Studies
Health Care
ObamaCare Will Dramatically Reduce Choice in Private Insurance
Key Points The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has just issued regulations that will reduce choice in health insurance for individuals and businesses. These regulations focus on the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR), a misleading bookkeeping concept irrelevant to peoples’ choice of health insurance. To succeed in reducing choice, ObamaCare ...
John R. Graham
September 9, 2010
Education
Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD
Vol. 16 No. 32, September 8, 2010 Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD By K. Lloyd Billingsley, editorial director After 15 years of legal and environmental battles, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently opened the Robert F. Kennedy High School, which cost $578 million—more than half a billion dollars—and now ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
September 8, 2010
Commentary
Which is More Obese, San Francisco’s Kids, or Its Government?
Imagine this scene a year or two in our future: An inspector from the San Francisco Department of Public Health spots something shiny behind a restaurant freezer. He pulls out a plastic Iron Man™ action figure, which the manager claims belongs to his son. No dice – they haul him ...
John R. Graham
August 25, 2010
Business & Economics
20 years later: Self esteem movement was utopian hucksterism
Twenty years ago, a California state document was flying off the shelves. “Toward a State of Esteem” was the final report of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. That body shut down in 1990, but Californians have good reason to look back. Then-Assemblyman John ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
August 15, 2010
Health Care
BOOK RELEASE: THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMACARE
San Francisco— President Obama’s national healthcare mandate will undoubtedly lead to the largest expansion of government in the history of the United States and will cost taxpayers at least $1 trillion over ten years. And that’s just the beginning, says Sally Pipes, author of The Truth About Obamacare. As candidates ...
Pacific Research Institute
August 5, 2010
Health Care
Leviathan’s Drug Problem
This study concludes that allowing American patients to access medicines that have already been approved in Europe would increase regulatory competition, enable more patient choice, and potentially save the lives of those suffering life-threatening illnesses and who currently have no treatment options. During a 12-month period in 2008 and 2009, ...
John R. Graham
July 27, 2010
Commentary
Medical Tort: Ranking the 50 States
Key Points States’ liability laws drive medical-tort costs, which increase health costs. Evidence indicates that medical-tort costs are higher than optimal, with consequences including unfair verdicts, reduced availability of doctors, and increased use of wasteful “defensive” medicine. Eight variables contribute to a medical-tort index that measures all 50 states’ success ...
John R. Graham
July 13, 2010
Education
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California, by Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., PRI associate director of Education Studies, and Evelyn B. Stacey, policy fellow, finds that adopting a Florida-style foster-care scholarship program in California would have no negative impact to state and public-school ...
Vicki E. Murray
June 30, 2010
California
Should The State Decide How Many Nurses a Hospital Must Hire?
Under ObamaCare, those who believe the government should decide how much medical care you deserve, and how it should be delivered, are eager to impose their preferences nationwide. Nurses’ unions lead the charge, armed with a recent study that could use more examination than it is getting from politicians and ...
John R. Graham
June 30, 2010
Business & Economics
Government by State Employees is Not Government by the People
SACRAMENTO—From Susanville to San Diego, California cities are struggling financially but now face more bad news. Assembly Bill 155, by Tony Mendoza, Artesia Democrat, would prevent California cities from filing for federal bankruptcy protection. The union-backed bill would allow a union-friendly state agency, the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
June 16, 2010
ObamaCare Will Dramatically Reduce Choice in Private Insurance
Key Points The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has just issued regulations that will reduce choice in health insurance for individuals and businesses. These regulations focus on the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR), a misleading bookkeeping concept irrelevant to peoples’ choice of health insurance. To succeed in reducing choice, ObamaCare ...
Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD
Vol. 16 No. 32, September 8, 2010 Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD By K. Lloyd Billingsley, editorial director After 15 years of legal and environmental battles, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently opened the Robert F. Kennedy High School, which cost $578 million—more than half a billion dollars—and now ...
Which is More Obese, San Francisco’s Kids, or Its Government?
Imagine this scene a year or two in our future: An inspector from the San Francisco Department of Public Health spots something shiny behind a restaurant freezer. He pulls out a plastic Iron Man™ action figure, which the manager claims belongs to his son. No dice – they haul him ...
20 years later: Self esteem movement was utopian hucksterism
Twenty years ago, a California state document was flying off the shelves. “Toward a State of Esteem” was the final report of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. That body shut down in 1990, but Californians have good reason to look back. Then-Assemblyman John ...
BOOK RELEASE: THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMACARE
San Francisco— President Obama’s national healthcare mandate will undoubtedly lead to the largest expansion of government in the history of the United States and will cost taxpayers at least $1 trillion over ten years. And that’s just the beginning, says Sally Pipes, author of The Truth About Obamacare. As candidates ...
Leviathan’s Drug Problem
This study concludes that allowing American patients to access medicines that have already been approved in Europe would increase regulatory competition, enable more patient choice, and potentially save the lives of those suffering life-threatening illnesses and who currently have no treatment options. During a 12-month period in 2008 and 2009, ...
Medical Tort: Ranking the 50 States
Key Points States’ liability laws drive medical-tort costs, which increase health costs. Evidence indicates that medical-tort costs are higher than optimal, with consequences including unfair verdicts, reduced availability of doctors, and increased use of wasteful “defensive” medicine. Eight variables contribute to a medical-tort index that measures all 50 states’ success ...
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California, by Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., PRI associate director of Education Studies, and Evelyn B. Stacey, policy fellow, finds that adopting a Florida-style foster-care scholarship program in California would have no negative impact to state and public-school ...
Should The State Decide How Many Nurses a Hospital Must Hire?
Under ObamaCare, those who believe the government should decide how much medical care you deserve, and how it should be delivered, are eager to impose their preferences nationwide. Nurses’ unions lead the charge, armed with a recent study that could use more examination than it is getting from politicians and ...
Government by State Employees is Not Government by the People
SACRAMENTO—From Susanville to San Diego, California cities are struggling financially but now face more bad news. Assembly Bill 155, by Tony Mendoza, Artesia Democrat, would prevent California cities from filing for federal bankruptcy protection. The union-backed bill would allow a union-friendly state agency, the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, ...