Commentary
California
No one saw ‘Spencer Pratt for mayor’ coming
A former reality television star with a penchant for inflammatory social media antics is drawing headlines and building momentum in the homestretch of a political campaign. No, not that guy. Rather, it’s Spencer Pratt, the villain from MTV’s mid-aughts show “The Hills,” who has emerged as an unlikely player in ...
Commentary
Deflating the controversy over Medicaid work requirements
Earlier this month, Nebraska became the first state to implement the Medicaid work requirements established by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — now renamed by Republicans as the working families tax cuts. Dozens of others are scrambling to follow suit before the January deadline. Democrats and much of ...
Commentary
U.S. life expectancy gap doesn’t mean health system is failing
America spends more in total and per capita on health care than any other country. So why do we tend to have shorter lifespans than our peers? New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that U.S. life expectancy hit a record 79 years in 2024. But ...
California
CA homelessness goal pledged by Newsom lapses in failure today
Five years ago today, on May 11, 2021, California Gov. Newsom announced his plan to “end family homelessness within five years.” Any objective grader would give Newsom an F on homelessness, and Californians should be worried if the state elects any of the top Democrats running for governor who gave ...
Commentary
Trump Puts Drug Pricing Program Fraudsters on Notice
The Trump administration is ramping up its fight against waste, fraud, and abuse in healthcare. And that effort could help make care more affordable for millions of Americans. One of its latest targets is the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a little-known federal initiative that has warped the prescription drug market. ...
Commentary
Germany Wants Cheaper Drugs—And Americans To Pay The Difference
What does a new healthcare reform effort in Germany have to do with American patients? Quite a lot, actually. The German government is looking to cut healthcare spending by tens of billions of euros. To that end, it is pushing pharmaceutical companies to accept significantly lower prices for new medicines. ...
Commentary
Just take the shot: A simple way to protect freedom and prevent lockdowns
The mixed messages on vaccines are backfiring. Measles is surging across the South, and Georgians will pay the price. Disease outbreaks restrict personal freedom more than any government policy: schools close, families quarantine, and communities isolate. Even as the Trump administration now urges vaccination, confusion lingers. Georgia leaders must provide ...
Commentary
A $20,000 model trashcan showcases San Francisco’s dysfunction
Three years ago, my East Coast relatives flew to San Francisco for my daughter’s wedding. At the time, national publications were having a field day depicting the city as a pit of decay filled with poop-covered sidewalks and rampant homelessness. My relatives were primed to see an urban landscape beset ...
Commentary
San Francisco’s Justice System Is Breaking Down
San Francisco’s criminal justice system may be reaching a breaking point. A San Francisco Superior Court judge recently found Public Defender Mano Raju in contempt and imposed fines after the office continued declining court-assigned cases in defiance of a prior order to stop doing so. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins says ...
Commentary
A lawsuit that may kill tomorrow’s cures
On Wednesday, May 6, the California Supreme Court will hear a case that could upend the economics of medical innovation. Roughly 24,000 plaintiffs are suing pharmaceutical company Gilead over one of its HIV drugs. They do not claim that the drug failed to work, nor that it was defectively manufactured, ...
No one saw ‘Spencer Pratt for mayor’ coming
A former reality television star with a penchant for inflammatory social media antics is drawing headlines and building momentum in the homestretch of a political campaign. No, not that guy. Rather, it’s Spencer Pratt, the villain from MTV’s mid-aughts show “The Hills,” who has emerged as an unlikely player in ...
Deflating the controversy over Medicaid work requirements
Earlier this month, Nebraska became the first state to implement the Medicaid work requirements established by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — now renamed by Republicans as the working families tax cuts. Dozens of others are scrambling to follow suit before the January deadline. Democrats and much of ...
U.S. life expectancy gap doesn’t mean health system is failing
America spends more in total and per capita on health care than any other country. So why do we tend to have shorter lifespans than our peers? New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that U.S. life expectancy hit a record 79 years in 2024. But ...
CA homelessness goal pledged by Newsom lapses in failure today
Five years ago today, on May 11, 2021, California Gov. Newsom announced his plan to “end family homelessness within five years.” Any objective grader would give Newsom an F on homelessness, and Californians should be worried if the state elects any of the top Democrats running for governor who gave ...
Trump Puts Drug Pricing Program Fraudsters on Notice
The Trump administration is ramping up its fight against waste, fraud, and abuse in healthcare. And that effort could help make care more affordable for millions of Americans. One of its latest targets is the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a little-known federal initiative that has warped the prescription drug market. ...
Germany Wants Cheaper Drugs—And Americans To Pay The Difference
What does a new healthcare reform effort in Germany have to do with American patients? Quite a lot, actually. The German government is looking to cut healthcare spending by tens of billions of euros. To that end, it is pushing pharmaceutical companies to accept significantly lower prices for new medicines. ...
Just take the shot: A simple way to protect freedom and prevent lockdowns
The mixed messages on vaccines are backfiring. Measles is surging across the South, and Georgians will pay the price. Disease outbreaks restrict personal freedom more than any government policy: schools close, families quarantine, and communities isolate. Even as the Trump administration now urges vaccination, confusion lingers. Georgia leaders must provide ...
A $20,000 model trashcan showcases San Francisco’s dysfunction
Three years ago, my East Coast relatives flew to San Francisco for my daughter’s wedding. At the time, national publications were having a field day depicting the city as a pit of decay filled with poop-covered sidewalks and rampant homelessness. My relatives were primed to see an urban landscape beset ...
San Francisco’s Justice System Is Breaking Down
San Francisco’s criminal justice system may be reaching a breaking point. A San Francisco Superior Court judge recently found Public Defender Mano Raju in contempt and imposed fines after the office continued declining court-assigned cases in defiance of a prior order to stop doing so. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins says ...
A lawsuit that may kill tomorrow’s cures
On Wednesday, May 6, the California Supreme Court will hear a case that could upend the economics of medical innovation. Roughly 24,000 plaintiffs are suing pharmaceutical company Gilead over one of its HIV drugs. They do not claim that the drug failed to work, nor that it was defectively manufactured, ...