Inflation

Commentary

Buried In The Numbers: Obamacare’s Costs Are Climbing, Not Receding

Late last month, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the provisions within Obamacare expanding access to insurance coverage would cost 20% less than the agency estimated in 2010, when the law passed. The White House was ecstatic. “The estimates released today by CBO once again confirm the progress we’ve made,” ...
Commentary

Letting patients buy Canadian drugs will only import trouble

Good news for American patients — prescription drugs are effectively on sale. Drug spending climbed just 2.5 percent in 2013. Drug cost growth has now lagged overall health inflation for four straight years. Naturally, Washington lawmakers are ignoring the cost problems plaguing the rest of the healthcare marketplace and focusing ...
Commentary

Obamacare has failed to increase competition among insurers

Obamacare has done everything short of cure sickness altogether, according to its supporters. “Ten million Americans have gained health insurance just this past year,” said the president. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that patients “will pay less than they pay for their cable or their cellphone ...
Commentary

Health Cost Holiday Will Soon Be Over

Federal officials recently reported that health spending inched up 3.6 percent in 2013. That’s the lowest annual rate of growth in decades — and the fourth time in the past five years that health inflation has been under 4 percent. The Obama administration was quick to take credit. “The recent ...
Commentary

A Cadillac (Tax) For Everyone

While campaigning for the White House, President Obama promised to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. As he put it, “In an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.” And then, the president went ahead and raised taxes on the ...
Business & Economics

The seven lean years

California’s Proposition 30, officially titled “Temporary Taxes to Fund Education,” is celebrating its second anniversary this November. The greatest anniversary gift would be to repeal it. California needs sustainable and robust economic growth. Strong economic growth creates jobs, raises families’ incomes and improves our standard of living. And, while economic ...
Commentary

Obamacare is hardly pro-choice

Thousands of Americans will soon receive cancellation notices for their health insurance plans — compliments of Obamacare. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are ordering insurers to discontinue plans previously exempt from Obamacare’s onerous and expensive coverage mandates. This rash of cancelled policies is only the latest example of ...
Business & Economics

Plan Bay Area: The Mayor’s Transportation Task Force Report

Pacific Research Institute Brief Reveals Flaws with San Francisco’s Transportation Task Force Report Today PRI released a brief reviewing San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s Transportation Task Force Report: 2030. The brief is a supplement to PRI’s earlier study “Plan Bay Area Evaluation” (June 2013), which critiqued the plan developed by ...
Commentary

No, Really — Employer Health Insurance Is Better Than Government Care

Who knew the cost disparities between employer and government health insurance could be so exciting? Last week, Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt took issue with my July 28 column — “Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage.” In my piece, I unpacked the numbers from a new American ...
Commentary

Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage

After years of slowing growth, employer health costs are forecast to climb at a faster pace next year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even with that projected growth, employers are spending much less per person than is the government — about 60 percent less, concludes a new study from the American Health ...
Commentary

Buried In The Numbers: Obamacare’s Costs Are Climbing, Not Receding

Late last month, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the provisions within Obamacare expanding access to insurance coverage would cost 20% less than the agency estimated in 2010, when the law passed. The White House was ecstatic. “The estimates released today by CBO once again confirm the progress we’ve made,” ...
Commentary

Letting patients buy Canadian drugs will only import trouble

Good news for American patients — prescription drugs are effectively on sale. Drug spending climbed just 2.5 percent in 2013. Drug cost growth has now lagged overall health inflation for four straight years. Naturally, Washington lawmakers are ignoring the cost problems plaguing the rest of the healthcare marketplace and focusing ...
Commentary

Obamacare has failed to increase competition among insurers

Obamacare has done everything short of cure sickness altogether, according to its supporters. “Ten million Americans have gained health insurance just this past year,” said the president. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that patients “will pay less than they pay for their cable or their cellphone ...
Commentary

Health Cost Holiday Will Soon Be Over

Federal officials recently reported that health spending inched up 3.6 percent in 2013. That’s the lowest annual rate of growth in decades — and the fourth time in the past five years that health inflation has been under 4 percent. The Obama administration was quick to take credit. “The recent ...
Commentary

A Cadillac (Tax) For Everyone

While campaigning for the White House, President Obama promised to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. As he put it, “In an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.” And then, the president went ahead and raised taxes on the ...
Business & Economics

The seven lean years

California’s Proposition 30, officially titled “Temporary Taxes to Fund Education,” is celebrating its second anniversary this November. The greatest anniversary gift would be to repeal it. California needs sustainable and robust economic growth. Strong economic growth creates jobs, raises families’ incomes and improves our standard of living. And, while economic ...
Commentary

Obamacare is hardly pro-choice

Thousands of Americans will soon receive cancellation notices for their health insurance plans — compliments of Obamacare. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are ordering insurers to discontinue plans previously exempt from Obamacare’s onerous and expensive coverage mandates. This rash of cancelled policies is only the latest example of ...
Business & Economics

Plan Bay Area: The Mayor’s Transportation Task Force Report

Pacific Research Institute Brief Reveals Flaws with San Francisco’s Transportation Task Force Report Today PRI released a brief reviewing San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s Transportation Task Force Report: 2030. The brief is a supplement to PRI’s earlier study “Plan Bay Area Evaluation” (June 2013), which critiqued the plan developed by ...
Commentary

No, Really — Employer Health Insurance Is Better Than Government Care

Who knew the cost disparities between employer and government health insurance could be so exciting? Last week, Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt took issue with my July 28 column — “Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage.” In my piece, I unpacked the numbers from a new American ...
Commentary

Employer Health Insurance: A Bargain Compared to Government-Sponsored Coverage

After years of slowing growth, employer health costs are forecast to climb at a faster pace next year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even with that projected growth, employers are spending much less per person than is the government — about 60 percent less, concludes a new study from the American Health ...
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