Commentary
California
Attempt to overthrow Proposition 209 ignores K-12’s responsibility
While Californians are focused on surviving the COVID-19 lockdown, some state legislators are using the crisis as cover for a stealth effort to overturn Proposition 209, the 1996 voter-passed initiative that prevents government discrimination based on race and other classifications. Not only has this effort been largely hidden from the ...
Commentary
The coronavirus recession is no excuse for Medicaid expansion
House Democrats are looking to funnel billions of dollars into state Medicaid programs through the HEROES Act, which narrowly passed the lower chamber in mid-May. The $45 billion they’re promising may sound like a godsend to states staring at huge budget deficits in the wake of the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But Medicaid ...
Commentary
Metadata Meets COVID-19
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Andrew I. Fillat ‘Metadata” might sound like something that “Star Trek‘s” Spock would oversee, but it is real and increasingly familiar, as the result of stories about wiretaps and security. The easiest-to-understand example of it is information about the time, duration, originating number, and ...
Commentary
Smoothing the Bumpy Road to Reopening
By Henry I. Miller and Andrew Fillat Every day seems to bring some new, unexpected, unpleasant revelation about the SARS-CoV-2 and the illness it causes, COVID-19. The infection has a long, often asymptomatic incubation period, high transmissibility, the ability to infect many human tissues, and, frequently, rapid deterioration of the ...
Commentary
Colorado Gets A Reprieve From The Public Option. All Americans Should Be So Lucky.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Colorado lawmakers have shelved their plan to overhaul the state’s healthcare system and implement a public health insurance option. Coloradans should count their blessings—for now, at least. The proposed “Colorado Option” would have curtailed access to quality care, particularly in rural areas. Even as Colorado’s leaders are backing ...
Business & Economics
Coronavirus recovery — Want to help the economy? Don’t do this
Nearly 39 million Americans have filed for unemployment, as of May 21, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, pushing unemployment closer to levels not seen since the Great Depression. So far, Congress has allocated over $239 billion in stimulus checks and unemployment benefits to help. Congressional Democrats want to go further. ...
Commentary
COVID-19 Makes Employer-Based Coverage Indefensible
Americans rendered jobless by COVID-19 have lost more than just their incomes. An estimated 12.7 million people have also lost their employer-provided health coverage since the beginning of the pandemic. The crisis has driven home the imprudence of tying health insurance to employment. Our system not only makes coverage precarious but also ...
California
Is there any way to escape punishment of AB5?
Roughly two months into the pandemic lockdown, and deep into what looks to be a historic economic wreck, Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to refuse to do anything about Assembly Bill 5, a law likely to kill more jobs than any public policy enacted in California’s history. What will it take ...
Commentary
COBRA subsidies would constrict the economy
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion follow-up to the first three coronavirus relief packages. Among other things, the package would have the government fund nine months of premiums for COBRA, the federal program that lets unemployed workers pay premiums in order to remain on their employers’ ...
Commentary
Coronavirus response – Buy America push would hurt US. Here’s how
It is expected that any day now, the White House will release an executive order requiring certain drugs to be manufactured in the United States. It’s part of a wider push by both the administration and Congress to force the federal government to buy more American-made goods and reduce reliance on countries like China. ...
Attempt to overthrow Proposition 209 ignores K-12’s responsibility
While Californians are focused on surviving the COVID-19 lockdown, some state legislators are using the crisis as cover for a stealth effort to overturn Proposition 209, the 1996 voter-passed initiative that prevents government discrimination based on race and other classifications. Not only has this effort been largely hidden from the ...
The coronavirus recession is no excuse for Medicaid expansion
House Democrats are looking to funnel billions of dollars into state Medicaid programs through the HEROES Act, which narrowly passed the lower chamber in mid-May. The $45 billion they’re promising may sound like a godsend to states staring at huge budget deficits in the wake of the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But Medicaid ...
Metadata Meets COVID-19
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Andrew I. Fillat ‘Metadata” might sound like something that “Star Trek‘s” Spock would oversee, but it is real and increasingly familiar, as the result of stories about wiretaps and security. The easiest-to-understand example of it is information about the time, duration, originating number, and ...
Smoothing the Bumpy Road to Reopening
By Henry I. Miller and Andrew Fillat Every day seems to bring some new, unexpected, unpleasant revelation about the SARS-CoV-2 and the illness it causes, COVID-19. The infection has a long, often asymptomatic incubation period, high transmissibility, the ability to infect many human tissues, and, frequently, rapid deterioration of the ...
Colorado Gets A Reprieve From The Public Option. All Americans Should Be So Lucky.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Colorado lawmakers have shelved their plan to overhaul the state’s healthcare system and implement a public health insurance option. Coloradans should count their blessings—for now, at least. The proposed “Colorado Option” would have curtailed access to quality care, particularly in rural areas. Even as Colorado’s leaders are backing ...
Coronavirus recovery — Want to help the economy? Don’t do this
Nearly 39 million Americans have filed for unemployment, as of May 21, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, pushing unemployment closer to levels not seen since the Great Depression. So far, Congress has allocated over $239 billion in stimulus checks and unemployment benefits to help. Congressional Democrats want to go further. ...
COVID-19 Makes Employer-Based Coverage Indefensible
Americans rendered jobless by COVID-19 have lost more than just their incomes. An estimated 12.7 million people have also lost their employer-provided health coverage since the beginning of the pandemic. The crisis has driven home the imprudence of tying health insurance to employment. Our system not only makes coverage precarious but also ...
Is there any way to escape punishment of AB5?
Roughly two months into the pandemic lockdown, and deep into what looks to be a historic economic wreck, Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to refuse to do anything about Assembly Bill 5, a law likely to kill more jobs than any public policy enacted in California’s history. What will it take ...
COBRA subsidies would constrict the economy
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion follow-up to the first three coronavirus relief packages. Among other things, the package would have the government fund nine months of premiums for COBRA, the federal program that lets unemployed workers pay premiums in order to remain on their employers’ ...
Coronavirus response – Buy America push would hurt US. Here’s how
It is expected that any day now, the White House will release an executive order requiring certain drugs to be manufactured in the United States. It’s part of a wider push by both the administration and Congress to force the federal government to buy more American-made goods and reduce reliance on countries like China. ...
