create a public health insurance plan that would eventually be open to all Americans. It’s the third time the ...
Obamacare’s 11th Anniversary Is Nothing to Celebrate
Yesterday, President Biden commemorated the 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. But Americans who want affordable health insurance have little to celebrate. In Obamacare’s first decade, premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed while provider networks have shrunk. Exchange policies routinely do not cover best-in-class doctors or hospitals. And the law’s costs have ...
No time for Medicare for All
Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2021. The bill already has 112 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. This isn’t Jayapal’s first bid for Medicare for All. She introduced a similar bill in 2019. This time around, her argument is that the ...
Legislative Staff Right To Unionize: What Could Go Wrong?
After handing unions a brightly wrapped gift in 2019 with Assembly Bill 5, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez is putting the bow on another present, Assembly Bill 314, which would allow legislative staffers to organize. Had she first asked a legendary labor leader what he thought about it, she would have likely ...
